Lewisham Council have rejected all the objections to the Lee Green LTN being made permanent. This was not unexpected as the Council has consistently chosen to ignore the democratic views of the population of Lewisham. But thanks to everyone who signed this petition.

They are likely to move ahead with similar schemes in other wards but they have agreed the following:

Going forward no future similar schemes will be implemented without the necessary:

• Funding in place for both incentive measures for active travel and restrictions to vehicular movement,
• Use a range of evidence and undertake robust collection of before and after data to be able to understand the effects of interventions, including consideration of a traffic impact analysis/modelling exercise if appropriate,
• Full pre-consultation engagement and public consultation on proposals with Members, residents, businesses and other stakeholders.

That may be an improvement if consultation is properly unbiased but that is often not the case in Lewisham.

See https://councilmeetings.lewisham.gov.uk/documents/s96552/05%20Transport%20strategy%20report%20170222.pdf for more details.

As regards the Lee Green LTN there remain particular problems for some residents. For example those who live east of Upwood Road who are cut off from any easy route to the centre of Lee, residents of Manor Lane Terrace affected by vehicles having to reverse when they discover it is no longer a through route; problems in Pitfold Road still exist and local through traffic, especially on Eastdown Park, Dermoday Road, Wisteria Road, is bad, resulting in blockages at the Lee High road junction.  There is even more congestion on Manor Lane, Leahurst and Longhurst roads, both ways. More traffic on the main roads is still creating worse air pollution for residents of those roads.

As the residents affected are a minority it really requires someone to take up the issues on behalf of the affected residents and persevere with trying to get some rectification over the next few months.

Personally I will be unable to spend further time on this campaign as my poor health is now a major concern – it’s slowing me down and taking up a lot of my time (including spending two weeks in hospital recently).

Anyone who wishes to take on leadership of campaigns in Lewisham should contact me via phone or via email (tel: 020-8295-0378 email: info@freedomfordrivers.org )

I will continue to pursue other traffic and transport issues in London and nationally and if you have an interest in opposing irrational attacks on car users please register for our newsletters here:  https://www.freedomfordrivers.org/register.htm or sign up to follow our blog (see https://freedomfordrivers.blog/ ) or follow me on Twittter – see https://twitter.com/Drivers_London

Roger Lawson