‘Proposed Barnsbury & Laycock liveable neighbourhood provides a once-in-a-generation opportunity to make our streets healthier, safer, greener and fairer’

• AN anonymous correspondent in your Letters pages (Can we rely on the survey results? Tribune, August 18) tried to discredit the work of Barnsbury & Laycock Community Streets, accusing them of “muddled thinking”.

BLCS’s hundreds of members think the proposed Barnsbury & Laycock LN, liveable neighbourhood, provides a once-in-a-generation opportunity to make our streets healthier, safer, greener and fairer. Nothing “muddled” about that.

Evidence of popular support for LTNs, low traffic neighbourhoods, has consistently been shown in representative polling conducted by reputable research companies such as YouGov, Kantar and Redfield & Wilton.

Of the recent Redfield & Wilton survey, your correspondent asked whether the results could “now be relied upon?”.

I suppose it’s possible that all the surveys could be biased or inaccurate; but a more plausible conclusion is that the results can be relied upon: most people support LTNs.

This popular sentiment is again reflected in the comments made by residents on the council’s interactive map for Barnsbury & Laycock liveable neighbourhood.

As published last week nearly nine out of 10 responses ask for change under the liveable neighbourhood scheme, with 66 per cent supporting significant change.

Further detail can provide more meaning: BLCS analysis of the comments on the map shows the following key concerns:

— traffic and road danger (432 comments);

— speeding vehicles (271 comments);

— air quality (264 comments); and

— need for more greenery (237 comments).

Other areas in which people want to see change include: measures to help build community cohesion; litter; measures to help address climate change; and traffic noise. All these issues fall within the remit of potential liveable neighbourhood improvements.

We await the council’s analysis of responses.

We hope that they will listen to the majority of locals, who do not drive and who would like to see our streets prioritised for people, not traffic, along with those that do drive, like myself, but fully support significant change that will bring benefits for all.

For more information, please see and subscribe at: https://www.barnsburylaycock.uk/

DR ROBERT SIMPSON
On behalf of Barnsbury & Laycock Community Streets