Eilidh Murray

THE Town Hall’s climate and environment chief shocked the chamber at a full council meeting by announcing there is now “no timeline” for deliver­ing the next phase of its low-traffic neighbour­hoods (LTN) plans.

Councillor Rowena Champion told a member of the public asking about the progress of the Barns­bury & Laycock scheme that its target of delivering what the council terms “Liveable Neighbour­hoods” (LNs) across 100 per cent of the borough by 2030 has been abandoned.

LNs are schemes which involve implementing traffic-filtering systems to divert and reduce traffic, aimed at improving air quality and road safety for pedestrians and cyclists.

The schemes also involve measures to improve the look and feel of neighbourhoods, such as adding seating, trees and gardens.

The council delivered several LNs during the pandemic and the Labour group maintained a commitment to pressing on with the remaining schemes throughout May’s elections.

Councillor Giulio Ferrini, vice-chair of the environment scrutiny committee, called Cllr Champion’s announce­ment “pretty disappoint­ing”, but recognised that Barnsbury’s size and complexity, budget constraints and backlash from residents will have impacted the council’s ability to deliver.

“I think it requires political ambition and it feels to me that Labour are shying away from that political ambition,” he said.

Cllr Giulio Ferrini

“It feels to me like Labour are afraid of the pushback that there will inevitably be from some communities and maybe don’t fully appreciate the level of support for these kinds of schemes. What I would say, from my perspective as a Green, is I am very happy to support and push the scheme through as a joint initiative between the Greens and Labour.”

The Green councillor for Clerkenwell said the meeting’s revelation that the executive would be dropping its goal came as a total surprise.

The scrutiny committee’s latest report, released in January, said the council was on track to hit the 100 per cent target in four years’ time.

LNs have proved extremely divisive across the borough. Campaigners against the schemes argue that they limit access for emergency services vehicles, lead to increased CCTV and restrict freedom of movement. Concerns have also been voiced over how LTNs disproportionately benefit affluent streets and drive congestion toward less affluent ones.

It is also argued that, in some areas, LTNs lengthen journeys and increase pollution.

Eilidh Murray from the volunteer-run campaign group Cycle Islington, who lives in Canonbury, said opponents “suffer from ‘car brain’” and “regard riding around in a metal box as their right”.

“If you go into an LTN, the whole atmosphere just calms down, you’ve got people walking around and enjoying it,” she said.

“It’s disappointing if the council row back on their commitment to put LTNs in all of Islington by 2030. The further north you go, the more complex it might be to put them in. But at the end of the day, what I want is fewer rat-running cars. The basic problem is that there are too many cars on our roads.”

Cllr Rowena Champion

Cllr Ferrini told the Tribune the council has shown a lot of leadership when it comes to liveable communities.

“I think the great work the council has done leading across London has been recognised,” he said. “It’s really disappointing to see that level of ambition be parked and be put away without a willingness to commit to any other targets.”

He added: “I don’t know if that was because of political views within the Labour group. I think now the resistance to even have a target does make me wonder whether there are people within the Labour group that are not supporting these schemes, which is very, very unfortunate­.”

He noted that as low-traffic rollouts continue to be delayed, roads remain dangerous and air quality continues to get poorer.

At the meeting, Cllr Champion said that Barnsbury & Laycock was a complex area, and previous traffic-filtering proposals would not be revisited.

Cllr Champion told the Tribune: “We remain committed to reducing carbon emissions by as much as possible, as quickly as possible and in as fair a way as possible. Like any council with ambitious climate targets, our efforts are impacted by the national picture.

“As our new corporate plan sets out, LNs remain a key part of our approach and something we will continue.

“Ahead of the submission of our Trans­port for London Local Implementation Plan in November 2026 and with our new corporate plan to guide us, we are working hard to review our approach across the board. This means making sure we are delivering these improvements in the most effective way possible for the benefits of residents.

“We are in the process of engaging local people, businesses and partners on their views and priorities for future climate action in Islington. This will help us create a new climate action plan to help guide our approach and ensure we are taking a holistic and pragmatic approach to delivering a more equal borough with and for local people.”