Birmingham 'Consultation Process' Lacking Admits Councillors
- Charlie Laughton-Peake
- Dec 13, 2021
- 5 min read
Kings Heath. A small town in the heart of Birmingham. Passionate about its community. Its people. Its environment. But the low traffic neighbourhoods that have been implemented across Kings Heath’s roads are unprecedented in scale and controversy.
Stories in the media about the ongoing climate crisis continue to be a focal point of the public and activists alike. Councils are implementing schemes on our doorsteps across the country to combat climate change despite causing divides, confusion, and anger. From London, to Birmingham, to Manchester; every major city in England will have had a Low Traffic Neighbourhood (LTN) implemented for various reasons.
An LTN is aimed to provide a safe place for people to live, walk, be active and to reduce carbon emissions in neighbourhoods, all by reducing traffic. The most vivid example is a Modal Filter, which are large planters placed in the middle of a road to prevent the residential street becoming a council-dubbed "Rat-Run".
"A low-traffic neighbourhood (LTN) is a scheme where motor vehicle traffic in residential streets is greatly reduced.” - Sustrans
From a government survey, 77% of respondents felt "very worried" about climate change, and the implementation of LTNs are effective to aid climate change; but their implementation is far from effective.
Before the LTN Era
Solutions to the pollution issue in Kings Heath were underway in 2018 with the BBC, who changed the traffic light signals on the high street to resolve the congestion problem. Cllr Mike Leddy, who was directly involved in the campaign, explained Birmingham Council “phased all of the traffic lights to flow, so you ended up with waves of traffic going down the high street (...) air pollution was reduced because as the movement of traffic went, it would create a shock wave that pushed the pollution out of the canyon effect that you have on the high street. But as soon as we did that BBC programme, we reverted back to the software which was there before! Don’t ask why!”
Kings Heath Resident, Samantha Makin, lives on Waterloo Road, embedded in the LTN enclave. She described life living around the high street before the LTN was introduced back in November 2020. “It was quite congested on the side roads, parking was difficult, there was lots of arguments in cars because people couldn’t get by because of parking either side of the roads (…) big lorries and vans would always come off the high street and come round the back which would cause congestion and problems.”
From November 2020, LTNs have been the council's answer to Kings Heath’s pollution problem. But residents are strongly against the current implementation, as well as new proposals which may come into effect in early 2022.
Consultation
One of the biggest issues with the LTN is how the community was “consulted”, with local councillors admitting “Consultations could have been better” – Cllr Mike Leddy.
Experimental Traffic Regulation Orders (ETROs) allow councils to put LTNs in place without consultation as they are a ‘temporary measure’ where consultation can occur after implementation. However, this does not mean they have to listen to constituents in their desires to have them removed.
In Newham and Walton Forest, where the first LTN was introduced in England, Cllr Tim Briggs (Conservative, Clapham Common) describes what he thinks the political issues are, in relation to the LTNs. “We have always had a problem, which is like a Labour one-party state, a bit like Birmingham. We have always had the problem of Labour councillors and their officers and who's paying their wages in terms of skimming the data (...) and asking surveys with incredibly leading questions.”
In response, Cllr Mike Leddy (Labour, Brandwood and Kings Heath) said: “Cllr Lisa Trickett and myself did try and do some consultations, we had a number of street meetings, and face to face meetings with businesses directly impacted (…) and we had to bring about some compromise with city council, who were implementing it and we achieved some, but not all, of what those businesses wanted.”
Shadow Cabinet Member for Transport and Environment in Birmingham, Cllr Timothy Huxtable (Conservative, Hall Green South), explained that the Council do not have a sound consultative process. He said that “The consultation is merely: one, so they can say they have done a consultation and, two, as a part of the quality impact assessment. But it’s used to shape how the policy is introduced, not if the policy is introduced or not.”
Social Media Battleground
Whether in favour or against the LTN implementation, ‘echo-chambers’ have played a considerable part in public perception. Groups on Facebook have formed, such as Kings Heath LTN Concerns, which has 1.8 thousand members and is largely filled with people with the same opinion: ‘No to LTN’. Those with opposing opinions are promptly shut down in the comment sections.
Samantha Makin, resident, said “Everyone I know [on the western side of the high street] is against them. You have to go right the way round to get anywhere so you’re using more fuel and it’s costing people more and burning more emissions.”
Cllr Trickett has been at the forefront of the councils bid to implement the LTN’s and has taken abuse via online platforms. “On social media, everyone has their own echo-chambers, and if you are looking at the LTN site, people have got so polarised on that site, and there’s no point me engaging because people just want to shout. That’s not politics, that’s bullying. I have to engage in politics, I don’t have to engage in bad behaviour.”
A Birmingham City Council survey posted on their website, declared that 46% of respondents held negative views on the LTNs, in comparison to the 28% having positive (the others having no opinion). So why are the majority not being listened to?
Cllr Tim Briggs suspects that 46% figure is skewed and went on to explain the situation in London.
Cost
Based on two large planters, one removable bollard with lock, modal filter signage, advance warning signs, double yellow lines and labour, per location, each filter costs £20,000. To date, £390,000 has been spent on the LTN scheme in Kings Heath and Moseley, with an additional £750,000 to be spent on phase two next year.
When given this figure, Samantha Makin was furious, as she and other residents were unaware of the costs. “You are sh***ing me! If it’s not making a difference, even if it’s costing tenner, it’s a waste of money (…) I’m staggered, 20 grand? It’s just wood and soil!
“We live our lives by our budgets, there’s a need for that money elsewhere like social care, which could make a big difference to a social worker or to someone in crisis, not bloody bollards!”
Since
Since the LTNs, there has been an improvement in air quality of those roads. Levels of Nitrogen Dioxide have fallen, as shown in 'Figure 1', based on Birmingham City Council Data.
Out of 21 locations of diffusion tubes, 19 saw a decrease in Nitrogen Dioxide, thus, pollution on the roads with modal filters experienced cleaner air.
However, what must be observed is the displaced traffic as a result, causing polluted air elsewhere around the town. Noticeably, key locations such as Vicarage Road, Billesely Lane, and Broad Lane have seen a vast increase in traffic and therefore, higher levels of pollution.
Cllr Huxtable explains that people on a “displacement road” will receive a “worse quality of life” in comparison to those in LTNs.
Although LTNs are a definite fix for reducing pollution, they displace the issue rather than dealing with it. Affordable, low/no emission cars are the obvious solution, hand-in-hand with an improved public transport system, but will the congestion remain? As Cllr Trickett said: “Cars kill. Are we prepared to contribute to the slow death of people who currently live here, and actually prevent our children having a future?”
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