My constituents in Warrington South will know that I’ve spent much of the last year pushing back against the Borough Council’s ill-conceived Low Traffic Neighbourhood in Latchford, as part of their Central 6 streets masterplan. Having met time and again with local residents and businesses, it’s clear that the closure of Grange Avenue to through traffic is continuing to have a negative impact on trade and increasing congestion along surrounding roads.
In Parliament I’ve raised this issue with ministers in the Department for Transport and also held a debate on the Latchford LTN in the House of Commons. In responding to me, the Roads Minister made clear that the responsibility for traffic management schemes ultimately lies with the local authority, but Government guidelines state that councils should embark on proper and effective consultation with residents before changing road layouts. Sadly, Warrington Borough Council failed to heed this message.
Back last June when the ‘trial’ of the Westy LTN was due to commence, Labour and Liberal Democrat councillors voted to halt the equivalent scheme in Orford to allow for further consultation ahead of its implementation. But for some reason, they didn’t think Latchford residents were deserving of this same courtesy, despite the Conservative group putting forward a motion to that effect.
Nearly a year on from the implementation of the road layout changes, Latchford residents and commuters are still contacting me to express their frustration. Just last week I popped into LA Café on Westy Lane, Benny told me they’ve lost a huge amount of passing trade because of the closure of Grange Avenue. Sadly, this is anything but a unique situation, Bargain Booze next door had a similar message.
A survey I carried out last year, which had nearly 1,000 individual responses, showed that nearly 90% of local residents said the LTN had made their journey times and congestion worse, felt they hadn’t been consulted about the proposed road layout changes and wanted things back to the way they were.
More than 6,400 people have now signed a petition, which was presented to the Council’s Chief Executive, making clear they have no confidence in the Central 6 plans. In light of this, Conservative councillors again put forward a motion at last week’s Council meeting to scrap the LTN. This was a chance for the Council to show local residents that they had listened to their feedback on the scheme and were prepared to correct their wrongs. But of course, Labour Councillors again pulled together to defeat this motion and the Liberal Democrats abstained – even some Independents abstained.
Labour Councillors have decided to hold a further period of consultation – the evidence is already available and I’d be willing to have a bet that before we get to the local Council elections the scheme will be scrapped because the Labour Cabinet lead for Highways will face a wall of opposition in his own Council Ward – which happens to be Latchford East which is impacted by the trial!
Rest assured myself and the Warrington Conservatives will be continuing to fight for Latchford residents while Labour ignores their views. And I’m sure they will be sending a clear message at the Latchford West by-election next Thursday.
As ever, if my team or I can help with an issue please drop an email to [email protected]
