Reform UK has pledge to remove all low-traffic neighbourhoods from the council areas it controls, but it seems they haven’t done their research.
What are Low Traffic Neighbourhoods?
In recent years, the Government has made a concerted effort to tackle air pollution created by vehicles and increase the number of people getting to their chosen destination by walking or cycling.
LTNs were introduced as part of this – with the additional aim of reshaping residential areas where they are installed to create a safer place for people to walk and live.
By minimising traffic caused by people ‘rat-running’ – a tactic where people use residential roads as short cuts – people who live and work in the area can access the roads more easily.
The aim is to also make it easier for emergency services to travel through major cities where LTNs are in place. Some LTN areas are also available at certain times of the day and for public transport.
The overall goal is to reduce air pollution, noise pollution, and road accidents.
Reform plans
Zia Yusuf, Reform UK’s chair, said last week there would be a “large-scale reversal” of existing LTNs in the 10 areas across England where the party won control of the councils in local elections on 1 May.
“We view these schemes with the same suspicion as mass immigration and net zero,” Yusuf told the Telegraph, adding: “You can expect, if you live in a Reform council, for there to be a much higher bar for any proposals for LTNs and for the large-scale reversal of these existing LTNs.”
However, the Guardian contacted the councils now run by Reform – Derbyshire, Doncaster, Durham, Kent, Lancashire, Lincolnshire, North Northamptonshire, Nottinghamshire, Staffordshire and West Northamptonshire – and they all said they had no such schemes.
In response, Bearly Politics wrote: First, they vowed to scrap DEI roles in Greater Lincolnshire – where none actually exist. Then they pledged to abolish LTNs in all their councils… which don’t have any. At this rate, we can expect them to launch a crusade against dragons in Wales and finally get tough on the Loch Ness monster in Scotland.”
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