Objecting to planned road changes where you live

[TrafficQuestions]

Hi. I think this must apply to lots of cities at the moment, so wondered if it was worth a general question.

Road changes are being proposed/planned where we live, which will have a strong negative effect on residents. We want to (and will) object, but does anyone have any good tips or in-depth knowledge of the law around these things. Anything useful to read? There's currently a "public consultation" going on, but I have a strong feeling it's just to tick a box, and that they're basically going to go ahead with this unless we kick up a very big fuss.

TIA

I don’t I’m afraid but bumping for you. I’ve seen things like this on our local Facebook group though, petitions posted etc. the key is to let as many of your neighbours know as possible. If you have the money, time and inclination it may even be worth posting some flyers through people’s doors, on trees and in local cafes.

good luck

Thank you very much for the post, @TheSnugglyDuckling . Good idea about flyers if possible. Whoever's behind it seems to be trying to keep the consultation process as low key as possible, unfortunately.

Think about the impact on emergency services, bus routes, any local businesses that could be affected.

Could you club together and employ a specialist highways engineer? It would have more weight...

What kind of changes? I would expect that your local councillors have been engaged in the process/are aware of the proposals.

in my experience, a lot of traffic and highway schemes are developed from complaints and issues raised by members of the public and councillors. It would be useful to know the stance of your local councillors is, they will have influence.

I'm in an area where LTNs are being developed. There's been an active group in our road with emails flying about - a few people co-ordinating and liaising with councillors. What's complicated is that some people are for and others against so things can get quite divisive. It's also worth looking at the impact on local businesses if you are near a High Street/shops. If there is a traders' association they will be concerned if it's harder for traffic to move around the area, park etc. I think it is always worth publicising the consultation, pointing out any flaws in the process, pressing for wide engagement, equality impact assessments etc etc...

Thank you all so much for posting - this is all helpful and interesting.

We're also in an LTN area, and some of this is related to the LTN. While there are some potential (at least arguable) positives to what they're proposing, it's going to have a terrible impact on one of the local primary schools (essentially diverting huge amounts of fast moving traffic directly past the school, where little kids are crossing) and on people living on some of the surrounding roads.

I can tell you that it is nigh on impossible to ‘beat’ local government. Councils are corrupt and greedy and have large funds and resources to draw upon.

It will make you feel better if you organise a Social media group and or residents group but you may as well be King Canute telling the tide to turn back.

Sadly very true. In reality, if the local council want to do it, they will, regardless of whether they get 10, 100 or 1,000 objections from local residents. They really only take notice of "official" objections, i.e. from the local fire authority, canal/river trust, wildlife bodies, etc. Complaints from mere residents aren't even read, the planning committee just get told "there were 57 complaints from local residents" - the committee members aren't going to read each one!

This is, depressingly, exactly what I suspected.

Is there ANYTHING the general public can actually do? The stated objectives of these changes don't actually add up with what the results seem likely to to be. It really just seems like an exercise in controlling and monitoring, TBH.

@BobbyBobbyBobby and @Kazzyhoward if you don't mind saying, can I ask how you know this, please? Do you have experience of trying to be heard, or from working in/with the council?

(sorry, if you don't mind my asking, not saying!)

I've been involved in a few campaigns against developments and traffic changing etc in our village. I've been in attendance at their planning committee meetings. The information presented to the councillors on the planning committees are VERY restricted/controlled - basically, they're fed the information/documents which the planning officers want them to see, and anything they don't want them to see are "buried" with minimal reference back from the "top page" summary reports, which basically just say numbers of fors/againsts with minimal analysis/reasoning. All this is backed up by a good friend of mine who used to be on our parish council but then got elected to our city council, who was also involved in such campaigns before she was elected, and is trying her hardest to get onto the planning committee (but surprise, surprise, the planning officers seem to want their own "pet" councillors on the committee). Believe me, the whole thing stinks.

Thank you @Kazzyhoward this fits precisely with my limited experience so far
:(

Thanks for posting. Although depressing, it's good to know what we're up against. It really seems like once people with some power get an idea of something they want to do, it's possible to just manipulate all the existing systems, "massage" the available info, and get it all through despite any objections from the little people.

I’ve campaigned for many things and I’ve also tried to take them to court. Completely failed except for the one time they denied receiving documents even those sent recorded or register and so I ‘stormed’ the building with my dogs and hand delivered a new set of documents which I made them sign for in front of me so that they couldn’t deny it.

The security guard found it amusing and didn’t try to stop me. The hounds enjoyed the attention.

I loathe, hate and despise the Council/local government and no matter what part of the country I have lived and whatever political party they are under they are all evil.

This is interesting - thank you for sharing your experiences. I've also experienced a local council flat-out lie about communications (and then be caught for it - and STILL not be held accountable). It makes it feel quite hopeless to try to complain, but I also know that it's so CONVENIENT if we allow councils' bullying behaviour to put people off getting involved. Argh. Thanks again @BobbyBobbyBobby

OP, I'll give you a bit of hope. Public consultation took place recently in my town over a prospective "bus gate" opening up a current cul de sac to route buses and cycles through. The plans were designed to improve bus services and reduce traffic congestion on a nearby main road. 80% of residents opposed the plans and therefore they were shelved.

Reasons the council took notice of:
Loss of resident parking
Loss of trees and greenspace
Safety issues
Increased pollution
How to prevent the proposed bus gate becoming a ‘rat run’

Thank you @Mizydoscape - that is good to hear.

How did you evidence the 80%...?

Check to see which councillors are up for re-election next May. Target the ones on the cttees regarding transport and planning.

It was an online public consultation so objections/comments/advocates were recorded on the platform for receiving comments. It was the council who quoted 80% objections.

@BobbyBobbyBobby evil? Lol!

You do realise that Councillors control everything? They hold all the power and most of the time councils staff have no choice in the matter.

You might want to look into and propose the school streets initiative for this school. My council are actually undoing part of an LTN that has reduced traffic near a primary school due to a local anti-LTN campaign and I have asked my local councillors to look into a car free school street to help manage the horrendous traffic and pollution that school parents used to and will once again create. This is a school where catchment is less than 1km.