| Topic: | Re:Re:Re:Paramedics couldn’t get to patient because of covid-bollards | |
| Posted by: | Alison Robins | |
| Date/Time: | 04/09/20 10:14:00 |
| As I understand it - and I hope someone will put me right if I've got it wrong - local authorities do not HAVE to implement LTNs; it's not compulsory. Grant Shapps issued guidance in which a variety of measures is suggested to promote "active travel". One of the suggestions is (and this is the nearest thing I could find to a reference to an LTN), " Introduce pedestrian and cycle zones; restricting access for motor vehicles at certain times to specific streets, or networks of streets, particularly town centres and high streets. This will enable active travel but also social distancing in places where people are likely to gather". Unless I've missed something the roads round here which have been blocked off are not high streets or town centres or places in which people are likely to gather and so what is happening is that local people are facing increasing difficulty in getting in and out of their area by car. At the moment if I have travelled from south London I do the final leg of the journey down the A4, turn right into South Ealing Road, turn left into Whitestile and then left into Enfield Road. Once the LTN is implemented I will have to drive up the South Ealing Road, turn left at Paddy Power Crossroads, go all the way down Little Ealing Lane and then down Windmill Road and left into Avenue Road. Alternatively I could drive on down the A4 and do a right into Windmill Road at Armageddon Junction - which, given the melee which is usually going on there,is not an attractive prospect. It's bonkers. What has been done so far doesn't seem to accord with the guidance in terms of the types of streets which are being blocked. The guidance also makes it clear that although the measures are currently temporary they should be implemented with a view to making them permanent. I think local authorities are using Grant's Guidance as an excuse to put in place extremely restrictive measures which go beyond those originally contemplated by central government. |