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Telegraph
6 days ago
- Business
- Telegraph
Labour council forced to axe LTN that raked in £1m
A Labour council has been ordered to immediately scrap an 'unlawful' low-traffic neighbourhood (LTN) after losing a High Court battle. It comes after Mr Justice Smith ruled in May that Lambeth council had ignored residents' 'legitimate concerns' about the zone in West Dulwich, south London. The judge has now rejected an appeal by the authority against the ruling, while ordering the scheme to be axed and the council to pay £35,000 in legal fees. It is the first time that an LTN, a zone where traffic is restricted in residential roads and fines are issued to unauthorised vehicles that enter the area, has been shut down by the courts. The West Dulwich Action Group (WDAG), which brought the case after claiming the street closures had increased traffic and pollution on roads bordering the zone, welcomed the ruling and called for the council to repay the £1,080,580 in fines raised through the scheme. The campaigners also said it set 'a powerful precedent' for residents locked in similar battles nationwide. A WDAG spokesman said: 'This ruling is definitive – the LTN was unlawful. The council has lost, has been denied permission to appeal, and must now face the consequences of what that means. 'At the top of that list is the £1 million in fines it issued while the unlawful scheme was in place. 'We now call on Lambeth Council to clarify whether it will refund those fines. This is not just about legality – it's about fairness and public trust. If the law was broken, the money should be paid back.' The group also urged the council not to squander any more public funds by pursuing the case further at the Court of Appeal. 'Doing so would further waste taxpayers' money and signal that its priority is protecting revenue, not engaging with the community it serves,' they added. 'Let's be clear: this case should never have gone to court. It could have been resolved through proper, respectful dialogue. Instead, Lambeth chose to defend litigation over listening – and the public has paid for it.' 'Wake-up call to councils everywhere' The WDAG statement added: 'It's a wake-up call to councils everywhere: to not impose blanket schemes ignoring genuine concerns and issues, and to work with your communities. 'We again invite Lambeth to return to the table and help co-create fairer, smarter approaches to car use, pollution, road safety, and sustainable travel – with data, community support, and clear success measures at the heart of every decision.' In a thinly veiled criticism of town hall bosses, Mr Justice Smith said in his ruling that allowing the council to 'revoke' the LTN rather than having it 'quashed' by a court ruling would fail to properly 'reflect the reality' of the battle waged by local campaigners. He wrote: 'Revoking the orders after I have made a finding of unlawfulness leaves the same impression as would an attempt to resign immediately after one has been fired.' The judge also rejected the council's attempt to defer scrapping the LTN because the local authority had 'known of the need to instruct these works to take place since May 9' when it lost the High Court case. He said an attempt by Lambeth to avoid paying all of WDAG's legal costs because the campaigners only won one of the three legal challenges was 'misconceived' because the residents had been 'wholly successful.' Legal battle 'completely successful' Mr Justice Smith wrote: 'Here the claimant came to court seeking a quashing of the [traffic] orders. It has gone away having achieved that objective. It has therefore been completely successful. 'The fact that the claimant has succeeded in only one of its three grounds of claim does not alter the fact that it has been wholly successful in its aims.' In his initial ruling in May, Mr Justice Smith found that the council was guilty of a 'serious failing' after it ignored an 'impressive' report which warned that the street closures could lead to increased congestion and pollution elsewhere in the borough.
Telegraph
09-05-2025
- Politics
- Telegraph
Labour council could be forced to axe LTN
A Labour council could be forced to scrap a controversial low traffic neighbourhood (LTN) after a High Court judge ruled its consultation about the scheme was 'unfair'. Mr Justice Smith said Lambeth council was guilty of a 'serious failing' after it ignored an 'impressive' report which warned that street closures in south London could lead to increased congestion and pollution. He also found the local authority had given a 'masterclass in selective partial reporting ' after a council document failed to record how a public consultation about the West Dulwich LTN engendered tremendous 'hostility' from local people. The West Dulwich Action Group (WDAG), which brought the case, has become the first residents' organisation to win a legal battle over an LTN. The judgment will prove hugely embarrassing for Lambeth council which claims the millions of pounds it has generated due to LTN fines is helping to fight climate change. A WDAG spokesman said: 'We are delighted with this ruling, which clearly demonstrates that Lambeth council failed to fully consider the impacts and effects of the LTN on local residents and businesses. 'It sends a clear signal to councils nationwide: communities will no longer tolerate top-down, poorly conceived schemes that ignore local input, which prioritise revenue over real solutions to issues like pollution. 'We were made to feel as though we were climate deniers standing in the way of work meant to help the planet. 'In fact, we were showing legitimate concerns that the scheme conversely added more pollution and was unfairly impacting more people than it was helping, including 6,300 school children and poorer communities living on the LTN boundaries. 'This judgment shows the LTN is unlawful and should be scrapped.' In February, the Royal Courts of Justice heard two days of legal arguments after WDAG claimed the consultation on the LTN was unfair. On Friday, Mr Justice Smith published a 34-page judgment which found the local group had proven one of three grounds in its challenge. The court heard that council staff had been given a 'wellbeing day' off after being 'left in tears' because 'angry' residents at a 2023 meeting at West Norwood Library were 'relentless' in their opposition. Mr Justice Smith concluded the session was 'not a happy event' with 'feelings against the proposals by some of those in attendance clearly running high'. He was 'less sympathetic' with the council because an official report claimed the event 'gave the local community an opportunity to look at the proposals in detail and ask any further questions'. Mr Justice Smith said that the council's consultation process was lawful, but some elements 'could undoubtedly have been improved upon'. He added that the way the council considered input from engagement with the public was unlawful. Mr Justice Smith wrote: 'The passage [in the council document] is a masterclass in selective partial reporting. It is what it does not say that renders the reporting of the event misleading.' Two-thirds against the LTN A separate survey revealed that 67.5 per cent of those who responded were either very unhappy or unhappy with the scheme. Mr Justice Smith also concluded that an 'impressive' 53-page presentation by WDAG given to the local authority 'did not form part of the council's considerations in its decision[s]' about the LTN. The document claimed traffic banned from the LTN would clog up and pollute boundary roads where often poorer communities lived. It also showed how their research had established would increase journey times, 'intensifying rather than reducing pollution'. The judgment says: 'The failure to have regard to it [the WDAG report] was a serious failing, rendering the decision to make the [traffic] Orders [to close the roads] unlawful.' Mr Justice Smith invited lawyers for both WDAG and Lambeth to make further arguments about what would be 'appropriate relief' following his judgment. Cllr Rezina Chowdhury, deputy leader of Lambeth council, said they introduced the LTN to 'reduce road danger and create a neighbourhood where residents can live safer, happier and healthier lives' and promote 'active travel'. She added: 'The court has allowed the claim against the West Dulwich Street Improvements on one of the three grounds of challenge, and dismissed the other two. We acknowledge the court's decision and are carefully considering the implications of this judgment; we will provide further updates in due course. 'The current trial scheme in West Dulwich will remain in place in the meantime, while we await further directions from the court. 'The council has done a huge amount of work, in partnership with residents throughout Lambeth, to make neighbourhoods more pleasant, and make roads safer, more vibrant, green and accessible. 'We remain fully committed to working with local communities to transform streets across the borough and getting on with our programme to deliver benefits for everyone.'
