Concerns raised regarding low traffic neighbourhoods (LTNs) at January’s full council meeting were based on its discriminatory consultation by the council's contractor PCL Consult.
The fifth petition about LTNs stated residents had been directly and indirectly discriminated against based on their protected characteristics. Equality Impact Assessments, carried out as part of the LTN consultation, identified people with protected characteristics of disability and age would be negatively impacted by “limiting or reducing car provision”.
On January 20, 2021, the High Court handed down two judgements quashing the London mayor’s Streetspace Plan and TfL’s Bishopsgate Traffic Management Order. The judgement mentioned there was a lack of an equality assessment.
In 2019 a High Court granted a Judicial Review against Tower Hamlets Council for indirect discrimination against black, Asian and ethnic minority community projects.
I believe that LTNs can address air pollution in the borough but we must get it right by mitigating the equality risks.
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