As your Lib Dem Councillors we are committed to listening to you, and being your voice on Sutton Council.

Following a High Court judgement in a case brought against the Labour Mayor of London – which questioned the guidance London Borough Councils received from the Mayor and the Conservative Government – Sutton Council has paused discussion about expanding the Kings Lane Low Traffic Neighbourhood (LTN) scheme, and potential changes to other LTNs and School Streets.

Prior to that judgment being reached, we had been engaging widely with you around a set of proposals put forward by officers. We were intending to provide feedback from residents directly to officers as a result of the survey we had put out. This coming Thursday, Sutton Council will be recommending that all the LTN and School Street schemes will be removed. This is to ensure any well-running schemes cannot be threatened by the ruling against the advice of the Conservative Government and Labour mayor.

Some schemes, such as the 13 School Street Schemes (including two in Carshalton Central) and the Butter Hill and Worcester Park LTNs will subsequently be brought back, under a new improved process. This process, free from the constraints imposed by the Labour Mayor and Conservative Government on the previous LTN programme will enable full, open consultation right from the start.

We value your feedback, and have asked officers to not include the Kings Lane LTN in these new sets of proposals. 

It was clear from the feedback we recently received from residents that there was little support for the proposed strategies for managing the increased traffic in particular roads – notably Harrow Road. As these schemes did not have sufficient support from local residents and because we were not sure they would improve the situation, we could not agree with the Kings Lane LTN continuing.

We are absolutely committed to reducing traffic and pollution on our residential roads and are continuing to push for 20mph zones in the area, and are fully committed to improving the Shorts Road School Street with an expanded area; better enforcement and better hours of operation. We are also incredibly pleased with the success of the All Saints Carshalton School Street, and so are very much looking forward to this scheme continuing in the future pending consultation.

-Councillors Jake Short, Jill Whitehead and Chris Williams