The Court of Appeal has ruled Tower Hamlets Council acted unlawfully when it removed low traffic neighbourhoods (LTN) in Bethnal Green.
Judges said the council failed to meet its legal duty under the Greater London Authority Act 1999 by failing to implement measures outlined in its Local Implementation Plan (LIP).
The case focused on traffic restrictions introduced between 2020 and 2022, which included road closures designed to cut vehicle use and improve conditions for walking and cycling.
The Bethnal Green LTN was part of the council’s LIP, which outlines how London boroughs deliver the Mayor of London’s Transport Strategy.
In 2022, Lutfur Rahman, the newly elected Mayor of Tower Hamlets, pledged to remove the LTN and after two public consultations the council decided to take it out in September 2023. The council argued that it was not obliged to keep the measures in place once installed.
However, the Court of Appeal rejected the argument. Judges ruled that the duty to ‘implement’ a LIP includes retaining measures that have already been introduced.
The judgement means that councils cannot remove schemes included in their LIP without receiving approval from the Mayor of London.
Overall, the ruling is expected to affect other London boroughs considering transport schemes aimed at cutting traffic and encouraging active travel. Judges said questions remain over how far councils must go to complete schemes that have not yet been fully implemented.
Caroline Russell, a member of the Green Party London Assembly, said: ‘It’s a brilliant victory for Bethnal Green residents that the judge has backed the community campaign and ruled in their favour, protecting the safer, quieter and less polluted streets provided by Tower Hamlets Low Traffic Neighbourhoods (LTNs).’
‘This ruling not only benefits people in Tower Hamlets, but all Londoners are better off,’ Russell continued. ‘The Judge has reaffirmed what campaigners and I have said all along in response to Mayor Lutfur Rahman’s move to scrap the Healthy Streets measures.
‘As the 1999 GLA Act makes clear, the Mayor of London has the legal power to intervene and prevent Tower Hamlets from removing these measures.’
She added: ‘Thanks to this ruling, people in Bethnal Green can continue to enjoy quieter and less traffic-congested streets, allowing children to travel to school without danger, older people to cross the roads safely and the whole community to enjoy cleaner air.’
Speaking to The Standard, Ted Maxwell of Save Our Streets, said: ‘Thousands of local residents will be extremely pleased and relieved that the Court of Appeal has ruled that the decision to remove our popular low traffic neighbourhood was unlawful.
‘This is a victory for local people who came together when they saw that their community stood to lose the safer streets they really value.
‘This means the Mayor of Tower Hamlets must now accept that our safer streets are here to stay and he should look for a better use of £2.5m of public funds.’
Photo: Matt Seymour
In related news:
Council advances legal proceedings due to ‘reckless’ tree felling
Leave a Reply