Judge partially upholds legal challenge of LTN by Dulwich campaign group

The High Court has partially ruled in favour of a campaign group’s legal challenge to a Low Traffic Neighbourhood (LTN) in Lambeth. The case was brought by West Dulwich Action Group (WDAG) acting through one of its members, West Dulwich Service Station Ltd, as a representative claimant.

Deputy High Court Judge Tim Smith found that Lambeth Council’s consultation on Experimental Traffic Orders (ETOs) was unfair and had not taken into account all material considerations. However, he dismissed two other grounds put forward by the campaign group. The Judge did not accept that the orders had failed to comply with its duties of consultation under regulation 6 of the Local Authorities Traffic Orders (Procedure) (England and Wales) Regulations 1996.

Judge Tim Smith has given both sides the opportunity to make “further submissions” on what should happen with the ETOs for the LTN.

On 6 August 2024, Lambeth Council approved two ETOs to prevent motorised traffic from entering, passing through or waiting within the part of Dulwich bounded by Croxted Road to the east and Norwood Road to the west.

A statutory consultation on the proposed ETOs began on 30 May 2024 and ended on 20 June. During the statutory consultation, an online meeting took place between the campaign group and the council on 3 June 2024.

WDAG said that throughout and after the consultation periods it made “numerous attempts” to engage with the council, which were initially ignored.  

It submitted a 53-page dossier of concerns and questions. Judge Tim Smith said: “Despite assurances to the contrary given to the claimant, the 53-page presentation did not form part of the council’s considerations in its decision to make the Orders. It should have done.

“Its content was highly relevant to the issues being deliberated upon and thus it was a material consideration.”

Key concerns raised in the dossier included: displacement of traffic onto boundary roads; incremental traffic being diverted onto already illegally polluted roads; and increasing rather than decreasing pollution.

The campaign group said it had collected data that showed the LTN “significantly increased journey times for a large majority of residents and visitors, outweighing any reduction from potentially fewer trips”.

WDAG also argued that the LTN cut off access to quieter, safer roads, which “would force traffic onto already burdened routes where 80% of local accidents occur, thus increasing – rather than reducing – the risk of collisions.”

“Overwhelming public opposition” was also ignored, said WDAG, pointing out that 67.5% of residents were against the scheme.

A WDAG spokesperson said: “This ruling sends a clear signal to all 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.  

“This should never have ended up in court. Lambeth Council chose to spend public funds fighting the very community it exists to serve, rather than sitting down with us to find a workable, locally supported solution.”

Cllr Rezina Chowdhury, Deputy Leader of Lambeth Council (Sustainable Lambeth and Clean Air), said: “We implemented the West Dulwich Street Improvements to reduce road danger and create a neighbourhood where residents can live safer, happier and healthier lives. This was part of our overall ambition to reduce road danger, encourage more active and sustainable travel, and improve air quality for communities across our borough.”

The council has acknowledged the High Court’s decision and is carefully considering the implications of this judgement, she said. “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.”