Healthy Streets

This is one very badly thought out LTN. It may seem less relevant to readers of PGCN than the ones closer to Enfield but I used to travel to and from N21 as a carer for several years and the journeys I made there with disabled people will now be even more difficult and time consuming. This LTN effectively cuts off all car journeys from the north to the south side of the area. On St Anns road there is a hospital with specialist units including a women's dental treatment centre and also the Laurels blood test centre. For obvious reasons such as appointment timings I would avoid the main roads such as Green Lanes or Seven Sisters Road and go via faster routes such as Cornwall Road which has four or five parking spaces next to the blood test centre so that I could get a wheelchair bound person into the building easily. This will now be cut off. Alternatively to get to St Annes Hospital I would go via Black Boy Lane which is a B road and a bus route. I think it is fair to guess that other people from outside the borough have to make similar journeys and not all have Blue Badge exemption. I think this LTN will actually cause more issues for people living within the zone than outside but not enough thought has gone into considering all the situations where people may need vehicle access. Think I am correct in saying that Bowes and Fox Lane LTNs do not have hospitals or specialist medical centres within their boundaries. There is also a consultation going on about this LTN which I am not sure I saw a link published for but it will probably not matter as the scheme is being implemented in only a matter of days.

Hi Neil. I thought you thought all LTNs were badly thought out anyway. Maybe I'm wrong, but I thought you opposed anything that stops drivers going wherever they want and that you were part of the anti-bike lanes campaign back in the day.

The documentation on the Haringey Council website actually shows that much thought was given to the design.

That's the idea. The basic principle of all LTNs is to stop people using short cuts and make them use main roads - which is why cutting across north-south has been deliberately designed out - except for certain exemptions - see below.

As pointed out in my article, the scheme does allow certain people or vehicles, eg carers, to take those short cuts and their journeys will actually be easier on less congested roads.

Haringey have given much thought to cases like the one you describe - see the details of Individual Circumstance Exemptions on this page .

Specifically item 3, which says that exemptions are available for "A professional carer whose ability to transport a care recipient in a car or directly assist them with their care needs is significantly impaired by an LTN" - your case fits this exactly.

Under the heading "Why do we have this exemption?" it says:

"[E]nabling professional carers visiting an address in an LTN to administer care to a care recipient to register a motor vehicle for exemption to designated filters within that LTN". Exactly the use case you quote.

There isn't a consultation currently. There was a multiple-stage engagement process and consultation last year which is described in this report to the Haringey cabinet starting at para 6.27. The findings of the consultation are reflected in the final design.

The idea is to trial the scheme for a realistic amount of time and then start the statutory consultation so that any objections or proposed improvements are based on real experience and not just guesswork or prejudice. I think it starts in three months time, but I might be wrong.

Let me take a wild guess Basil, that you do not live on one of those roads that has taken the brunt of all that extra traffic.

What I’ve concluded after years of reading posts, such as this latest by Michael Mahony, is that no one outside of a vehicle appears to enjoy their presence, or alternatively expects others to. Maybe there’s something in that.

I noticed you did not answer my question. It’s very easy to think like that when you and your neighbours lives have not been blighted by extra traffic just so some people can have a quieter neighbourhood.
The selfishness of some people never ceases to amazes me. So much for the Palmers Green community.