New 20 mph zones should be decided locally.

Emphasising the importance of her role, the new Transport Secretary Louise Haigh believes that the decision to introduce road calming and safety schemes, such as 20 mph zones, in England, should be made by local communities, not her department.

Clearing the air

The issue of Low-Traffic Neighbourhoods (LTNs) became politicised in the run-up to the last election, when Prime Minister Rishi Sunak called such schemes “hare-brained” and ordered a review.

Conservative ministers had sought to tighten up rules to ensure councils had the support of local residents and businesses.

The new Labour transport secretary told the Streets Ahead podcast: “Local authorities will have my full support to roll out schemes.”

Confusing signs

Under the last government, the Department for Transport published a draft statutory guidance for councils in March.

It stated that whilst LTNs could provide “some benefits”, it stressed the importance of “engaging effectively with the whole community” over proposals.

The schemes aim to reduce traffic in residential streets, improving access for pedestrians and cyclists.

These have been set up in various cities in recent years, including London, Bristol, Birmingham and Bournemouth.

Tens of millions of pounds of government funding has been provided to councils since 2020, though a number of schemes have since been scrapped.

Speed limits of 20mph are designed to reduce the severity of injuries suffered in accidents.

Street warfare

Speaking on the podcast, Ms Haigh said she wanted to move away from the previous government’s “culture wars.”

She said the previous government had invested heavily in active travel during the Covid pandemic but then taken “the money away again”.

This had left many local authorities “in limbo and paralysis,” stirring up anger between motorists, communities, and local authorities.

“It’s really, really difficult for local authorities when they’ve not got that air cover from government,” she said.

“And not only did they not have the air cover, they had the government actively working against them saying ‘No, you’re not allowed to roll out 20mph zones, no, you’re not allowed to roll out LTNs’.

“Those kinds of decisions should absolutely be made at a local level by communities and not dictated to or stoked up by the centre.”

Careful considerations

While pledging her support for local authorities to roll out schemes, she added: “It all has to be done with communities, absolutely, and the worst thing you can do is put the wrong schemes in because then it erodes that support, and they can be unsafe in some circumstances.”

Funding would, she said, be considered in the budget and comprehensive spending review.

Haigh added that they would not be “shying away from the target of getting 50% short journeys walking and cycling and that will have to be delivered by local authorities”.