Dear friends
As you know, the Council have re-made the Lower Lansdown ETRO, and propose to insert the bollards on Winifred’s Lane on Wednesday 6 November.
Our position all along has been that the scheme is unsafe, for the following reasons:
It will divert traffic along Sion Hill (West) / Sion Road, endangering pedestrians (including schoolchildren) on what is already an unsafe route with five blind corners and narrow and in places insufficient pavements for pedestrians and buggies;
It will divert traffic along Julian Road and Morford Street, increasing congestion and endangering schoolchildren walking to St Andrew’s School on roads where the congestion and accident rate is already high;
It does the opposite of what an LTN should do; rather than taking cars away from pedestrians and houses this intervention puts cars on routes with more of both, increasing risk;
In making the section of Winifred’s Lane below Somerset Lane two-way, and encouraging its use by cyclists, mobility scooters and pedestrians, it will bring cyclists, at a speed of 20mph, directly into contact with cars coming up Winifreds Lane to access Holywell House, and due to the narrow width of the lane, require cars and lorries to reverse into the junction with Cavendish Road with inadequate visibility on a significant gradient.
We have used raised funds to take further legal advice, including from a senior King’s Counsel, and also to commission a safety report - which confirms our concerns. We continue to consider another challenge in the High Court within the six week challenge period. The legal position and safety report have been shared with the Council who are now on notice of both the illegality of the new Order and the dangerous nature of the scheme. Please contact us for more information.
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