Tales from Campaigning: The Peril of Low Traffic Neighbourhoods

It was a cold Hilary morning in deepest, darkest Cowley. The OUCA contingent had bravely set out to help the East Oxford Conservatives understand the views of residents on local issues. 

‘Bravely’ is by no means an understatement. The unsuspecting OUCA members were faced with an onslaught of very opinionated and heated citizens at every door. However, it appeared that one issue in particular was, to quote one gentleman, ruining their lives.  

 The issue in question was that of the Low Traffic Neighbourhoods, or LTNs, currently being trialled in the area. In essence, this means some residential areas are cut off from through traffic in order to reduce the number of cars using the roads to save time on their journeys. This has the happy advantage of allowing residents a safer and more peaceful street. 

 At least in theory. Although the trial initially received a lot of positive encouragement, the results would now appear to be nothing short of disastrous. The plan, though seemingly logical, began to fall apart due to the simple oversight that, as the cars cutting through were now forced to re-join the main roads, locals were lumbered with far worse traffic and congestion.

 Many a resident jumped at the chance to fill out our leaflets in order to express their avid hatred for this scheme and the detrimental effect it had had upon their lives. While we were warned in our car ride to the far-flung area of Littlemore of the somewhat dim view held by many to this new policy, we were, perhaps, not prepared for the scale of the residential hatred towards the LTNs. One local resident, disregarding her husband’s protestations at our blue ribbons, enthusiastically requested a survey to convey her feelings. A short time later, so did her neighbour. 

 Beneath the hilarities, there is a serious political point. It would appear that many people are quite willing to consider changing the way they vote in order to eradicate this measure taken by the current Council.

 Indeed, if you are one of those people who frequents Twitter, you may have happened upon “@CowleyLtn” in your scrolling. If not, here is an example: ‘United against the LTN’s in Cowley, which divide, discriminate and gentrify our home.’ One Liberal Democrat councillor comes under fire for not listening to people, after asserting that consultations are being undertaken to evaluate the effectiveness of the LTNs. A disgruntled resident states: ‘Except if you’re in Cowley, then we will patronise you by making promo videos to show *you just don’t understand it.*’

 This also affects other parties. Labour candidates running are having a poor time of things due to their inability to respond to this issue. That an image circulating Twitter reads ‘The H in Labour stands for honesty’ speaks volumes about the importance to local residents of frankness around LTNs. 

 And so, it would appear that our friends over at the Oxford East Conservatives have hit on a popular and perhaps election-winning policy. As left-wing parties put environmental policy above the concerns of local residents, an opportunity arises for Conservatives to stand up for communities against ideologues. All in all, it was a most interesting day of campaigning.