• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer

News and entertainment worth sharing – York and North Yorkshire

  • News
  • Things to do
  • Radio
  • More
    • Food & drink
    • Business
  • About
    • Comments
    • Advertise
    • Contact us
  • Radio
  • WIN
  • Tonne of tins
  • Vouchers
  • Listen live »
Around the World in 80 days - York Theatre Royal

Lendal Bridge traffic ban: A tale of two cities

Traffic in Canterbury
Sun 8 Dec, 2013 @ 8.58 pm Opinion Jim Titheridge
Traffic next to the ancient Westgate Towers in Canterbury. Photographs: Get Canterbury Moving
Traffic next to the ancient Westgate Towers in Canterbury. Photographs: Get Canterbury Moving

Lendal Bridge Week

lendal-bridge-weekWe’re halfway through the six-month ban on private vehicles using Lendal Bridge between 10.30am to 5pm. This week YorkMix is running a series of articles from people with very different responses to the trial. What do you think? Comment below, Tweet us @theyorkmix or go to our Facebook page

jim-titheridge-headshotCanterbury resident and campaigner Jim Titheridge explains what York can learn from his city’s traffic trial


A couple of years ago, Canterbury City Council decided to trial a new road system that would mean closing Westgate Towers, the ancient gateway to the city.

They also planned to widen pavements in the quaint little village suburb of St Dunstan’s just outside the city walls to encourage more footfall for traders. They would close a couple of roads and planned that everything would flow seamlessly along a road called Station Road West.

Their motivations were many and noble: a reduction in pollution, tidier street scenes, less congestion. Who could resist?

Well, a few did. Initially, there was a general sense of curiosity about the scheme and its effects. In the absence of any traffic modelling, it was an unknown quantity, but this was just a trial so why not suck it and see?

We couldn’t have been more wrong. The first day brought what many of the naysayers predicted and worse. Drivers were confused, gridlocked, frustrated and angry.

Part of the new layout provided what the council called a “shared space”. Unfortunately, this turned out to be a space shared by soft, squishy pedestrians and hard, fast cars.

A controlled crossing was also removed, making access virtually impossible for visually-impaired and disabled people. Eventually, someone was knocked over and seriously injured.

The campaign begins

Local resident Steve Coombs set up a Facebook group demanding that the trial be stopped. He expected 20 or 30 people – friends and family – and was shocked when more than 1,000 signed up in support.

Three months into the trial – during a particularly quiet time in Canterbury’s year – the traffic was worse around the entire city. It was clear that the road closures were having an enormous knock-on effect.

Well, of course they were. Traffic doesn’t dissolve, it just takes another route.

One evening around a pub table, Steve Coombes, Brian Buggins, Marcus and Jules Bentley and a local councillor sat down and decided to make a stand. They started attending council transport meetings, put in requests to speak and encouraged others to attend and support them. And the people came.

Petitioning the council

Meanwhile, Brian discovered you could force a council debate on a given issue if you produced a petition of at least 3,000 names. In the end, he got more than 4,000 signatures.

The day of the council meeting came and The Guildhall was packed with local people. The petition was handed in and the chamber agreed to debate it for 20 minutes along with a second petition supporting the trial which was signed by just 23 people.

This is when Get Canterbury Moving was born. It wasn’t just about the roads; it was about questioning what seemed to be a foregone conclusion.

Some cyclists, green campaigners and business focus groups came out in favour of the changes. Others supported the council’s scheme because it meant a significant rise in the value of their house.

And in the meantime, the trial continued and the traffic got no better. Politicians declared it a success and public resentment grew and grew.

Traffic in Canterbury
Traffic in Canterbury

Trouble on the buses

Stagecoach, our local subsidised bus company, announced that unless the trial continued it would be unable to provide a bus service to the suburb of St Dunstan’s due to European Union legislation.

Canterbury Independent Traders Association (CITA), set up to represent local traders, demanded to know what laws would stop it. Stagecoach said it wanted to continue using the profitable route but needed a change in the road layout as its vehicles were too wide to fit through Westgate Towers.

Finally it was clear. It wasn’t all about cutting pollution, saving the towers or easing congestion – there was a commercial angle too.

Focusing on pollution

In the meantime, Get Canterbury Moving (GCM) began learning the laws, regulations and methodology of pollution monitoring to challenge the council’s findings.

Of course, pollution decreased in the roads that were closed, but what about the surrounding highways? A councillor claimed in the local media that pollution had been cut by 50 per cent. GCM asked where he got his figures from. He eventually admitted he didn’t know.

As the trial drew to a close, local people were asked to fill in a consultation document drawn up by the council. GCM had the document analysed by experts at the University of Kent, who declared it biased and poorly constructed.

Despite this, the council used statistics gleaned from its questionnaire to extend the trial.

Focusing on pollution

Then, from nowhere, the county council, responsible for local highways, forced the city council to abandon the trial. The original road layout was mostly restored and traffic seemed to run better than before.

Pollution levels also improved, partly because Stagecoach carried out its plan to stop running buses through St Dunstan’s.

We’d won! Only, we hadn’t really. Post-election, the county council decided to run a proper consultation with a steering and re-generation committee and nominated stakeholders.

GMC was a designated stakeholder, but our 4,000 petition signatures and 1,000 members only secured us one vote and no access to committee meetings, which were held in private.

And so the fight goes on.

This trial has revealed far more about our city council and the disparity between executive members and those they were elected to represent than anyone could have predicted.

On a positive note, it’s also motivated large numbers of residents to get involved, to go to council meetings and to put councillors under real scrutiny.

How to run a campaign

Organise
Use social media, create co-ordinated groups on Facebook and Twitter, set up a website, keep people informed and build up numbers.

Delegate
One person can’t do everything. Find what you’re good at and do it, then find what other people are good at and encourage them to do that.

Talk
Start a dialogue with other groups and campaigners, find common ground, learn more about your community and feel encouraged that other people feel like you do.

Question
Don’t accept what you’re told, ask for evidence, use Freedom Of Information requests, get the details, don’t be fobbed off and insist that all statistics are sourced and verified.

Co-ordinate
Meet at least once a month, set actions (and do them), have an agenda, be flexible and know your ideal outcome (so you celebrate when you achieve it).

Engage
Go to council meetings, speak out, question members, tell them how unhappy you and your group are, hold them to account and remind them who pays their wages.

Grow
Find new allies, talk to the local papers (fill their letters’ pages), meet with councillors who support your views and go higher to city or county level.


  • More on the Get Canterbury Moving campaign on their website. on Twitter and their Facebook page
  • For all our Lendal Bridge stories, click here

 

Sun 8 Dec, 2013

1 Comment
Newest
Oldest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Carl Day
9 years ago

We are currently fighting Cheltenham Borough Council who are also pushing through a ‘Transport Plan’ motivated primarily for commercial reasons. They DID NOT do a trial and had it not been for our petition this would have been pushed through on the NOD. We were disappointed that although we demonstrated a strong and logical argument that seemed to get support from many councillors, these councillors then voted in favour of the plan. It is now undergoing a TRO (Traffic Regulation Order). Any advice or tips would be welcome.

0

Footer

YorkMix
News 01904 848 766
Email YorkMix news »
5-6 King's Court, Shambles, York  YO1 7LD
YorkMix Radio
General enquiries 01904 375 029
Studio/competitions 01904 375 030
Email YorkMix Radio »
Selby Superbowl, Bawtry Road, Selby  YO8 8NA
YorkMix is a trading name of YorkMix Media Ltd
Registered in England
Company number: 07814727
VAT number: 154 0364 34
© York Sound Ltd

Copyright © 2023 YorkMix Media Ltd

We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies.
Cookie settingsACCEPT
Manage consent

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Non-necessary
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
SAVE & ACCEPT
wpDiscuz