Conservative leader Gio Spinella does not believe Finchley Road and other red routes should see speed limits reduced

THE council leadership stood accused of adopting an “anti-car ideology” last night (Monday) after backing plans for a 20 miles per hour speed limit on ‘red routes’.

But the Tories – almost completely obliterated in last year’s local elections – found themselves with only two votes in the council chamber in support of their opposition to the measure.

Labour, the Liberal Democrats and Camden’s sole Green councillor all support London Mayor Sadiq Khan’s proposed speed reduction. His plan is to have the new limit in place on all of the red routes by the end of next year.

Conservative group leader Councillor Gio Spinella said that while he had supported Camden’s decision to cap speeds at 20 mph on council-managed roads more than a decade ago, it was now being forgotten what red routes were first installed for.

“It must be said that the idea that you can simply wish traffic away is, in my opinion, quite frankly naive,” he said. “Twenty miles per hour simply increases congestion, increases the time for freight, for public transport, and therefore just adds more congestion and more pollutants into the atmosphere.”

Finchley Road [Berrely]

Cllr Spinella later added: “London still needs its buses, it still needs its trucks, it needs its cars to continue and we do not feel the Mayor’s strategy addresses the fact that cars aren’t going anywhere.”

His deputy, Tory councillor Andrew Parkinson, told the ruling Labour group: “If Camden supports  this, it seems to be yet another example of an anti-car ideology”, adding: “Finchley Road is a major route into London: it’s not just used by cars but also by a number of buses, coaches, construction traffic and emergency vehicles. Lowering the speed limit to 20 miles per hour, whilst no doubt well intentioned, will result in gridlock.

“Air pollution will get worse as vehicles get stuck in long queues and it’s inevitable that drivers will choose instead to rat run through residential roads in South Hampstead, Frognal West Hampstead and Fortune Green, which aren’t suited for large volumes of traffic – not least for pedestrian safety reasons.”

Labour councillor Lloyd Hatton said the changes would save lives

Cllr Parkinson said Mr Khan, Transport for London and the council should improve safety with a focus on better crossings that are “pedestrian signalised with green men” rather cutting speeds.

He told the chamber: “Existing crossings such as those at Frognal Lane, West End Lane, Platts lane and Arkwright Road are dangerous, but not because of the speed that cars are turning off Finchley road which is often at 20 miles per hour or below but because there’s no dedicated time for pedestrians to cross.”

The Tories only have three councillors in the chamber now, however, and their third member Stephen Stark had already left the meeting by the time of the all-member debate and then a vote.

Even if he had still been in the room, the Conservatives would have been overwhelmed as the other parties joined together to amend a Tory motion opposing the changes into one of support.

Sadiq Khan wants a 20mph limit enforced on all red routes

Environment chief Labour councillor Adam Harrison said: “The motion makes specific mention of Finchley Road and our data suggests it actually has the highest speeds of all the major red routes in the borough. Without 20mph on Finchley Road, it is therefore not nearly as safe for our residents as it possibly could be and this should be uppermost in our minds.”

He added that it was one of the very few areas that he had agreed with former London Mayor and Prime Minister Boris Johnson – who had in the past extolled the virtues of reducing speeds.

“Slowing the speeds is just the first step towards transforming busy roads into liveable places,” said Cllr Harrison.

“Camden will be responding in favour of TfL’s proposals for 20 mph on our remaining red routes. Safety for all is a priority for this administration.”

Labour chief whip Councillor Lloyd Hatton said: “They may call it an anti-motorist ideology, which is frankly a bizarre accusation. This is all about boosting road safety. Unless we reduce the speed limit on some of our most dangerous roads such as Finchley Road, which we know is something of a black spot for horrific incidents for cyclists, for example, then we’re going to see more and more deaths and casualties.”

He added: “We need to see proactive measures like reducing the speed limit to 20 mph on every single road, including our red routes in this borough, if we are to save more lives and reduce the number of casualties in our borough. It’s as simple as that.”

Liberal Democrat councillor Linda Chung said: “I live just off Finchley Road and it’s an absolute nightmare. The speeding traffic along there, when it’s not the rush hour, is really horrific – and it’s very dangerous for children because it’s a cross point between West Hampstead to Frognal and Hampstead for the local schools.”

She added: “I am concerned by the congestion along there and I think if and when we talk to TfL about this, and the Mayor, we do really need some better traffic lights. The traffic lights along there are the ones that cause congestion, because they don’t sync, they’re not in safe places.

“It would be terrific if the cabinet member could take this forward to TfL and say ‘please can we have more crossings’ and ‘please make them better coordinated and more accessible to pedestrians’ because going from one spot to another to find the safe place to cross is an absolute nightmare.”

Green councillor Sian Berry said: “I very firmly believe that all roads where we have people walking, cycling, living or shopping should have been 20 mph a very long time ago.

“On the London Assembly, my colleague, Caroline Russell, put a motion to do exactly that on every red route that had any kind of people activity or any kind of pavement in the whole of London, to the London Assembly in 2018. Neither the Conservative group nor the Labour group supported that motion then, so I’m really glad to see that the Labour party and Sadiq Khan have come around to this thinking.

She added: “If it had come in years ago, it would have saved many, many lives and had many benefits.”