Political game-playing by Brighton and Hove’s Labour administration has denied residents the huge health benefits of the greener, traffic-calmed streets, that have been implemented elsewhere by more courageous Labour councils. They scrapped the city’s first liveable neighbourhood trial in Hanover and Tarner, disregarding proven ways to curb car use and clean air, throwing away years of work by councillors, council officers and consultants.
Community buy-in is vital to traffic reduction schemes. As ward councillor, a transport committee member and later co-chair, I was at the heart of discussions, listening to residents’ ideas and concerns. I hosted webinars, giving residents opportunities to ask questions to guest presenters about healthy streets initiatives.
One webinar considered ways to improve neighbourhoods so disabled people can navigate pavements and shops. I kickstarted a children’s poster initiative with schools, exhibiting ‘My Dream Street’ drawings in the city’s main library, inviting people to visualise their ideal street. Our community web page allowed people to share ideas and I regularly met with local champions. Many became ‘street reps’ across the area, encouraging wider, grass roots engagement on liveable neighbourhood plans through WhatsApp groups.
I met with local businesses, nurseries and schools. I provided updates in local publications and through a community leaflet, regularly posting on social media and responding to residents’ questions. This was prior to and alongside three rounds of council-led engagement, as we worked towards a design that most would accept.
Hanover Action, a sustainability-focused community group
The Brighton story actually began in 2020, when the previous Labour Council Administration granted a request by Hanover Action, a sustainability-focused community group, for the council to explore a liveable neighbourhood scheme trial. This aligned with a top recommendation from the city’s 2020 Climate Assembly for the ‘creation of healthier low traffic/pedestrianised communities’. The following month, the Greens gained minority leadership of Brighton and Hove City Council and the area earmarked for the trial was extended south to incorporate Tarner, a less affluent area with low car ownership
As we prepared, we already knew that measures to discourage car use are often met with fierce resistance, so those introducing liveable neighbourhood schemes (also known as Low Traffic Neighbourhoods) must be brave. We also knew that the Government’s own report highlighted the effectiveness of these schemes in “reducing traffic volumes within internal roads” while “improving air quality on external roads”, leading to “improved road safety”. The report demonstrated that a concern of some Hanover residents – that traffic would increase on boundary roads – was unlikely to play out and, anyway, Brighton and Hove Council planned to monitor this closely throughout the pilot.
Rebalancing public space to make walking, wheeling and cycling easier increases freedom, allowing more people to travel actively, safely and cheaply. The idea is that by making short car journeys less convenient, driving drops, and with it, harmful emissions that pollute our air. Despite detractors’ claims, the schemes are designed to allow all properties to be accessible by car. Once implemented, residents would enjoy the greener communities with better social spaces. The health of those switching to cleaner, more active ways to travel improves too.
Benefits to quality of life, health and the environment
In the many national events I attended on implementing LTNs, advocates stressed the importance of listening to residents (not treating a consultation as a referendum) as, unless interventions are trialled, their benefits to quality of life, health and the environment can’t be known. The quiet streets and pocket parks in Waltham Forest, London, were a huge inspiration. All transport committee councillors were invited to visit the LTN schemes there, but only Greens took up the offer.
By early 2023, we had an updated design of the pilot, ready to be presented to the transport committee. Aspects of the previous iteration found unpopular in the council’s consultation had been changed. The accompanying report acknowledged concerns of residents living on roads bordering the scheme. It outlined plans for more crossings and greenery there. The report also clarified plans for engagement around the new design.
Yet the public never saw it.
Labour withdrew their support and became critics of the scheme. Backed by the Tories, they then removed funding for the pilot from the council’s budget. With the funding axed, the report could not be released. Despite overwhelming evidence that these schemes work, Labour, fearing the pilot might be a vote loser, got cold feet.
As the local elections loomed, they chose to jump ship, later doubling down on their anti-LTN stance, vowing to stop the pilot scheme if they won. They started calling it a ‘Green vanity project’, removing references to their previous support from their website. In a now deleted website post, Labour alleged that the scheme was “poorly designed, poorly placed and rushed through” even though the new design had yet to be seen and engagement was ongoing.
Unfortunately for the Greens (and for the wellbeing of residents), after winning a majority in the local elections, Labour indeed ditched the whole idea. The opportunity to create a blueprint for safer, healthier streets across our city was lost.
Low-traffic schemes have enormous health benefits
Later, in March 2024, I attended the council’s Transport committee, to ask whether Labour might reconsider the scheme, in the light of strong evidence from the Government report and a six-year study showing that low-traffic schemes have enormous health benefits. The committee’s response was that research has shown a ‘mixed picture’ of the impact of LTNs when, in fact, the government’s report had shown anything but!
Labour’s flip-flopping on the scheme and other sustainable transport initiatives has been noticed nationally. The London Cycling Campaign called Brighton and Hove Labour out on “promoting myths” around LTNs and “ignoring established evidence”, suggesting they “seek expertise among Labour councils”. Meanwhile, Road.cc described the Labour Administration as “actively against active travel”.
Soon after taking office in 2023 the new administration halted a funded scheme to make cycling safer along Hove seafront, just as work was about to begin. In 2021, they ignored council officers’ advice, voting with Conservatives to remove a temporary cycle lane on the Old Shoreham Road, designed to keep children and commuters on cycles safe.
More recently, Labour disbanded the Active and Inclusive Travel Forum, reducing the voice of sustainable transport advocates on highways projects in the city. They’ve even abandoned plans for cleaner air through an expanded ULEZ, against the recommendations of the city’s Air Quality Action Plan, which they themselves voted for in 2022.
Towards a sensible transport policy
Thankfully, before the 2023 election, the Greens had managed to implement residents’ requests to ban dangerous pavement parking on Elm Grove, despite Labour’s attempts to delay it. Thanks to our dialogue with residents on introducing greening and more crossings there, some work is still planned, although Labour have scaled back funding.
It’s sad that tribal politics have scuppered a policy that would have had far-reaching benefits for the city’s residents and could have helped to address the worrying levels of air pollution here. Healthy streets campaigners now need to regroup and push hard for action to make our city’s neighbourhoods greener, cleaner, safer and less choked by cars.
Let’s hope a new Labour government prioritises a transport policy that aligns with that of Waltham Forest rather than Brighton and Hove Labour.
Biographical information
Elaine Hills is a lecturer at the University of Brighton and the Green Party parliamentary candidate for Brighton Kemptown & Peacehaven. She was a Green ward councillor in Hanover and Elm Grove, Brighton from 2019-2023. From 2022-2023, she co-chaired of the city’s Environment, Transport and Sustainability Committee.
Twitter/X: @Elaine4Kemptown
Facebook: facebook.com/elainecampaign
Email: Elaine.Hills@greenparty.org.uk
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