On 11 December, Conor Saunders, LBH&F Transportation and Highways Principal Engineer, responded to PRARA's formal complaint.
Besides taking 29 working days - almost double the required timeline of 15 working days - PRARA considers that the reply fails to address the substance of the Complaint and decided to request it to move to Stage 2, as set out in the Corporate Complaints Policy.
The full Mr. Saunders reply to PRARA Corporate Complaint is below:
Dear Mr. Williams,
Many thanks for writing to Ms Smith, who has asked me to respond, with regards to the South Fulham Traffic, Congestion and Pollution Reduction scheme (TCPR), formally referred to as the SW6 LTN scheme. Please accept my apologies for the time it has taken to respond to your letter.
The South Fulham TCPR has been developed as a trial scheme to reduce the number of out of borough residents using residential streets as a cut through to join main roads in and out of central London.
The first phase of the scheme was developed with a working party of residents from the east of Wandsworth Bridge Road (WBR), which formed after the closure of Harwood Terrace.
Since this was launched traffic monitoring data has shown a substantial reduction of traffic in the area and also a reduction of traffic on WBR.
The implementation of the scheme was delayed due to the Covid19 pandemic, and was launched in July 2020. Unfortunately, this coincided with unexpected works on Wandsworth Bridge and several other London bridges. These works caused traffic congestion on WBR due to the reduced capacity on the bridge.
Two further working parties have been formed, including residents and businesses of WBR and the Wandsworth Bridge Road Association, and with residents from west of WBR, including members of the Peterborough Road & Area Residents Association.
Within recent Working Party meetings, officers have presented proposals to introduce the next phase of the scheme to the west of WBR and measures for WBR. To ensure there is supported from residents, officers have met several times to address concerns and allow time for consideration.
Support for the progression of the scheme has been noted, and as the proposals are finalised, it is intended to bring the three working parties together in January 2021 to agree the proposals for South Fulham.
A series of townhall events will follow, to allow a wider engagement with all residents in South Fulham. This will be accompanied by a detailed leaflet and online media to outline the proposals and application of the measures.
Thank you again for taking the time to letter, and apologies for the delay in responding. I hope this and the meetings you and members of PRARA have attended has addressed your concerns, however please do not hesitate to contact me should you require any further information.
Kind regards,
Conor
Conor Saunders
Principal Engineer
Transportation and Highways
Hammersmith & Fulham Council
conor.saunders@lbhf.gov.uk