Hundreds of people to attend Bournville & Cotteridge Low Traffic Neighbourhood consultation

Birmingham City Council hopes to extend the Places for People plan - also known as Low Traffic Neighbourhood (LTN) - to all of Bournville and Cotteridge.

Low Traffic Neighbourhood is a scheme where cars use is restricted on residential streets with roads blocked to through traffic and speed limits introduced. Sustrans says this allows people to safely travel on foot and on cycle. But LTNs have caused a lot of controversy in Birmingham districts.

In Moseley and Kings Heath - when LTN was introduced during the pandemic - there was resistance, particularly from many businesses who experienced issues with footfall and delivery levels. It is set to become a permanent measure in these two districts in November 2023.

Temporary LTN measures were introduced in Bournville in 2020 when large planters and bollards were planced on Oak Tree Lane and Franklin Road in Bournville to prevent motorised vehicles from using these side streets to cut through and avoid main roads.

However, the announcement that the LTN scheme would be extended further in Bounville and Cotteridge earlier this month has met with resistance from many residents in the two areas and hundreds of people are expected to attend a drop in session in Bournville on Saturday (June 24).

The meet will take place at Dame Elizabeth Hall from 10am to 1pm and prior booking is not required. Members of the team, including Birmingham Cabinet Member for Transport Cllr Liz Clements, will be present for residents to ask questions and give feedback.

This LTN plan comes after the council announced its intention to make Birmingham city centre largely traffic free - eliminating through traffic - and reducing the use of private cars in out of town neighbourhoods by 2040.

The consultation for Bournville and Cotteridge Places for People is open until July 2 so that people can voice their concerns over it. Low Traffic Neighbourhoods (LTNs) limit access for cars on certain roads and restrict speeds to 20mph.

How residents responded to Bournville and Cotteridge LTN plan

One Bournville business owner, Dhruv Sharma of Mary Vale News & Wines, previously told BirminghamWorld: “This is bad for us and I don’t agree with it personally. We will be writing against it. They intend to introduce one-way system to Mary Vale Rd. We will have to take a longer route to get to the same destination and that will cause more pollution.”

Another resident, who wishes to stay anonymous, said: “Traffic would be diverted to other areas but it would. So it’s not going to actually mean that people have more space to walk or cycle or anything like that and as well as that it will mean that there’s more pollution.”