Bournville residents react to Birmingham City Council’s Low Traffic Neighbourhood plans

Dozens of Bournville residents attended a public consultation about the Places for People scheme held by Birmingham City Council today (June 24).

Birmingham City Council intends to extend the Places for People plan - also known as Low Traffic Neighbourhood (LTN) - to all of Bournville and Cotteridge, and not all residents are pleased.

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 such as Kings Heath and Moseley.

LTN was introduced during the pandemic in Kings Heath and Moseley and it was met with 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.

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

Mary Vale Road and Beaumont Road both will become one-way streets, if the plan goes through. Other changes include, 15 new zebra crossings, including on Station Road, as well as six new signalled crossings.

As per the plan, speed limits are set at 20mph and more modal filters would be introduced. It would stop vehicles from driving through a section of a road but those on foot or on a cycle will be able to use the roads.

What happened at Places for People public consultation

Earlier this month, after Birmingham City Council announced it plans to make it permanent in Bournville and Cotteridge residents have been sharing their frustration about it.

So, we visited the public consultation held today (June 24) at the Dame Elizabeth Hall in Bournville where Councillors Liz Clements - the Cabinet Member for Transport - and Fred Grindgrod were also present.

The council had set up several tables where Liz Clements and city planners were taking questions and feedback from the residents.

Some residents said that there were no figures about how much street traffic was currently present on Mary Vale Street - one of the main streets in the area which is set to become a one-way street.

One resident, Peter Kenny from Woodlands Park Road, told us that their road is very busy and they are concerned about safety.

“We shared our feedback and the councillors seemed to listen but we don’t know if it will make a difference,” he said.

Another resident - Noel - said: “Traffic is horrendous and not a lot of thought was given to this plan.”

Councillor Gindgrod - who engaged with people while they waited to see the planners - explained that the current plan is not the final draft and the feedback will be taken seriously.

He also added that the council hopes to create more public spaces and regenerate the current ones such as Bournville Village Green - which was named one of the best in Britain.

Some residents like Jay Singh just wanted to understand the plan better as the published schema blocked out the names of the roads it would affect.

A Better Streets for Birmingham representative - who was at the meeting - said that the plan was not “ambitious enough”.