A hustings meeting ahead of the local elections was labelled “absolute chaos” as residents piled into the Kings Heath community centre last night. The Kings Heath Residents Forum organized the event to give residents a chance to question local councillors. This included questions on the hugely unpopular Low Traffic Neighbourhood scheme.
Turnout of angry residents exceeded the original capacity for the event which was later changed to allow more people to voice their concerns. Ann Lavin, a local resident said: “It was absolute chaos when we arrived…there were some people on the door saying that there were no seats left.
“Then I said can we stand in the garden and you can open the windows or have the PA system and they said ‘well we thought about doing that but it’s too cold outside.’ I said well I don’t mind standing outside.
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“We kept being told that we had to go home…and then somebody went off and phoned somebody on the management committee and he came back and said, ‘100 people are allowed in the room’ and then suddenly they started letting people through. But it was absolute chaos. By then there was a queue of people waiting outside.
“Basically, the LTN is our Brexit round here, it really divides communities. Most of the roads that are closed off are where the richer houses are so the poor people are getting the effects of the increased pollution.”
A Facebook group, set up to channel residents’ concerns about the LTNs has reached over 2,000 members. However, when residents showed up to voice their concerns, they were told that the chairperson had already decided the questions.
Chairperson Mr Achim Jung said: “I know that many people here have come because they want to hear about the existing LTN and any future LTNs. In fact, I was a little bit worried that it would be a one topic meeting. It will be three questions on LTNs that have been formulated by me which I hope represent the main worries or concerns that people have.”
Mrs Lavin said “The chair stood up and said that he had decided the three questions about the LTN. And I thought, well I’ve never been in a public meeting before and the chair decides the questions, and he was the one who was stopping people coming in at first.”
Candidates from the Conservative party, Labour Party, Liberal Democrats, Green Party and The Workers Party of Britain as well as one Independent answered the three questions about existing and future plans for the LTNs ahead of next week’s elections.
The LTNs were brought in to brought in to reduce air pollution however some residents say it has increased idle traffic.
Pete Ashcroft, another local resident said: “There’s no logic. Traffic is actually taken off the B4146 which is the main road and put onto the very roads that they want to take traffic away from. So we’re very upset about it.”
Brandwood and Kings Heath residents will go to the polls next week on Thursday, May 5.
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