Agenda item

To receive any questions from members of the public which have been submitted in advance of the meeting in accordance with the cabinet procedure rules. The deadline for the receipt of public questions is midnight Tuesday 4 July 2023.

1.  Bridget Furst

Going forward, will research and reports created by Dr Anna Goodman be considered unbiased by Southwark Council (given her apology for tearing down a poster in a shop in West Dulwich which was against Low Traffic Neighbourhoods)? 

Response by Councillor James McAsh, Cabinet Member for Climate Emergency, Clean Air and Streets

Councillor James McAsh responded by explaining that all transport policy is based on a broad evidence base and expressed the importance of democracy and the fair exchange of ideas through debate.

2.  Clive Rates

Following his letters to the e-bike and scooter operators active in Southwark, can Council Leader Williams confirm how many disruptively parked e-bikes and scooters Southwark has since removed and stored, and will he accept responsibility as Leader if these steps fail to resolve the issue?

Response by the Leader

Councillor Kieron Williams responded to the question at the meeting by highlighting the positive benefits of e-bikes and the position that the council currently relies on voluntary agreements with the providers. Actions are being taken by the council by informing the providers when bicycles need to be removed (and have been undertaken within a two hour time-frame). Work and effort to resolve the issues will continue.

3.  Jane Lyons (Clive Rates asked question on behalf of Jane Lyons)

Councillor James McAsh claims the ‘Movement Plan 2019’ justifies imposing a borough-wide CPZ, overruling required local consultations.  Does he accept that with only 1,025 consultee responses from over 300,000 Southwark residents, the Plan gives him no such mandate and in fact should be redone, being nearly five years old?

Response by Councillor James McAsh, Cabinet Member for Climate Emergency, Clean Air and Streets

Councillor James McAsh explained that the pledge was made in 2019. The council has also since this time consulted on for example the climate action plan which has shown the desire for healthier and safer forms of transport and cleaner air to enable residents to walk and cycle and socialise/play in a safe environment.

The following public questions were also received:

4.  Richard Newell

Since borough-wide CPZ was not a manifesto policy and since the public consultation on the Movement Plan did not ask for the public's views on the idea of controlled parking, will the cabinet accept that the general public in Southwark has never agreed to the idea of a borough-wide CPZ?

5.  Linda Bird

In Southwark’s final ‘equality impact assessment’ covering Dulwich LTN, used as evidence to make the scheme permanent, four academic research papers by Anna Goodman are cited and relied on. Given the recent Telegraph article questioning her integrity and impartiality, will Southwark now revisit this assessment.

6.  Alex Hamilton

In his 2021 paper ‘Tackling the Climate Emergency Together’, Councillor Leader Williams promised as an ‘immediate action’ to ‘Review the 11 existing LTNs over the next 18 months including impact on carbon emissions.’  When will Southwark publish this data, rather than traffic counts and air quality monitoring data? 

7.  Tristan Honeyborne

Can the cabinet member for streets direct me to where in the Dulwich Village Phase 2 consultation report his claim ‘the feedback… was supportive in relation to the objectives of the permanent scheme at the junction of Calton Avenue and Dulwich Village’ is evidenced; the report showed no such support?

As the questioners were not in attendance, the leader confirmed that arrangements would be made for responses to be sent after the meeting.