Council officers were offered a day of ‘wellbeing leave’ to recover from a public meeting after outraged locals voiced concerns about plans for a LTN.
Lambeth Council held a drop in event at West Norwood library in April 2023, informing residents about the plans.
Locals were furious about the proposals and made their opinions known at the meeting.
Now a group of local anti-LTN campaigners has taken the council to the High Court to declare the proposals unlawful.
The LTN was introduced in West Dulwich around six months ago.
The barrister for Lambeth Council, Heather Sargeant, wrote that the meeting in 2023 brought councillors to tears and forced council staff to take a lunch break to ‘get away’ from the hostility from angry residents.
She wrote: ‘The experience of officers attending the event for the council (on a Saturday) was so negative that the then head of transport strategy and programmes offered them a day of wellbeing leave.’
The opponents to the LTN have criticised the council for a lack of public consultation and have argued this makes the proposal unlawful.
West Dulwich Service Station Ltd has brought the legal case against the council on behalf of the West Dulwich Action Group, which claims to represent around 1,000 residents who oppose the LTN.
A road closure feature as part of an LTN by Southwark Council preventing motorists from accessing the junction of Carlton Avenue and Dulwich Village
Anti-LTN campaigners from West Dulwich outside the High court in London
Charles Streeton, representing the LTN opponents told the High Court that council staff at the drop-in library event had a ‘horrid time’ in the meeting which ended up lasting six hours, The Standard reported.
He told the court his clients were not abusive but admitted there were some whose conduct was bordering on abusive.
However he said the strong opposition to the plans was representative of a large proportion of the community.
He claimed the council did not listen to the views of residents and tried to ‘bulldoze through’ with the introduction of the LTN.
Mr Streeton told the court that the way the library event had been organised was ‘shambolic’, as people who arrived at lunchtime could not participate while council officers took a break to escape the hostility.
This caused people to write their concerns on a scrap of paper instead of having them properly acknowledged, he said.
Ms Sargeant argued that the difficulties at the library event were not caused by the council.
She told the court the council consultation received 1,300 responses and argued the claim should be dismissed.
She said the council does not accept that the consultation was unfair to residents.
Lambeth Council introduced the Low Traffic Neighbourhood in West Dulwich last year
As previously reported, Legal documents listed various ‘failings’ by the council whilst gathering residents views on the LTN in West Dulwich, which it is claimed proved they ‘erred in law’.
Court documents, seen by The Telegraph, showed how Lambeth council’s consultation found 67.5 per cent of locals asked ‘were either unhappy or very unhappy’ with the LTN plan.
The submission said ‘the outcome of the consultation resulted in modifications to the scheme not to the principle of a LTN’, in defiance of 63.5 per cent saying they were ‘very unhappy’ with the idea.
Despite this feedback and the Government insisting that schemes should not go ahead if there is widespread opposition, Lambeth decided to push the plan through anyway, the submission claimed.
It also said Lambeth council’s consultation with its residents was unfair and irrational, partly because some councillors ‘refused to engage’ with The West Dulwich Action Group because it was simply deemed ‘anti-LTN’.
Many local tradesmen believe controlled parking and road closures may cause a reduction in footfall and fewer customers in their shops, with fears some will be forced to close.
