Traffic plans divide locals
Moves to restrict roads and cut congestion prove hit and miss for bosses
ABUSINESSWOMAN fears that council plans to tackle congestion and stop rat runs in Birmingham’s Kings Heath will hit her party shop business hard.
Julie Piras, who runs Balloon Away, fears she could be forced to shut up shop after 18 years if trade dips. And other pessimistic traders predict a nightmare if the area becomes a “ghost town”.
The Kings Heath Low Traffic Neighbourhood (LTN) plan is part of the council’s new Places for People project to reduce traffic in residential neighbourhoods so that it is safer for people to walk and cycle.
“In many parts of Birmingham, residents find their streets are busy with traffic, particularly when people are ‘rat running’ to avoid main roads,” says the council. “When traffic is reduced the neighbourhood becomes quieter, the air is cleaner, and streets feel safer.”
On the far side of the nearby York Road, craft beer bar owner Thomas Mee and other nearby hospitality businesses have a rosier view about the plan. Mr Mee said: “I think York Road’s pedestrianisation would be great for business. I just don’t see a negative to it.
“A lot of people have complained about it, but it is only a trial period and if it doesn’t go well then we can reassess, but for the time being I think it is great for Kings Heath.”
Such diverse views illustrate the dilemma for Kings Heath Business Improvement District which represents some 300 local businesses and has an annual budget of around £120,000.
The BID has a board of directors with ex-councillor Martin Mullaney as town centre manager.
The city council recently published plans to restrict car access to many side streets from the end of August. A similar scheme is to be implemented in Lozells, as also reported in the Post.
The plans are so divisive that the BID had to employ a PR company to issue a statement to try to keep all its members on side.
Its official statement said: “This has all happened very quickly, and we’re still in the process of discussing the matter with the businesses here in Kings Heath.
“There has been a very mixed response so far and nobody knows for certain how this experiment will pan out. From what we understand, this will be a trial experiment and the community will be invited to provide feedback to help modify the plans as the experiment goes along.
“If the results prove that this has had a negative effect on the area then it’s hard to see how this would become a permanent fixture.
“All we can do for our businesses is to help give them a voice; to help signpost where they can find all of the information, how they can consult and engage with the council, and to make sure that their opinions are heard.”
But a comment posted on the BID’s own website, Enjoy Kings Heath, illustrates the real pressure the board is under. It said: “Can I ask that you refrain from giving the Directors (and the Town Centre Manager) a hard time. The Directors have a thankless task in trying to manage all the opposing demands... They are neither the architects of these proposals, and nor will they be the implementers.”
Cut off slightly from the main road, Julie Piras’ party shop trades from the Waterloo Street end of York Road which is set to be pedestrianised before the end of the month.
While bars like The Juke are in favour of spreading out onto the pavement, she is one of the retailers worried about deliveries and customer access.
Ms Piras said: “We sell a lot of bulk stuff. It’s not heavy but awkward and our customers prefer coming here by car than by public transport.
“I’m worried that if these plans go through, Kings Heath will end up like a ghost town.
“I have a liveried van and you ask yourself if you could do more deliveries, but if they restrict access I don’t think that’s possible. From my understanding of the map I’d have to drive all the way towards Kings Heath Park just to be able to get to the other side of Kings Heath High Street in the opposite direction – so how is that cutting pollution?
“The government gave us money to survive but what are the council going to do now? They’re going to kill us by bringing this in.
“The way they have just dumped this on us is like a bolt from the blue and it’s just mad that nobody has been informed.
“The best solutions would be to just have one-way systems that would keep the traffic flowing.”
Over on Poplar Road, Swift Laundrette owner Derek Read is fearful that his 50-year-old family business could suffer.
Mr Read said: “I reckon only four per cent of businesses are in favour. “The Kings Heath Low Traffic Neighbourhood seems to have been planned with indecent haste and little thought for the effect it will have on local businesses and residents.
“It’s so undemocratic, it’s like the council are saying: ‘This is what you are having and you had better enjoy
Julie Piras, of Balloon Away
it.’ I have put much of my own savings into my business over the last five months in an attempt to ensure we can stay in business for another 50 years.
“If the LTN plans are carried out I doubt we will have a business very much longer.”
But local Labour councillor Lisa Trickett is in favour of the plan and defended the lack of consultation even though she lives on one of the roads that could be affected.
Cllr Trickett said: “The historic way of local government was to introduce a plan and consult on opinion. That’s crap... ‘like or dislike’. This scheme will be like a chess board, where you can move pieces around and see how we can make this work for the benefit of the community.”
Similar plans for the main roads through Lozells were also announced recently, an area that does not have a Business Improvement Board like Southside, Westside and Soho Road.
Birmingham City Council said it would have to implement the plans before the end of August to secure government funds, having been allocated £1 million from the first tranche of the Department of Transport’s (DfT) Emergency Active Travel Fund, with match-funding bringing the total to £1.6 million.