Shapps backs constituents against his own policy
Transport Secretary faces local anger as distancing barriers blamed for dropoff in high street trade
GRANT SHAPPS, the Transport Secretary, has been forced to lobby against his own anti-car policy in his own constituency after pavement barriers meant to aid social distancing turned a village high street into a “ghost town”.
Shopkeepers in Welwyn say businesses already struggling after lockdown could be forced to close because visitor numbers plummeted when roads were transformed and a one-way system introduced.
More than 1,300 people have signed a petition calling on Hertfordshire County Council to use “common sense” after the measures deterred shoppers from visiting and created “another dead high street”.
Barriers were placed along pavements and traffic restrictions were introduced in May as part of the Transport Secretary’s “new era for cycling and walking” announced at the Downing Street coronavirus briefing at height of lockdown.
But, an email from his parliamentary office, seen by The Sunday Telegraph, reveals how just weeks later he contacted the council to complain how the one-way system and barriers were “not suited to the old layout of Welwyn”, a village already suffering low visitor numbers.
It adds the barriers meant to allow pedestrians to stay two metres apart seemed an over-reaction because there were “reduced transmission risks” outside, and that the distancing rule was being reviewed by the Government.
Such is the anger at the barriers that vigilantes have been carrying out acts of vandalism by carefully dismantling rows of red-and-white barriers in the middle of the night, laying them down on the pavement.
The extent of grassroots Conservative opposition to his scheme within his own Welwyn Hatfield constituency will prove embarrassing for the minister, and follows the culmination of two months of campaigning against the way the council had implemented his emergency scheme.
Within a few days of the barriers first appearing, shopkeepers complained of a startling drop in visitors as motorists who used to shop in the village were funnelled onto a by-pass, making nearby large towns with supermarkets and shopping malls far more attractive.
The local backlash intensified when it emerged the traffic restrictions could remain until 2023 to help ease congestion as the nearby A1(M) prepared for three years of roadworks to become a smart motorway.
Traders claimed the arrival of the “ugly” barriers and one-way system so soon after lockdown had created the perfect storm for Welwyn businesses.
Wendy Rowley, who has owned a florist on the high street for 30 years, fears she will have to close up shop. “This is a very pretty village with a lot of history,” she said. “People used to come here for a nice lunch and then browse around the shops.
“Who wants to come to a historic village with these red-and-white barricades littering the streets?”
“We used to get 40 to 45 customers a day. Now, we are getting two or three visitors through the door. It’s so sad.
“We can’t survive like this for long before we have to move out – perhaps close the shop to reduce overheads, work from home and take orders over the phone or online.”
Chris Dinsdale, 51, who took over his mother’s bakery business, fears that Mr Shapps’s policy is threatening attempts to kick-start both the local and national economy.
“Local shops are the lifeblood of this village,” he said, looking out of Katie’s Bakery as council workers resurrected the barriers. “When the Government said people could return to the high street, the council then put these blockades up stopping people parking. The new one-way means there is one road in but three out of the village.
“They want to restart the economy, but that won’t happen if the council is then encouraged to shut down the village. It is strangling the life out of Welwyn.” The baker, who stayed open during lockdown to deliver bread to elderly villagers self-isolating, said he lost 40 per cent of his trade over those three lockdown months. The traffic restrictions cost him a further 25 per cent as passing trade has vanished, he said.
Jane Carr, a villager of 30 years, launched the revolt with a petition calling for “common sense” to be restored to prevent “empty shops and yet another dead high street”.
“The barriers make our country village look like a crime scene,” she said, explaining how they served little purpose because Government scientists had found passing someone outside was a low risk for infection. Grant Shapps has left us floundering on this issue. I guess he’s between the devil and the deep blue sea given his constituency and government roles.”
The Rev Dr David Munchin, chairman of governors at Welwyn St Mary’s Primary School and local vicar, also warned the barriers were tall enough to obscure a child from a motorist’s view. “The one-way system has meant traffic has sped up too. Overall, it’s not terribly safe.” A county council spokesman said it had secured £1.25million from Mr Shapps’s Emergency Active Travel Fund to promote “active travel and social distancing” during the pandemic. The countywide traffic restrictions were introduced after “detailed discussions” with public health teams, and remained under constant review which had led to some parking spaces in Welwyn being reinstated, he added.
He said the one-way system was introduced “to avoid through traffic using the high street, particularly as volumes return to the A1 and work for the smart motorway project commences in earnest later in the year.”
Mr Shapps’s constituency and parliamentary office failed to respond to requests for comment.
‘We used to get 40 to 50 customers a day. Now, we are getting two or three visitors though the door’