The Labour-run London Borough of Camden (LBC) has been forced to scrap a hugely controversial Low Traffic Neighbourhood (LTN) scheme centred on Dartmouth Park on the eastern edge of Hampstead Heath – home to Ed Miliband, Benedict Cumberbatch and numerous other Labour luvvies. The plan had been to impose an 18-month ‘trial period’ with the least possible public consultation.
Attempting to put the best spin on it, LBC calls this a “pause”, but the scheme – a pet project of cycle-fanatic Cllr Adam Harrison, “Cabinet Member for Planning and a Sustainable Camden” and CBC’s Deputy Leader – was always unworkable. Uproar among locals, who discovered Camden’s brief ‘nonsultation’ was to be held during last summer’s holidays, was led by the Highgate Society which commissioned expert analysis of LBC’s dodgy metrics.
Locals packed protest meetings and deluged their council with complaints, not least about the scheme’s obvious potential for raising money by fines. With vehicle access from the north, east and south denied to thousands of homes in the LTN, voters demanded to know how ambulances, deliveries and visitors could reach them, or how anyone less than 100% fit would be able to get the shopping home?
Among many issues they highlighted were inevitable gridlock on Highgate Road, Highgate West Hill and other bus routes on the proposed LTN’s boundary, and increased air pollution on children’s walking routes to the area’s schools – ironically the same good schools which attract so many upwardly-mobile Labour supporters to leafy Dartmouth Park’s expensive homes.
Having wasted vast amounts of TfL’s money on consultants while plotting Dartmouth Park’s LTN in secret, Camden’s Labour regime has been handed an expensive lesson in not annoying one’s diehard voters. Its problems include a private company called Commonplace, and an unusually articulate local population.
Commonplace Digital Ltd is a privately-owned “citizen engagement platform” which claims to “inspire thriving places, powered by data and collaboration”. On its touchy-feely website rows of smiley, young and casually-dressed “customer success managers” and “business development managers” promote the platform.
What Commonplace actually does is to sell machine-readable online surveys to councils and developers – relieving them of the trudge of asking local people what they think and reading the responses properly, while still getting the result they first wanted via an ostensibly democratic process.
The snag, as we in Bedfordshire know to our cost, is in the questions asked and the boxes you’re allowed to tick. Our council’s Commonplace survey on local cycling and walking issues produced 826 responses, of which over 100 tried to explain – only possible in the “other comments” box – that by far our worst problem is how to get across the A1 safely into Biggleswade without using a car: a walk/cycle underpass is needed, obviously.
But in its published LCWIP plan, based on this “engagement”, Central Beds Council felt able to ignore the lethal risks run by locals trotting or wheeling their children across the A1 carriageways, because the online Commonplace survey had asked no machine-readable question about it. The metrics didn’t prove a need, which happily allowed CBC and National Highways to carry on ignoring the danger.
People are increasingly suspicious of the skewed questions asked in Commonplace surveys, and in the case of Camden’s proposed Dartmouth Park LTN, many refused to participate. Instead 773 locals emailed their council direct, as well as emailing individual councillors. Here in Beds our ward councillor just leafleted over 800 locals about our Biggleswade problem, asking what they need to get onto town safely, and the scores of replies were a revelation.
Ask people what they really think, without leading questions or tick-boxes, and what you get is ‘quote gold’. Many said roughly what was anticipated, though in their own inimitable words; others made important points that hadn’t even occurred to campaigners. Analysing genuine replies like these – as opposed to machine-readable surveys – takes time and thought, and Camden is now having to go back to the drawing board and read its hundreds of non-Commonplace responses, acutely aware that having wound up the Highgate Society and Dartmouth Park’s vigilant locals, its cunningly-worded online “consultation” cannot alone justify imposing a disastrous LTN.
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“Our politicians have sold us ‘solutions’ to Covid that were far, far worse than the disease, and have generally refused to admit to their mistakes, even when they saw the comparative success of regimes like Sweden and Florida that went a very different direction. …”
And Belarus, which continued with spectator sport right through 2020, and had a similar all cause mortality rate to neighbouring countries, despite the poverty that exists there. I used to enjoy watching the Belarusian Premier League matches from the months when the rest of football was banning spectators and matches, though I can’t seem to get them now. As Philip Schofield might say, why aren’t we hearing this? These are the figures we should be hearing!
Incidentally, do we have all cause mortality figures yet for groups such as the Amish who had low uptake of big pharma’s experimental coronavirus medications? Was it Bulgaria that was excelling in comparison to other European countries?
Exactly. I used to listen to radio 4 regularly, until 2020, with the constant mention of “corrrrrronavirus”; and the final nail in the coffin was in august 2020, when Saint Boris saying “we have to squeeeeeeeeeze the brakes on reopening” was repeated every hour. I haven’t listened to it since.
Some years before, I had read the article “why news is bad for you”, citing various reasons such as hidden agendas. I didn’t really believe it then, but now I avoid official news as much as I can. And although I check the daily sceptic every day, I am careful not to treat it as gospel. (With all due respect.) Even groups which are supposedly on our side, such as stand in the park, I hesitated to get involved because of the pure vitriol towards those not yet “awake”, some of which sounded exactly like the vitriol spouted by those who believe the government; just with a few words swapped. Compare “look at the idiots flocking to the beaches” with “look at the idiots flocking to the vx centres”.
I also avoid broadcasts of state events, such as the three (THREE!) massive royal events we’ve had lately. I’m refusing to watch these while I still can, before they are forcibly broadcast into our homes by our own Alexa-like devices.
I partially agree with you regarding vitriol, but I think there’s a crucial distinction to be made. I have views about which I feel strongly but I don’t seek to impose them on others. Many Covidians were enthusiastic supporters of forced lockdowns, vaxx passports etc.
“For me, and many others, the old idea that you could depend on your government to inform you of the latest science or tell you the threat level of a disease is now dead in the water”.
For me, my distrust of government rapidly accelerated following the election of Anthony Blair. The past 3 years has provided confirmation that my instincts were correct.
Yes you got that right !!!
Ditto. Tony Bliar promised the moon on a stick, and was so obviously in it for himself, his illegal war being just one of his misdeeds. I first learned the word “governor” aged six, from “the cruel governor” in William Tell. My impression of “government” has barely changed since.
“Thoughtful citizens who notice these betrayals now have strong grounds for distrusting ‘official’ sources to tell them the truth, or present the facts in a non-manipulative, impartial manner. “
Ukraine & Russia….
Check out this clip of old Buzz. The ramblings of a muddled, aged man at the end of his life ( he’s 93yrs now!! ) or somebody who’s secret has been weighing heavy on his conscience all this time? You decide.
https://twitter.com/donnchucho/status/1670099364658774016
It’s neither. He clearly means “we didn’t go there” “in such a long time”.
There’s nothing ”clearly” about what he’s saying actually. It’s obviously open to interpretation. Hence why I’m wondering what people’s opinions are. But thanks for the petty ‘dislike’. Always a pleasure.
It’s very clear to me, I can’t speak for anyone else.
Wow. Wt actual f?
yeah that looks pretty much like he is admitting they never went.
Many years ago, at a State Secondary School, my History Teacher told me how to obtain all the information needed to write a decent answer to an exam question. She quoted Kipling:
“I have six honest serving men
They’ve taught me all I know
Their names are What and Why and When
And How and Where and Who”
I’ve practised it ever since and I put it into effect when the first news reports of the “novel coronavirus” landed. I was already reasonably informed when the first lockdown was announced.
I don’t believe a word “our” treacherous lying politicians, their bought-and-paid-for $cientists or the MSM say about anything.
https://petermcculloughmd.substack.com/p/are-the-inmates-now-running-the-world?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email
I agree.
My trust has completely gone.
I am happy to rely on my own judgment, but there are some issues.
First of all I am no expert in all fields and therefore have to read, filter and judge information. And what information to trust? With censorship and AI this could become more difficult.
Secondly, it is impossible to completely isolate yourself from governments decisions, leaving me with a degree of worry about whatever they do next.
I have zero faith in the government and all of its agencies. What they did to us during the pretend pandemic was nothing short of Treason. I will not be complying.
It didn’t take me long to realise the government and their SAGE supporters were lying to us to justify what was a practice exercise in population control. Why were so many people so stupid to believe them? Why, when I tried to tell people that it was not true they argued with me and did not believe what I was trying to tell them and criticised me for not following every crazy removal of my personal freedoms I could get away with? Even now they will not admit that, like so many other people who made the effort to find the truth, I was right. I know people who whose mental health was affected by the lies they were told about covid and the controls they accepted. Now the same thing is happening over a non-existent climate emergency, and the lies being told about it are having an even bigger effect in mental health terms on those who are stupid enough to believe them.