Has this week’s High Court non-event been just the latest example of Perry’s porkie pies – where the ‘listening’ Mayor cocks a deaf ‘un to residents? Political Editor WALTER CRONXITE looks back at what the Tory Mayor was saying four years ago
The case brought by “Open Our Roads” claimed that Croydon’s Low Traffic Neighbourhood schemes, introduced from 2020 and since made permanent under Tory Mayor Jason Perry, are an unlawful cash-cow, taxing motorists who fail to follow road signs.
Had the case been heard and Croydon Council lost, Mayor Jason Perry faced the prospect of losing more than £10million a year in income from traffic fines.
Low Traffic Neighbourhoods were introduced initially as a response to covid, to encourage walking and cycling and to reduce rat-running by speeding cars through residential streets.
OOR claimed that the council had misused their powers under the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 in respect of revenue generation.
They claimed that revenue-generation was a “motivation” for installing the LTNs – there’s no evidence to prove that was ever the case, although it has certainly become a compelling reason for keeping them, a nuance perhaps lost on the petitioners.
They also claimed that Mayor Perry had broken election promises to have the LTNs in South Norwood and Upper Norwood removed.
Yet while Croydon’s third-rate, part-time Mayor may, since he was elected, have made some compromising comments to public meetings about how much money has been generated for the cash-strapped council, there was nothing in Perry’s 2022 election manifesto that commits him to removing LTNs.
Cockin’ a deaf ‘un: since issuing his manifesto in 2021, Tory Jason Perry appears to have developed a bad case of selective hearing loss. Or not…
What he said on that subject was this: “Over the last eight years of Labour running Croydon Council a consistent theme has been that residents feel they are not being listened to. From planning to LTNs and Council Tax to housing repairs the feedback has been that Labour have simply implemented what they wanted without actually taking any notice of what we were all saying.
“This needs to change… to ensure your voices are heard in the future.”
Perry promised “real consultations”.
“The council is required by law to consult on many things they do or changes they wish to make. Many of Labour’s ‘consultations’ have been little more than a sham,” Perry was saying in 2021.
“When consulting on the introduction of Low Traffic Neighbourhoods, 75% of residents responded opposing them. With such overwhelming numbers, you’d expect Labour to have listened – well you’d be wrong. They simply went ahead with the policy anyway!” Two years later, Perry simply went ahead and made six of the seven LTNs permanent anyway.
“There is no point in consulting if you are not prepared to listen to what residents are saying,” said Perry back then.
“I pledge to only hold meaningful consultations with clear criteria for what impact your feedback can have.”
Cash cow: the council soon became dependent on the money generated from its LTNs
He also said this: “I am also pleased to commit to implementing most – if not all – of the 23 Climate Recommendations detailed in the Climate Crisis Commission Report.” Guess what..?
“As part of my own ‘Listening To Croydon’ pledge, I will ensure that the community is brought with us as we implement these initiatives.
“We all saw the result of the council’s implementation of the Parsons Mead LTN, which led to huge protests as their community felt completely ignored. Acting without listening is not a sustainable way to create change.
“Any environmental schemes introduced by me, if I am Mayor of Croydon, will have evidence-based social and environmental benefits for residents and businesses, whilst not disproportionately impacting the poorest in our borough.”
OOR say that their lawyers are considering grounds for appeal.
Read more: High Court judge dismisses LTN case brought against council
Read more: Mayor Perry on trial: LTN admission could cost council millions
Read more: #TheLabourFiles: Source of hacked data worked for Evans
Read more: The next battle in the culture wars? Traffic bollards
A D V E R T I S E M E N T
PAID ADS: To advertise your services or products to our 10,000 weekday visitors to the site, as featured on Google News Showcase, email us inside.croydon@btinternet.com for our unbeatable ad rates
- If you have a news story about life in or around Croydon, or want to publicise your residents’ association or business, or if you have a local event to promote, please email us with full details at inside.croydon@btinternet.com
- Our comments section on every report provides all readers with an immediate “right of reply” on all our content. Our comments policy can be read by clicking here
