Forum Topic

LTNs gone - but a more fundamental issue.....

The LTNs may (mostly) be gone but like other British politicians in history many Ealing councillors failed to understand the political climate of the day. After over 16 months of restrictions the last thing people wanted was more control and more restrictions - they want their freedoms and their normal way of life back. But whether or not you believed that Low Traffic Neighbourhoods were a good or a bad idea, and notwithstanding any policy from central Government or finance from TfL, whether it’s the LTN fiasco or other issues such as high rise towers or Victoria Hall  the whole saga is symptomatic of a more fundamental issue. That is:  the abuse of position and the erosion of democracy.  With their dogma and their own political agenda they become arrogant, don’t listen, think they know better than the people, and that residents should subscribe to their world view. Driven more by party political agenda than respect for the wishes of the local community, they have lost touch with the residents they are supposed to represent. Ill-thought-out policies alienate local residents, creating an anger and resentment which in itself does not promote a healthy and harmonious community. There are a few very good councillors, but generally our party political system does not produce competent individuals suitable for running a local community for the benefit of its residents. As the respected linguist, historian and political activist Noam Chomsky observed, there are always those prepared to reduce our democracy in order to further their agenda. The same people are still in council and there remains an existential threat to our communities and our democracy. But whatever your political persuasion, residents should remain vigilant else there is the risk of more of a ‘Culture of Control’ and an increasingly authoritarian administration. Local communities do not need party agenda driven politicians. Local communities do need honest and trustworthy people as councillors, who are competent, without party-political ideology, and who listen to the local residents who elect them to office to represent their majority wishes. Certain councillors may not like it, but it’s called democracy. Councillors are our local public servants, not our masters - they are not in power, they are in office at our sufferance. They might do well to remember this. 

Mike Davidson ● 1436d85 Comments

A good proportion of the electorate are stupid because they don’t examine the reason why they vote a particular way.In 2018 there were a lot of anti-Tory votes because of Brexit. Bell played on this with his EU flag flying at the town hall, etc. Lots of Poles and other European nationals in Ealing who will have fallen for that trick.As I said before, there wasn’t much about policy plans in Labour literature in 2018. Northfields candidates boasted about ‘saving’ Northfields library after the collapse of Carillion, then promptly put in motion the change to a community managed model with consequent loss of jobs, opening hours and books. Minimal savings, despite the claims, and not a secure long term future.Then they supported the hiking up of CPZ permit charges, another plan hidden deep in the manifesto with zero detail supporting it. Nasty shock for a lot of residents, and hitting the worse off hardest.What of Gurnell leisure centre? Closed still, despite rejection of ridiculous redevelopment plans by the planning committee months ago, while thousands of regular users clamour for it to be reopened. ‘Examining options’ says Mason. Yeah, options for his developer chums no doubt.Warren Farm. Ealing Town Hall. Southall Waterside. Manor Road. Hastings Road. Acton recycling centre. There’s an almost inexhaustible list of dubious ideas hatched and approved by a small cabal of local Labour politicians, supposedly to benefit the people of Ealing. Yet when those people of Ealing question, then oppose, those plans they are lied to or ignored.Some of us have been watching this unfold over the years. Questioning and challenging. The blind Labour loyalists cling to their beliefs but the rhetoric on which they rely is wearing perilously thin. And they know it.The LTNs have been a watershed moment for large swathes if Ealing. Too many people have had a political awakening now and won’t put up with the lies and spin any longer.

Simon Hayes ● 1435d

No Paul, he’s not.The primary function of a councillor is to represent the residents of his/her ward at the council. Not just the little lobby groups like the one you belong to, but the majority. Many Labour councillors have failed to do that these past 18 months or so. Indeed, they have actively antagonised a great number, with the consequence that many traditional Labour voters won’t vote for them again.Despite what Bell said, despite what Mason said, most residents in Ealing didn’t want LTNs put in. That’s been evident from the campaign to have them removed. They weren’t in the literature pushed through letterboxes in 2018 - their leaflets were all about Brexit and austerity. All controversial policies were tucked away deep inside the manifesto (which was written by Mason). There was zero campaigning on the LTNs or, indeed, any of the anti-car policies pursued by these zealots.It’s the same with tower blocks and the giving away of the Victoria Hall, neither of which the majority of residents would readily agree to. If you don’t tell people anything they can’t make informed decisions.What this fiasco has done is open the eyes of many Ealing residents to what is being done in their names. Open and transparent is the new mantra. They won’t get far in Northfields and other parts in future if their past performances are anything to go by.And you’re a fine one to lecture on representative democracy. Still in a huff about Brexit? Most of us who disagreed with it have had to get on with life.

Simon Hayes ● 1436d