We need political leadership

As we move into the final weeks of the review of the Dulwich measures (the decision will be made in October), there is one central question: have Council officers already made up their minds what they plan to recommend?

Based on the following evidence, the answer seems to be yes.

Firstly, data analysts within One Dulwich (and the wider Dulwich Alliance) are working on the Council’s figures and uncovering a significant number of problems. If Council officers knew about these problems, it seems the late release of the traffic data (only four days before the original consultation deadline of 11 July) was intentional – a tactical decision to make sure that no one responding to the consultation had time to raise awkward questions.

Secondly, the air quality data has still not been published. No one responding to the review survey had any information from the Council about whether the measures were increasing pollution on roads like East Dulwich Grove, Croxted Road and Lordship Lane.

Thirdly, the long-awaited Equality Impact Assessment was published two days before the extended deadline of 18 July – again giving no one any time to respond. The EqIA was supposed to look at how the road measures affect groups in Dulwich with protected characteristics, like the elderly and disabled. This one, however, is an interim ‘desktop review’ – in other words, an assessment made by someone sitting at a desk – and it’s so general, and so incomplete, that it’s pretty meaningless. You can see our review of it here. Further engagement is planned, but nothing has been published about which organisations Southwark will consult. Meetings with elderly and disabled people have been postponed until August.

Finally, information has just come to light showing that Council officers had already decided on a new plan for the junction in the middle of Dulwich Village before the public consultation had closed.

An FOI (Freedom of Information) request to TfL (Transport for London), asking for any correspondence between TfL and Southwark Council about the temporarily closed junction, has revealed that Council officers were asking for TfL’s opinion on their new plan for the junction on 1 July.

Please note the date. Southwark’s email is dated 1 July – that is, before the close of the public consultation (11 July, extended to 18 July), before public questions on the traffic data at a meeting with the Council on 13 July (please see a list of the unanswered questions on the Dulwich Alliance website), and before the various meetings with residents’ groups in Dulwich in the week of 19 July.

In other words, the Council’s plan for amending the closure of Dulwich Village junction had been finalised without taking into account any views from the public.

So what is this new plan? It shares a remarkable similarity with a leaflet circulated not long ago by a coalition of lobby groups in favour of keeping Dulwich Village junction closed.

Council officers are proposing that emergency vehicles – and only emergency vehicles – should be allowed through the junction. In addition, they are proposing that cycles should have their own phase across the junction, and that the current staggered pedestrian crossing (between Harold George and the graveyard) should be removed. This new layout would apparently be temporary (for six to twelve months) – although it’s hard to understand how physical changes to infrastructure like concrete pedestrian traffic islands could be temporary.

So does this new plan answer all the concerns that local people have raised?

It’s obviously welcome news that the Council is finally taking on board issues about access that the emergency services have been raising with them since the summer of 2020.

But this new plan for the centre of Dulwich – because it is still a 24/7 closure for everything but emergency vehicles – does nothing to alleviate the traffic displacement on to neighbouring roads, which creates worse conditions for thousands of children walking and cycling to school, and serious delays to public transport (and, ironically the emergency services).

It also does nothing to improve access for the elderly and disabled and those caring for them. It does nothing for key workers stuck in traffic jams, and nothing for local shops and businesses struggling to trade. It does nothing to help those from a wide area trying to reach after-school clubs, community and social groups, sports clubs, or dance and fitness classes, all of which are key to mental and physical health. It does nothing to address the spikes in congestion and pollution that are being caused by heavy increases in traffic on many local roads, including the South Circular.

At a meeting with residents’ groups on Monday 19 July, the leader of the council, Cllr Kieron Williams, said that no plan had been decided.

Council officers, on the other hand, appear to have taken a decision already.

Over to you, Cllr Williams. This is not just about road closures. This is about whether Southwark Council takes decisions in the best interests of the people it serves.

It’s an issue of political leadership, and we badly need you to intervene.