A recent letter from the City explains that due to the combination of administration mistakes and a legal challenge the current 'experimental' Zero Emission Zone scheme will revert to allowing all traffic:
"The experiment (which can only last a maximum of 18 months) will conclude on 18 September. Beech Street will then reopen to general traffic and the closures at the junctions with Golden Lane and Bridgewater Street will be removed."
Here is the full text of the letter:
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Dear Occupier
As you may know, the experimental traffic order (ETO) for the Beech Street zero emission scheme has been the subject of two legal challenges. The first, a statutory challenge of the validity of the ETO, was heard in October 2020.
The judge found that while the ETO was valid and could continue, the City Corporation could not follow the usual “truncated” process for making an ETO permanent due to non-compliance with two procedural regulations. The first was that the ETO documents were not available for public inspection at Guildhall between 23 March and 22 April 2020 (during the first Covid-19 lockdown). The second was that the City Corporation did not provide an adequate statement of reasons to explain why the ETO was being introduced. The consultation carried out in respect of the ETO was found to be compliant with legal requirements.
As a result of this finding, if it was decided to promote a permanent traffic order with the same effect as the experimental zero emission scheme, it would be necessary to follow a separate process to introduce a new traffic order.
The second legal challenge was a judicial review of the decision by the Streets & Walkways SubCommittee in February 2021 to continue the experimental zero emission scheme. This was heard on 29 and 30 June 2021. The judgement, issued on 10 August, concludes that the experiment remains valid and dismisses the claim.
An interim order issued when the judicial review was granted permission to proceed, prevented us from undertaking any further work on a permanent scheme that replicates the current experiment. As a result, planned public consultation on a potential permanent scheme for Beech Street was put on hold. The recent judgement means that we can resume work on a potential permanent scheme.
The experiment (which can only last a maximum of 18 months) will conclude on 18 September. Beech Street will then reopen to general traffic and the closures at the junctions with Golden Lane and Bridgewater Street will be removed.
Islington Council will be reviewing the ETO in relation to Fortune Street and will write to its residents both in Fortune Street and the surrounding area to advise whether the restriction on Fortune Street will also be removed on the 18 September.
We will continue to monitor the Beech Street experiment between now and the 18 September. Despite the impacts of Covid-19, the experiment has enabled us to collect useful data on traffic and air quality and to understand the impact of the scheme on resident access and deliveries.
We are investigating whether it will be possible to retain the new central reservation gaps (for Lauderdale Place and Shakespeare/Defoe car park) on Beech Street. This will be subject to an independent road safety audit.
Infrastructure changes made for the experiment, such as the new cameras and signage, will be left in place but disabled, so that these can easily be reused if a decision is taken to proceed with a similar permanent scheme in the future.
The project team and your elected members remain committed to improving air quality on Beech Street and in the wider area. We plan to launch a consultation on options for Beech Street before the end of the year. Some of these options could be relatively quick to implement. At the same time, we plan to begin engagement to understand aspirations for wider changes to improve air quality and the experience of walking, cycling and spending time in the Barbican and Golden Lane area.
In the meantime, we are continuing to progress separate improvements to the zebra crossing on Golden Lane and the Fann Street and Brackley Street junctions with Golden Lane.
Please do not hesitate to contact the project team if you have any questions at beech.street@cityoflondon.gov.uk
Many thanks
Ian Hughes
Deputy Director, Transportation and Public Realm
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