London LTNs: Haringey council makes £2m in fines over four months

The figures were revealed in response to a Freedom of Information request by the chair of Tottenham Young Conservatives

Haringey council has made almost £2m in four months from driving penalties in Low Traffic Neighbourhood (LTN) zones.

The north London council handed out more than 60,000 penalty charge notices between September and December 2022.

Three LTNs were introduced by the council last year on a trial basis, aimed at reducing pollution and boosting walking and cycling.

However, some residents have protested against the schemes and say LTNs increase pollution on nearby roads.

Tottenham MP David Lammy was among those calling for changes to be made to LTNs in the borough, after revealing constituents had contacted him about delays to journeys and concerns over the impact on local businesses.

LTNs use a combination of enforcement cameras and physical barriers to stop through-traffic from using residential streets.

By law, surplus revenue from penalty charges must be reinvested by councils in transport schemes such as highways maintenance work and funding for concessionary travel.

Concerns over motivation

The LTN revenue figures were revealed by the council in response to a Freedom of Information request by the chair of Tottenham Young Conservatives, Angelos Tsangarides.

Mr Tsangarides said the figure "illustrates the true extent to which Haringey Labour's LTN cash grab is working".

A leak of emails in November revealed several Labour councillors also raised concerns over the motivation behind the schemes, after learning LTN and "school streets" penalties were expected to raise £5.7m during the next financial year.

Mike Hakata, the council's deputy leader and cabinet member for climate action, environment and transport, said: "We introduced low-traffic neighbourhoods because we want to reduce the overall volume of traffic in and around the area so that the whole community can benefit from cleaner air and safer streets."

Mr Hakata said data showed more than two-thirds of the fines were issued to vehicles registered outside the borough.

"We don't want to fine anyone from inside or outside the borough," he said, adding: "Our expectation and hope is that compliance will be high."

He continued: "We engaged extensively with the local community before introducing the LTNs and we continue to seek their views on how their local environment can be improved.

"We are constantly monitoring what is happening on the ground and won't hesitate to make changes. We want to get this right for everyone."

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