20mph consultation turns into a referendum

Selhurst family hustings at the Peppermint Centre

The first I got wind that UKIP's Peter Morgan*** [see arrow in above picture] was against 20mph in an almost fanatical way was at the first Croydon North hustings, which was strange in itself because he lives in Coulsdon (Croydon South). 

He asked each of the candidates on their views on 20mph speed limits. He is an interesting bloke, and whilst I don't agree with his politics, he has told me on two occasions he admires the stand I have taken with regards to the incinerator. Maybe he did that so that I didn't get riled by his activities. Inside Croydon has many articles on him.  

As we approach the end of Croydon Council's 20mph speed limit consultation for Croydon North zone , we can see just how fanatical Peter Morgan is about stopping the transition to a 20mph speed limit. He has been active on twitter under many guises including Calvin Mantell https://twitter.com/croydoncyclists/status/609271776573530112 as well as the main Noto20mph account https://twitter.com/SayNOto20 

His activity has not been limited to social media, all across the consultation zone, his stickers and posters can now be found. I have today asked a public question to the Council asking if any action will be taken given there is clear evidence there is a connection between North Croydon UKIP and SayNoto20mph

For more info see press release at the bottom of this post.

Somewhat taken aback by Morgan's active misinformation, including leafleting the whole of consultation zone with at least two leaflets, local Greens are working with Croydon Cyclists to try an achieve a YES vote. Peter Underwood has written an excellent letter which was published in the Croydon Guardian.

I understand Labour's Councillor Kathy Bee has also been active. However, whilst there maybe individual councillors in favour of 20mph speed limits I don't detect massive levels of enthusiasm from Croydon Labour.

*** See here regarding UKIP and Morgan: http://croydongreens.blogspot.co.uk/2015/06/letter-received-from-ukip.html

Press release immediate (18.06.15):

Starts:

Croydon Green Party today criticised a campaign to try and stop Croydon Council introducing 20mph speed limits on residential roads in the borough.

The http://saynoto20.org.uk/ web site is identical to the No to 20mph page on the http://www.ukipcroydonnorth.co.uk/ web site. The twitter account also appears to be run by a UKIP member.

Croydon Green Party spokesperson Shasha Khan (1) said, “Just like on Climate Change, UKIP are once again going against public opinion and common sense by disputing the overwhelming and logical evidence. They say that reducing speed limits to 20mph will have little if any impact to road safety but research shows that, on average, for every 1 mph speed reduction there is a 6.2% accident reduction (2).”

“We are pleased the Labour council are following other councils in London, such as Islington and Southwark, in moving to 20mph limits. 20mph speed limits on residential roads has long been a national policy for the Green Party.”

Shasha continued “Unfortunately, the feedback I am getting from many mums and dads is that they thought the notices pinned on lamp posts were more of a notification rather than a consultation. They don’t realise that they have to tell the council that they support 20mph limits so that they are brought in.”

“The no campaign have also been illegally flyposting their spurious messages on lamp posts in the area. We must not allow UKIP to hijack this consultation It is vitally important people go online and complete the survey at http://www.croydon.gov.uk/20mph or obtain a paper copy from the council.”

The consultation ends on 24^th June. Croydon Council state that evidence has demonstrated clear benefits from lowering speed limits in residential areas, including

• Improvement in road safety
• Discouraging passing traffic
• Encouraging walking and cycling
• Improving the local environment

Ends

1. Shasha was the Green Party parliamentary candidate for Croydon North
2. http://www.rospa.com/road-safety/advice/drivers/speed/inappropriate/

--------------------------------------------------
Tags croydon, greenparty