Opponents to “nonsensical” new traffic restrictions planned outside two primary schools have accused the council of “money grabbing”.
Camden Council has proposed a ‘Healthy School Streets’ scheme around St Luke’s Church of England School and St Margaret’s School in Hampstead.
If implemented, most traffic would be barred from Kidderpore Avenue, Ferncroft Avenue and Kidderpore Gardens during school drop-off and pick-up times.
The council says the measures are necessary to ensure children can get to and from school “safely and healthily”, and that they would be introduced on an 18-month trial basis.
But dozens of local people gathered outside flats in Kidderpore Avenue this morning (April 19) to oppose the measures, with many questioning whether anyone other than the council even wanted them.
Manos Collias, who lives in the Westfield apartment complex, told Ham and High : “There’s not one single person who is positive about what the plans are.
"As far as we can see are just a money-grabbing opportunity and nothing more. They have certainly not consulted anyone in Westfield.”
A petition against the plans has so far garnered almost 900 signatures.
Camden Council claims it handed out 2,167 flyers to local people, and that street notices were displayed on lamp posts in the area during a three-week consultation period.
But some people living in Kidderpore Avenue and Kidderpore Gardens claim they never received these flyers, so had little time to respond to the consultation.
If the scheme goes ahead, only vehicles registered to homes and businesses in the affected streets will be exempt, alongside parents with a Blue Badge and emergency services.
Manos said there were concerns that elderly and more vulnerable people would struggle if there were not more wide-ranging exemptions.
He said: “For residents if you register your car, you can drive around.
“The point is, there are many people here who are elderly, more vulnerable and have carers, and have other service providers or taxis who need to come in during those times of day.”
Manos added that local people were willing to work with the council on a different type of scheme, but claimed the proposals in their current form were “nonsensical”.
He said: “There are much more practical ways to achieve what they claim they are aiming to achieve.
“For example, by imposing a one-way system rather than closing the streets off altogether at those very essential times of the day.”
Others who gathered to share their concerns about the plans included Isabel Langtry, principal of nearby Hampstead School of Art, Frognal by-election Conservative candidate Steve Adams, and Barnet and Camden London Assembly Conservative candidate Julie Redmond.
A Camden Council spokesperson said: “The proposals have recently undergone a public consultation. No decision on the scheme has been made."
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