00:00Well we really wanted the Mayor of Tower Hamlets to listen to local residents about what a
00:05difference these schemes have made in their lives but unfortunately he's failed to do
00:09that. For two years we've asked to meet with him and he's refused to do that. So he hasn't
00:13heard from the teachers that say it's much, much easier to get children into school safely
00:18with these changes because there are no longer heavy goods vehicles coming down a road that
00:22has four schools. He hasn't listened to older people who say they feel safer going to the
00:26shops. I've met one woman who said it's the first time in 50 years living on Old Bethnal
00:31Green Road that she feels safe walking to the shops by herself. He hasn't listened to
00:34the GPs or to the hospitals who say that we're all healthier. And finally he hasn't listened
00:39to all the delivery cyclists who rely on the cycle route between Bethnal Green and Shoreditch
00:45to work safely. He's putting all of their lives in jeopardy and that's not fair. So
00:50this is an argument fundamentally about consultation, about whether or not people are listened to
00:54or have the opportunity to make their voice heard. It's an argument on seven different
00:58grounds, one of which is about consultation. It's also about best value. So is it really
01:02the best value to spend at least two and a half million pounds at a time like this taking
01:08out a scheme that's been shown to be effective, keep people safer and which is popular? That
01:13doesn't seem right either. What are the London-wide implications of this case? This is a hot topic,
01:20low-traffic neighbourhoods, restrictions on cars. What will this case possibly mean
01:26for people in the rest of the city? Well, the first point is that if this does go ahead,
01:30if the Mayor does decide to spend these millions of pounds ripping out this scheme, then actually
01:34it would be the first time that any council had taken out a low-traffic neighbourhood
01:39that had popular support. So that's really scary, I think. The idea that actually somebody
01:43could come and change something in people's daily lives. You know, they don't necessarily
01:47live in that neighbourhood. It's us that have to deal with the daily reality. But secondly,
01:51it's about London having a joined-up transport policy. I don't think any of us want to think,
01:56oh, I'm now crossing into a different forest that different rules apply. Actually, if we
02:00really want to be able to cycle across London, if we want to be able to walk across London,
02:04if we want to be able to wheel on a wheelchair safely across London, we need to make sure
02:08that there is an integrated transport plan for London and this would go against that.
02:13Finally, what have you made of how the case has gone so far? We've only heard some of it.
02:18I think these things are always technical because the law gets into technicalities but
02:22we do think it's really important that any council making a decision about people's safety,
02:27about people's lives and about public money, millions of pounds of public money, that that
02:31is done according to the law and according to due process. And that's what we've been
02:35hearing about this morning.
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