Businesses in the area report dwindling customer numbers following road closures and penalties under the scheme.
Drivers paid £5.3 million in fines in a single Islington ward since January 2021, according to council data.
A Freedom of Information request revealed that LTN cameras in Highbury generated record fines under the scheme over a two-year period.
Highbury Hill and Aubert Park accounted for fines worth £1.08m and £1.05m respectively, making them the two highest-grossing roads in the ward.
Businesses on nearby Drayton Park say that they have been hit by the knock-on effect of the LTN scheme.
Glenn Tweedy, owner of Premier Plumbers and Heating Merchants Ltd, said that his business had become “totally restricted”.
“They’ve essentially turned the road into a cul-de-sac, and it’s completely blocked off our business. We’ve lost about 25 per cent of our customers, just because they can’t get to us anymore,” he said. “I’ve lost all of my footfall customers – no one comes in unless they live in this little area.”
Chris Godfrey, the owner of local butcher’s shop Godfrey’s Co, runs a delivery service as part of his business. He also claimed a loss of profit as a result of LTNs.
“There are people whose roads we literally can’t get to anymore, and you can lose an hour for a single local delivery because of longer routes and traffic. All that costs. Each month, I have to cut the postcodes we deliver to – we’ve had to take customers we’ve had for years off the list.”
Godrey also had to pay a series of fines over the Christmas period, when the delivery drivers he had hired to meet increasing demands had been unfamiliar with the restrictions.
“We didn’t receive the notices until after the two-week cut off period for a reduced £60 fine, so I had to pay £500 to the council. That’s a lot of profit for us, worth £2,000 worth of work. It’s disheartening that it was for nothing.”
As well as limited access to the street, owners also believe that the fines themselves serve as a deterrent to potential punters.
“Someone from outside the area won’t know where these honey pots are because the signage isn’t clear, and to a point I think it’s just not worth it to risk passing through,” said Godfrey.
Caroline Russell, Green Party councillor for Highbury, said:?“The council needs to be looking at where the fines are particularly high and, as Highbury councillors, we’re asking them to go the extra mile and make the signage more visible.
“We’re working with TFL and with the council to put planters in at Highbury Place so that the filters are more obvious for people.”
Highbury is one of seven wards currently operating under the council’s Liveable Neighbourhood scheme, which is designed to improve air quality in Islington and make the borough a safer place for cyclists and pedestrians. ?
“The shocking impact on health of particle pollution from car tyres needs to be addressed; it causes lung cancer, liver problems and slows cognitive development in children. There are very serious reasons for needing to reduce car usage, so I support LTNs from a public health perspective,” Russell said.
A consultation report released by Islington Council in March last year found that 34% of respondents in Highbury West, where the bulk of the ward’s filters are located, found it “easier to walk and cycle to local shops and businesses”, while only 10% disagreed.
A further 30% said that they spend more time in the area, while 16% disagreed.
Neil Christie, a Highbury resident whose family gave up their two cars, believes that LTNs have “improved the community”.
“The area is more lively, more open, and has visibly less traffic. The fines have to be there if the council want to enforce their objective of a greener community,” he explained.
The FoI request showed that in 2022 alone, fines in Highbury West totalled £2.1 million. The second highest total was Canonbury West at £768.2K, while Clerkenwell Green had paid the lowest amount at £58.5K.
