Victory vote forces review of traffic and road safety plans for Luton’s Bury Park

Two aspects of the highways department works were called in for further review by the opposition Labour group on the local authority.

This followed a decision by the Liberal Democrat and Independent Alliance coalition to halt the previous Labour administrations plans for an 18-month trial red route along a stretch of Dunstable Road.

The current executive’s proposals include more rigorous enforcement of the current parking restrictions, according to a report to LBC’s overview and scrutiny board.

Labour High Town councillor James Taylor questioned the extra revenue spend on staff in comparison to the capital expenditure of the experimental red route, which he suggested “is significantly lower.”

Concerns about bus stop relocations and “the potential impact on disabled, elderly and more economically disadvantaged passengers” were central to the reasoning behind the call-in decision of Labour Northwell councillor Amy Nicholls.

Council leader and Liberal Democrat Barnfield councillor Amjid Ali explained: “We’ve not asked for any extra resource in the (executive) decision notice.

“I made it clear we would request two officers in the area from the current resource. We’ve established there was no bus review for many years.

“So we’ve not committed to making any changes until that bus review takes place.”

Labour councillors wondered whether the decision to drop the red route was pre-determined, as Liberal Democrat Wigmore councillor Adress Latif posted on social media that “no work would continue on the red route”, before a decision was made public.

Councillor Ali replied: “There was no executive decision when that was occurring, and you’re grossly wrong that we’d pre-determine something without a proper review.

“This situation was put out in the public arena. But that wasn’t a decision we’d made or I’d made. So that’s the reason why we were quick to address that.

“I can assure you and the public that anyone within our coalition or within our Party who doesn’t act in the interests of it will be dealt with swiftly.”

A note of LBC’s monitoring officer Mark Turner, seen by the local democracy reporting service, stated: “Councillor Latif has been reminded by the council leader that he shouldn’t be making statements of this nature before the council’s executive has considered the matter.”

Sustainable development and highways portfolio holder councillor Latif was away and unable to attend last night’s (Thurs 29th) meeting.

Liberal Democrat Round Green councillor Zahoor Ahmed moved that “the executive proceeds with implementing its original decision without further delay and the call in isn’t upheld”, which was defeated in a vote.

Councillor Taylor proposed “referring the decision back to the executive for reconsideration and amending it in some way”, while also asking the committee to install the red route in Bury Park as soon as possible, as the most efficient and cost effective enforcement measure to tackle illegal parking and other contraventions”.

He also requested: “The executive undertakes further traffic surveys to identify whether bus stop design and layout contributes to congestion.

“Only if these locations are evidenced as a cause, then arrange a full consultation with passengers and bus companies to understand any impact of access change on users.”

The board approved the Labour group proposal, which is due to be reviewed at an executive committee meeting next month.