The next meeting of the Environment and Regeneration Scrutiny Committee will take place on 4th February. The agenda includes time for constituents to ask questions. We have sent in our questions (which relating to timing of Barnsbury & St Mary's LTNs) and will be attending, hopeful that the questions make it onto the slate during the meeting. Click here for Zoom details and agenda - hopefully see you there!
If you're somewhat of a Council matters newbie like me, here's some skeleton information about how LTNs in the borough are authorised:
In June last year, the council's Executive delegated authority to the Corporate Director of Environment and Regeneration, in consultation with the Executive Member for Environment and Transport (Councillor Champion), to finalise and implement people-friendly streets, including the Experimental Traffic Orders that you will have seen mentioned in the Council's literature. Each decision of the Environment and Regeneration Directorate to implement a low-traffic scheme is done on the basis of this delegated authority. As a recent example, the LTNs in Highbury went ahead on this basis.
The Environment and Regeneration Scrutiny Committee carries out the functions of an overview and scrutiny committee in respect of matters relating to the Environment and Regeneration Directorate. They also scrutinise other sustainability and transport issues affecting the borough.
Environment and Regeneration services include parking, keeping our roads and streets clean and safe, waste and recycling services, managing our parks, green spaces and leisure services, planning and development – including planning, transport planning, development management and building control - and managing our libraries and museum, cemeteries, energy and energy advice services, plus managing residential and commercial environmental health, licensing, trading standards, animal welfare, pollution and noise.
Keith Townsend was appointed as Corporate Director of Environment and Regeneration for Islington Council in 2019. A council spokesman said:
The environment is at the heart of our work to make Islington a fairer place, including pioneering initiatives to tackle poor air quality, reduce our carbon footprint, change roads to encourage more people to walk and cycle, continuing our award-winning street-cleaning system, and to protect and promote our vital parks and green spaces. We're committed to a strong environment and regeneration team at all levels to make Islington a welcoming and attractive borough, and to create a healthy environment for all.
