Angry Residents Demand Harwood Terrace Be Reopened
Councillors heckled at meeting as they defend closure
Cllr Wesley Harcourt (left) questioned by resident who was in favour of closure. Picture: Owen Sheppard
An angry crowd of residents demanded the reopening of Harwood Terrace in Fulham yesterday, as a senior councillor defended its controversial closure.
Councillor Wesley Harcourt faced frequent heckles and jeers from more than 40 people at a Hammersmith and Fulham town hall meeting on Wednesday, 22 January.
One furious resident dubbed the meeting a “kangaroo court” and a “disgrace”.
Some who hoped to attend were said to have been turned away due to overcrowding.
As the meeting dragged on past 10pm, resident after resident got up to question Mr Harcourt, the Labour cabinet member for the environment, who approved the six-month trial closure of Harwood Terrace from October 21 last year.
Carolyn Daly, of nearby Peterborough Villas, said the added traffic has made her cul-de-sac “very difficult to enter or exit”, and blasted the council for not consulting any of her neighbours.
Mr Harcourt said, “In this particular case, it wasn’t a requirement for people in Peterborough Villas to be part of this consultation.”
Ms Daly added, “I voted you in to represent me and my family and I feel like we’re being terribly ignored. I’m a mother and my kids are suffering. It’s become extremely dangerous, I’ve been knocked off my bike.”
Mr Harcourt replied, “The immediate issue we had to deal with was the volume of traffic and number of accidents in Harwood Terrace, which sees 400 vehicle journeys per hour. We wanted to try and resolve that.”
Karen Thompson asked Mr Harcourt what analysis the council had about how traffic could be affected by forthcoming construction at the nearby Gasworks site.
He said traffic analysis was undertaken when planning permission was given for the Gasworks development, but was accused of not answering the question by heckling audience members.
Harwood Terrace road closure. Picture: Owen Sheppard
Ms Thompson added that data from the recent council traffic survey had “confirmed” the closure had caused “unprecedented levels of congestion” in nearby streets, and that idling vehicles had increased air pollution.
Mr Harcourt replied, “It was a plan that was discussed with local residents.”
James Spokoini of the SW6Traffic campaign shouted to Mr Harcourt: “I’ve been stonewalled for three weeks, I’ve emailed and not had a reply.”
Another resident called out, “How is it that you can live 200 yards away and not be consulted?”
Mr Harcourt said, “The answer at the moment is we need to gather the evidence.”
Residents in Harwood Terrace, a street of 40 terraced homes, say the closure has put an end to the narrow street being used as a “dangerous rat run”.
A small group from Harwood Terrace attended the meeting. One of them, Nick Smith, told Mr Harcourt that air quality had “improved” and asked him to make sure “rat running” will not be “allowed in future”.
But they are vastly outnumbered by people in surrounding streets, who on Wednesday complained that Bagleys Lane and New King’s Road have become more gridlocked, louder and more polluted than ever.
Conservative councillors have called for an “extraordinary full council meeting” to be held, in which there would be a vote on whether to end the trial closure before the six-month trial concludes in late April.
Conservative leader, councillor Andrew Brown, said: “We have a huge amount of sympathy for the people of Harwood Terrace. However, I think the council has got his particular case wrong. I think the trial needs to be ended immediately and a new solution thought through and consulted upon properly.”
If the meeting and vote are granted, they could take place in late February.
Owen Sheppard - Local Democracy Reporter
January 27, 2020