WARRINGTON South MP Andy Carter is calling for the Westy low traffic neighbourhood scheme to be scrapped following feedback from more than 900 households in the area affected.

Mr Carter wrote to every household in Latchford East earlier this year following the decision by the borough council to close off Grange Avenue to through traffic and introduce a number of other changes to side roads in the Westy area.

As well as asking about residents’ views on the scheme, the survey also asked about awareness of the plans before the changes were made, following comments from people who said they did not feel they had been properly informed by the council. A total of 85 per cent of respondents stated they were not consulted about the scheme before the implementation.

Thanking the people who have sent back their completed surveys, Mr Carter says Westy residents and businesses are overwhelmingly opposed to the scheme.

He said: “The results are a stark and unambiguous rejection of the low traffic neighbourhood in the Westy area. 87 per cent of respondents to the survey say they want to return to the old layout and 88 per cent believe Grange Avenue should be re-opened to through traffic.

“This isn’t a small sample from a handful of residents, it’s a really significant response from local families and shows the strength of feeling on this issue.

“I know the council have been asking their own questions, the message they will receive will be the same, this scheme isn’t working in Westy.”

A question was also included in the survey to gauge the impact the new road layout has had on the time taken to complete a journey compared to before the introduction of the LTN. A total of 84 per cent of the residents who responded said the low traffic scheme had increased their journey times.

After reading through the comments submitted by residents, Mr Carter has also decided to launch a follow up survey online to gather further thoughts on some specifics of the scheme.

The responses to this survey will help to guide future actions and will help to re-enforce the ‘strong opposition’ to the new road layout.

The survey can be completed at: https://www.andycarter.org.uk/form/westy-ltn-second-survey.

Mr Carter has confirmed he will be writing to the leader of the council and chair of the highways committee to share the results of the survey and to urge them to listen to the views of road users who oppose the LTN.

He added that a decision on the future of the scheme is one for elected Labour councillors alone, who have the ‘ability to reverse the changes’.