Actor Florence Pugh’s father has hit out at “dictators” in his local council and called for the scrapping of low-traffic neighbourhoods (LTN) measures.
Restaurateur and designer Clinton Pugh was interviewed by Sky News about the damage to local businesses including his Cafe Tarifa after the East Oxford LTN was trialled by Oxfordshire County Council.
He said people have been staying away from Cowley Road due to the traffic calming measures and cycle lanes installed in the area.
All three of Mr Pugh’s businesses - Café CoCo, Kaz Bar and Café Tarifa are located on the Cowley Road in Oxford.
He said: “Look obviously Boris was pedalling around on his bicycle during Covid saying ‘oh what a lovely little idea, we will have these lovely, little communities - how sweet’.
“Well, it is alright for him.
“This road has always had a very busy community of thriving, multicultural businesses.
“It has become more difficult to get here, people just don’t come.
“You can’t get staff, they can’t get home or they have to have taxis. The cost of these things is just astronomical and people don’t want to work.
“Tradesmen can’t come because it takes too long to get here.”
His daughter Florence, who is currently starring in Oppenheimer, used to serve customers when growing up in Café CoCo.
Mr Pugh added: “Unfortunately the losses have been so high that I have lost the site behind me.
“Why do it all at once? It’s just not thought through properly, it’s really stupid.
“They are acting like they are dictators. This is the problem. It’s their idea. They’ve asked us for our opinion and they are not listening.”
Mr Pugh was previously in hot water with both the county council, who are enforcing the LTN scheme, and Oxford City Council, who ordered him to remove a huge billboard branding the LTN an “ill thought-out traffic experiment”.
It read: “The County Council is pretending to listen, but this is shamefully a complete and utter lie.”
“So much for democracy? Help us fight this arrogance.”
Since the Conservatives’ narrow victory in the Uxbridge and Ruislip by-election earlier this month, which saw the Tory candidate tap into local concerns about the expansion of London’s ultra-low emission zone (Ulez), some Tory MPs have been urging Mr Sunak to engage in a rethink on net zero.
In a bid to pitch the party as “pro-motorist”, Mr Sunak ordered a review of the rollout of low-traffic neighbourhoods.
The move was confirmed in an interview with the Sunday Telegraph, with the Prime Minister asking the Department for Transport to review low-traffic neighbourhood policies.
Under such plans, local councils attempt to limit traffic in town and city centres – with drivers often prevented from using quiet residential roads as through routes.
Transport for London say: “LTNs help to make streets around London easier to walk and cycle on by stopping cars, vans and other vehicles from using quiet roads as shortcuts”.
They are designed to stop places where families live from being used as a shortcut or rat-run for through traffic by blocking the roads off with bollards or flower beds. It is still possible to ride a bicycle through them and walk along the road. The road the LTN is on can be accessed in a car by residents.
