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@Oliver Schick
One-way streets are a seriously bad idea. I haven't been up there yet to have a look, but I seem to remember some minor one-ways survived into the final design, probably as a necessary compromise; in Orford Road, one-way operation would have a detrimental effect.
The task for Waltham Forest Council now is to demonstrate that local economic activity can be increased through modal filtering. People aren't worried about restricted access for motor traffic as such (that's a hook to hang their worries on, partly because of the confusion around what 'traffic' means--the vast majority of their custom comes from people on foot, on bikes, and using public transport, who are all 'traffic'), they're (rightly) worried about the place becoming more dormant--it should instead become more vibrant. This depends on good town centre management first and foremost; the place needs to appear well-cared for, with attractive and varying activity that pulls people back, e.g. street stalls, special events, etc. There should also be a strategy for changes of use, and the centre needs to retain and increase a certain 'weight of attraction', so that people feel going there is worth their while, e.g. a continually improving attractive mix of shops.
The argument to be won is, simply, that the increased amenity, of less noise, pollution, and fast-ish through motor traffic, enhances rather than takes away from the commercial viability of the centre. This is obviously a much bigger agenda than just about cycling, but in London it can work because there's no way of building high-capacity bypasses of centres, which is what has happened all over Europe where modal filtering has been done, leading to 'leap-frogging' of smaller centres and people increasingly going to only the larger centres.
I have no doubt that a majority of the residential population are already in favour of the scheme, and perhaps a majority of the traders, too; there may be data on that. Now local people have to make it work by using their local shops more and enhancing that sense of community that will hopefully come from them being more focused on improving where they live.
We'll be getting some new modal filtering schemes in Hackney soon, largely campaigned for by local residents, so there'll be a lot more action on this sort of thing, and it should take firm root in London soon, hopefully by avoiding more road-building.