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I was going to write something here about how my previous post was perhaps over cynical and then I read the facebook link of her letter to Ealing Council. Her final question to them is just a gargantuan red flag.
"Just out of curiosity, how much money does the council gain as a result of erecting these LTNs? How much is each LTN worth to the council's coffers?"
I think, despite her tone suggesting that it's all about engagement and consultation, it's pretty clear which side of the fence she's on. As @Carey said, it's just an utter failure of leadership. It's an absolutely classic tragedy of the commons whereby each individual acting in their short-term interest and convenience creates an overall situation that screws everyone over. Her suggestion of a referendum is therefore just utter shite as it rejects all other metrics for success (which are based on aims that all parties subscribe to) by allowing a veto purely on popularity and addresses none of the underlying problems.
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ffm
I'll be writing to the other politicians she suggests with more supportive comments about active travel, and may also drop her a note in response. I find it interesting she talks about lack of consultation. Was anyone consulted over the past decades about our towns, public spaces, parks etc becoming polluted, noisy, hostile and aggressive environments.? And on divided communities - presumably she will be campaigning about the issues of severance caused by the existing infrastructure that priorities moving motor traffic over human beings?
If you look carefully she's not entirely negative. It feels like so much of the reaction - a knee jerk response to a change to the status quo. I'm optimistic that people can come around. But I could just be naive.