Islington residents to demonstrate at Town Hall to highlight negative impact caused by road closures

A group of residents and local business owners in Islington are to demonstrate at Town Hall tomorrow to highlight the negative impact the road closures in their neighbourhood are having on their day-to-day life.

The new social media group called Ludicrous Road Closures (LRC) was created by frustrated residents in the borough. The group also contains local businesses, traders, senior citizens and those with disabilities, who all feel like they have been “unfairly impacted by these draconian measures”.

The protest will start at 1pm on Thursday 23 July outside Islington Town Hall. The group hope that council members will review both the new and planned restrictions placed on motor vehicles across the borough on the back of COVID-19 social distancing measures.

A spokesperson for the social media group said: “The closure of these roads is now causing a massive increase in journey times throughout the borough and around its periphery.

“All major routes in the area are now permanent traffic jams. Inevitably, this congestion is creating more pollution. Intolerable delays are affecting tradespeople who are merely trying to do a day’s work Hospital appointments are being missed.

“The disabled, many of whom rely on Taxis, are now having to  pay a financial penalty owing to their normal journeys taking far longer than usual. Local businesses, already long suffering, are now having to contend with dramatically reduced access to their premises, affecting deliveries and in many cases reducing footfall as well, resulting in lower revenues.

“These measures have been shamelessly brought in under the guise of social distancing. It’s a land grab that has been underhandedly introduced without any consultation at all and it’s having a devastating affect, not just in Islington either as the knock on effect is severely impacting the surrounding boroughs as well.”