LTN win for Blue Badge holders

Following long and sustained pressure from local campaigners, including Islington Liberal Democrats, Islington Council has announced that Islington resident Blue Badge holders can pass unfined through LTNs. They simply need to apply for an exemption, which will then allow their registered vehicle to drive through any neighbourhood traffic filters displaying the code IBBH.

Liberal Democrat campaigner Terry Stacy commented:

“We’ve heard from so many local families and carers affected by the restrictions on Blue Badge holders and have been raising these concerns for years. It is good that the Council has finally listened and made this long-overdue change.

By definition, Blue Badge holders are highly dependent on their vehicles. There are only around 8,000 badge holders out of more than 200,000 residents in Islington. There's no reason to make their lives even more difficult in the name of cutting traffic.”

Fellow campaigner Rebecca Jones added:

“Liberal Democrats believe the Council must work with people, not against them, when making changes to Islington’s neighbourhoods.

We say the millions of fines from traffic schemes should be reinvested in the areas where they are collected, to repair pavements and potholes, improve local parks and lighting, not vanish into the Town Hall coffers.”