Many residents back Chipping Barnet MP’s campaign against new bus lanes in Barnet High Street, Whetstone High Road and Cat Hill as Barnet Council points out no plans have been published

A rear view of a bus in front of the words 'Bus Lane' on the road in Stamford Hill. — (Credit – TfL)

Chipping Barnet MP Theresa Villiers has called on Barnet Council and TfL to scrap plans for new bus lanes in her constituency as the council says no plans have been published and TfL says it is not leading on the project.

Villiers told Barnet Post that she had received 1256 responses from local residents to a survey she set up after hearing about plans for potential new bus lanes in Barnet High Street, Whetstone High Road and Cat Hill.

The MP said around 90% of survey respondents had opposed one or more of the bus lanes, while a petition against the plans had received 3882 signatures.

After sending these results to the Mayor of London and Barnet Council, Villiers said, “I have never known a survey response like this one. It is unprecedented. The fact that well over a thousand took the time out of their day to complete the survey shows how strongly people feel about this issue.”

“On top of this, signatures have been pouring in to my online petition. This is one of the most popular petitions I have ever run. I am urging Mayor Khan and Barnet Council to listen to my constituents and cancel this project. They should spend the £1.4 million earmarked for the bus lanes on potholes instead.”

“I have lived in Barnet for 20 years and represented it as MP for 19 years. In all that time, no one has approached me to ask for more bus lanes. I believe the three that Mayor Khan and the council are considering would cause very significant traffic congestion. They would also harm local businesses by making it harder for people to visit our local high streets because they would involve the removal of on-street parking along each route.”

A press spokesperson for TfL said they would not be commenting as the roads involved were Barnet Council’s responsibility and therefore the council was leading on the project.

Cllr Alan Schneiderman, the council’s cabinet member for environment and climate change, said: “Theresa Villiers is jumping the gun and speculating on proposals to speed up bus services which have not yet been published.

He added: “We’re committed to supporting local businesses and addressing the Conservative’s neglect of our highways by investing a record breaking £97m to fix our roads and pavements.”

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