One Chiswick Denies Abandoning Cycleway 9 Legal Challenge
Campaign group says it is waiting for Council to publish new traffic order
OneChiswick still aiming to challenge validity of Cycleway 9
A group campaigning against the Cycleway along Chiswick High Road has dismissed speculation that it intends to abandon its legal challenge to the scheme.
It had been suggested by a number of people on social media including TV presenter Jeremy Vine, who is a prominent supporter of the cycleway, that that attempts to get a Judicial Review into the scheme were ending.
OneChiswick Ltd had crowdfunded to cover legal costs and is believed to have raised an amount in the vicinity of £50,000 to take the matter to the High Court although it is not known how much this fund has been depleted by legal costs so far. The Judicial Review was scheduled for this month. However, the original Experimental Traffic Order (ETO) which was the subject of the legal challenge is to be superseded by a new traffic order. In July this year, Hounslow Council announced that it would be revising the cycleway design to incorporate new safety features and reduce the impact on bus travel times. This was passed by the Cabinet in July and approved by the Overview and Scrutiny Committee in August.
Those in favour of the cycleway claimed that the new order would nullify the grounds on which OneChiswick Ltd was seeking to challenge the scheme including those relating to disability legislation.
OneChiswick Ltd issued a statement saying, "We would like to correct some misleading speculation fuelled in social media in the last day or two about the current position of OneChiswick Ltd and its position regarding the Judicial Review challenge on the C9 Cycleway. OneChiswick Ltd has not withdrawn its Challenge for Judicial Review.
OneChiswick Ltd claims that a comprehensive 21 day consultation promised by Cllr Hanif Khan, who has portfolio responsibility for transport in the borough has not yet taken place, and that the consultation undertaken for the revising scheme was limited in scope and carried out mainly during the school holidays. The report on the consultation is yet to be published and originally the council said that this would happen in September along with the issuing of the new ETO.
Any future legal challenge cannot take place until the ETO is issued and OneChiswick Ltd says it will resume action against the cycleway once it has had the chance to review the details of the traffic order and the consultation report.
OneChiswick Ltd added, "OneChiswick remains committed to campaigning for the welfare of the people in Chiswick, their need for safety, mobility and good access and is grateful for the generous support it continues to receive from the local community."
Surveyors are already working on the new design for Cycleway 9 with parts of the new route already marked out. There is no indication at this stage when construction work is set to begin.
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November 7, 2021