‘Road closures mean we can’t even drive to our GP surgery’
By Alice Neil
Road closures are causing problems for residents trying to reach their doctors surgery.
The Lambeth resident, a blue badge holder, was fined £260 for driving in and out of Palace Road where the surgery is located.
The restrictions are part of the 114 new Low Traffic Neighbourhoods (LTNs) that have been introduced in London to reduce road pollution.
These car-free zones aim to encourage people to ditch their cars and walk or cycle short journeys.
The resident said: “An area I have lived in all my life now feels alien to me, with roads I can’t drive in and now I can’t even drive to the doctors. It’s very upsetting.
“Patients should have been told. There is a sign up, but I didn’t understand it, and thought I must be allowed into the doctors.
“I didn’t want to not keep the appointment, and really needed to be seen.
“Now I am worried about future appointments, I am disabled and can’t walk in.
“So, on top of the worry of getting Covid, we now have to worry about driving to the doctors.
“It’s like while we’ve been staying in, they’ve changed everything on the roads.”
A spokeswoman from Lambeth council said: “Our emergency Low Traffic Neighbourhoods are making it safer to walk, cycle, scoot and use mobility aids on our streets at a time when public transport is restricted.
“No roads are closed; homes, businesses and local amenities like GP and healthcare clinics are all accessible by car including the surgery in Palace Road, but we appreciate that residents may have to take a different route to reach those amenities.
“These measures were brought in as a response to the huge challenges posed to our transport network by the coronavirus pandemic and we have kept residents up-to-date throughout.
“Council staff have met with GP clinics, written to residents, posted information online, and have shared a mobile phone number for people to call if they need more information. We would encourage residents to contact the council if they need further help or support.”
A petition signed by 6,500 people since September has called for the immediate removal of Lambeth’s LTNs, which it states were “implemented without prior resident consultation or adequate notification”.
Pictured top: The Palace Road Surgery
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Pretty misleading article. As mentioned no roads have been closed and Palace Rod surgery easily accessible from Streatham High Rd. Feel sorry for the person who was fined but the signage is very clear (even states fines are in place) and are the ones agreed with the emergency services and are in the Highway Code.
Hi Ed
I’m confused by your statement; ‘As mentioned no roads have been closed and Palace Rod surgery easily accessible from Streatham High Rd’
Where the gp surgery is located at no 1 palace road it is a dead end so can not be accessed via car and in fact joins Christchurch rd not streatham high rd. The only access by car is through the restrictions and so resulting in a fine. It seems both you and Lambeth council are confused as to the structure of the road which is causing the problem. Perhaps if the council consulted on these changes issues like this could have been identified.
I am also disabled and have recieved 2 fines for going to the gp on palace road in a car. The road is a dead end so despite Lambeth saying we can get there a different way they are wrong as there is no other way to access this road. I have appealed through the London adjudicator for the tickets and I suggest other people do the same. These restrictions are preventing access to services and so are illegal under the equalities act.
The picture shown is the old gp surgery which is now a nursery. The new surgery is located at 1 palace road under the new flats and next to the chemist which is located at the dead end of palace road and so can’t be accessed via any other route if you need to drive. So what Lambeth council has said makes no sense and they obviously do not know the layout of the road concerned. Yet again changes brought in without any idea on how it will impact people locally
You can access in a car via Daysbrook Road. Or you can park on the other side of the restriction and walk 20 meters.
What a confused and inaccurate article. There is a disabled parking spot right outside this surgery and it’s still accessible by road. One end of the road by the surgery has been closed to stop rat running from the south circular – for over 20 years. And that’s not even a photo of the surgery. I sympathise with anyone getting a fine but you need to read the signs, they are very clear. And numerous. I expect the driver in question will learn their lesson for next time: drive 3 mins round the corner and enter via daysbrook road.
Sarah
Daysbrook rd is also included in the restrictions so you can not access the section of palace road where the gp surgery is by car.
Your statement ‘Or you can park on the other side of the restriction and walk 20 meters’ demonstrates the lack of understanding of disability by those who are not disabled. We dont use the car for fun, I use a Walker and some days even 20 metres is not obtainable and for those in wheelchairs even more so. Perhaps people need to try having an understanding of the difficulties faced every day by disabled people and accessing a gp surgery should not be one of them!
I think you will find that palace road where the doctors surgery is not accessible by car as the other end of the road is a dead end and can’t be accessed by car so I think people are wrong when saying it can be accessed by streatham high road. The restrictions start before the surgery. So dont understand the comment about accessing from streatham high road??