Is low traffic plan axe 'crazy' or 'common sense'?

There is a mix of frustration and relief among residents over scrapped plans to extend a "low traffic neighbourhood" in a Birmingham suburb, with some calling the axe "crazy" and others a "victory for common sense".

A Birmingham City Council cabinet report leaked to the BBC revealed a planned second phase for Kings Heath could not proceed due to "material objections" raised during a consultation process.

Some residents on roads where traffic would have been restricted now feel let down in their fight against drivers using the neighbourhood as a "rat run".

But others have welcome the shelving of plans, branding the LTN "fundamentally wrong".

The first phase of the LTN project in Kings Heath, in place for several years, has split opinion, with restrictions that ban through-traffic on certain streets proving particularly contentious.

The next part of the scheme, which had been approved by senior councillors last July, was to deliver the "planned full expansion" to the east of the A435 High Street and into south Moseley.

The council said its aim was to reduce traffic in residential neighbourhoods to try to make them safer, but "further work" was needed before the authority could "progress a solution".

Resident Mike Jerome, who lives on Springfield Road, described the council's move to scrap plans that had been six years in the making as "crazy".

"We're up to 8,000 vehicles a day with the pollution, the noise, the damage that it brings, the harms, the risks to our community, and we're just fed up.

"They produced plans in 2021, in 2023 and in 2025, and what are they doing?

"They're throwing them out. How can you believe that the council can get this far and then throw it out?"

Jerome is part of a resident's group that has compiled a "dossier of damage" to show some of the issues that come from heavy traffic on narrow residential streets being used as "rat runs".

He said claims from campaigners against the LTN that the problems were exaggerated were untrue.

"[The dossier] is 38 pages of incredible damage of cars wedged between lampposts...residents' cars smashed into... it's just normal for us and that's intolerable.

"What I want to happen next is for the council to sort it out. And I don't know what form that is going to take... but this is a matter of safety."

There are also residents celebrating the u-turn.

A total of 812 objections were received following the cabinet approval of the phase two plans in 2025, and officers said some were so impactful that proceeding "cannot be justified".

They included concerns over accessibility, operational need for businesses, and increased journey distances for some properties, where access to rear garages "could require detours of up to 3km (1.9 miles)".

Martin Mullaney, who leads an anti-LTN campaign group, says many people are "relieved". He described the scrapping of the plan as a "victory for common sense".

"You can't just block off all the roads and have almost an exclusion zone, for all of Birmingham, that [means] you cannot enter Kings Heath to get from A to B."

He added: "We've got the new railway stations opening. That will help reduce traffic. There is so much we can do but closing roads does not solve the problem.

"It is fundamentally wrong and we need a big rethink."

Both sides say plans should not have gotten to this stage before being scrapped, and that Birmingham City Council needs to think carefully before revealing a new scheme.

"In determining a way forward, the council must take a balanced view, weighing up policy considerations, statutory duties, regulatory frameworks and equity," councillor Majid Mahmood, cabinet member for environment and transport, said on Wednesday.

"As such, further work is needed before we can progress a scheme solution for this area.

"We will provide further updates on this project when a revised proposal is ready to be taken to the council's cabinet committee."

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