• AT the Camden Council meeting on October 14 a deputation was made by South End Close Tenants’ and Residents’ Association about the hastily rushed through plans to completely change the traffic arrangements at South End Green.

At the heart of the new plans is closing the slip road where the No 1 bus stands to turn it into a piazza or a “pocket park”, superfluous if the latter as it’s right next to the biggest open space in London, Hampstead Heath.

The price for this will be the safety, health and wellbeing of Fleet Road residents and businesses where the 24-hour 24 bus terminus is going to stand, the loss of the bus shelter outside Marks & Spencer, unsafe road crossings, the loss of parking for blue badge holders and constant traffic congestion.

Linda Chung, the Liberal Democrats councillor for Hampstead Town ward said at the meeting she thought “we had resolved that we’d close off the slip road (so we can make it lovely for everyone)”.

In 2020 when the 168 (now 1) bus was similarly thrust upon Fleet Road for a trial which was so disastrous it had to be stopped after two months, one of the Hampstead LibDems team wrote on their website that moving the bus stand to Fleet Road was a welcome change which many residents were pushing for. Which residents?

Even the Hampstead Neighbourhood Forum referendum which is presumably driving all this activity didn’t ask that question. The HNF vision for South End Green is to reconfigure the bus stands. Confusing opinion with facts is dangerous, particularly as the Hampstead Town councillors have been involved with these plans informally right from the start, according to Camden’s report.

Gospel Oak residents in Fleet Road and South End Close had no say in the HNF referendum. This was decided by Hampstead Town, most of whom do not live or work here and are unaware of the local consequences around the green.

Also, if a decision to close the slip road has been made, moving the bus terminus to Fleet Road must be permanent by default and an experimental traffic order is not an appropriate instrument, as it should only be used for a trial.

There may be a long-held wish by some to close the slip road, but there is also a long-held wish by Fleet Road and the one-way system not to have a bus terminus on this narrow, busy, residential street which is already the busiest in the area with three bus routes, the main access road to the hospital for ambulances and supplies and deliveries to Marks & Spencer.

The question shouldn’t be do we want to close the slip road but where can the 1 bus terminus reasonably go.

Camden’s safe and healthy streets policy must apply to Gospel Oak as well as Hampstead Town and destroying lives and livelihoods on Fleet Road is not the answer.

TAHIR NAWAZ, NW3