Leaflet watch: Conservatives’ ‘absurd’ Seven Sisters Road one-way claim
Dodgy maths?: The offending Conservative Party leaflet stating that Seven Sisters Road is being narrowed to just one lane. The plan is actually to narrow the road from six carriageways to four – and Conservative Mayor of London Boris Johnson appears to have sign-off
Conservatives in north Hackney have been ridiculed for playing fast and loose with the truth over claims Labour-run Hackney Council wants to narrow Seven Sisters Road down to just one lane.
In fact Conservative Mayor of London Boris Johnson signs off planning decisions concerning Seven Sisters Road. Oh, and the plan is for the road to be narrowed to four lanes, not one.
Under the heading ‘Save Seven Sisters Road’ a Conservative Party leaflet delivered to voters in Woodberry Down ward states: “Labour want to narrow it down to one lane, causing more congestion, pollution and creating more health risks.”
But Jon Burke, who is standing as a Labour candidate in the newly created ward, called the Conservatives’ claim “absurd”, saying it suggested Seven Sisters Road – currently a six lane dual carriageway – was being turned into a single lane one-way street.
Ready for my close-up: the offending section of the leaflet
No evidence
Mr Burke said: “The Tories can provide no evidence whatsoever for this. Under no definition could you stretch the statement on this leaflet to describe the change that is being made.”
He sent the Hackney Citizen a copy of a planning application made by Berkley Homes on 15 January, which he said had been approved by Boris Johnson last week, adding: “It states clearly that the plan is to reduce the six lane carriageway by two lanes to four lanes. What they’re claiming simply has no basis in fact.”
Seven Sisters Road is a ‘red route’, meaning Hackney Council has no authority over it.
But a senior Conservative local politician stood by the seemingly dodgy leaflet, insisting that it referred to a narrowing of Seven Sisters Road to one lane in either direction.
Conservative London Assembly Member Andrew Boff called the scheme “harebrained’ and said: “Labour-run Hackney Council wants to narrow Seven Sisters Road so that there is one lane for cars and one lane for buses each way.
“Residents of the Woodberry Down area have told us they don’t want this as it will cause congestion, noise and pollution and be more dangerous for cyclists.
“I have been working with Hackney Conservatives to represent the people of Woodberry Down on this and I can assure you that this harebrained scheme has not been approved by the Mayor of London.
“If you elect Efrayim Goldstein and Chaya Odze as your Woodberry Down councillors next week, I will fight alongside them to ensure this doesn’t happen.”
The local elections take place on 22 May.
Choose who runs Hackney: vote on 22 May. Image: Hackney Citizen
Over the coming days the Hackney Citizen will be holding politicians from all parties to account by examining the accuracy of claims they make in their election literature.
If you receive a leaflet you would like to have fact-checked, please email a scan of it to office@hackneycitizen.co.uk
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