Waste of time

Public consultation is a funny old thing. If you don't do it right it is a waste of time and money, and if you don't do it at all you end up wasting time and money on unpopular schemes.

Friary Park traffic calming is the perfect case in point. This overblown, overpriced, over-the-top system of width restrictions, cycle paths and 'environmental' signs has been hugely unpopular since it was introduced three years ago.

It has created chaos and hazards where before there were none and is now to be withdrawn bringing the total cost of this dismal project to at least £420,000.

The scheme was the brainchild of former Woodhouse councillor Stan Cross who dreamt of creating a new way to manage traffic.

But residents have objected in their hundreds to the decimation of their roads and car parking spaces that this scheme has created, suggesting that, as usual, any prior consultation with the public was either inadequate or ignored.

All we can hope now is that the death of this much hated scheme brings an end to Barnet Council's illogical, and expensive, love affair with unnecessary traffic calming.