REVEALED: Secret plans revived to remove Fountain Roundabout
Your local Independent councillors have revealed Lib Dem plans to remove the Fountain Roundabout, replacing it with a crossroads.
Being briefed on the plans, Independents were told that they “must not tell” residents about these plans – which have a price-tag to the taxpayer of £5m – so naturally, they are breaking the silence.
In 2016, the then-Conservative Council introduced an identical proposal to remove the Fountain Roundabout and replace it with a crossroads. Your Independent Councillors led the campaign against the removal, supported by Kingston Cycling Campaign, Kingston Centre for Independent Living, New Malden Residents Association and the Mayor of London’s former Cycling Csar, Andrew Gilligan:
The majority of respondents to the public consultation in 2016 did not support the plans, for a variety of reasons:
- The proposals removed the right-turn from Malden Road into Burlington Road, as the traffic flow would otherwise have been too poor
- TfL stated the proposals would slow down traffic in the area
- The historic fountain monument (a replica of the original installed in the location in 1896 by the Band of Mercy) would have been demolished
- The plan had no clear improvement on walking or cycling, with ‘shared space’ being dangerous for those with disabilities
At the time, the Liberal Democrats also joined the Independents in opposing these plans, which ended up being scrapped by a unanimous vote at Council in October 2016.
Instead of spending this money on a pedestrian crossing, the Liberal Democrat administration instead decided to spend that money engaging ‘consultants’ on ressurecting the nonsensical Fountain Roundabout scheme. Now they’ve bid for £5,000,000 from TfL to remove the roundabout altogether.
Cllr James Giles said: “We’ve been down this road before – and won – when the Conservatives tried to remove the roundabout in 2016.
“What makes these plans even worse is that there is plans to reopen Thetford Road, and close off Presburg Road at the Fountain end – making Thetford Road a complete rat-run.
“The Council has wasted £100,000 on consultants to mock up these insane plans, as well as having already spent over £1m eight years ago on the botched scheme.
“At a time when the Council regularly plead poverty – aren’t there better things to spend money on?
“I’ve argued for eight years that the public were very clear that we must retain the roundabout. I would welcome improvements to the roundabout, including a renovated monument, pedestrian crossing at the Kingston Road-end, and indeed converting the roundabout to a ‘dutch-style’ roundabout as the original scheme in 2012 proposed.
“But what is being proposed is more of the same – an endless merry-go-round, all whilst the taxpayer suffers.”
We are calling on the Council to abandon their plans to remove the roundabout – and instead build the pedestrian crossing that was voted for by all Councillors – and for the Mayor to refuse to give £5,000,000 for the scheme.
You can watch the New Malden Neighbourhood Committee meeting where this was discussed here.
You can read the petition and sign below: