Furious drivers in Peckham have been slapped with more than £278,000 in fines in just six months, a Freedom of Information request has revealed.
Southwark Council earnt the hefty sum from penalty charge notices handed to drivers in a no-traffic zone on Goldsmith Road.
The Freedom of Information request showed that nearly 8,000 fines were issued to drivers who went down the road between August 2021 and January 2022.
Southwark raked in the most money from the traffic zone in October 2021, earning more than £125,000 from 2,448 fines.
Cars and motorcycles have been banned by Southwark Council from driving down Goldsmith Road from Meeting House Lane since the start of the lockdown in 2020.
But locals have said signs in the area and recent road changes are confusing, leading many drivers to break the rules by mistake.
“These new, modern signs are not clear,” said Collin Manley, a double glazing installer based on the corner of Goldsmith Road. “People don’t realise what they mean, especially in this modern code, as we have all been brought up with normal signs.”
“The only people they are catching out are those who do not genuinely understand.”
One driver was caught by the camera, as the News spoke to Collin on 14 March
Collin also complained that recent changes to the roads in the local area were worsening problems for drivers.
He pointed out that during the Coronavirus pandemic the council blocked off several turnings into the Goldsmith Road with large potted plants and benches.
However, these barriers were later removed as they created “problems” for the emergency services, claimed Collin, and replaced with a camera that automatically fines those turning into the road.
“They are putting all this new stuff in roads people use year in, year out,” said Collin.
“Where in the highway code does it say you can put a bloody bench in the middle of the street?” he asked. “It is ridiculous.”
Collin said the cameras had “slaughtered” his business by decimating passing trade, and that many delivery drivers coming from outside the area to his shop had been fined, after unknowingly driving into the road.
“It is a money-making scheme,” says Collin, “there’s no reason for it and it does not benefit anyone, the only people who benefit is that Southwark Council, but I call them a few other things.
“I have been here over 30 years and in all that time we have never seen any problems with traffic in the area,” he added.
The traffic filter on Goldsmith Road is one of several set up around Peckham and across the borough by Southwark Council in an effort to improve road safety and encourage more people to ditch their cars. No traffic zones are seen as a vital way of reducing toxic levels of air pollution in the capital and adverting climate change. Many people support them.
Only walking and cycling are allowed through the stretches of road watched by the camera.
Nearly £200,000 in fines still needs to be paid by motorists who turned in the low traffic neighbourhood on Goldsmith Road, according to the Freedom of Information request.
“This traffic filter was introduced in late 2020, as part of our work with the Guy’s and St Thomas Charitable Trust to reduce health inequalities and support children’s independent movement, said Cllr Rose.
“Car ownership in Southwark is lower than the London average, but residents have to live with significant amounts of through traffic,” she added.