The man in charge of the controversial Liveable Neighbourhood scheme said he ‘misspoke’ when criticising the local MPKerry McCarthy, Labour MP for Bristol East, will be voting in favourKerry McCarthy, Labour MP for Bristol East(Image: Kerry McCarthy)

A Bristol MP has received an apology from the council chief implementing the controversial Liveable Neighbourhoods across the city, after wrongly claiming she had not been working with the council on suggesting changes to the plans. Kerry McCarthy, the MP for Bristol East, said she has been invited to meet with Cllr Ed Plowden to talk through her suggestions on the East Bristol Liveable Neighbourhood, after a public row.

The row began when Labour MP Ms McCarthy wrote to Cllr Plowden, the chair of the council’s transport committee, with her detailed assessment of the East Bristol Liveable Neighbourhood, at the start of the month.

She told the Green Party councillor that in 20 years of representing Bristol East, the traffic scheme, which has seen bus gates and ‘modal filters’ installed across Barton Hill, Redfield and parts of St George, was ‘one of the most divisive local issues I’ve seen’.

The EBLN was created around a year ago, although the start of what the council claims is a ‘trial period’ was delayed because of persistent protests, particularly in the Barton Hill area. Early in November, with the trial period nearing its end, Ms McCarthy’s letter to Cllr Plowden shared what she said were tweaks and changes needed to make the project be better. She said that more than 200 constituents had contacted me, and she’d met many more in the course of 2025 who wanted to talk about it.

She proposed a series of suggested changes, and said the EBLN had increased traffic in the areas around the affected zone. But her letter did say there were people in favour: “Other constituents have reported a far more enjoyable place to live and travel around. Cycling and active travel appear to have increased.

East Bristol Liveable Neighbourhood(Image: PAUL GILLIS / Reach PLC)

Her letter also criticised the council’s decision to ‘hide data around the impact of the scheme’, and claimed there was a ‘failure of transparency’, before listing a number of changes she was suggesting be made, particularly around Barton Hill.

“Throughout the trial’s progress, I have sought to bridge this divide and find common-sense solutions to some of the challenges it has posed,” she said at the time. “It is important that we respect everyone’s experiences, listen to the diversity of views, and try to find a compromise way forward that can unite the community,” she added.

Then, last week, when Cllr Plowden was asked about Ms McCarthy’s intervention on BBC Radio Bristol, he claimed that the MP ‘hadn’t engaged with the council or any of the local councillors until now’.

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“This is untrue,” said Ms McCarthy. “My team and I have written to the council at least 18 times since the measures were first introduced. Cllr Plowden also asked why I didn’t raise my concerns regarding the survey and monitoring scheme until now. The answer is – I did. I wrote to the council to raise concerns about the monitoring scheme in mid-September and requested changes to the survey in early October.

“I am unsure why Cllr Plowden felt the need to mislead the public here, but it does rather demonstrate why I am right to be concerned that the council isn’t listening to people. It also raises serious questions as to whether we can trust them with the so-called engagement process,” said Ms McCarthy, adding that she expected Cllr Plowden to apologise.

Cllr Ed Plowden (Green, Windmill Hill) the chair of the city council's transport committee, outside the South Bristol Liveable Neighbourhood consultation event in TotterdownCllr Ed Plowden (Green, Windmill Hill) the chair of the city council’s transport committee, outside the South Bristol Liveable Neighbourhood consultation event in Totterdown(Image: Bristol Post)

In a letter directly to Cllr Plowden last week, Ms McCarthy again listed her suggested changes to the EBLN scheme and all the times she’s contacted the council before, adding: “My hope was that these enquiries would have led to change, but instead all I got was a rather condescending response from officers.

“I am unclear how else I am supposed to engage with the council, aside from raising it with the leadership, replying to councillors, my staff attending your meetings, and writing using your correspondence address.

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“It was also disappointing to hear you say I was trying to deepen polarisation, when what I have been doing is precisely what the council should have been doing – trying to find a compromise that people can live with,” she added.

Finally, Cllr Plowden did apologise. This week, Ms McCarthy shared an email she received from Cllr Plowden. The council chief said: “I apologise I misspoke on a live radio interview, it was a mistake to say you have not been in contact with the council.

“Our officers and ward councillors continue to work hard alongside me, and the political leadership team, to listen and respond to residents and stakeholders.

Some of the measures in place during the East Bristol Liveable Neighbourhood trialSome of the measures in place during the East Bristol Liveable Neighbourhood trial(Image: Bristol City Council)

“I do hope that we can focus on making good, evidence-based decisions,” he said, adding that he would like to meet the MP.

But the spat did not end there. In an online blog, one local Green councillor, Cara Lavan, again criticised Kerry McCarthy for not engaging constructively with the council or local councillors. “I’m not sure what would count as constructive engagement, if sending at least 18 private emails suggesting changes and improvements, and meeting with council leaders and officers doesn’t,” Ms McCarthy said. “While I want the scheme to work, it’s clearly flawed. Pointing out those flaws and asking for improvements is very much about trying to make things work.

“I have been very clear all along that I am not going to take a partisan approach, but instead represent as best I can the views of all my constituents,” she added.