Whatever side you sit on, the Mini Holland cycling scheme is a controversial subject.

It has encouraged more people to take up cycling, but has caused road closures and a loss of parking spaces.

This morning, civil engineers and the deputy leader of Waltham Forest Council, Cllr Clyde Loakes, took researchers and representatives from other councils on a walking tour of some of the key routes.

They explained how they tried to involve the public at every step, by sowing wild flower seeds throughout the scheme and encouraging neighbours to take ownership of the public spaces opened up by road closures.

The engineers said they are “proud” of their achievements, with an aim to stop vehicles from rat running along backstreets, reduce noise pollution and improve air quality – an aim mirrored by the Mayor of London’s proposals to extend the Ultra Low Emissions Zone across the city in the coming years.

When the scheme was launched four years ago, 25 per cent of the population gave their feedback – a huge jump from the two to three per cent the authority is used to seeing.

Now, the scheme is entering its third year in operation and opinions are as mixed and as passionate as they were during the initial consultation period.

But people criticised the road closures associated with the scheme, raising concerns over access for emergency vehicles, criticising the council’s public consultation process and worrying about increased traffic levels on the roads outside of the scheme.

Someone the group met during the tour labelled the scheme a “white wash.”

Key areas where the scheme is in full swing include Orford Road in Walthamstow Village, where the main street of shops and cafes is closed to cars between 10am and 10pm and Aubrey Road, where a cut through between houses has been levelled out to insert a cycle lane.

The plans for the cut through between Aubrey Road and Howard Road, which residents claimed would put lives at risk, saw neighbours launch a legal challenge against the council last year. The court ruled in favour of the council.

In response to claims of increased traffic on the roads outside the Mini Holland scheme, engineers said there has been a 40 per cent reduction in traffic on the roads incorporated in the scheme and a marginal, “single figure” percentage increase of traffic on the roads bordering the scheme.

But they admitted that a full assessment of traffic level changes is yet to be completed.

Cllr Clyde Loakes, deputy council leader, drew attention to the cycle hangers dotted throughout the borough and along the route, which are proving popular with a waiting list of hundreds.

He said: “We’re fighting obesity, getting better air quality, quieter spaces. It’s important to us that people take ownership of these areas, like the planting, we’ve had residents associations involved from the start. It’s hugely popular.”