This autumn the Council will be trialling traffic calming measures in east and west Greenwich over an 18-month period to tackle air pollution, improve road safety, and reduce traffic following a decision made by the Cabinet Member for Climate Action, Sustainability and Transport on 20 August 2024 and extensive engagement with local people.

Both neighbourhoods suffer from high levels of through traffic and poor air quality, despite the fact many local residents do not own cars. Since October 2022 the Council has held two phases of engagement writing to over 9,200 households and businesses in the area and holding seven events attended by over 400 people. In total over 8,000 responses were received across both phases, including 3,000 in the second phase.

The trial will implement:
part-time camera-controlled restrictions on weekdays during peak hours (7am to 10am and 3pm to 7pm) to stop through traffic on certain roads in west and east Greenwich; and
extended exemptions for blue badge holders, taxis, private hire vehicles, council refuse vehicles, and individuals and community groups in special circumstances such as children with special education needs
 
Averil Lekau, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Climate Action, Environment and Transport, said: “How we all choose to move around our borough can impact whole communities in positive and negative ways. We have the fourth highest number of babies being hospitalised with respiratory tract infections as well as one of the highest levels of childhood obesity in London. Traffic is one of the main causes of air pollution and 31% of the borough’s carbon emissions. By reducing it we can make it easier and safer for people to walk and cycle. This is one of the aims of our transport strategy, alongside calling for improvements to public transport and encouraging a shift to low emission vehicles.”

“I recognise there are strong feelings on both sides. Local people agree that there is an issue and were supportive of the vision for improving the environment, with less through-traffic, and better air quality but had concerns about the proposals the Council consulted on during phase two. Following what residents said, big changes have been proposed – including part time closures and significantly extended exemptions. I also welcome the feedback from my fellow councillors and residents who attended the scrutiny meeting on the 31 July. I have considered their recommendations which are reflected in the updated decision report.”

Roads with restrictions will still be open to people walking, cycling, and using wheelchairs and every address will still be accessible by car – however in some instances people driving may have to take a different route.

Residents will have the opportunity to feedback during the trial, known as an experimental traffic order, when they have first-hand experience of how it is working in practice.

The Council will closely monitor the impact of the measures and gather air quality, traffic and road safety data, and further changes can be made if necessary. 

An equality impact assessment will also be carried out during the trial to make sure that it is not discriminate or disadvantage any specific groups of people.

It is important to stress that this is an experimental order and that no final decision will be made without consideration of the feedback provided by residents on their experiences during the experimental period. At the end of the trial a decision would then be made to keep, remove, or change the trial scheme based on resident feedback and the monitoring data that will be collected at the same time. 

The Council will be writing to all households and businesses in the two neighbourhoods to explain how the trial will work and how they can apply for exemptions if they are eligible.

The local community will also be kept informed about the trial through the Council’s website and on the on the Greener Safer Greenwich portal.