A forthcoming council by-election has put a hearing into plans for a part-time low-traffic neighbourhood in Greenwich and Blackheath on hold.

Conservative leader Matt Hartley and a number of Labour councillors had all challenged the decision to implement the LTN on streets either side of Greenwich Park, which would stop through traffic from using those  roads between 7-10am and 3-7pm on weekdays. 

The “call in” will provide an opportunity for opponents to make their case and for a panel of councillors to make a decision on whether the scheme should be reconsidered, although the final decision would lie with Averil Lekau, the council’s deputy leader.

It had already been delayed because of the London mayoral election and had been scheduled for this Wednesday.

But the death of Hartley’s party colleague John Hills last month means a by-election will be held in the Mottingham, Coldharbour & New Eltham ward, in the far south of the borough, on June 13.

Council officers have ruled that this means a meeting about a controversial issue cannot be held until after the poll. Nominations to stand are due on Thursday afternoon, after which the list of candidates will be published.

The part-time LTN plans – obliquely referred to by the council as a “neighbourhood management project” – would block most through traffic using Point Hill, Hyde Vale and Crooms Hill to the west of Greenwich Park; and Maze Hill, Vanbrugh Hill, Halstow Road and Westcombe Hill to the east, using numberplate-recognition cameras. 

East-west traffic along St John’s Park in Blackheath would also be blocked.

Buses, emergency vehicles, taxis and blue badge holders would be exempt, as would minicabs and organisations which qualify for a blue badge, such as those carrying people with special educational needs. There would also be exemptions for carers and those with some health conditions. 

Most of those who responded to a consultation into having a low-traffic neighbourhood in the neighbourhood opposed it, although large numbers expressed concern about levels of traffic in the area.