Greenwich Council has come out on top after a long-running row with its neighbour Bexley over plans to curb parking near Oxleas Woods.
London mayor Sadiq Khan has sided with Labour-run Greenwich over its plans to introduce parking charges on parts of Rochester Way and Welling Way, in Eltham.
The scheme was approved by Greenwich’s deputy leader, Averil Lekau, in December 2022, but was referred to the mayor’s office because the two boroughs could not come to an agreement on the issue.
Both roads, which are close to Falconwood station, have free parking for all on the Greenwich side of the border. But most spaces are often taken Greenwich said, adding that double-parking had become a problem.
Conservative-run Bexley has parking zones on the border, but other local streets have no controls. It said that a parking zone would shift the problem to those roads, and that it was “extremely disappointed” with the mayor’s decision.
Bexley said that most of its residents opposed the plans, 17 roads could face increased parking and the proposal would “hit hard working families who commute and who are already struggling with the cost of living.”
But a report by City Hall said that a survey conducted by Greenwich had found there was “already a significant number of vehicles parked” on the Bexley side of the border.
“This suggests that opportunities for vehicles to be displaced from Rochester Way and Welling Way to Bexley are already low,” it added.
Transport for London convened four separate meetings between Greenwich and Bexley in an attempt to find a resolution to the row, without success.
Seb Dance, the deputy mayor for transport, also brought Greenwich’s deputy leader Averil Lekau and Bexley’s cabinet member for neighbourhoods, Richard Diment, together for a further meeting, but also failed to reach a deal.
Diment said: “Yet again the mayor of London is ignoring the interests of Bexley’s residents. Residents gave us a clear message of what they think of the introduction of this scheme and we have strongly championed their views from the start. It will adversely affect our residents and cause problems for them to park.
“We will need to monitor what happens closely and how best we can minimise the negative impact of this decision on our community”.
A Greenwich spokesperson said: “Transport is the second biggest source of climate change emissions in our borough, and it is vital we tackle this. We have engaged with the community in Falconwood to understand their needs and the proposed measures align with both ours and the mayor’s transport strategy.
“The introduction of these parking improvements means there will be a small charge on otherwise unrestricted parking along a busy highway. We have seen very heavy parking along Rochester Way and Welling Way due to its proximity to the train station. Waiting restrictions and parking bays will reduce congestion and air pollution; discourage short trips by car which can be made on public transport and make it easier for residents, visitors and delivery drivers to park near their homes.”
Greenwich’s Conservative councillors also filed their own, separate objections – that the changes would shift parking to the Eltham Park area and ultimately result in charges there too. These were not part of Bexley’s appeal to the mayor.
There is a long history of arguments over parking between Greenwich and Bexley. Proposals for a parking zone close to Avery Hill were held up by objections from Bexley for seven years, until London mayor Sadiq Khan finally gave Greenwich the go-ahead in October 2020. In this case, Conservative councillors had sided with Greenwich rather than their party colleagues over the border, even launching a petition in support of the plans.
The two councils have also clashed over plans for a seven-storey block of flats opposite Falconwood station, which Greenwich approved in April after a planning inspector threw out plans for a taller block.
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