Greenwich Council rejects scrutiny call and permanently imposes LTN

Greenwich Council has blocked a final attempt to challenge its controversial low-traffic neighbourhood – just days after denying it had airbrushed opposition to the project. 

Conservative deputy leader Charlie Davis had attempted to “call in” the final decision to approve the scheme after a statutory consultation which ended last month. 

This would have resulted in a hearing where opponents and advocates of the LTN could have their say. 

A panel of councillors would then have either endorsed the scheme, which prevents most traffic from using streets east and west of Greenwich Park as through routes during the rush hour, or sent it back to council leader Anthony Okereke for reconsideration.

But officers at the Labour council have rejected Davis’s call-in, saying that the scheme had already been examined twice at previous call-in meetings. The scheme will now be made permanent without any further scrutiny.

The move, branded “surprising” by another councillor, despite a second call-in having already been allowed, while council documents – and an article on the council website – explicitly said that the final decision was subject to a call-in.

In documents published last week stating the council’s intention to make the scheme permanent, the council denied that it had “selectively reported, omitted or airbrushed” key elements of public feedback.

Davis said: “This latest decision to avoid public scrutiny does nothing but confirm that all stages of consultation were entirely meaningless.  Labour councillors were determined to introduce this LTN and had no intention of letting residents views’ get in the way of that. 

“I’m afraid this is the cost we pay for having a borough that is so dominated by the Labour Party and their policies which are so dominated by their ideological crusade against anyone who dares to drive a car. The election is coming up in May, and I think they will pay a high price for railroading local communities like this.”

The “neighbourhood management scheme” is the latest in a series of attempts to stop motorists from using side roads in west Greenwich as an alternative to the A2, with residents complaining of antisocial behaviour as drivers tried to force their way through neighbourhood streets.

A previous attempt, which only covered streets in west Greenwich but operated all day, seven days a week, faced criticism after residents in east Greenwich complained it had simply shifted the problem there, with videos circulating of drivers verbally abusing residents. That scheme was scrapped before the May 2022 elections.

In November 2024 a larger scheme, also covering streets in east Greenwich and Blackheath but only during between 7am and 10am and 3pm to 7pm, was introduced. It covers an area between Greenwich South Street and the A102.

But while this slashed traffic in the affected streets, the scheme faced complaints that it had now shifted the problem even further east, particularly outside Fossdene primary school in Charlton. A consultation found that eight in ten respondents were opposed to the scheme.

Councillors from all three parties on the council have voiced discomfort with the measures. Before the scheme was introduced, a call-in from Labour and Conservative councillors led to increased monitoring in the Charlton area.

In October, a call-in from Conservative and Green councillors discussed the issues in Charlton, and council officers acknowledged problems in the area.  

One Charlton resident with children at a local primary school said the increased traffic meant the area was no longer safe and that he had cut back on cycling — the reverse of the effect LTNs are meant to have. 

Council officers pledged to take action, but offered few details and no timescales – and later documents have warned that any mitigation measures are dependent on funding. 

Now residents have lost their opportunity to scrutinise the council further.

“The [call-in] notice is not valid as it relates to a decision that has previously been called-in or has been the subject of pre-decision scrutiny,” Davis was told.

He told The Greenwich Wire: “It is little wonder that Greenwich Council does not want to be subjected to another public scrutiny meeting on their flawed LTN, which was opposed by eight in ten people taking part in the original consultation and then imposed on Greenwich and Blackheath anyway. “

Lakshan Saldin, the Green councillor for Charlton Hornfair – whose ward covers Eastcombe Avenue, Victoria Way and Marlborough Lane,  streets council officers acknowledge have  been affected by displaced traffic – said: “I’m genuinely surprised that Greenwich Council has taken this approach. The record of the decision clearly states that the decision was subject to call-in, and as I understand it the submitted call-in met all the necessary requirements. 

“The refusal to submit to scrutiny sets an unsettling precedent for how Greenwich Council sees its role and  responsibility to residents.”

Saldin, who is not opposed to the scheme in principle, was involved in the two other call-ins, initially as a Labour councillor along with his then-colleagues Leo Fletcher and Maisie Cottell Richards, and latterly alongside Green councillor Tamasin Rhymes. 

He had not attempted to call-in the scheme a third time, but said he had agreed to speak about flaws in the current scheme this time around. 

Opponents of the LTN argue that the consultations have been based on flawed data and have queried changes made in the permanent scheme which mean traffic can use Royal Hill and Blissett Street as a through route again.

Eleanor Restall, speaking for the Clear Greenwich anti-LTN campaign group, said: “The council are hiding key traffic and accident data for the LTN scheme. Rules on consultation, making changes and publishing decisions have been breached in a way that utterly destroys public trust in their fitness to govern Greenwich. 80 per cent of respondents rejected this scheme and their concerns are being ignored.”

The Greenwich Wire understands that the council’s Labour leadership believes the Conservative call-in was politically-motivated, with just 11 weeks to go until the most difficult election for the party in more than half a century.

Greenwich Council said: “This scheme has been subject to extensive scrutiny, and the council has been clear that this decision was open to ‘call-in’.  However, for a call-in to be valid it must comply with the requirements clearly set out in part four of the council’s constitution.  On this occasion, the request did not meet those requirements and was not valid as it related to a decision that had previously been called in.”

Councillor Calum O’Byrne Mulligan, the cabinet member for climate action, sustainability and transport, has previously given a “personal commitment” that he would look at making the affected roads in Charlton safer.

He said on Wednesday: “This scheme is helping us make our streets safer and cleaner, reducing rat running, accidents and overall traffic, while improving overall air quality and the number of journeys taken on foot or bike. These are fundamentally positive changes which show that, while not without challenges, this scheme is already delivering.   

“Having listened to residents we’re doubling the number of blue badge exemptions and repositioning some cameras, and by making the scheme permanent we’re giving certainty to local residents and businesses. These changes will only add to a scheme that is already demonstrating real improvements in road safety in and out of the boundaries. Crucially, this decision allows us to start exploring mitigations for neighbouring areas, and I know residents in Charlton and beyond want to see that work under way. “

“Doing nothing is not a reasonable option given local air pollution, traffic and dangerous rat running. By making the scheme permanent we’re not only giving certainty, but also making a considered effort to clean up our air, tackle pollution, support sustainable transport and improve road safety. “

To contact your councillors or other representatives, visit writetothem.com.

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