Traffic and housing were the hottest topics at a packed hustings for Blackheath Westcombe ward, held with a week to go until the Greenwich Council elections.
Candidates from Labour, the Greens, Tories and Liberal Democrats responded to voters’ questions in front of more than 100 people at Mycenae House, while Reform stayed away.
Mariam Lolavar, who is seeking re-election for Labour in the election next Thursday, defended Greenwich Council’s controversial low-traffic neighbourhood following an attack by Conservative candidate Tim Waters.
Waters branded the LTN “an absolute travesty”, claiming it had “achieved next to nothing”. The policy created congestion, he said, and congestion caused pollution. If elected, Tories would press for exemption for Greenwich residents, he said.
He added that the LTN had “picked up traffic from Westcombe and dumped it in Charlton”, with a “negligible” improvement in air quality.
“The council has to find a way of getting traffic from north to south of the borough that doesn’t pollute the residential streets.”
Lolavar conceded that the LTN had been a difficult issue for the council but said doing nothing about pollution and road safety had not been an option.
“It does ask a lot of residents, and I’m aware of that, but we are seeing benefits,” she said. Lolavar claimed a 79 per cent reduction in collisions within the area of the scheme.
For the Green Party, Fiona Moore agreed that something had needed to be done but added: “What we support is clean air for everyone.”
She said the data on the boundary roads should be looked at carefully to see what was happening with pollution and any changes to the scheme made on what the facts were.
Ray Kay, of the Liberal Democrats, said: “If people want an LTN, listen to them and give it to them”, a remark that drew a rare heckle from the audience of “But we weren’t asked!”
Kay stressed the need to reduce the amount of traffic on the borough’s roads and pointed to his party’s policy of improving bus services. Kay attacked “floating” bus stops, where passengers step on to islands between traffic and cycle lanes. “Who thought of this system?”, he asked.
He added that “part of the problem in Greenwich is the cycle lanes, which are badly designed”.
On housing, most candidates attacked developers who, Kay claimed, frequently “weasel out” of commitments, known as Section 106 agreements, to provide contributions to local infrastructure. Kay said Greenwich Council had done pretty well on housing, “but the bit they can do better is to really bear down on developers”.
He urged residents to lobby Matt Pennycook, the housing secretary and MP for Greenwich & Woolwich, saying: “You should all be on his back all day, every day, to change the housing system, so we’re not having to use developers who are there for profit, who are building their blocks of flats, that end up owned in Singapore, and Hong Kong, and are absolutely no use for local people.”
Moore said the Greens had a different approach to housing from Labour.
“We’ve had lots of large-scale developments with large developers. Which have too little social housing, too little affordable housing, [and are often], particularly with riverfront properties, bought up as investment vehicles, not to live in.”
She added: “I do appreciate that the balance of power often lies with the developer, but we would like to look at different solutions, such as community land trusts, or local co-operatives for housing.”
The Conservatives would “fight tooth and nail” to protect the character of the area, said Waters, and added that developers had been allowed to build too much housing that “is just hugely expensive and which become investment properties. The prices are pushed up and up, and our children are squeezed out. There have to be controls.”
Lolavar argued that Labour was restricted by very complicated planning laws. But she said big housing projects were in the pipeline, including on the former Thomas Tallis school site, and the council had reaped considerable gains from Section 106 agreements.
“These include the proposal for the free bikes that we’ve put forward, £150 for any child to be able to buy safety equipment, that’s being paid for from Section 106,” she said.
Candidates were asked what they would bring to Greenwich that had not already been done. Waters said: ”We’d listen. And take consultation seriously.”
Moore’s response was that the Greens would provide a more critical body of opposition to Labour and Kay hoped to build a higher level of community cohesion. Lolavar, referencing her role as cabinet member for adult social care, said she hoped to create a new dementia hub for Greenwich.
Reform UK is not attending any hustings for this election. Also not present was Trevor Allman, standing for the Monster Raving Loony Party. The meeting was organised by the Blackheath & Greenwich United Nations Association and chaired by Neville Grant.
The Blackheath Westcombe hustings was not recorded, but The Greenwich Wire has compiled videos from other hustings events from across the borough.
📩 Follow The Greenwich Wire on Bluesky, Facebook, LinkedIn or Threads. You can also sign up for WhatsApp alerts – or subscribe to our emails through the blue box above.
You must be logged in to post a comment.