Low traffic plans in Greenwich scaled back after resident opposition

Averil Lekau: Following what residents said, big changes have been proposed – including part-time closures and significantly extended exemptions

Averil Lekau: Following what residents said, big changes have been proposed – including part-time closures and significantly extended exemptions

Greenwich Council is installing ANPR cameras across two neighbourhoods in the borough to restrict through traffic during an 18-month trial. However, after feedback from residents, the council agreed to amend its plans, reducing the hours of camera enforcement to weekdays and peak hours only and extending exemptions to cover more groups including organisations that qualify for a Blue Badge, private hire vehicles and “individual circumstance exemptions”.

During the trial, under an experimental traffic order, ANPR will be in operation on weekdays from 7am to 10am and 3pm to 7pm to stop through traffic on certain roads in west and east Greenwich.

There will be 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.

Traffic calming measures in east and west Greenwich will help tackle air pollution, improve road safety, and reduce traffic, said the council. Both neighbourhoods suffer from high levels of through traffic and poor air quality, despite the fact many local residents do not own cars, it added. 

The council said that since October 2022 it has written to over 9,200 households and businesses in the area and held 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 council reports.  

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 accounts for 31% of the borough’s carbon emissions, said Lekau. “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.”

Lekau acknowledged there were “strong feelings” both in favour and against the traffic calming measures. “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.”

The council said it 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.   

Traffic calming was essential if the council was to deliver the aims of its Carbon Neutral Plan, which includes a range of measures to help encourage walking, cycling and public transport, reduce traffic, improve air quality, and support the rollout of ultralow emission vehicles.