
Stop the West & East Greenwich LTN
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Help fight for equity, safety and clean air for all, and stop the Royal Borough of Greenwich from the unfair and unlawful enforcement of a scheme the community opposes. We are commencing a legal challenge and urgently need your support.
I am the chair and Melanie is the treasurer for numerous local residents, including GreenwichGoneTooFar, OneGreenwich and various residents’ associations. We first came together in 2020 to stop the West Greenwich LTN from impeding emergency vehicles, unnecessarily forcing traffic on to polluted boundary roads, causing danger inside the protected area from extra traffic, turning and double backs and environmental pollution to everyone. We succeeded in a removal in 2022, but the Council reimposed a much bigger scheme in 2024.
Greenwich Council's new scheme stretching across West and East Greenwich threatens to create an environmental and social disaster on a bigger scale than last time. It will increase already high pollution, harming vulnerable groups and penalising essential travel.
Consultation, legitimate procedures, and legal obligations have all been ignored by the Royal Borough of Greenwich. Vulnerable people, special needs children and others will suffer. The ‘boundary’ roads are already seriously affected by pollution. We instructed lawyers to start work while our active group also investigates the dangers of the scheme and disruption to the community.
Greenwich Council has ignored formal requirements and failed to provide information and answers to local people. The scheme was launched on 27 November 2024 without acceptable barriers, signage and safety measures.
Experimental Traffic Orders made in November included 70 additional changes to resident parking and roadside waiting areas made without consultation. We believe this was because the government asked for safety measures. But in December, the Council decided to drop them. We've also found out that all the current signage is being replaced - while thousands of drivers are being fined because they could not take avoidant action in time.
Your help is vital right now. Together, we can hold the council accountable and fight for policies that protect equity, safety, and clean air for everyone.
What’s happening?
The West & East Greenwich Neighbourhood Management Scheme surrounds Greenwich Royal Park, between the approach to the Peninsula and Blackwall Tunnel to Greenwich South Street. It is a huge miles long area, and the traffic scheme will have far-reaching consequences:
• health impacts: Increased pollution on residential boundary roads will worsen air quality. It will disproportionately affect excluded communities, families with children, and individuals with disabilities or special needs. Traffic is already being displaced to boundary roads, including Blackheath Hill and Woolwich Road, both of which suffer pollution exceeding the UK Legal Limit. Blackheath Hill sees approximately 33,000 motor vehicles every day and is home to a brain injury rehabilitation hospital, social housing for adults and children with chronic respiratory conditions, and a population that is 58.1% social housing tenants.
Displaced traffic is also impacting Charlton, which has been forced to accept floods of traffic from the East Greenwich area.
• access to services: The scheme disrupts access to essential services like hospitals, GP surgeries, and schools, harming those who rely on timely care and support. Schools around the area are concerned about later arrival times for all children, but particularly, those with special needs, and obstacles to key out of area staff and staff recruitment. Primary schools affected include, Fossdene, Invicta, Halstow Road and James Wolfe.
• inequality: The scheme benefits some areas while pushing traffic and pollution into already disadvantaged neighbourhoods, exacerbating existing inequalities.
• ambiguous signage and safety: Poorly positioned and ambiguous signage is confusing residents and visitors travelling from outside the borough, creating dangerous turning points in both East and West Greenwich. This has led to increased congestion, including directly outside James Wolfe Primary School, which also houses a Deaf Unit, further endangering the health and safety of vulnerable children.
• access to homes: Much of the area in East and West Greenwich are now far less accessible to traffic during the scheme’s operational hours.
Why we’re pursuing legal action and expert evidence as well as taking the fight to central government
We believe this scheme is not only harmful but also unlawful. The council has:
• ignored the overwhelming opposition of local people during consultations, and failed to consult those suffering the worst impacts.
• failed to assess and mitigate the impact on vulnerable groups, breaching equalities legislation.
• failed to meet its legal obligations to provide clear dates and reasoning for the traffic orders it has implemented.
• refused to engage democratically, ignoring thousands of legitimate enquiries and complaints made by residents.
The Royal Borough of Greenwich continues to ignore its residents and push ahead with schemes that harm the very people it claims to serve. We have no choice but to fight on every front to hold the council accountable.
How you can help
We need to meet expensive legal charges, carry out citizen monitoring, leafletting campaigns and obtain expert support. The council has access to significant resources to defend its actions. To level the playing field, we need your support.
What your donations will fund:
• legal advice and representation by expert solicitors and barristers.
• campaigning action to raise awareness, counter misleading information, and make expert representations to central government.
• fund viable monitoring and expert evidence to highlight the scheme’s harmful impacts.
Our goal: We aim to raise an initial sum of £15,000 to cover these costs. Every contribution, no matter the size, brings us closer to protecting our community.
Join us in the fight
We cannot allow the West & East Greenwich LTN to continue unchecked. Your support will make a difference not just for our community but for others across the UK facing similar challenges.
If we raise more than needed, any surplus funds will be used to support similar legal challenges or reinvested into local community initiatives.
Together, we can push back against unfair policies and demand a fair, healthy future for Greenwich.
Please donate and share this campaign with your friends and networks.
Help fight for social equity, safety and clean air for all, and stop the Royal Borough of Greenwich from the unfair and unlawful enforcement of a scheme the community opposes.
Organiser and beneficiary
Sally Hughes
Organiser
England
Melanie Aspey
Beneficiary