Leader's blog

You can also follow what I’m up to on Twitter (@DanLThorpe) where you’ll find many of our other Councillors too. It’s another way to stay in touch with what’s happening in the borough.

A big investment for Royal Greenwich

On Monday, I was really pleased to see TfL launch their consultation on improving the road layout between Greenwich and Woolwich town centres. The proposals that we want your thoughts on involve completely rethinking the Angerstein roundabout, introducing a new dedicated bus lane to ensure more reliable journeys for bus passengers and introducing six new crossings to make the road safer for pedestrians and school children.

This is a significant investment from the Mayor of London and one we really need to get right. So please take the time to have a look at the consultation and have your say. 

I look forward to seeing everyone’s thoughts!

It’s the final countdown....

You may have seen that at the end of last year, we were shortlisted to become London’s next Borough of Culture. Well, this week was our final interview as part of the process.

This is a project introduced by the Mayor of London to shine a light on a particular part of our city and provide some much-needed resources to support a programme of cultural activities. Winning means millions of pounds to create something fantastic and I’m really proud of the work that’s gone into the bid. It’s been a collaboration of partners across the borough and we’ve created a brilliant plan for 365 days of culture for everyone in Royal Greenwich.

Please keep everything crossed that we win!

Back to school

As a former teacher, I can’t say that I missed the 6am alarm that many of my friends had to welcome them back to term three, but I do miss the excited squeals that would have welcomed our Royal Greenwich teachers back to work this week!

One thing I’m keen to tackle further this year is making the areas outside of our school safer and more pleasant for pupils and families in the morning. All too often, the roads outside schools are an angry line of families in idling cars making the start of the day an unhealthy one for pupils and a difficult one for school staff.

Before Christmas, I met with the Headteacher of Plumcroft primary school, in my ward, who told me about the daily battles unfolding with the few people who are making things impossible for many others. I heard from parents who’ve had enough of the inconsiderate behaviour.

This year, I’m determined to introduce more school streets, where we close roads to traffic at the start and end of the day. I’m also determined we will use our new powers to introduce resident only access. If you’re interested in making the road outside your child’s school safer and healthier, get in touch at schoolstreets@royalgreenwich.gov.uk. We’re going to need a concerted effort of families and schools if we’re going to make the difference.

And don’t forget 15 January is the deadline for primary school admission applications.