Following an Overview and Scrutiny Committee meeting on Thursday 6 November 2025, plans to make parts of East and West Greenwich safer, cleaner and greener will move forward.
The committee decided to note the decision the Council Leader made on Friday 3 October, taking into account the consultation carried out, to make the measures permanent with changes to the location of ANPR filters and revised exemptions.
That decision was ‘called in’ for further scrutiny by councillors. After full consideration of the reasons for the call in and further representations from residents, the committee agreed with the earlier decision that the scheme be introduced permanently, which the council will now work towards. As part of that process the council has committed to exploring mitigations for boundary roads, including working with TfL on roads they maintain.
Councillor Anthony Okereke, Leader of the Royal Borough of Greenwich, said: “The measures we trialed showed positive shifts in traffic and air quality. This data supported our initial decision to make the scheme permanent. I know there has been significant conversation about the scheme and I welcomed the chance to reiterate the positive impact it’s been having. Thank you to all residents who attended or took part in the consultation. Scrutiny is a good thing, and the signs are there that this scheme is working, and will have benefits in the long run in terms of traffic, cleaning our air and making it easier and safer to get around.”
Councillor Calum O’Byrne Mulligan, Interim Cabinet Member for Climate Action, Sustainability and Transport, added: “It’s always been our goal to make the borough safer, cleaner and greener. Data shows that there are fewer reports of collisions, air quality has either improved – or at least stayed the same overall – and more people are choosing to walk or cycle. That is success on every front. I’m grateful to the residents who took time out to take part in this process. We heard some powerful stories and we want everyone to feel safe. We know there are issues that presented themselves during the trial and now we are now in a position to actually get on and explore mitigations for boundary roads, and we will all see the benefits.”
The trial has seen 13 roads closed to through traffic at peak times on weekdays, but with exemptions for disabled blue badge holders in Royal Borough of Greenwich, community groups, taxis, private hire vehicles, emergency services and those in exceptional circumstances.
There was extensive consultation with residents and businesses, with over 4,000 respondents, which lead to recommendations to change elements of the scheme including the relocation of Royal Hill and Blissett Street modal filters and doubling the number of Blue Badge exemptions from one vehicle to two.
What happens next?
The decision to keep, remove or amend the West and East Neighbourhood Management Trial Scheme is not dependent on any single metric, but a combination of them together with feedback from the formal consultation with residents and stakeholders.
Following the call-in meeting, the council will be writing to all residents and businesses within the boundary areas to let them know the outcome and a timeline for the scheme as it now progresses.
The next stage is to proceed to a Traffic Management Order which is a legal process to implement the decision. This features further statutory consultation.
Notes to editors
The data shows that within trial areas:
- Traffic has reduced by 66% in West Greenwich, 52% in East Greenwich and 9% in Charlton during the hours the filters are in operation.
- Vehicle use has declined by 30% within West Greenwich and by 20% within East Greenwich during non-filtered periods.
- Motorised trips across the whole area (including boundary roads) has reduced by 6%.
- 54% of areas in West Greenwich experienced decreasing NO2, 11% of areas experiencing an increase
- 66% of areas in East Greenwich experienced decreasing levels of NO2, with no areas experiencing an increase
- 77% of areas in Charlton experienced decreasing or similar levels of NO2, with 23% of areas experiencing an increase
- Some boundary areas have experienced slightly more traffic, which will we work with residents to mitigate
- 23% of survey respondents said they were walking and wheeling 'much more’ and ‘more’ than before
- There are no concerns from TfL about bus journey times