SAVE GREENWICH NEIGHBOURHOODS
RBG'S ENVIRONMENTAL RESPONSIBILITIES
The importance of traffic reduction schemes as building blocks towards cleaner air for ALL
Tweets from Mayor Sadiq Khan below. Click 'play' to view LBC interview on 18th January 2022
West Greenwich Amended Traffic Reduction Scheme Is Required
to Support RBG's Carbon Neutral Plan
We call for the amended scheme for West Greenwich to be implemented urgently.
We call for traffic reduction in East Greenwich and beyond. In January 2022, RBG announced it would not progress LTNs in East Greenwich as there was not a majority.
Residents across the whole Borough need to live on safe streets!
If you invite traffic, you get traffic!
Carbon Neutral Plan 2021-2030: Bold & Achievable Targets
RBG has aspirations of achieving the ambitious target of carbon neutrality by 2030; 20 years ahead of the 2050 national target.
Transport generated 31% of the borough’s total emissions in 2019, almost all from road vehicles. RBG's Transport targets include:
A 45% reduction in car use due to modal shift to public transport and active travel
A 10% decrease in van and truck use relative to current projections
Statement from RBG on 18th March 2021 stated, "Cars contribute to climate change and are a major source of air pollution too. Not everyone owns one, forty per cent of households in our borough don’t, yet they disproportionally affect everyone's quality of life due to pollution, speeding and illegal parking."
RBG's Carbon Neutral Plan, states that reducing transport emissions requires
a combination of actions, including a shift away from car travel to walking, cycling and public transport.
The West Greenwich LTN promoted active travel and reduced air pollution in the area. We experienced quieter streets, school children moving around the area safely or for the first time in decades, cycling to schools in groups. Many elderly residents said they felt safer. This LTN was a building block towards RBG's quest for a carbon neutral way of life.
This area is one of the borough's oldest and historic areas and we need safe streets once again!
We also call for more robust traffic reduction schemes to be rolled out to other residential areas suffering from excessive, dangerous traffic. RBG has already implemented multiple 'LTNs' ( in all but name!) See New LTNs page.
Turn Off the Engine
This car idles outside a home on Royal Place and only meters from the school.
Building Blocks for Better Environment Across London
The intention of the West Greenwich LTN was to reduce the number of unnecessary car journeys and encourage modal shift. Most importantly for West Greenwich,
safety is of paramount importance for its residents, school children, university students and the millions of tourists to Historic Greenwich.
Such schemes are building blocks for forming a pattern of behavioural changes for reducing unnecessary car journeys across London. Such traffic reduction schemes support wider London action to improve air quality for future generations. Lewisham Borough has recently taken the bold decision to permanently retain the Lewisham & Lee Green LTN scheme.
RBG must take the same step as their neighbouring boroughs and decide to implement an amended West Greenwich scheme, as it is an important part of the bigger picture of change across London.
Pollution On Blackheath Hill and Trafalgar Road
Despite unsubstantiated claims otherwise, there is evidence from the London Air Quality Network (LAQN) website that air pollution on A-roads, such as Blackheath Hill and Trafalgar Road, has in fact decreased at these sites since the West Greenwich LTN. Please see the graphs below showing pollution levels from 2017 to 31 December 2021 at Blackheath Hill and Trafalgar Rd (source: LondonAir.org.uk).
With the introduction of ULEZ in October 2021, the Mayor of London has advised: ‘92% of Vehicles are compliant one month in’ (November 2021).
