Greenwich Council is to consult West Greenwich residents over concerns about “rat running” in the area.
In a written response to Conservative Group Leader, Spencer Drury, at last night’s full council meeting, Cllr Denise Hyland (Cabinet member for Regeneration, Enterprise and Skills) explained that the ongoing consultation into town centre pedestrianisation and a gyratory scheme had resulted in the issue of rat running being raised by West Greenwich residents.
She said that the rat running was an “issue of concern regardless of whether or not the pedestrianisation proposals proceed.”
She added, “We are seeking to bring this work forward and will commence consultation on these proposals imminently.”
Separately, some residents have been informed by email that letters about the consultation on traffic calming measures will be distributed to homes from next week.
The consultation will run until January 31st, and council officers will be be putting on a technical exhibition too although details of when and where it will take place have not yet been publicised.
It’s great that there is a proper consultation that this time extends beyond the holiday period when people are less likely to respond. The Council needs to make sure that it reaches out sufficiently far and wide and that the scheme is properly designed. The residents of just outside the proposed calming zone must also be given a say as they are the likely victims by the measures as the displaced traffic moves to their streets. Some of them could even end up trapped in negative equity on their ruined street as a rat run typically reduces the value of a house by around 10% (according to a surveyer I know).