Mayor of London, Greenwich Council and Newham Council: Reject plans for a Silvertown Tunnel / 3rd Blackwall Tunnel

The Issue

This petition is to reject damaging proposals from Transport for London, backed by Greenwich Council and Newham Council, to build a new road tunnel between the Greenwich peninsula and Silvertown - effectively, a third Blackwall Tunnel.

It is also to protest about Greenwich and Newham councils launching a "Bridge The Gap" campaign to promote the Silvertown Tunnel without any evidence of its benefits, and without consulting residents. Local councillors should be fighting for their communities, not against them, and this should be withdrawn immediately.

Why is the Silvertown Tunnel a bad idea?

Encouraging more traffic to use the A102 and A2 will be counter-productive and will, in the long term, do nothing to reduce congestion in south-east London. The area has long suffered from poor air quality, which led to 150 deaths across Greenwich borough in 2008, and any road-building will only make this worse.

Even the mayor's office admits pollution is high along the A102 and A2, particularly at the Woolwich Road flyover, Kidbrooke interchange and at Eltham station. The Woolwich Road flyover is already one of the most polluted spots in London.  This can only get worse, along with the congestion, as the new tunnel gets busier. Furthermore, it will also make bottlenecks at Kidbrooke and Eltham - where the A102 and A2 have only two lanes in each direction - worse.

Instead, we call upon the mayor, Greenwich and Newham to press for alternative solutions and to look at reducing traffic flows through this area, instead of pushing on with this dangerous scheme, which will condemn local people in Greenwich, Charlton, Blackheath, Kidbrooke and Eltham to continuing dangerous high pollution levels.

What are the alternatives?

Alternative proposals could include a new bridge at Thamesmead, dropping tolls at the Dartford Crossing or heavy investment in public transport - or maybe a mix of all three.

This petition does not take a view on these other ideas - we simply want to prevent this dangerous proposal for a Silvertown tunnel. Contrary to what Greenwich and Newham Councils are claiming, all evidence so far shows that the Silvertown Tunnel is the only fixed link TfL is seriously considering.

If you do have alternative suggestions, please suggest them to Transport for London. They'll almost certainly be more sensible than adding more traffic to the A102.


What can I do?

Please sign our petition, share it around, and also fill in the Transport for London consultation to make sure your voice is officially heard.

If you live in Greenwich or Newham boroughs, please also email your local councillors, or visit them at their surgeries, to make sure they know that their councils' campaign do not represent your view, and to impress on them how important this is. If you live in a neighbouring borough, such as Lewisham or Tower Hamlets, please lobby your local councillors as well - they have a responsibility to represent your views to the Mayor as well.

This is a grass-roots campaign, with absolutely no party political affiliation. We have day jobs and don't have the PR resources the mayor, Greenwich and Newham councils can throw at this.

So if you can help us with posters or flyers to spread the word, with printed copies of this petition, or, most precious of all, can donate some of your time, please email silvertowntunnel@yahoo.com. You can also tweet us: @NoSilvertownTnl.

This petition is for everyone, but if you live locally, this could be the best thing you ever do for your neighbourhood.

Thank you for your time.

avatar of the starter
No to Silvertown TunnelPetition Starter
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This petition had 424 supporters

The Issue

This petition is to reject damaging proposals from Transport for London, backed by Greenwich Council and Newham Council, to build a new road tunnel between the Greenwich peninsula and Silvertown - effectively, a third Blackwall Tunnel.

It is also to protest about Greenwich and Newham councils launching a "Bridge The Gap" campaign to promote the Silvertown Tunnel without any evidence of its benefits, and without consulting residents. Local councillors should be fighting for their communities, not against them, and this should be withdrawn immediately.

Why is the Silvertown Tunnel a bad idea?

Encouraging more traffic to use the A102 and A2 will be counter-productive and will, in the long term, do nothing to reduce congestion in south-east London. The area has long suffered from poor air quality, which led to 150 deaths across Greenwich borough in 2008, and any road-building will only make this worse.

Even the mayor's office admits pollution is high along the A102 and A2, particularly at the Woolwich Road flyover, Kidbrooke interchange and at Eltham station. The Woolwich Road flyover is already one of the most polluted spots in London.  This can only get worse, along with the congestion, as the new tunnel gets busier. Furthermore, it will also make bottlenecks at Kidbrooke and Eltham - where the A102 and A2 have only two lanes in each direction - worse.

Instead, we call upon the mayor, Greenwich and Newham to press for alternative solutions and to look at reducing traffic flows through this area, instead of pushing on with this dangerous scheme, which will condemn local people in Greenwich, Charlton, Blackheath, Kidbrooke and Eltham to continuing dangerous high pollution levels.

What are the alternatives?

Alternative proposals could include a new bridge at Thamesmead, dropping tolls at the Dartford Crossing or heavy investment in public transport - or maybe a mix of all three.

This petition does not take a view on these other ideas - we simply want to prevent this dangerous proposal for a Silvertown tunnel. Contrary to what Greenwich and Newham Councils are claiming, all evidence so far shows that the Silvertown Tunnel is the only fixed link TfL is seriously considering.

If you do have alternative suggestions, please suggest them to Transport for London. They'll almost certainly be more sensible than adding more traffic to the A102.


What can I do?

Please sign our petition, share it around, and also fill in the Transport for London consultation to make sure your voice is officially heard.

If you live in Greenwich or Newham boroughs, please also email your local councillors, or visit them at their surgeries, to make sure they know that their councils' campaign do not represent your view, and to impress on them how important this is. If you live in a neighbouring borough, such as Lewisham or Tower Hamlets, please lobby your local councillors as well - they have a responsibility to represent your views to the Mayor as well.

This is a grass-roots campaign, with absolutely no party political affiliation. We have day jobs and don't have the PR resources the mayor, Greenwich and Newham councils can throw at this.

So if you can help us with posters or flyers to spread the word, with printed copies of this petition, or, most precious of all, can donate some of your time, please email silvertowntunnel@yahoo.com. You can also tweet us: @NoSilvertownTnl.

This petition is for everyone, but if you live locally, this could be the best thing you ever do for your neighbourhood.

Thank you for your time.

avatar of the starter
No to Silvertown TunnelPetition Starter
Media enquiries

The Decision Makers

Cllr Conor McAuley
Cllr Conor McAuley
Executive member for regeneration and strategic planning, London Borough of Newham
Responded
“I am acknowledging receipt of your petition calling upon a number of Councillors in Greenwich and Newham and Newham’s Elected Mayor to oppose the proposed Silvertown tunnel. You will not be surprised to learn that I support Newham joining with Greenwich in the Bridge the Gap campaign with the objective of achieving a complementary pair of road crossings of the River Thames between Tower Bridge and the Dartford Crossing: the Silvertown Tunnel in the west of that area and the Gallions local bridge crossing further east linking Beckton with Thamesmead. In central and west London there are at least 18 free crossings of the Thames where the River is much narrower. But in East and South East London for too long the River has proved a barrier separating communities and businesses. In the last 13 years additional tube and DLR extensions have made it easier for passengers to cross the River and that will further improve when Crossrail is operational in 2018. However for commercial vehicles and buses the River is still crossed only with difficulty. Typically 45 minutes is being added to journeys crossing the Thames. This has meant reduced access to employment opportunities and limited interaction between businesses on either side of the River; local economies have missed out on additional jobs and enterprise development. We are not surprised in the Mayor of London’s first informal consultation on river crossings last year over 90% of 4000 respondents agreed there is a need for more river crossings in East/ South East London. I understand that the increasing frequency of incidents and resultant serious traffic disruption at Blackwall has resulted in the very adverse impacts of higher pollution and traffic congestion of which you complain. The main purpose of the Silvertown tunnel is to deliver genuine relief to Blackwall, to allow the local road network to become more resilient so that traffic flows more freely and pollution and congestion should fall. We aim for a combination of a Silvertown tunnel with a local bridge crossing at Gallions Reach. In your petition you argue that such a bridge could be an alternative to a Silvertown tunnel. All the evidence including latest modelling results from TfL shows not only that a Gallions bridge would attract the greatest usage of any new crossing , it would also complement Silvertown tunnel with some traffic being diverted to Gallions thereby relieving pressure on the former and further aiding traffic flow The Mayor of London and TfL are currently only planning for a new vehicle ferry alongside the Silvertown tunnel. A ferry would only have capacity for a tenth as many vehicles as a local bridge crossing at Gallions but would be a quarter of the capital cost – as such it is neither good value for money nor the kind of facility needed for the economic success of the area. A ferry would not carry buses across the River, a crucial element in developing public transport routes in the new East and South East London. We consider that a local bridge crossing at Gallions is the most important river crossing in that not only would it enable cross River bus routes and supply vehicles for industry and commerce, it can unlock the regeneration of upwards of 40 key brownfield sites in East/ South East London on which tens of thousands of new jobs could be created. You state in your petition that you take no position on the Gallions local bridge crossing. For the reasons set out above I would urge you and your fellow campaigners to look again at the case for this. On seeing that it would be the most important crossing for regeneration, public transport, and by taking its share of cross River traffic would lessen the impact of the Silvertown tunnel. Cllr Conor McAuley What would you like to say?”
Boris Johnson
Boris Johnson
Prime Minister
Sir Robin Wales
Sir Robin Wales
Elected mayor, London Borough of Newham
Cllr Chris Roberts
Cllr Chris Roberts
Leader, Royal Borough of Greenwich
TfL River Crossings Consultation Office
TfL River Crossings Consultation Office
TfL
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Petition created on 23 December 2012