Our Streets In Abbey Wood Are Not the Elizabeth Line’s Free Car Park

We, the undersigned residents of Abbey Wood (Greenwich side), call on the Royal Borough of Greenwich to extend Controlled Parking Zone (CPZ) enforcement to include weekends and longer weekday hours.

Since the opening of the Elizabeth line in 2022, Abbey Wood has become a major commuter hub. While the improved transport links are very welcome, parking policy has not adapted to reflect this change.

On the Greenwich side, CPZ enforcement currently applies only between 11:00 and 13:00, Monday to Friday, with no restrictions at weekends.

In practice, this means:

• In the week: at 13:00, when parking enforcement ends, drivers arrive en masse to park their cars to use the Elizabeth line for the day. Many return late in the evening — often on the last trains.
• At weekends, with no CPZ enforcement at all, residential streets function as free commuter parking.

As a result: Residents who leave for even a short errand frequently return to find no available spaces anywhere near their homes.

This is not hypothetical — it is visible daily behaviour.

* Google Street View imagery from 2008 shows that these restrictions were already in place at that time, meaning the parking hours are at least 17 years old — and potentially much older. They were introduced long before Abbey Wood became a terminus of a major London rail line.

Meanwhile, on the Bexley side of Abbey Wood, parking near the station operates as pay-and-display. The predictable consequence is that commuters avoid paying and instead park on the Greenwich side, where restrictions are minimal. There is also a paid station car park available, which is frequently far from full, yet drivers continue to use residential streets instead.

The lack of effective enforcement has led to increasingly unsafe parking behaviour, particularly at weekends:

• Vehicles parked on bends and at junction corners.
• Cars obstructing double and single yellow lines.
• Vehicles blocking pavements.

--> This creates real safety concerns: Parents with prams, residents with buggies, and wheelchair users are often unable to cross safely. Sight lines at junctions are reduced, and pedestrian access is compromised.

Abbey Wood residents should not be absorbing commuter parking pressure simply because neighbouring boroughs charge.

We are not a free park-and-ride.

We therefore call on the Royal Borough of Greenwich to:

1- Extend CPZ enforcement to include Saturdays and Sundays.
2- Extend weekday enforcement beyond the current 11:00–13:00 window to prevent deliberate circumvention.
3- Increase visible parking enforcement to address unsafe and illegal parking.

** For residents concerned about visitors, Greenwich already offers visitor permits at £1 per day, ensuring family and guests can still park affordably.

Abbey Wood has changed. Parking policy and enforcement must change with it.