Greenwich 03 December 2024
The councillors of Greenwich that by this point is clear they are more intent on working for their own private interests than ours , the constituents,  that vote and put them on our payroll and public seats to 'serve us' and work for the electorate have instead dictated for a Christmas Gift for themselves:
The new draconian Greenwich West and East LTN on steroids. Unparalleled with any other in London for extension and long hours of road closures. Seriously?
All in all, perhaps, in the hope of making millions in fines, like other councils are doing with the likes, from several CCTV ANPR cameras they have installed to enforce it, to bleed into submission all citizens with succulent penalty notices; and note, that now councils keep this money source  in their coffers. 
Low Traffic Neighbourood and relating zoning that The People (the majority) does not want, as even the councillors themselves have publicly admitted. 
But, who cares?
Their response to that is to poke it, and coerce us to swallow again a medicine, we, The People (the majority) have made more than evident to them that we reject: close our roads paid with our hard earned taxes, roadways that we need open and accessible to private mobility too, not closed! Not even residents allowed? Get real councillours!
Our roads not theirs, that they barricade with the pretext of saving us from doomsday. Really?
Then, let them here digest our democratic pill where we say no to closed roads, no to zoning, enough is enough , it is decades that you close roads walking over us unimpeded; destroying in the process any spare capacity of the highways and counting.  Therefore:

REMOVE THE EAST AND WEST GREENWICH LTN THAT  THE MAJORITY OF PEOPLE HAS NOT AND NEVER APPROVED.

 -Thank you all and please share and circulate this petition- 

Ps.  For who likes to know more about this subject where I list all the cons against these LTN's ,  feel free to see my WON petition against the first West Greenwich LTN here:  https://www.change.org/StopCovid19RoadClosuresInGreenwichandUK 

Also, attached below is a copy of 'my letter of serious concerns' about this new LTN that I did send in May to the whole council, Mayor and to the special attention of Councillour Leekau (responsible for this dispicable operation apparently) to which she promised to address it someday. And guess what?
She had the unshamed face to do it only few days ago.
 How nice of her and them all in 'tower control' ?
Responding with a 'templated, standard, aseptic' therefore insulting script, to serious concerns from a deeply disappointed constituent after everything is allready decided, done, with work in progress to install this new Road Blockade that is more a reminescence of any authocratic regime made of little individuals armed with sticks than anythingelse.  Nice.

Here below the above mentioned letter: 

Dear Cll Averil Lekau, I understand that you are the last word on this matter. Dear all.

Two years ago the previous ‘tentative’ West Greenwich Ltn was scrapped by you (the Council), under pressure by overwhelming opposition and having shown to be highly controversial, divisive and overall causing more problems than others.

That was proved also by five combined petitions, which together numbered roughly 5000 signatures of people, in a way or another, against the scheme and related road closures, implemented at the time, under the cover of the pandemic first lockdown. 

Those obviously pitted against petitions that were in favour to keep the thing; and combined had about 400 signee. The whole numbers were publicly corroborated by then councillor, Geoffrey Brightly.  

Maths, and not an opinion, showed that an overwhelming, stunning majority of people signing were in fact against that scheme. Also, in your own words, from the last recent ‘consultation meeting’ at Greenwich Library, that was all about the new proposed Ltn, more that 50% of people last consulted online on your council’s site, opposed that first one (just remember to everyone here that in democracy 50% +1 win, no ifs no buts, especially when having to decide on contested grounds).

Therefore it was reasonable that the whole project was ditched and so you rightly did, dismantling it completely, apart from a few ‘hidden’ closed roads at the bottom of Vanbrugh Hill. Why? Who knows?

From those results it was obvious to everyone’s eyes that closing roads covertly without proper consultations, therefore undemocratically and against the wish of the majority of people, was unconstructive among other reasons. 

In a modern democratic country (which is claimed that we are, the UK) the will of the people deservedly prevailed, and you The Council of Greenwich: Major, councillors and everyone working inside it delivered well; especially in such a sensitive issue like closing roads that are essential for moving about; and in that case, even after having tried forcefully upon us a very undemocratic and controversial scheme, like dictators would do (note that for that Ltn, no consultations whatsoever was ever undertaken before implementation..), you, in the end, did your job rightly and for the people (50% +1).

You dismantled it, because overall it was a…, failure. 

But, again, here comes the pain for us, the constituents particularly, the ones that vote you into your jobs (funny enough); you, instead, want to coerce on us another of the same flop. 

Are you kidding, pushing on the same failure and on steroids this time? 

In the private sector you would be obliterated by doing so. 

So, the ‘best part’ is, that you actually want to make it harsher, bigger and with even more road closures and private mobility restrictions than before, without solving even the previous demands you had from us to at least improve these ‘vanity projects’ for ‘trapping residents’ inside or outside (depends on where you will be caught..) the inconvenient, awful zoning that do create.

Do you really want to double up on failure? Are you serious?

Why are you consulting only a tiny minority so far, instead of the whole addresses that will be caged inside the scheme at least? (I mean ALL addresses). 

 In doing so showing complete disregard of democracy with such a sensitive issue: closing roads in a way or another (ARNP cameras, bollards, concrete planters, etc.)?

Are you aware that in certain civil societies, i.e. Switzerland, there will be a referendum with a Yes or No vote on such an issue, involving all council’s residents or even all adjacent ones? 

Why cannot you, the ‘Royal’ Borough of Greenwich?

You will not even allow the constituents that will be imprisoned by the ensuing zoning to have Resident Permit Passes to go through the ANPR closures at will, and this is easily done by widely available computer programs. Have you ever heard of Ulez or Congestion Charging programs that exempt from restrictions and direly expensive fine tickets, certain pre-agreed, logged number plates?

Want to save us from carbon, CO2 fumes? 

Because you said that you do this in chasing your Net Zero goals especially.

 So, why will you not let through the road closures pure Electric Vehicles?

 Nothing adds up to reason here, so uncomfortable doubts and related questions arise.

 Perhaps one of your goals is to replenish the council’s coffers with the millions of pounds of penalties tickets the ARNP cameras will inflict upon the unwary drivers? (Like Dulwich Ltn’s ARNP cameras are doing as being shown and proven under courts disclosing orders)
Is the implementation of your future Ltn and its most likely ensuing dismantling just mere money operations, and in doing so burning up in flames our hard earned taxes twice, instead of administering the ‘Res Publica’ wisely?

I hope you will put one hand on your conscience and rethink this proposed new ‘blockade’, or rightly, you will put to the vote with a Yes or No question to all Council’s residents this project of yours, that could pass and be approved only with a 50+1 in favour majority eventually. 

And last but not least, this is an ETO (Experimental Traffic Order). 

An alleged ‘experiment’ on the skins of Greenwich and Blackheath residents, therefore it is imperative that you will need to evaluate ‘carefully’ the consequences of the ‘experimental order’. 

Then, why are you not implementing it all around your office, the main, new council building situated in the congested area encompassing 35 Wellington High Street in Woolwich?

In such a reasonable way You, the Mayor, Councillors and everyone else working there will have first-hand invaluable experience of the consequences of related road closures, ARNP cameras and all else that you have devised and want to enact to save us from doomsday. That would be just ideal.

That will be much easier to judge by your invaluable knowledge, than a far flung ‘Low traffic Neighbourhood’ done so far away from you all, when implemented here, in and around the hill in tranquil, residential Greenwich and Blackheath. Right?

Awaiting your news. 

Yours faithfully