Conservative councillors are seeking to strengthen Greenwich Council's forthcoming motion on the Silvertown Tunnel to call on the Mayor of London to deliver a better deal for the borough on public transport.
Greenwich councillors will debate a motion calling for public transport to be prioritised in the Silvertown Tunnel at Woolwich Town Hall on Wednesday evening (28 June). Conservative councillors have long argued for a strong focus on public transport links through the tunnel - and first called for the tunnel to be used to carry strong public transport links, including a DLR link to Eltham, back in 2015.
Eight years later, with the tunnel well under construction, Transport for London's plans for public transport have been widely criticised as underwhelming - and fail to deliver even what was promised.
An amendment being put to the vote at the Town Hall by Conservative councillors on Wednesday evening would lead to the Council lobbying the Mayor of London to:
- Deliver the promised Eltham to Beckton bus route through the Silvertown Tunnel - which Transport for London has failed to deliver as promised in its Silvertown bus routes package
- Add a Woolwich to Eltham bus link to the Mayor of London's so-called 'Superloop' network, which so far delivers no benefit to the vast majority of Greenwich borough
- Re-consider the case for a south-north express bus route - such as the X161 put forward repeatedly by Conservative councillors - to link more of our communities to the Elizabeth Line
Councillor Matt Hartley, Leader of the Conservative Opposition at the Town Hall, said: "I have long supported the principle of the Silvertown Tunnel - but what Sadiq Khan is delivering is far from the tunnel we wanted. In fact, what we are getting is a huge missed opportunity to boost public transport connectivity for Greenwich residents.
"I hope that Labour councillors will support our amendment, which goes much further than their proposal - by calling on the Mayor of London to deliver the Eltham to Beckton bus route that we were promised, amending his so-called 'Superloop' plans, and giving serious consideration to an X161 or similar express bus route.
"Greenwich deserves a better deal from City Hall when it comes to public transport. And the leadership of Greenwich Council needs to start doing a much better job at lobbying the Mayor for the transport improvements we need."
Kieran Terry, Conservative London Assembly candidate for Greenwich and Lewisham, said: "Once again only Greenwich Conservatives are standing up for the priorities of local residents by demanding the bus routes local people need. Whilst Labour at City Hall continues to ignore consultation responses, firstly with ULEZ and now on vital transport connectivity, local Conservatives continue to campaign for the best public transport options for local people."
This week's vote follows revelations on 853 London that the Greenwich Council leadership never actually sent their much-publicised letter on the ULEZ scrappage scheme to Sadiq Khan - which has been criticised as the latest example of ineffectiveness of RBG's lobbying efforts with City Hall.
Read Conservative councillors' amendment to the Council's Silvertown Tunnel motion here.
