Wandsworth Bridge Road Petition Approaches 5,000 Signatures
Growing opposition to council's 'meandering' design for new layout
One of the parklets on Wandsworth Bridge Road
December 11, 2025
A petition calling for planned works on Wandsworth Bridge Road to be ditched has received several thousand signatures with over 4,500 at the time of writing.
The change.org petition calls on Transport for London (TfL) to prevent Hammersmith and Fulham Council proceeding with its proposals for a ‘meandering’ layout on the street, which it claims would worsen congestion and safety.
Donald Grant, Chair of the Traffic Camera Consulting Group (TCCG) which started the petition, said the intention is to demonstrate to TfL that there is public support “to stop Hammersmith and Fulham Council’s dangerous traffic and bike displacement schemes”.
A spokesperson for Hammersmith and Fulham Council described the premise of the petition as ‘false’, adding the local authority is reducing congestion and pollution and is “seeking to end a decades-old traffic problem that local residents have asked us to tackle”.
The latest round of proposed works to Wandsworth Bridge Road was announced by the local authority in July.
Cllr Florian Chevoppe-Verdier, Cabinet Member for Public Realm, wrote in a leaflet distributed to residents and businesses that the changes would begin in the week commencing 18 August, to last around a month.
They were to involve the installation of four new raised zebra crossings, new cycle hire parking bays, replacing the existing parklet at the Ryecroft/Bovingdon crossing with an extended kerb featuring communal seating, greenery and planters, and designated loading bays for businesses.
The changes were designed to function as part of the wider South Fulham Clean Air Neighbourhood (CAN), a scheme which has also seen cameras erected on streets to the east and west of Wandsworth Bridge Road to prevent out-of-borough drivers rat-running.
Work has however since been delayed, most recently because TfL, which is a statutory consultee due to the highway being part of the Strategic Road Network which it controls, was missed off of the consultation and design process.
One of the parklets on Wandsworth Bridge Road
Discussions between TfL and council officers have since been ongoing and feedback has been provided by the transport authority on the plans. TfL was also approached for comment on this article.
In the petition, it is stated: “Hammersmith and Fulham Council are planning to narrow Wandsworth Bridge Road to encourage traffic to use other routes by worsening congestion on this road. They propose to create a “meandering” layout by widening pavements over existing cycle space, which will negatively affect residents, pedestrians and all road users including public transport, cyclists and emergency vehicles.
“The changes will increase pollution and harm local businesses, on top of the damage already caused by the two LTNs (Low-Traffic Neighbourhoods) on either side of the road which restricts alternative routes.”
In its petition the TCCG, which has previously campaigned against other elements of the council’s CAN scheme, notes that as such it does not believe “the proposed re-design meets TFL’s strategic network management duty, nor the objectives set by the Mayor’s Transport Strategy, the Streetspace for London Programme, Vision Zero, the Healthy Streets Approach and Active Travel England”.
Mr Grant told the LDRS the petition was started due to concerns about the impacts of the planned works, which he claimed would force traffic onto other roads.
“This also delays buses and puts pedestrians in danger from cyclists, but the council refuses to listen to South West London residents who don’t want the road narrowed or the cycle lanes removed,” he said.
“Whilst Putney’s MP Fleur Anderson publicly calls for their problems to be resolved, our MP Ben Coleman remains silent, so we needed to show Transport for London that they had public support to stop Hammersmith and Fulham Council’s dangerous traffic and bike displacement schemes.”
A spokesperson for Hammersmith and Fulham Council said, “The entire premise of this petition is false. To suggest, as the petitioners do in their opening line, that we are deliberately trying to increase congestion on Wandsworth Bridge Road is risible.
“The truth is we are reducing congestion and pollution across the entire area, seeking to end a decades-old traffic problem that local residents have asked us to tackle.
“We appreciate that many non-Hammersmith and Fulham motorists have signed this petition because they object to facing fines if they use our residential roads as cut-throughs.
“But local residents are overwhelmingly pleased that there are 15,000 fewer vehicles every day clogging their streets with noise and pollution.
“With regard to the chicaning of Wandsworth Bridge Road, the data – contrary to the petition’s claims – shows that since the designs were implemented in the autumn of 2024 traffic flow has actually improved, not worsened.
“The safety of people lies at the heart of the programme. We are proposing to introduce a series of raised pedestrian crossings to improve safety for pedestrians, notably for people with reduced mobility, wheelchair users and parents of young children with pushchairs, and make our high street more accessible and increase footfall. We believe requiring drivers, notably of HGVs, to slow down and drive more carefully to enable residents to cross the road safely is reasonable.
“These are long-standing proposals as part of the programme, which has been developed working with residents, to transform Wandsworth Bridge Road from a highway into a high street for local people and businesses.”
As part of the wider South Fulham CAN scheme last year Hammersmith and Fulham Council installed a series of parklets and planters on Wandsworth Bridge Road, which sparked a debate over their impact on safety.
A woman reportedly narrowly missed being injured after getting caught between a lorry and a parklet while riding a Lime bike last week. Council officers visited the scene on Monday (8 December) to make an assessment and put together a report, and that it will put out a statement once this has been completed.
The planter near Bon Bon was damaged a week before the incident with the Lime bike. Picture: Donald G
Earlier this year a planter was hit at least twice and damaged by passing vehicles, with further incidents recorded since.
Damage to one of the planters seen earlier this year
A council spokesperson said at the time that the project, which includes not just planters but also upgrades including new kerb lines and improved crossings, “will reduce congestion on the road, manage vehicle speeds more effectively and create a safer, cleaner and greener environment while increasing opportunities for businesses”.
Ben Lynch - Local Democracy Reporter
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