Proposals to ban cars from Deptford High Street seven days a week have been met with resistance from a campaign group of traders and residents, writes Louisa Woolf…
The planned scheme, from Lewisham Council, would see the pedestrianisation of the bustling stretch between New Cross Road and Hamilton Street increased from its three days a week, to seven.
Lewisham Council says the changes will transform the historic street into a cleaner, greener, and more pedestrian-friendly destination.
New features include seating, greenery, and improved safety measures running from New Cross Road to Creek Road, with the local authority claiming the street will be easier to clean and more welcoming.
However, the plans have sparked a growing backlash from the campaign group, ‘Save Deptford High Street’ who say the changes threaten the area’s economic and cultural fabric.
The group warned that cutting off vehicle access could devastate small and family-run shops that form the backbone of its high street.
Neville Johnny, owner of Johnny’s DIY, which has traded on the high street for 50 years, expressed two key concerns with the proposals: that delivery coordination could become a major logistical headache, disrupting his day-to-day operations, and that limited access to his shop could sharply cut customer traffic and hurt sales.
“These proposals will shut me down within weeks,” he claimed, explaining that “Deptford’s a special place, it’s not the same as everywhere else, it’s a community in itself and the local shops are part of that community.”
While exact timings are yet to be confirmed, all proposed options include closing the street between 11am and 5pm.
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Mr Johnny is one of nearly 450 residents, traders, and community leaders who called for the plan to be scrapped in an open letter to Brenda Dacres, the Mayor of Lewisham.
In the open letter, campaigners argued that pedestrianisation would harm small businesses that rely on car access for deliveries, potentially pushing them out and making way for larger companies that can afford out-of-hours logistics solutions.
The Mayor responded by stating: “We do not think it is fair to let an area fall into disrepair because of claims about gentrification.
“This proposal is about improving the look, feel and functionality of the space to make it better for everyone.
“Gentrification is about pushing and driving groups out. This is not happening here.”
The group also raised the point that traffic on Deptford High Street is already ‘minimal, and compared to other, busier roads in the area, reducing traffic here is unlikely to have a significant impact on air quality.
Campaigner Rebecca Fall said: “The traffic on Deptford High Street is not only minimal, but absolutely crucial to the small businesses that operate there. To push pedestrianisation seven days a week is just illogical.”
She added: “The community has clearly shown that we do not want this, and in many cases are very scared and anxious about what this might mean for them.”
Yet not all local traders are against the plans to ban cars. Lewisham council argue that the proposal is based on a six-week community engagement period in 2023 showing strong support for more pedestrianisation of the high street.
The council received over 2,500 responses to the latest public consultation on the new proposals, which closed on May 14th, and are currently analysing the results.
Councillor Louise Krupski, Cabinet Member for Environment, Transport and Climate Action, said: “Lewisham Council has recently undertaken a robust public consultation to give the community a chance to have their say on our early stage design proposal for Deptford High Street.
“No decision has been made yet, and the results will guide how we progress with the project and we expect to report back to the public in the next few months.
“Since 2024, Council officers have been proactively working with Deptford businesses on a one-to-one basis, including a survey, multiple workshops, drop-in sessions, follow up site visits and meetings, so that we could hear their views on the early stage proposals.
“Lewisham has a proud history of celebrating and protecting our diverse communities. We work hard to bring people together and make sure no one is left behind in our community. This proposal is about improving the look, feel and functionality of the high street to make it better for everyone.”
Pedestrianised high streets is an old fashioned 1980s idea that has been proven to be useless. These areas rapidly fall into a state of urban decline as the Council following its usual pattern fails to clean or adequately repair/maintain them. They are detrimental to business and trade as they discourage casual convenience shopping and enciurage loitering by individuals and groups who spend little or no money in the area. Again Lewisham Council, now Deptford, as with Greenwich which you have squeezed the life out of, full marks for backward thinking.