Greenwich Council Criticised for ‘Managed Decline’ of Roads Amid Red Rating

Greenwich Council faces scrutiny after its road network was described as being in “managed decline” just two years before the government rated it red for pothole management.

The borough’s low maintenance budget was also highlighted in council meetings over the past year, revealing Greenwich had one of the smallest road maintenance allocations in London. The criticism comes after a government report, presented by Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander, singled out Greenwich as one of 13 councils underperforming on highway upkeep, while neighbouring Lewisham received a green rating.

Councillors were warned in September 2022 and September 2023 that the network was in managed decline, a status defined as “road conditions slowly decline and the focus is increasingly on reactive repairs.” The council initially planned a 10-year programme to bring roads up to acceptable standards, delayed due to funding challenges.

At the time, Mervyn Bartlett, then interim director of highways, said that at his previous role in Barnet, a similar programme would cost £50 million. Funding pressures meant Greenwich focused on short-term pothole repairs rather than long-term improvements.

By December 2024, his successor Jon Wallace reported that the council’s capital carriageway maintenance budget was £800,000 a year, or around £1,700 per kilometre, compared with a London average of £6,400 per kilometre. Wallace noted that unspent Section 106 funds from developers were being considered for high-priority road and safety schemes.

The council has since highlighted a planned £8 million investment over five years, though this remains below the London average of £4.5 million per year, according to the Asphalt Industry Alliance.

Opposition councillors have criticised the approach. Conservative leader Matt Hartley said:

“Greenwich Council’s flawed and negligent policy on road maintenance, which they themselves called ‘managed decline,’ has come home to roost with this damning report. Labour councillors haven’t prioritised pothole repairs, and now they belatedly highlight a one-off £8 million spend, still far behind other boroughs.”

Greenwich defended its record, arguing that the government’s methodology painted an inaccurate picture. The council said its initial figures to the Department for Transport only included resurfacing and pothole works, omitting wider highway spending.

“We have resubmitted our data to the DfT, reflecting the wider highway-related spend other boroughs included,” the council said. “The latest data shows only 2% of B roads and 4% of C roads are in the poorest condition. Since updating our transparency report, Greenwich has invested around £31 million in total, including resurfacing 21 roads and filling over a thousand potholes this year alone.”

The updated figures show that Greenwich spent £7 million of its own funds last year and plans to spend £9.5 million this year, with 66% allocated to long-term road fixes, up from 38.4% under the old reporting method.