The council will be considering the Stadium Road and Baker Road carriageway proposals at a Planning Board meeting on November 18.
The Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust owns and maintains the 1km stretch of road that has Woolwich Common on its east side and Queen Elizabeth Hospital to the west.
The trust applied to reconstruct the existing highway and improve it to an adoptable highway standard so that it could be accepted by the Highway Authority and become public.
The proposal would see a strip of land up to 2.5m wide on Woolwich Common turned into a continuous, uninterrupted footpath and cycleway to replace the existing path and grass verge on the road’s eastern side.
This road widening would result in the removal of up to 46 trees, as well as seven others “in extremely poor condition” that need to be removed regardless.
To mitigate the tree loss, the NHS trust is proposing to plant 76 replacement trees “as close to the sites of loss wherever possible”.
Various crossing facilities are being proposed along the road, and it is hoped that the carriageway improvements will “offer enhanced and safer cycling and pedestrian facilities along this route”.
The plans received 539 objections from Greenwich residents, as well as objections from the 250-strong local cycle campaigning group Greenwich Cyclists, Friends of Woolwich Common and The Charlton Society.
Most objectors took issue with the proposed tree felling.
Greenwich Cyclists welcomed the notion of the highway refurbishment, but it believed “the loss of over 50 mature, healthy trees significantly outweighs the benefit of providing new segregated cycleways and footpaths”.
Newly-planted trees typically take years to reach the carbon reducing equivalent of mature trees, and when mature trees are cut down they release the stored carbon they have collected over decades.
The group said: “We believe there are opportunities to improve facilities for pedestrians and cyclists with the reconstruction of Baker Road and Stadium Road whilst minimising the loss of mature, healthy trees.
“We recommend that the applicant should actively engage with the community to explore alternative designs.”
Friends of Woolwich Common objected to the plans on similar grounds, and proposed a meeting with themselves, Greenwich Cyclists, the NHS trust and officers from Greenwich Council’s Planning and Highways departments to discuss the proposal.
Council documents confirm that this meeting did take place last month, but no consensus could be reached among the parties and both Greenwich Cyclists and Friends of Woolwich Common continued to maintain their strong objections to the removal of any trees required to implement the highway improvements.
Plans to add 75 homes to the Woolwich town centre regeneration scheme will also be discussed at next week’s Planning Board, with officers recommending approval.
The first stage of the project will culminate in the opening of Woolwich’s new leisure centre on General Gordon Square later this year.
In partnership with Greenwich Council, developer Hill Residential Limited wants to increase the residential offering from 482 to 557 units, 38 per cent of which would be affordable. The flats will be contained within five high-rise blocks behind the new leisure centre.
The addition of 75 homes would mean the demolition of The Bull Tavern and its adjoining buildings on Vincent Road, a pub that according to CAMRA has been closed since 2024 and was expected to reopen following the completion of the project.
