Roads around Shooters Hill will be shut for a year and a half while Thames Water replaces water mains, according to the BBC. Greenwich Council says the work begins on Monday, November 2 and runs until June 2028.

Key points

  • What is happening — Thames Water is replacing about 7.3km of water mains in the Shooters Hill area.
  • How long — Work runs from Monday, November 2 until June 2028, in phases, with a two-week break over Christmas.
  • Why now — The council says there have been roughly 500 pipe bursts on the network in the area since 2017.
  • Have your say — A drop-in session is set for 4pm to 7pm on Wednesday, October 21 at Shrewsbury House Community Centre.

Closures and bus diversions will affect the wider Shooters Hill area. The council said the programme will be staggered so that the burden on households is held down, and residents on the roads involved will get letters with the details nearer the time. The affected roads will reopen for a fortnight over Christmas.

Calum O'Byrne Mulligan, the council's Cabinet Member for Transport, Climate Change, Waste and Streets, said people living locally had suffered "unacceptable disruption" from leaks, adding that the authority had pressed Thames Water at the highest level for long-term fixes. He said the repairs were something the council had campaigned for and that residents' patience was appreciated, with the hope that the short-term pain of closures and bus diversions would be outweighed by fewer leaks, emergency works and easier journeys.

Thames Water says similar schemes elsewhere, including in Camden, have cut the number of leaks and bursts sharply. The company did not respond to a request for comment.

Editor's comment

What it means in practice

If you live in or travel through Shooters Hill, plan for a long spell of changed routes. The work is phased, so the exact streets affected will shift over time, and your bus may not follow its normal path. The two-week Christmas pause is the one window when the roads return to normal.

  • Check before you travel — bus diversions will come and go as phases change, so allow extra time and check operators' updates.
  • Watch for your letter — households on affected roads will be told about closures closer to the start date.
  • Ask questions in person — the drop-in session on Wednesday, October 21 is a chance to put concerns to Thames Water staff directly.