Southwark shortened its double yellow lines on Gallery Road's bends after Dulwich Picture Gallery objected, freeing two spaces. Residents split three to three.

Double yellow lines are going on the two bends of Gallery Road near Dulwich Picture Gallery, but they will be shorter than the council first drew them, and two parking spaces survive as a result.

The Leader of the Council approved the scheme on 17 September. It now goes to statutory consultation, the formal stage at which anyone can object in writing. The call-in deadline is 24 September and the decision takes effect on 25 September.

Gallery Road was one of three parking schemes decided in the same report. The other two are in Bermondsey, about three miles north of Dulwich Village, and one of them has been dropped altogether.

Southwark consulted 43 addresses between 21 November and 12 December 2025 on putting double yellow lines at two bends in Gallery Road. Seven people replied, a 16% response rate, and they did not agree with each other:

  • three said yes
  • three said no
  • one said they did not know

The objections in the comments were mostly about the road’s character and about who would lose out. Respondents said Gallery Road is quiet and safe for most of the day, that visitors to the gallery and the park, older people, tradespeople and families would be hit, and that the plan would “spoil the calm and unique area of this road”. One asked whether something else could be done about school coaches obstructing the road instead.

Then the gallery itself wrote in. The report records that Dulwich Picture Gallery raised concerns about the length of the lines, that officers reviewed them, and that the lines were reduced in one section “to allow two extra parking spaces”. The council says the gallery has since confirmed it is happy with the amended plan.

Two other details in the council’s replies matter if you live on the road:

  • The lines will be 50mm primrose, not standard yellow. The council says this “helps reduce the visual impact and keeps to the unique character of the area”. Primrose lines are the paler, narrower type normally used in conservation areas.
  • The council intends to “reinforce rule 243 of the Highway Code”, the rule that tells drivers not to park opposite or within ten metres of a junction, near the brow of a hill or on a bend.

On the southern bend, where one respondent asked for the plan to be abandoned because it would limit visitors, the council’s answer is that it has reduced the lines “slightly to gain extra parking space but more importantly still in keeping with safety and sight lines”.

Consultation responses on three Southwark parking schemes Bar chart of consultation replies. Bevington Street: 11 of 12 respondents in favour of Stop and Shop bays, 1 against, from 358 letters. Gallery Road: 3 in favour of double yellow lines, 3 against, 1 don't know, from 43 letters. Tilson Close: 2 in favour of resident parking, 11 against, from 38 letters. Bevington Street and Gallery Road proceed to statutory consultation; Tilson Close is abandoned. Three streets, three very different answers Replies to Southwark's informal parking consultation, 21 November to 12 December 2025, as reported to the Leader on 17 September 2026. Bevington Street, Bermondsey Stop and Shop bays · 358 letters, 12 replies (3.4%) 11 yes 1 no Gallery Road, Dulwich Village Double yellow lines on two bends · 43 letters, 7 replies (16%) 3 yes 3 no 1 don't know Tilson Close, Bermondsey Resident permit parking · 38 letters, 13 replies (34%) 2 11 no Bevington Street and Gallery Road go to statutory consultation. Tilson Close is abandoned. Source: Southwark Council, Parking Amendments, Bevington Street, Tilson Close, Gallery Road, 17 September 2026. Graphic by Dulwich Today
Bar widths are proportional within each row. Gallery Road drew the highest response rate of the three at 16%, and the most evenly divided answer.

The two Bermondsey schemes

Tilson Close is dropped. The council proposed bringing the close into the surrounding EC permit zone, which runs Monday to Friday, 8.30am to 6.30pm. Of 38 letters, 13 came back, a 34% response rate, and 11 of those said no against two in favour, an 85% majority against. Residents told the council there are no parking problems there, that some spaces are privately owned, and that permits would not add a single space. The council agreed: “overall feedback indicates insufficient support for the proposal”.

Bevington Street gets Stop and Shop bays, subject to the same statutory stage. These give 30 minutes free and then paid parking, between 8.30am and 11pm, with a two hour maximum stay and no return within two hours. Of 358 letters, only 12 came back, a 3.4% response rate, but 11 of those were in favour and one against. Seven said two hours was long enough, three wanted three hours and one wanted four.

What happens next

Statutory consultation is the point at which an objection counts formally. The report is explicit about what follows:

  • If valid statutory objections are received to the traffic orders, a further report goes back to the Leader before anything is painted.
  • If no valid objections are received, “the schemes will be implemented as proposed”.

No date is given for when the statutory notices appear. When they do, they will be published as temporary or permanent traffic orders rather than on the council’s own website, because Southwark does not publish its traffic order documents: the parking pages direct you to email traffic.orders@southwark.gov.uk instead.

What it means for you

If you drive to Dulwich Picture Gallery or Belair Park, the two bends will lose kerbside parking, but less of it than the December 2025 plan showed, and the gallery negotiated two of those spaces back itself. The gallery’s own visitor information is the place to check for its parking advice nearer the time.

If you park on Gallery Road, nothing changes yet. Yellow lines are only enforceable once the traffic order is made and the lines are on the ground.

If you want to object, wait for the statutory notice and put it in writing. An objection at that stage triggers a fresh report; a comment made now does not.

If you are watching a different street, this is the second Dulwich parking scheme to move in a week. The other is a separate set of double yellow lines at 14 spots across Dulwich, East Dulwich and Peckham Rye, which we covered in Dulwich double yellow lines: 14 streets in new plan.

Sources

  • Southwark Council decision Parking Amendments, Bevington Street, Tilson Close, Gallery Road, taken and published 17 September 2026, for the recommendations, the call-in deadline of 24 September and the effective date of 25 September.
  • The officer report to the Leader of the Council, for the consultation dates, the letter and response counts, the response tables, the council’s replies to each comment, the Dulwich Picture Gallery correspondence and the primrose line specification.