Southwark's £2.5m Peckham Rye gyratory scheme, bus gate included, took effect on 27 October with no call-in recorded. Formal traffic order objections come next.

Southwark Council’s leader has approved the £2.5m Peckham Rye gyratory scheme, including the bus gate that would close Peckham Rye East to everything except buses and cyclists.

The record of decision was signed on 30 September 2026. The council published it on 19 October. It can be called in for review by councillors until 26 October, and comes into force on 27 October if nobody does.

Updated 27 October: the council’s decision page records no call-in and shows the decision effective from 27 October. We could not find a statutory notice for the traffic orders on the afternoon of 27 October, so the formal objection period has not started as far as we can tell.

Approval does not put anything on the ground yet. It tells officers to run the statutory consultation on the traffic orders, the formal stage at which objections carry legal weight.

What the leader approved

The record of decision approves the changes “as in the report”, with no amendments. The report covers Rye Lane, Copeland Road, Peckham Rye, Nigel Road, Philip Walk, Scylla Road and East Dulwich Road. The main changes are:

  • a bus gate on Peckham Rye East, closed to traffic except buses and cyclists
  • a new northbound bus lane on Rye Lane, extended up to the Copeland Road junction
  • Scylla Road closed to motor traffic, extending the school street outside Rye Oak Primary
  • segregated cycle track on Rye Lane, Peckham Rye and East Dulwich Road, as part of Cycleway C35
  • new zebra crossings and raised tables on Rye Lane, Nigel Road, Philip Walk, Peckham Rye and other streets
  • the service road outside the Nags Head pedestrianised, to take a relocated bus stop

The record lists no representations received and no interests declared. The scheme is funded by Transport for London.

A split consultation behind it

The approval follows a public consultation that divided on the bus gate itself. As we reported in September, 41.0% of respondents backed it and 40.6% opposed it, according to the council’s own consultation summary.

People who said they live inside the scheme area were the only group against the scheme as a whole: 57.6% against and 37.4% in favour. The full breakdown, and the history of the same bus gate being dropped in 2020, is in our earlier report on the plan.

What happens next

Stage When
Decision signed by the leader 30 September 2026
Decision published 19 October 2026
Call-in deadline 26 October 2026
Decision takes effect if not called in 27 October 2026
Statutory consultation on the traffic orders Not yet published
Report back to the leader if anyone objects December 2026, on the council’s timetable
Construction Spring 2027, on the council’s timetable

The report had planned the statutory consultation for October. On 22 October no notice for the gyratory was on the council’s traffic order portal or the Public Notice Portal.

The decision sets out what follows the consultation:

  • If anyone objects and does not withdraw it, officers must bring a further report to the leader to decide.
  • If nobody objects, the head of highways can make the orders without going back to the leader.
  • Officers may also hold a public inquiry into the traffic orders if they consider it expedient.

What it means for you

  • If you drive round the gyratory. Nothing changes yet. The council’s timetable puts construction in spring 2027.
  • If you want to object. Watch for the traffic order notice. A written objection with your grounds, sent during the statutory consultation, sends the decision back to the leader. We will list the dates on our roadworks and travel page when the notice appears.
  • If you have a blue badge. The council’s consultation summary says badge holders can pass through the proposed closures if they sign up to the Southwark digital parking permit scheme.
  • If you park on these streets. Parking and loading rules change on every road in the scheme. Current zone hours are on our parking in Dulwich page.

Sources