Greenwich Conservatives have promised to push for an extension of London’s DLR to Kidbrooke and Eltham in their local election manifesto.

The opposition party are calling for one of the tunnels on the controversial Silvertown Tunnel project to be used for a DLR extension to Kidbrooke and Eltham instead.

They said the move would “hugely improve transport connections”.

The idea of an extension of the Docklands Light Railway has long been an issue in Greenwich, with Labour councillors and local MPs also calling for an extension. The Labour manifesto said they would continue to lobby for the DLR to Thamesmead extension.

The Tory manifesto calls on the Silvertown Tunnel to be used to aid the extension.

The manifesto says: “The current bottleneck at the Blackwall tunnel regularly causes gridlock, exacerbating air pollution from long tailbacks.

"We have supported the Silvertown Tunnel project as a way to help solve the problem, but have campaigned for one of the tunnels to be used for an extension of the DLR to Kidbrooke and Eltham.

"We will continue to advocate this option, despite Labour at the Town Hall voting against it earlier this year.”

Leader of the Greenwich Conservatives Nigel Fletcher also added to the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “A DLR extension to Eltham and Kidbrooke would hugely improve transport connections locally – a big issue given the amount of new housing being built locally.

"We first called for this plan seven years ago during consultation on the Silvertown Tunnel scheme, and even now it’s not too late for it to be done.”

“Labour locally have tied themselves in knots by facing both ways on this and voted against our call for  the DLR extension.

"If elected, our councillors will continue pushing them to join us in campaigning for this improvement.”

The Conservatives currently only have 9 councillors and would need a huge swing in next month’s elections to gain control of the council.

Labour control the council with 41 seats.

Greenwich Council voted for the £2 billion Silvertown Tunnel project to be halted last month.

If completed by TfL, four lanes will connect the Greenwich Peninsula to Newham under the River Thames.

It is already under construction and is set to by finished by 2025.

The tunnel is one many transport issues being fought over in the borough, with traffic, cycling and low traffic neighbourhoods also hotly-contested local issues.

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