Gellatly Road 'mass crossing for a safer street'

More than 30 people took part in a 'mass crossing for a safer street' protest in Gellatly Road SE14 last week (20/11/2025), the latest move in a long running campaign by 'Drakefell and Gellatly United'  to make these 'roads safer and healthier for residents and the many users who use and cross them'. People crossed slowly an en masse back and forth several times during the school run period.

Although the road changes its name from Gellatly to Drakefell near to Skehans pub, it is in effect one road - the B2142 route from Brockley Cross to Nunhead. As such it is one of the busiest roads in the Telegraph Hill area, and people have been campaigning on and off for more than 30 years to slow and reduce traffic, as well as for safer places to cross the road. While parents of younger children made up the majority of those taking part last week, there were also some older veterans of the early 1990s protests in the road. That earlier campaign did succeed in getting traffic bumps installed and more recent campaigns have led to new pedestrian crossings in Lausanne Road. But the risks remain to people from larger and larger cars cruising at high speed through residential streets.

The corner of Gellatly and Lausanne Road, where last week's mass crossing took place, is particularly dangerous as motorists turn into the road at high speed at a point where parents and children cross on their routes to and from local schools. 

See also:

Gellatly Road 1990s Traffic Campaign: a Geography Lesson

(does anybody have any press cuttings or leaflets from the 1990s campaign - please get in touch if so)