Residents living by roads works being carried out in Twickenham have voiced their anger after the scheme was halted “without warning”.

The changes to Clifden Road and Copthall Gardens were proposed in 2017 by the council and were “intended to improve safety for pedestrians, cyclists and motorists” following the expansion of the Richard Reynolds School.

The school, just beside the junction, has 950 students but the figure is expected to rise to 1,500 in the next two years.

The original blueprint included removing the circular island, adding inset parking, and reducing the width of the road- but the works have proven divisive among residents.

When the plans were originally proposed, residents in Copthall Gardens formed a community group, (Copthall Gardens Residents Association) to protest the move, describing the alterations, which they said “will only result in cars going faster”, as “deadly”.

However, residents in Clifden Road claim they weren’t informed about the works at all.

Donal Hodgson, who lives in Clifden Road, said: “The first we heard about it was in the local paper.”

He and other residents in the road met with the engineer in charge of the scheme to consult on the plans.

They thought Plan C was a “compromise”, which is similar to the original plan, but minus the proposal for a footway outside 33 Clifden Road and the proposal to remove two parking spaces at 31 Clifden Road. This option was voted through by 58 per cent of residents in the area.

Plan D, also known as Option 3, which included an increase in the width of Copthall Gardens, along with making it more curved as it met Clifden Road and the loss of 17 car spaces, was put forward by CGRA.

This Is Local London: Plan C 

The work began but was cut short on February 28, which the council said was down to “concerns being raised by a number of residents over the scheme”.

The council has arranged a meeting with residents and councillors for March 8 to “discuss the outstanding concerns further and look to find an agreeable solution to allow the works to restart”.

However, some Clifden Road residents, were further angered when they found they had not been informed of the meeting.

One said he was “astonished to learn that not only has the council scheduled a community consultation meeting on this matter, but that I wasn't informed nor invited”.

The council told the RTT that letters had been sent out to “every household on Clifden Road and Copthall Gardens” by 1st class mail on Friday, March 2, but that the “final deliveries” arrived today (March 6) at about 10.30am.

Mr Hodgson, who had not received his letter when he left for work this morning, said he hoped this was “just a bureaucratic mess by Richmond Council and not something more sinister”.

Mr Hodgson, who does not believe two days is enough notice to give people, said: “It’s not fair or democratic.

“We just want a fair compromise that’s safe for kids and safe for residents.”

A member of CGRA said they are “furious” with the council.  

Byron Young, chairman of Copthall Gardens Residents Association, said:  “The local council are guilty of ‘Yes, Minister’ level politics.

“The handing of this entire issue has been utterly abysmal.

“Things have got so ridiculous they have just cancelled the decision to cancel building work. How does that work?

“It would laughable if the lives of the 1300 kids at what will soon be the largest school in the borough weren’t on the line.

“They have broken their promises to us time and time again.

“Richmond Council are endangering children’s lives with a plan that can only accelerate the speeds and volume of traffic down a narrow road (Copthall Gardens). 

“The more I have dealt with the council the more I have wondered who is running it – the councillors or the officers.

“In my experience the officers are guilty of an abuse of power.

“Our elected councillors make the decisions – not them.

“Now the council officers are clinging on to their plan come hell or high water, when everyone can see the dangers involved. Everyone but them.

“In a face-to-face meeting in December with a leading councillor we were promised one plan but in January they gave the go-ahead to exactly what we had agreed we would not have.

“They admitted that was a mistake but while in consultation with us to put it right they went ahead with building work anyway.

“They put the diggers away promising a new consultation, only to cancel the decision to cancel the work, and now try to force through their own original plan at the 11th hour.

“That decision to cancel all work until after the elections lasted just 24 hours – before the council changed it’s mind yet again.

“It’s been a monumental cock-up.

“As a resident’s association we are just trying to ensure it is not one that costs childrens’ lives at the end of the day.”

The decision and all plans can be found here.