Recycling depot road is drawing angry crowd of bad drivers, say Bromley residents

A Bromley road has been described as a ‘speed trap’ for boy racers, while drivers queuing up for the local dump ‘scream and shout’ at each other.

Homesdale Road is located beside the recycling centre in Waldo Road.

Alan Headlam, 73, who has been there for 45 years, said it had never been so bad. He said traffic from drivers using the dump was “diabolical”, and has raised the issue with the council several times.

Mr Headlam said: “The tip has been here as long as I know and it wasn’t bad in the 1980s because the only time you had traffic was on Saturdays and Sundays. But this is like an everyday activity now. It’s just got worse and worse.”

He added: “When the people aren’t going to the tip or the Tesco, you’ve got a speed trap in the evening where people just drive fast. There’s no limit. In actual fact we have had accidents here several times.”

Another said they had seen drivers physically fighting with each other while traffic queued up in the road. “You get people queuing up on the weekends, shouting and screaming at each other at 7am, tooting at each other. It’s just disrespectful,” the resident said.

The road has seen several traffic accidents over the years, including two fatalities in May 2019 and May 2008. At a Bromley council meeting last month, Liberal Democrat councillor Julie Ireland claimed Homesdale Road was “absolute hell” at weekends.

Conservative councillor Nicholas Bennett, responsible for road safety, said:  “A number of measures have helped to better manage traffic queues, including web cameras and the box junction at the junction with Waldo Road.”

Pictured top: The refuse centre entrance – where works are currently taking place to compound issues  (Picture: Joe Coughlan)