Winter Wanders: Free Guided Walks Across London

Transport for London (TfL) has got together with the London Boroughs and Walk London to put together some free guided walks which will span the width, length and breadth of the City.

The led walks will take place on London’s Strategic Walk Network, a series of seven long-distance routes broken up in to shorter sections. The 350-mile Network is one of the initiatives being promoted by TfL and the Boroughs to help London become one of the most walking-friendly cities in Europe by 2012.

Greenwich is one of the areas that will be explored with a choice of four walks. Participants of these walks will be able to get up close and personal with the site of the 2012 Games and the Greenwich Peninsula Ecology Park. There will also be a special walk, “Exploring Seafaring London”.

Ian Bull, who is leading the Charlton Station to Plumstead walk, said:

“We’re cherry-picking some of London’s most historic locations ranging from the geological to the industrial archaeological. We’ll visit the lovely parks around Charlton with their animals and views over the City before the Thames Path takes us to the immense industrial achievements in Woolwich. The Thames barrier represents the 20th Century followed by a possibly unrepeatable visit, and the first for 96 years, inside the cathedral-like 19th Century factory buildings of the Royal Arsenal.”

Ben Plowden, Director of Integrated Programme Delivery at TfL, said:

“London’s great landmarks and green areas are best explored on foot. That is why we are working with our partners and stakeholders to make walking in this city as attractive and enjoyable as possible by investing over £17 million this year to improve conditions across the Capital. Seasonal events like the ‘Winter Wanders’ are a great way to inspire Londoners to get out and either walk on their own or in groups to enjoy their surroundings and to keep fit. These events also show Londoners how walking can be a quick and efficient way of getting from A to B and encourage them to make more journeys by foot.”

Get more information on TFL’s Winter Wanders schedule.

Daily Photo: 29/01/10 – Reflections of Greenwich Millennium Village

Another photo from yesterday’s walk around the Greenwich Millennium Village.

Nick Raynsford pays tribute to Alan Cherry

Alan Cherry, the chairman of Greenwich Millennium Village Ltd, has died aged 76. Local MP, Nick Raynsford, has shared his memories of Alan Cherry:

Alan Cherry will be widely and deeply mourned throughout the housing, property and construction industries. As founding Director of Countryside Properties he created and built up one of Britain’s most successful and progressive development companies. His passionate commitment to the creation of high quality and sustainable communities shone through all his work, and has left a remarkable legacy.

Notley Garden Village in Essex, St Mary’s Island in Chatham, Greenwich Millennium Village (GMV) and Accordia in Cambridge have all been widely recognised and praised as imaginative, ground-breaking developments which raised the bar in terms of social, environmental and architectural quality and in doing so helped lift the reputation of the housebuilding and development industries. Accordia is the only housing development ever to have won the RIBA’s Stirling Prize, no mean achievement.
For me personally GMV will remain Alan’s finest memorial. Conceived in 1997 as the first Millennium Community to be promoted by the newly elected Labour Government, it has transformed a previously foully-polluted industrial wasteland into an exemplary mixed tenure development, demonstrating real vision as a brilliantly planned, imaginatively designed and environmentally responsible housing scheme. Alan threw himself with huge energy into the tough challenge of making GMV a success and achieving something special and memorable. When problems occurred, he never left it to others to sort out. He took a close personal interest in working to identify and implement solutions. He could see both the ‘big picture’ and the detail, and was never too grand or busy to deal with the minutiae. I last met him on site last summer when his passion and commitment remained undimmed, despite the onset of the illness that was tragically to end his life.

Unlike many others who have achieved huge success from relatively modest beginnings, Alan never lost his common touch and his sympathy for those less fortunate that himself. While some housebuilders stubbornly resisted demands to mix affordable and social homes with those for market sale, Alan showed that mixed income developments could work very successfully and took great pride in the fact that at GMV housing for rent and for sale is indistinguishable.

Alan didn’t keep his passions and skills to himself. He gave generously to a wealth of other causes, contributing to a series of ground-breaking initiatives such as the Duke of Edinburgh’s Inquiry into British Housing in the 1980s, the Urban Task Force in the late 1990s and more recently the Thames Gateway Strategic Partnership. He was for many years closely associated with Anglia Ruskin University and supported a range of charities and other good causes in his county of Essex.
It was always a pleasure to meet Alan. He combined a number of characteristics that do not always sit easily together. He was idealistic, entrepreneurial, imaginative, determined, courteous and thoughtful and combined a breadth of vision with modesty and personal kindness. I am very proud to have known Alan, to have called him a friend and to have been associated with one of his finest developments. He leaves behind an inspiring legacy and he will be remembered and honoured by many, many people whose lives he touched.

Daily Photo: 28/01/10 – Greenwich Millennium Village

I took this photo of the GMV from the boardwalk running through Greenwich Ecology Park.

Greenwich Council Meeting 27/01/10: Greenwich Time, Council Tax & Royal Borough Status

Greenwich Council’s newspaper Greenwich Time was branded “appalling” and “blatant propaganda” by opposition councillors at Wednesday night’s full council meeting.

The weekly was criticised in a Westminster debate earlier this month, with it and other council publications coming in for attacks from politicians and publishers of local newspapers, who claim it damages free speech and is hurting their business.

Conservative councillor Dermot Poston called it “an appalling piece of paper”, adding it was “a shocking indictment” of the council.

“Ask anyone in this borough who reads it – not that anyone does – and they’ll tell you,” the Eltham North member said.

Brian Woodcraft (Lib Dem, Middle Park & Sutcliffe) said the paper, which was relaunched as a weekly in 2008, was “blatant propaganda”.

“It contains a full week’s TV listings, which is totally inappropriate for a local authority newspaper,” he continued, questioning the cost of employing distributors to deliver it weekly, when previously it had been delivered fortnightly alongside the established local freesheets, the Mercury and the News Shopper.

However, council leader Chris Roberts (Labour, Peninsula) said it was more cost-effective to publish Greenwich Time once a week.

“It’s cheaper weekly than fortnightly, and I’m happy to provide figures to any member who asks for them,” he told the meeting.

He said the decision was made to distribute Greenwich Time separately because the council had received “too many complaints” that the newspaper was not being delivered, and residents were missing out on important items of public consultation.

“Neither the Mercury nor the News Shopper reach the whole borough,” he added.

Addressing charges that the newspaper was propaganda, Cllr Roberts said: “Hammersmith and Fulham Council has its council tax plastered on its lamp posts – well beyond anything that goes on in this borough.”

Referrring to criticism from News Shopper editor Richard Firth – who called the newspaper “a self-serving propaganda sheet” – Cllr Roberts called for an “honest debate” on the issue, reeling off a list of local newspapers published by newspaper group Archant, including The Docklands, a version of which appears in Greenwich as The Peninsula.

“I don’t think the views of the Archant publishing house somehow go unreported,” he said.

However, the News Shopper is published by Archant’s rival Newsquest, part of US newspaper giant Gannett.

Nigel Fletcher (Conservative, Eltham North), complained that Greenwich Time routinely ignored opposition councillors’ views, even on non-controversial matters such as Greenwich becoming a royal borough.

“Our views were represented in three of our local media; the Mercury, the News Shopper, and greenwich.co.uk; but the one local newspaper which neglected us was Greenwich Time.

“It was slightly absurd that a photograph of the leader of the council should have been on the front of Greenwich Time and not one of the Queen.”

He said it “fully vindicated” his party’s pledge to scrap the paper if it took power at May’s elections.

Councillors vote for council tax freeze

Greenwich council taxpayers are set for a freeze in their bills after councillors voted through this year’s budget proposals.

Council leader Chris Roberts said he had “no desire to slash and burn” public services, citing investment in transport, anti-crime measures, housing and children’s centres, adding the cashflow plan was strong enough to deal with any government cuts after the general election.

“Whatever is thrown at us by central government over the next few years, the people of Greenwich will expect us to be prepared,” he said.

“It is a budget which protects our essential services, and does not mortgage our futures.”

With an eye to the council’s own election in May, he said his Labour group had provided “stable and secure financial management for more than a decade”.

Conservative leader Spencer Drury said freezing the budget seemed “the right thing to do”.

But the Eltham North councillor questioned a sum of £3.7 million which was counted as cash to be held in reserve, but he said looked as if it had actually been allocated to services including continuing weekly black bin collections and covering extra costs in social care.

“These things are essentials,” he said, “not things we have any choice over”.

If that sum of money really was available, he said, then it should be returned to council tax payers “who are suffering too”.

Cllr Roberts said he wanted to keep the extra sum of money aside in case the relevant departments needed extra cash for those services.

Council tax bills will not be finalised until after February 10, when London Mayor Boris Johnson’s budget will be settled. He is also planning to freeze his part of the bill.

Royal borough status welcomed by all sides

Greenwich Council could buy a sailing ship to commemorate becoming a royal borough in 2012, Conservative culture spokesman Nigel Fletcher told the meeting.

Councillors from all parties welcomed the announcement, which was made earlier this month.

One idea, he said, would be to purchase a sailing ship to commemorate The Great Harry, a warship built at Woolwich for Henry VIII.

Cllr Fletcher said it was worth noting that royal connections were spread across the borough, and a ship would recognise Woolwich’s contribution.

“It’s an idea that could have a range of benefits, particularly for our youth,” he said.

“There is a challenge to us to answer what becoming a royal borough means in real terms.

“It’s up to us to use this to secure real benefits across the borough. There should be a Jubilee legacy to go with an Olympic legacy.”

Greenwich will be the first royal borough with a “significantly diverse” population when it is awarded the honour in 2012, council leader Chris Roberts said.

“I have always felt the royal element of the borough has been underplayed,” he said.

“Even those who declare themselves to be not tremendous royalists say how proud they are. It’s an incredible honour.”

Cllr Roberts said discussions would start soon on just what the honour, awarded to mark the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, would actually mean for the council, from possible changes to the council’s coat of arms to putting the new borough names on street signs.

“There will be protocols to follow – I’ve been up to my eyeballs in them – but it will be up to us what to do, in consultation with civil servants and Buckingham Palace,” he continued.

“I never thought I’d quote Margaret Thatcher, but ‘rejoice, rejoice, rejoice’.”

Long-serving Conservative Dermot Poston also spoke of his pride in seeing Greenwich’s diverse population honoured, adding that in 1968, the borough had been turned down for the honour by then-prime minister Harold Wilson.

Councillor and historian Mary Mills (Labour, Peninsula) said Greenwich and Woolwich’s royal connections had contributed to many of the borough’s industries, adding that the honour recognised “all sorts of ordinary people going way back”.

Chris Roberts added that he had been touched by letters from people about the honour, adding: “My personal favourite is from a lady who wrote, ‘I’m just waiting for the first journalist to knock it.’”

Andrew Gilligan: Locog Admits Windsor Is a Better Venue

TODAY is the official deadline to object to the stupidest planning application since somebody tried to build a life-sized copy of Buckingham Palace out of processed cheese. The Olympics want to come to Greenwich Park, and aren’t we all thrilled? No, actually: of the 286 responses received by the council so far, 265 – or 92.7 per cent – are against.

That won’t be the final figure – there are some big wodges of objections still to be registered – and in practice you can carry on submitting objections until just before the planning meeting, which I strongly recommend. Over the next few weeks, as councillors look through the application, I’ll be unpicking some of its key weaknesses.

Let us start this week with London 2012 (Locog)’s legal obligation (under the Environmental Impact Assessment Regulations) to assess alternative sites and explain why Greenwich Park is better. A potentially tricky task, you might think, given that (a) the alternatives are spacious existing equestrian courses, used to hosting tens of thousands of spectators and (b) Greenwich Park is a cramped, totally virgin site, needing to be transformed from scratch, that has never handled such an event in its life.

The assessment is given in chapter 4 of Locog’s environmental statement, the key planning document (downloadable from the council website). The criteria include the ability to use “existing facilities where possible;” the ability to “provide facilities which meet International Federation and IOC standards;” the ready availability of public transport, the need to ensure “no potentially significant impact on amenity for local residents” and the need to avoid “potentially significant environmental constraints.”

That’s clear enough, then – Windsor Great Park it is! As the document admits, Windsor “has existing facilities which could be used… there are public transport services… approximately 0.3 miles from the venue… there would be no temporary loss of public amenity.”

The stunning fact is that even in Locog’s own assessment, Windsor scores higher than Greenwich Park on facilities and the ability to host the contest, and the same on all the other criteria I’ve mentioned.

And the reality, of course, is that Windsor outscores Greenwich on most of those other criteria too. Completely dishonestly, the Locog assessment scores Windsor and Greenwich the same for “impact on amenity for local residents.” But while large parts of Greenwich Park will be closed for eight months, and smaller parts for five years, no local resident in Windsor would lose a single inch of park for so much as a single day if the Olympics were held there. As the document itself admits, the Windsor site which would be used for the Games “is not currently open to the public.”

Furthermore, the number of local residents around the Windsor site, though not nil, is vastly lower than the number of people living around Greenwich Park, and the traffic problems the event would cause in Windsor are far lower than in Greenwich.

Equally dishonestly, Windsor and Greenwich are given the same score for “environmental constraints.” But they would not have to chop bits off any trees to put in a cross-country course at Windsor, or level any ground to build a showjumping arena.

There is, admittedly, one criterion I haven’t mentioned on which Greenwich scores higher than Windsor – that of “close proximity to the Olympic Park.” The sole, slender thread justifying the despoilation of Greenwich is the mantra of a “compact Games” with riders able to live in the Olympic village and be “competitors, not commuters.” But this is simply not a good enough reason to ignore the advantages of Windsor.

Most riders will, in any case, not live in the Olympic village – they will stay with their horses; and since Greenwich Park is too small to stable them all, many are likely to be widely dispersed across south London. Even the Olympic village is a 25-minute commute away from Greenwich Park. The planning application predicts there will be 35,000 competitor vehicle movements to the Park during Games time – also suggesting that there will be a certain amount of commuting going on.

If the “compact Games” slogan were taken to its logical extreme, we would have the rowers on the Thames at Woolwich – never mind if they drowned in the tides or got run over by the ferry. The rowers are, in fact, going to – well, quite near Windsor, as it happens. They won’t be wedged into the Olympic village – they’ll be in spacious and almost-new student accommodation blocks at Royal Holloway College, in Egham. If the equestrianism was at Windsor, the riders could be there, too

The fact is that the riders could stay much closer to their competition venue in Windsor than in Greenwich. Royal Holloway College is five minutes’ drive from Windsor Great Park – and, contrary to another dishonest claim in the planning application, there’s plenty of room.

The only other argument produced for choosing the massively inferior site at Greenwich is the need to host the showjumping element of the modern pentathlon in London. This is true, but a red herring. The riding part of the modern pentathlon does need to be in London to be near the other four sports which make up the event. But a pentathlon riding arena is far simpler and cheaper than an equestrian one, reflecting the fact that the entire horse part of the pentathlon takes just three hours over the whole Games (90 minutes each for men and women.)

This year’s modern pentathlon World Championships – a “class A” event equivalent to the Olympics – are being held in the athletics stadium at Crystal Palace at a total cost to the taxpayer (for all five events, not just the riding) of £660,000. They could put the horse bits of the pentathlon there, or in The Valley – or indeed in a big enough back garden.

In short, Locog is asking for planning permission for a venue which is not just destructive, but which even they concede is inferior to the alternatives.

Daily Photo: 26/01/10 – Greenwich Magistrates Court

Greenwich Magistrates Court.

Daily Photo: 25/01/10 – New Pipelines

Fergal Spelman kindly sent in this photo that he took this morning of new pipelines, for gas presumably, being laid at the bottom of Westcombe Hill. The entrance to the car park on the north side of Westcombe Park station is on the right.

Thanks Fergal! Have you taken any interesting photos around Greenwich lately? You can email them to rob@greenwich.co.uk for inclusion in the Daily Photo.

Daily Photo: 22/01/10 – Pelton Road in the late 30s

Many thanks to Dave Levitt who kindly sent me a great selection of old photos a while back, and I’m finally getting around to using. I’ll hand over to Dave to describe the scene:

View looking looking toward the Royal Standard pub situated in the corner of Pelton Rd and Christchurch Way. No cars just evidence of a horses passing by. I can remember horse drawn carts after the war when I was a child and people collecting the manure for the gardens. My Father was a milkman and I helped in school holidays and thought it was great to drive the horse & cart but of course no driving was needed as the horse knew the route backwards and would happily walk around on it’s own following my Dad. It would get to a bakers on his round, stop and not move until the lady there came out a gave it a bun. The horse knew when the end of the round came and my Father had make sure he was on the cart otherwise the horse was off, really had a fight to slow it down because he knew his day was over and looking forward to its feed.

Motorcyclist hurt on Woolwich Road

Road closures were put in to place around Woolwich Road and Blackwall lane last Wednesday after a nasty road traffic accident involving a motorcycle and another vehicle.

Police closed roads from early morning through to 11.30am.

Initial reports from local shopkeepers suggested that there may have been fatality but Greenwich.co.uk has been informed that this was not the case.

If you know any more about this incident, please email news@greenwich.co.uk

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