‘High Quality’ development proposed in Woolwich Road

Developers want to demolish part of a Victorian terrace to build new ‘high quality’ homes and commercial space in Woolwich Road.

Local property owners, the William Hatcliffe Estate, have applied for planning permission to knock down the former council offices at 17-23 Woolwich Road which are on the corner of Hatcliffe Road

They propose replacing the building with new commercial space, for use as shops, restaurants or offices, on the ground floor, and 9 new apartments above.

The new property would be in a similar style to the existing terrace with the addition of a new mansard roof to provide another storey of accommodation.

Developers say they considered other options such as refurbishing the property, or retaining the original frontage, but opted to demolish the properties and rebuild in a style that would match the neighbouring terrace.

See the planning application on the Greenwich Council website here.

How it looks now

Developers’ illustration of how it would look if their plans get the go ahead

Daily Photo: 28/09/10 – White House, Crooms Hill

The White House at the top of Crooms Hill was home to former Astronomer Royal, Sir George Biddell Airy. It was Airy that established a new Prime Meridian at Greenwich in 1851.

Guy Awford’s Food Column: September

September is a great month for oysters. The warmer summer months have passed, the spawning period is over and the waters are colder. Juicy, plump and spankingly fresh, oysters are at their peak.

Eating oysters is a uniquely invigorating experience. No other food conjures up the essence of the sea as potently. As you take it into your mouth you are hit by a briny rush, it can be quite intoxicating. Its mineral elements are evident and you can clearly taste zinc, calcium, copper and magnesium. This really is food for grownups.

Oysters must be alive when you buy them so buy from a reputable source. I can thoroughly recommend Julian at the fishmongers on Circus Street. His Rock and Fin de Clair oysters are sensational. If you are feeling adventurous you can also buy some Sea Urchins from him, but that’s another column.

Shucking oysters is a bit of an ordeal, but I am sure your fishmonger would be only too happy to help; either by opening them, or with a quick demonstration. You will need a strong oyster knife and a bit of patience. To help preserve the precious juices you must store your oysters on a tray in the refrigerator with the flat side up, keeping them covered with a damp cloth.

I prefer my oysters au natural but if an intense marine hit is not to your taste a little sweet and sour Chinese sauce is a great way to balance the powerful flavour.

Native Oysters with Sweet & Sour Shallots

• Finely dice 2 medium shallots. Bring a ½ cup of rice wine vinegar and a ½ cup of caster sugar to the boil. Add the shallots and cool completely. Once cool stir in some chopped coriander and spoon a little over each opened oyster. Eat immediately.

Seasonal Ingredients

Vegetables:  Wild mushrooms, Sweet corn, Tomatoes

Fruit:  Blackberries, plums, greengages, raspberries

Fish:  Eel, mussels, native oysters

Meat:  Goose, rabbit, partridge, mallard

Review: The Laramie Project, Greenwich Theatre

‘The Laramie Project’ is the result of an imaginative collaboration between Wild Oats Productions and the Greenwich Theatre; it is a moving and challenging piece of drama. The play is a piece of ‘verbatim theatre’ that draws its script from eyewitness accounts of an actual event. This style of theatre can be effective and affecting, and so it proves on this occasion. The actors forensically dissect the circumstances around the brutal murder of Matthew Shepard, and in the process unpick the small town community of Laramie, Wyoming (population 26687), revealing frightening attitudes towards its gay community. The depth of the tragic subject matter might frighten a potential audience off, but the production has an engaging lightness of touch and a keen sense of the human comedy from which hope eventually emerges.

The eight members of the ensemble play an extraordinary range of characters, changing role from moment to moment, adopting elements of costume that become key to identifying their characters. Islamic feminists, pastors, bar tenders and doctors emerge from the narrative to give their take on the events before they fade into the background of the story. Director Joseph C. Walsh succeeds in organising the staging effectively, leaving the audience in no doubt as to where their focus should lie. He also uses theatrical trickery to great effect, pulling us into the story and making the connection between the actor and the audience more intense.

The play successfully relies on the talents of the actors’ characterisations to maintain the pace of the narrative. Throughout there is a tremendous sense of energy on stage and the actors’ commitment to telling Matthew Shepard’s story is apparent, so much so that it almost becomes a mission. It would be difficult not to be deeply moved by the speech that Francis Adams makes, in the role of Shepard’s father, when addressing a court on the question of the death penalty. For a play that is largely based on words there are many highly charged visual images, not least the simple opening image where chairs create the fence where the crime took place, with simple coat pegs loaded with costumes echoing the three crosses of the crucifixion. My only significant reservation about this production is in relation to the decision to have two intervals instead of one, which seemed to unnecessarily disrupt the flow of the piece as we were approaching the finely tuned conclusion.

As the evening developed, another piece of verbatim theatre, by the Tricycle Theatre about the murder of Stephen Lawrence, sprang to mind. We have our own hate crimes closer to home and ‘The Laramie Project’ is an important piece of work because, for all its focus on small town America, there are universal truths in this play that give it a direct relevance to our local community.

The Laramie Project, Tue 21 – Sat 25 September 2010
Contact Greenwich Theatre for tickets.

Meeting planned to discuss new ‘free school’

A meeting will take place this weekend to discuss proposals for a new ‘free school’ in the area.

Nouvelle Racines had previously outlined their desire to set up a new languages state school outside of local authority control but their bid was not one of the first sixteen announced by the Department for Education earlier this month.

Greenwich.co.uk understands the original hit a stumbling block when the council let it be known that the former Charlotte Turner site in Deptford would not be available.

Nouvelle Racines say they are now refining their proposal with a view to opening in 2011. They say they have  already received expressions of interest from 135 families with more than 200 children between them.

The meeting will to discuss the new school, which would offer the International Baccalaureate (IB), will take place on Saturday 25th September at West Greenwich House Community Centre, Greenwich High Road, at 2pm.

Daily Photo: 22/09/2010 – MV Deutschland

Many thanks to Nick Davison from the University of Greenwich for sending me this snap of the MV Deutschland that he took last week.

Andrew Gilligan: Market Inquiry: Is It Just A Stitch-Up?

Even before the public inquiry into Greenwich Market has finished, the developers who want to knock it down are behaving as if they’ve won.

Look on the website of Bespoke Hotels, the operator of the hotel proposed to replace the existing market buildings – and you will see them describing it as a fait accompli: “Greenwich Market Hotel is set to open in 2013 and will be the centrepiece of the total redevelopment of the market square,” the website says. “The new boutique property… will replace a block of buildings on the eastern edge of the market and will include an additional bedroom block on the upper floors in a new purpose-built property at the centre of the market.”

That raises the serious question of whether the inquiry – with its two weeks of hearings, its mountains of paperwork, its expensive lawyers – is merely a charade. Do Bespoke Hotels know something we don’t? Has a whisper been passed?

Until this disturbing development, opponents of the scheme seemed to have had the better of it at the inquiry. Massed ranks of councillors from all parties lined up to oppose the scheme – one, Maureen O’Mara, saying that it would “tear the heart out of Greenwich.” The council, true to its original, unanimous vote against the plans, has committed resources and people to fight the case that the development should not happen.

Transport – something first identified by this blog – has emerged as a key issue, with the inspector questioning why the developers had submitted no travel plan, as they were asked to by Transport for London, to back up their absurd claim that the new hotel would create no more than 16 extra journeys in the peak hour – with almost all of those people travelling by public transport. Guests arriving at luxury hotels with heavy luggage do not, of course, come by public transport – and there will be up to 200 of them staying each night, not to mention deliveries, staff, restaurant visitors, and so on.

The hotel’s main entrance will be in the middle of the one-way system, causing enormous disruption to traffic as coaches, taxis and cars drop off guests. A new transport objection may be that the hotel’s existence would sabotage the council’s plans to pedestrianise part of the one-way system. That, however, is a much less good argument. Not only would any pedestrianisation scheme be a mistake in itself, but it might actually solve the transport problems caused by the hotel – which could be served without disruption by turning King William Walk into a hotel-only access spur.

Much better to concentrate on the dozens of ways in which the development breaches the council’s own planning policy – the Unitary Development Plan – and the at least two ways it breaches national planning policy guidance.

Interesting, too, that the council’s barrister has focused on the developers’ somewhat sharp practice in reporting the results of its public consultation. As we have noted in the past, true to the finest traditions of “nonsultation,” a large number of respondents who in fact raised significant objections to the proposed design were counted as supporters by the developers. Another piece of alleged manipulation brought up at the inquiry was the developers’ selective use of photographs in their planning application to make the new scheme look more acceptable than it is. Bespoke Hotels describes its new concrete slab as “brimful of character,” which is a pretty clear indicator of the mindset we’re dealing with.

As well as the council and councillors, the objectors included dozens of local residents. Perhaps most interestingly, the developers’ changes to the scheme appear not to have convinced any of the original objectors. The Government’s heritage watchdog, the Commission on Architecture and the Built Environment (CABE), said the revised scheme was still ‘alien’ and the scale of the proposed hotel still ‘dominating.’
While the retention and refurbishment in amended design of the existing roof in place of the previously proposed canopy roof was welcomed, CABE remained concerned that the relationship between the roof and the proposed cantilevering building was still not ‘fully resolved’.

The circular layout of the new central block, CABE said, did not address the needs of the proposed retail units, and along with the amount of hotel accommodation, appeared ‘alien’ in the context of the existing market.

It all sounds quite promising – but then there’s that worrying confidence of the developers. Let’s hope they’re just getting ahead of themselves – and that their arrogance may, as it has all along, prove counterproductive. But there’s still the distinct possibility that this is all a stitch-up.

Greenwich Council’s funding for Blackheath Fireworks fizzles out

The popular Blackheath Fireworks risk turning into a damp squib after Greenwich Council “reluctantly” decided to withdraw funding, leaving partners Lewisham Council to find the extra cash for the event to go ahead.

The annual fireworks display, which attracts an attendance of about 80,000,  has until now been jointly produced by Greenwich and Lewisham councils but with large cuts to their grant from central government anticipated, Greenwich has pulled out of this year’s display in order to protect “front line services”.

Greenwich’s decision not to fund the popular pyrotechnics display has left Lewisham Council requiring public donations to meet the shortfall to allow the event to go ahead.

Lewisham council announced its appeal earlier this week, with Mayor Bullock commenting: “I don’t want to see this event cancelled without giving people the chance to show their support. Just £1 each from every one who attends would ensure that the skies sparkle as usual over the heath this year.”

Local blogger, Darryl at 853, was quick to spot that Lewisham’s announcement conspicuously failed to mention their traditional event partner, Greenwich Council.

Greenwich Council has now confirmed to Greenwich.co.uk that they have decided not to contribute to the funding of the event.

A Greenwich Council Spokesperson said:

“The Council has reluctantly taken the decision not to fund the event this year, having been advised to anticipate up to 40% cuts to its grant, representing some £70m when the Government’s Comprehensive Spending Review is published on 20 October. The Council is committed to maintaining front line services and has a strong track record of identifying efficiency savings, which has enabled us to freeze council tax in six of the last 12 years. “

Back in October 2008, it was Greenwich councillors who were worried that Lewisham may withdraw funding from the event. Blackheath Westcombe councillor, Alex Wilson, raised the issue after there were local news reports that Lewisham could pull out. In response  Councillor John Fahy, Cabinet Member for Culture & Olympics, stated that councillor Wilson should not believe everything he read in the newspapers.

Visit www.lewisham.gov.uk/fireworks if you would like to contribute.

Updated 17th September

Blackheath Westcombe councillor, Alex Wilson, has responded to the news with this comment:

I think that Greenwich Labour have been looking for an excuse to stop paying their share of the funding for Blackheath Fireworks for years and are now using Government cuts as cover. I think that this has been done without probably considering all the options. I am worried that Blackheath is going to see the bare brunt of the cut backs in spending whilst Woolwich remains untouched.

Two other points come to mind when I think about the Blackheath Fireworks.

Firstly, the safety of the public, fire and health officials often state that they would rather people go to professionally organised events rather than risk using fireworks at home, if this event is not provided then it is likely that there will be more fireworks parties happening at home and so therefore at greater risk of accidents.

Secondly, on the night of the fireworks both Blackheath Villages and Blackheath Standards shops, restaurants and pubs are able to attract a large number of customers, this helps to fuel the local economy.

“Character and potential historic significance” of market revamp praised

The proposed Greenwich Market redesign would see new buildings of “character and potential historic significance”, a planning inquiry heard today.

That was the verdict of Dr Jonathan Edis who was called as a professional witness by Greenwich Hospital.

Dr Edis said that the market buildings dating from the 1950s do not “really hang together” with the rest of the market and are “not worthy of preservation”. He added that the scheme would see “no loss of significance” and would instead create an “attractive way of drawing people into a new and vibrant space”.

He was asked if he knew why Bespoke Hotels, the selected operator for the hotel if it gets the green light, had produced a web page advertising the hotel including “an alfresco restaurant-bar set amidst the cobbled courtyard” but Dr Edis said he had no knowledge of that.

The lawyer representing the council suggested to Dr Ediz that in his written submissions he had tried to “create an argument” with the council’s Senior Conservation Officer, Rebecca Duncan, and he was in fact a “hired gun”.

Dr Edis is a former local authority conservation officer himself and now runs his own cultural heritage consultancy.

Other developments from the inquiry’s fifth day included the Planning Inspector announcing that he will make his own unaccompanied visit to the market on Saturday. The inquiry schedule includes an accompanied visit on Thursday but market trader, Kate Jaconello, suggested earlier in the week that he visit at a weekend which he has now agreed to do.

The inquiry continues at the town hall on Wednesday, the site visit due to take place on Thursday and closing submissions on Friday.

For Sale: Record-breaking yacht, the Gipsy Moth IV

The Gipsy Moth IV, which was in dry dock in Greenwich for over three decades, has been put up for sale.

The  famous yacht was single handedly sailed around the world by Francis Chichester in 1967, setting a new record for the fastest voyage around the world in a small vessel.

Such was the public interest in Chichester and the Gypsy Moth IV, they were greeted by a crowd of a quarter of a million people in Portsmouth as they returned from the voyage in 1967.

Later that year, the yachtsman became Sir Francis Chichester in a public knighting ceremony held by the Queen in the grounds of the then Royal Naval College. The Gipsy Moth IV – built in Gosport especially for the voyage – was put into dry dock in Greenwich in 1972 following his death.

The Gipsy Moth IV became a tourist attraction in Greenwich, placed next to the Cutty Sark (this photo was taken in 1970) for over 30 years. Unfortunately she fell into a state of disrepair and in 2005, a campaign launched by Yachting Monthly resulted in a £300,000 restoration which saw her refurbished and returned to the high seas under the ownership of the UK Sailing Academy.

The yacht has now been put up for sale with an asking price of £250,000.

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