Duchess of Cornwall to visit Greenwich twice next week

Greenwich will receive two visits from HRH The Duchess or Cornwall next week.

The Duchess, who is patron of the British Equestrian Foundation, will be present at the Greenwich Park Eventing Invitational, part of the London 2012 test event series, on Monday and Wednesday.

On Monday, Her Royal Highness will attend a reception for 400 guests including riders and international equestrian federations. On Wednesday, she will be present for the final show jumping phase of the event and will present the prizes.

Speaking to journalists at a press briefing yesterday, the Leader of Greenwich Council, Chris Roberts (pictured below), said that being a host borough continued “to be a source of tremendous pride” and listed the benefits for the Greenwich.

“1000 of our residents are working on the Olympic sites, our businesses have secured something like £70million worth of contracts and we have the most iconic venues of the games which will continue to support our tourism in the years following the games.

“We are investing close on £20million across our borough on playgrounds, parks and school in terms of additional facilities… to raise our parks and get 12 of them to Green Flag status. We’re planting 2012 trees in recognition of next year and ensuring the Cutty Sark and new pier are constructed in time for the games.

He also confirmed that Greenwich school kids are working to “design a Greenwich jump” which will feature in the course for London 2012.

David Luckes MBE, London 2012′s Senior Sports Manager and a former Olympian himself, said Greenwich Park was a “fabulous location” but also a “historically sensitive site” which they were “committed to treating with great respect.”

The next phase of closures begins in the park tomorrow as footpaths on the eastern side of the park are closed until the 6th July.

Local pressure group, NOGOE, will be holding peaceful protests on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of next week at the St Mary’s Gate entrance to the park.

The O2 contributes over £400 million a year to London economy, report claims

A new study says that The O2 in North Greenwich contributes £405 million a year to London’s economy.

The popular venue attracts up to 7.2 million visitors a year and contributes £126 million additional income a year to the Greenwich area.

The report, which has been carried out by consultants Why Not and was commissioned by O2 owner, AEG, also claims that the O2 has created 600 jobs in Greenwich.

Councillor Chris Roberts, Leader of Greenwich Council said: “AEG has been a great asset to Greenwich and London.  Greenwich Council continue to support AEG throughout all of their operations and development, and in partnership we have delivered real tangible benefits for local residents including jobs, community initiatives, learning programmes  and access to a great facility.  As well as the world’s most successful arena, we also have plans for London’s first cruise liner terminal at Enderby Wharf and London’s first cable car from The O2 to Excel.”

Alex Hill, Senior Executive Director of AEG Europe said:  “Through a combination of state of the art facilities, scale and quality of customer service The O2 has been able to attract a series of fantastic new events to the UK.  We host the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals, the world’s best attended indoor tennis event, and have just hosted the first ever NBA regular season games to be held in Europe.  Together with world class pop and rock acts from Beyonce to Led Zeppelin, and cultural institutions like Les Miserables and the Royal Ballet, The O2 continues to be a great draw for London.”

Exclusive: Town centre pedestrianisation proposals scrapped

Plans to partially pedestrianise Greenwich town centre will not be going ahead, Greenwich.co.uk can reveal.

The proposal, which included pedestrianising College Approach and King William Walk while creating a new gyratory system around Norman Road, Creek Road, Greenwich Church Street, Greenwich High Road, has been put on hold indefinitely.

News of the decision to halt the project, which was put forward by the council after consultations held in 2009 and 2010, was revealed through an exchange of letters between Council Leader, Chris Roberts, and local ward councillors Matthew Pennycook, Maureen O’Mara and David Grant.

The Greenwich West trio, who have undertaken their own consultation, say that the scheme should be “suspended for the foreseeable future”.

“We feel that our focus at the present time should be on introducing measures to address the existing traffic/rat running problems in residential streets in West Greenwich and … any temporary traffic management that may be required to facilitate pedestrian access through the town centre during the Olympic Games”, their letter adds.

In his reply, Chris Roberts agrees “that we should suspend work on our own proposals and focus at this time on what traffic management measures might reasonably be implemented to address concerns about rat running, as well as facilitating the operational needs up to and during the Olympic Games.”

He also says in his letter that TFL have raised with him a desire to “engage in public consultation later in the year” on traffic proposals that will “directly affect areas of the borough to the east of the Town Centre.”

Click here to read the full letter from Greenwich West councillors to the Council Leader, Chris Roberts and his reply.

The decision to suspend the scheme, which the council still describes on its website as one that would “address the needs of local residents and visitors whether on foot, on bicycle, or on public transport”, is a victory for residents concerned that the gyratory would increase rat running in the area – concerns which led to separate traffic calming measures in West Greenwich being proposed.

Greenwich Council appointed highways and traffic consultants, Hyder Consulting, to work on the project in May 2009 but declined to answer a Freedom of Information request last year from local journalist, Darryl Chamberlain, asking how much the company had been paid for their work on the scheme.

Councillors back Greenwich budget cuts

Greenwich Councillors unanimously supported plans to cut spending by £48.6 million last night.

Council leader, Chris Roberts, presented the council budget to colleagues at the full council meeting at Woolwich Town Hall. He told councillors that it was “a robust budget” but issued the stark warning that there was a “ticking Tory timebomb” underneath it.

The proposed budget would protect the frontline, he said, but acknowledged increased charges for parking and allotments would cause concern for residents.

“It is a budget that will come under increasing strain as Tory policies bite hard. When the poor shift out of central London because they can no longer afford their housing costs, they will land in boroughs like Greenwich in need of affordable housing, schools and social care.”, said Cllr Roberts.

The speech by the Council Leader drew applause from his Labour colleagues, including the Deputy Mayor, and was labelled “the finest I’ve heard in this chamber” by Cllr Don Austen.

Over £7.5 million will be cut through “management de-layering” and over £3 million has been found in back office savings. A pay freeze for employees will save almost £1.5 million and £2million has been cut from grants to the voluntary sector.

The council will “endeavour to keep open” all of its Sure Start centres and protect leisure centres. The council has stated there will be no cuts to the library service – although this claim has raised eyebrows in Kidbrooke.

Responding to the Budget on behalf of the Conservative Group, Cllr Spencer Drury praised the “tough decisions taken by the cabinet” and said they “deserve our support in this chamber”. Any disagreements they did have would be “quibbling around the edges” of what was a “substantial package of cuts.”

The council is anticipating that £63 million worth of savings will be required by 2015 as part of their Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) with most of that front-loaded into the next two years.

The meeting was notable for the lack of protests that have been witnessed at other council meetings in London and elsewhere. A small group of trade union demonstrators congregated at the entrance to the town hall but their protest remained out in Wellington Street and there was no sign of it in the chamber itself.

Mayor of London visits new Ravensbourne College

The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, visited the new Ravensbourne College next to the O2 this morning.

The Mayor met with students, staff and business leaders from the creative industries and was given a tour of the college’s state of the art facilities.

In his short speech to invited guests, Boris praised the “amazing” college, describing it a “beautiful, beautiful building.” He credited Michael Heseltine for “initiating the transformation… of this patch of ground in North Greenwich”.

Boris also commented on the new cable car proposal which would connect the O2 with the Royal Docks, saying it would be “named after Vince Cable” and would allow him to “reflect on the importance of the banks” from high above the Thames.

Leader of Greenwich Council, Councillor Chris Roberts, paid “huge tribute” to Robin Baker for his leadership during the college’s move to Greenwich Peninsula and praised the “completely new and revolutionary ways of learning and teaching” on offer at the college.

Ravensbourne director, Robin Baker OBE, pointed out that this was not an opening but one of a series of events to celebrate with stakeholders, to which the Mayor replied that he was happy to declare “the college even more open than it was a few moments ago.”

Listen to the speech by Robin Baker OBE, director of Ravensbourne College

Listen to the speech by Mayor of London, Boris Johnson

Listen to the speech by leader of Greenwich Council, Chris Roberts

Darryl from 853 was also there and has his own write up.

Greenwich Council Meeting: 27th October 2010

Councillors met at Woolwich Town Hall last night for the first full council meeting since the summer recess.

Royal Hill school building

The Victorian school building in Royal Hill which has latterly been used as an annexe for Charlton Special School could be returned to use as a primary school, it was revealed.

In a written response to a question from Cllr Spencer Drury (Conservative, Eltham North), the Cabinet Member for Children and Young People, Cllr Jackie Smith (Labour, Thamesmead Moorings), stated that the council “is considering plans for the reopening of the school to meet the growing demand for primary school places in west Greenwich”.

The John Roan School

Councillor Alex Wilson (Conservative, Blackheath Westcombe) asked for an update on the re-building of The John Roan School. A written reply from Councillor Jackie Smith revealed that a design team was in place, the process to appoint a building contractor was “well advanced” and work was expected to start in approximately 12 months.

Sleeping Arrangements

Former Liberal Democrat Paul Webbewood used the opportunity of Public Questions to ask council leader, Councillor Chris Roberts, if he had ever slept at Woolwich Town Hall. “No”, replied Cllr Roberts.

Blackheath Fireworks

Cllr Alex Wilson (Conservative, Blackheath Westcombe) said that the decision not to contribute to this year’s Blackheath Fireworks felt like being “a dinner guest who has walked away at the last minute without helping to pay his share of the bill”, and asked for the cut to be justified by the Council.

Deputy Leader of the Council, Cllr Peter Brooks (Labour, Thamesmead Moorings) said there were “65 million reasons” to justify the decision, alluding to the £65 million the council expects to have to cut. Cllr Brooks said that the share of the costs for Greenwich Council was £37,000 which equated to “a job a bit”.  He said he was “given about two days in the middle of the recess to come up with this decision” and it wasn’t a decision taken “lightheartedly”.

Read more on the issue of Blackheath Fireworks at 853

Disposal of land in Commerell Street

The council resolved to try and sell two houses it owns in Commerell Street. The council has estimated that selling the land will raise £550,000 which it intends to spend on its new Housing Delivery Vehicle, financing decant costs in Kidbrooke and Woolwich and other urgent capital works on council-owned homes. The council will need to gain permission from the Secretary of State for Local Government before proceeding with the disposal.

Nouvelles Racines Free School

A Conservative motion welcoming the attempt to set up a new free school teaching the International Baccalaureate was debated by councillors.

Cllr Dermot Poston (Conservative, Eltham North) praised the “vision” of parents and teachers behind the school who he said had a “passion” for educating children “in depth”.

Cllr Adam Thomas (Conservative, Eltham South) said that the parents and teachers  proposing the free school wanted to “make a difference to the education of children in this borough”.

Cabinet member in charge of schools, Cllr Jackie Smith said it was “wholly unfair to debate in this chamber one particular proposal that is still being assessed by the Department of Education”.

She said that the council was “corncerned about free schools” which she said had “too many unknowns”. She pointed that the borough already a diverse range of schools which within the local authority “family”.

She said she didn’t wish to debate the merits of the IB but didn’t think funding should be taken away from other children in the borough to “set up a bit of elitism”.

Cllr David Grant (Labour, Greenwich West) accused Greenwich Conservatives of “jumping on Mr Gove’s decidedly rickety bandwagon” and said their motion was “trivial and foolish”.

Cllr Alex Grant (Labour, Blackheath Westcombe) – himself a former student of the International Baccalaurate – said it was a good course but not a “magic bullet”.  He also commented that there was “nothing to prevent any state school in Greenwich from starting to do the International Baccalaurate”. He said that as a “through school” catering for all ages, he thought it would be “overwhelming” for young children to be sharing a playground and school building with 17 and 18 year olds.

Cllr Nigel Fletcher (Conservative, Eltham North)  said that there was a “mindset” within the Labour group that they could  allow experimentation and parent involvement with schools “but only up to a point” because “at the end of the day, the council knows best”.

London 2012 ticketing draws angry response from council leader

London 2012 organisers have today announced their ticketing policy – provoking a furious response from Greenwich Council leader, Chris Roberts.

Prices for the events start at £20 and go all the way up to an eye-watering £2,012 for the best seats at the closing spectacular.

Ticketing for each event is broken down into different tiers, with tickets for the equestrian events in Greenwich Park having a starting price of £20 for preliminary rounds and rising to £275 for the best tickets for the finals of the equestrian jumping.

Prices for the basketball events at the “North Greenwich Arena”, as the O2 Arena will be known at the time of the games, start at £35 during the Quarter Finals and rise to £425 for the best seats for the Men’s Final.

Some events, such as the preliminary rounds of the equestrian events, will have “special pricing” which means kids under 16 only have to pay their age and pensioners will pay £16.

The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, is underwriting the purchase of 75,000 tickets to make available to London children for free, adding to an existing pool of 50,000 free tickets which means that one in eight school kids in London will get free entry – but with no preferential treatment for host boroughs such as Greenwich.

Cllr Chris Roberts, Leader of Greenwich Council, reacted angrily to the news that only an eighth of London’s school children will get access to free tickets:

“Olympic organisers have had five years to plan a ticket allocation which would permit the children of the Host Boroughs to attend the Games taking place on their own doorsteps. Instead 7 out of 8 schoolchildren will be denied that chance.

“The children of the East End were used by the Olympic organisers to win the bid for the Games in Singapore, they have been called upon endlessly to take part in photo-opportunities to build support for the Games and are even used in consultation groups to advise on how to run the Games and build a legacy. In return only one thing has been expected – a ticket to see the events. At least 7 out of 8 children will be locked out by LOCOG.

“Repeatedly, the Olympic Host Boroughs have offered to buy tickets for their children but have been refused. LOCOG don’t want the authentic East End , they don’t want our money, they certainly don’t want our kids.”

Tickets will go on sale in March 2011 and you can pre-register now.

UPDATED

Cllr Nigel Fletcher, Deputy Leader of the Conservatives on Greenwich Council  and their spokesman on Culture and the Olympics, commented this evening:

“It’s great there will be large numbers of free tickets for children across London – and that Boris is ensuring there will be even more. Whilst it might be nice for us to have more as a host Borough, that was never the understanding I had from LOCOG of the arrangement, and I’m rather surprised at Chris Roberts’ outburst, when he must have known that.”

Pickles calls time on Greenwich Council’s weekly newspaper

Communities Secretary, Eric Pickles, has announced proposals to clamp down on “town hall pravdas” and singled out Greenwich Council’s weekly newspaper, Greenwich Time, as “one of the most blatant examples”.

New guidelines put forward by the government would restrict councils to publishing their own free-sheets no more than four times a year.

Speaking exclusively to Greenwich.co.uk, the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government said:

“Councils should be focusing resources on frontline services, not running one-sided Town Hall papers that threaten the genuine local press. ‘Greenwich Time’ is one of the most blatant examples of this practice that I’ve seen, and demonstrates why tightening the rules is so necessary.”

The new rules, which are subject to consultation, would also impose stricter controls over the content that councils can publish. Local authority publications should only include “information for the public about the business, services and amenities of the council or other local service providers”, according to the proposed code of practice.

Greenwich Council’s controversial newspaper was the subject of a debate at the last full meeting of the council when local Conservatives put forward a motion calling it for to be axed.

Leader of Greenwich Conservatives, Cllr Spencer Drury, welcomed the government’s announcement. He added:

“Greenwich Time undermines local business and publishes what I would describe as propaganda masquerading as news.  I hope that this will encourage our existing local newspapers to revive their news reporting function and to start investigating the failures of Greenwich Council in a more systematic manner.”

Council Leader, Cllr Chris Roberts, defended Greenwich Time at the last full council meeting. He said that the paper, which is delivered to homes across the borough, was “very close to being self financing” and allowed the council “to deliver statutory notices almost at no cost”.

Greenwich Council: July’s full meeting of the Council

Councillors met on the last Wednesday of July for their monthly full council meeting. Here’s Greenwich.co.uk’s somewhat-delayed report on what happened.

Meridian Music Centre closure

Following on from a previously submitted petition, council offers reported back on the closure of Greenwich Community College’s Meridian Music Centre. The MMC is based at East Greenwich Library and currently has 87 students with 17 employees.

Steve Wreyford from the Safer Neighbourhood Panel in East Greenwich spoke from the public gallery against the closure, praising its role in providing “diversionary activities” for local youth and called upon the council to come up with a “bridging loan” to keep it going until a “big society bank” or social enterprise fund could provide further funding.

All three Labour councillors for the Peninsula ward in which the centre is based joined Mr Wreyford in support of the MMC.

Councillor Dick Quibell called the closure a “tragedy” and warned it was a “foretaste of what is to come”.

Councillor Mary Mills said she was “very sorry to see them pulling out of East Greenwich Library” and Councillor Miranda Williams said she would be making representations about re-using the centre’s audio equipment elsewhere.

Leader of the Conservative Group, Cllr Spencer Drury (Eltham North) said he was “concerned about the lack of clarity” from Greenwich Community College. He said that before attributing the closure to budget cuts, the GCC’s “initial pitch [for closing] was poor exam results”, and then they claimed “the building wasn’t in good enough condition” despite it being “in the best condition it has been for many years”.

Cllr Drury suggested that options be explored to move the facilities to Shooters Hill Over-16 Campus or The John Roan.

Cllr David Grant (Labour, Greenwich West) derided the claim in council officers’ report that the music industry does ”not have a skills shortage” and said it was a “misunderstanding of the nature of adult education” which should not be ”limited to getting people jobs” , calling it ”one of the  less fortunate aspects of policy from the previous government”.

Cllr Dermot Poston (Conservative, Eltham North) described it as a  ”tremendous mistake” for the council to have have handed over Greenwich Community College “twelve or so years ago” to what was then Woolwich College and spoke out against the loss of adult educational activities “for fun” which weren’t linked to examinations.

Deputy Leader of the Council, Cllr Peter Brooks (Labour, Thamesmead Moorings) commented that “under normal circumstances I could have stood up here tonight and said ‘I reckon we can sort that out for you’” but with the cuts the council is facing, he didn’t know if he could.

The report by council officers stated that “Lewisham College offers the same provision” to which Cllr Harry Singh (Labour, Woolwich Common) curtly replied: “I don’t think so”. Drawing upon his own experience of the industry, he said he didn’t think any college in the South East had such good facilities, adding that it would be a ”sad loss if this goes out of the borough.”

“Cutty Sark continues to make progress”

In a written question, Cllr Alex Wilson (Conservative, Blackheath Westcombe) asked for an update on the renewal of the Cutty Sark.

Cllr John Fahy (Labour, Woolwich Riverside), Cabinet member for Culture and the Olympics, replied:

“The renovation of the Cutty Sark continues to make good progress. Work is ongoing to refix hull planks on both sides of the ship.”

The Cutty Sark is due to be lifted into place in October “with a view to reopening next year”.

Greenwich Park and London 2012

In a written question, Cllr Geoff Brighty (Conservative, Blackheath Westcombe) asked Cllr Ray Walker, Chair of Planning, to confirm that LOCOG had not yet submitted a reinstatement plan or any mention financial guarantees, despite applying for partial approval of a Condition of their London 2012 planning application which required both those to be submitted.

Cllr Walker (Labour, Eltham West) replied that this was a “complex issue” and instead referred Cllr Brighty to the Council’s Planning Officers.

Greenwich Time

Greenwich Conservatives put forward a motion calling for an end to the weekly production of the council’s newspaper, Greenwich Time. The motion was defeated and councillors instead voted for an amendment praising the publication. See Greenwich.co.uk’s report on the debate here and also check out Darryl’s write up at 853.

Housing Delivery Vehicle

The council is proposing the creation of a new “arms length company that can own, manage and let mainly family homes below market rent”.  The proposal, which  would see the council disposing of 28 family sized properties and providing the new “Housing Delivery Vehicle” with £50,000 start up costs, will require permission from the Secretary of State.

A spirit of bipartisanship descended upon the council chamber as the opposition voted in favour of the proposal and the Labour group accepted an amendment from the Conservative Group which would make the Housing Delivery Vehicle’s lettings policy specifically prioritise families for the Company’s homes.

There is no full council meeting in August so the next one will take place on the last Wednesday of September.

I was airbrushed out of Greenwich Time, claims councillor

A Conservative councillor has told a council meeting that she was airbrushed out of an edition of the controversial weekly council newspaper, Greenwich Time.

The claim was made by councillor Eileen Glover during a debate at Wednesday night’s full meeting of the council at Woolwich Town Hall.

The councillor for the Eltham South ward told the meeting that she had ensured she was in all the photos taken by Greenwich Time at an event in her ward attended by the Council Leader but by the time it went to print, she had been “airbrushed out”.

She was only able to make an appearance in a later edition by changing her hair so that she was unrecognisable to the Leader of the Council, she said.

The debate over Greenwich Time was prompted after Greenwich Conservatives put forward a motion calling for weekly production of the newspaper to be ended.

Cllr Nigel Fletcher (Conservative, Eltham North) questioned whether the newspaper offered value for money and asked if it could really be considered a “front line service”. He expressed his doubts over the impartiality of the publication before mocking the content in this week’s edition.

“Is it really a core function of this council to provide, for example, a review of Toy Story 3? Do we really have a duty to inform our residents … that Prince’s new album is his most ‘soulless yet’?”, he asked. He said ending the weekly printing of Greenwich Time would be an “easy cut”.

Cllr Maureen O’Mara (Labour, Greenwich West) commented that Greenwich Time’s council property pages were “very important” to residents who wanted to move, describing it as providing an “essential service” for those that couldn’t or wouldn’t get the  information online.

Cllr Dermot Poston (Conservative, Eltham North) told colleagues that he regarded it as a “political newspaper” and that he “bitterly resents” it. He said the ruling party have “lost any sense of fairness and democracy”.

Cllr Matt Clare (Conservative, Eltham South) used his maiden speech at a full council meeting to say how he would frequently see “No Greenwich Time” notices whilst going door to door during the election campaign. He asked why only Greenwich and Tower Hamlets were delivering newspapers on a weekly basis if it had “such demonstrable benefits”.

Cllr John Fahy (Labour, Woolwich Riverside) reminded fellow councillors that the Conservatives “fought the election on the arguments of Greenwich Time and lost”. He criticised local freesheet, the News Shopper, for printing “10 pages of stories in Lewisham and beyond, and perhaps 2 or 3 stories about the community in Greenwich”.  He said that in raising the issue, it was “payback time” for the opposition because during the election, the “News Shopper was the extension of Conservative news”.

West Greenwich councillor, David Grant (Labour) also suggested that he had been “airbrushed out” of a Greenwich Time photo but said that because of the cabinet system of the council, it was inevitable most of the coverage would be on the executive although he said would like to see more backbenchers featured.

The Leader of the Council, Cllr Chris Roberts (Labour, Glyndon), said that in strict terms, Greenwich Time is “not a political newspaper” and nor could it be according to the law. In fact, council lawyers check it line by line before it goes to print, he revealed.

Cllr Roberts said the paper was “very close to being self financing” and that the cost of producing it had fallen from 22p per copy to just 3.5p per copy. “We are already making significant savings which run into the hundreds of thousands of pounds”, he added.

He said it was “absolutely right that we should prioritise our spending” but printing Greenwich Time meant the Council was “able to deliver statutory notices almost at no cost”.

The Conservative motion was defeated.

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