AN AGREEMENT has finally been reached over the opening of a gate which will give local residents more convenient access to Maze Hill railway station.

The locked gate in the Seren Park development has frustrated local residents who have had to take a long detour on foot to reach the station.

Providing access to Maze Hill railway station was one of the conditions placed upon the developers when planning permission was granted by the council.

A Network Rail spokesperson told Greenwich.co.uk: “We are pleased to confirm that an agreement has been reached between Network Rail and the developer for the gate at the station to be brought into use for Seren Park residents. We are in the process of setting out the main agreed terms between the two parties and will then instruct our solicitors to formalise a full agreement for the path to be used.

“At the same time, we will instruct Southeastern to install Oyster card readers and ticket gates at the new entrance. Once all these steps have been completed, the path can be opened.”

Local MP, Nick Raynsford, welcomed the move:

“After years of personally lobbying Network Rail and the developers of Seren Park Gardens, I am pleased that Network Rail’s Chief Executive, David Higgins, has now responded with confirmation that the path to Maze Hill Station will open. Residents can now look forward to using a more direct and safer route to the station, once the installation of Oyster card readers at the barriers is complete”.

Greenwich.co.uk understands that Network Rail is working with the developer of Seren Park and Southeastern to deliver the access “as quickly as possible.”

A BIKE race around the world started in Greenwich Park this morning.

The brave cyclists lined up at the start, next to the Royal Observatory, and set off on their journeys at 9am.

The riders are each taking individual routes, with some some heading east and some heading west as they exited the park through Blackheath Gate.

The current Guinness World Record for cycling around the world stands at 96 days, although there are claims that this was recorded in error and should actually be 106 days.

The progress of the cyclists, who are each raising money for charity, can be followed on the World Cycle Racing website.

One of the competitors, Sean Conway, was recently interviewed by Robert Gray:

BUILDING work got under way last week on Greenwich Park’s Blackheath Gate.

Work was required on the gate to allow large vehicles through for the staging of London 2012, and park bosses say they are using this as an opportunity to carry out “improvements” that have been “needed for some time”.

The new configuration of the gate will be set back within the park by almost four metres, which Royal Parks say will make it easier for lorries to turn at the roundabout in front of the entrance and also make it safer for cyclists exiting the park.

Brick piers that formed part of the gate have been demolished but Royal Parks say only one of them retained its original bricks – dating back to 1885 – and they will be kept for use on future repairs to St Mary’s Gate. Royal Parks also say that all of the original Portland stone cornice and plinths are being salvaged, repaired and reused.

Graham Dear, The Royal Parks manager of Greenwich Park, commented:

“The work we are undertaking will make improvements to the layout of the junction and have been needed for some time, and although some disruption will be caused the end result will mean improvements for all users of the park. The current gates date from a time when the only traffic was pedestrian, cyclists and horse. They do not meet the needs for today’s vehicular traffic. The gates are not wide enough and they are regularly damaged. There have been many accidents involving cyclists. The new design will make the junction safer.

“The new design approved by English Heritage and Greenwich Borough Council is sympathetic to the feel of the park and the wonderful vista through the park that they help frame. An archaeologist is present throughout the demolition and ground-works for the project and we will also be trying to reuse as much of the current materials used in the gates as part of the construction.”

While the works continue, expected to be until early April, vehicles can only access the park via the Blackheath entrance and have to exit via St Mary’s Gate.

Planning permission to re-position the gate, which requires the felling of a horse chestnut tree, was granted by Greenwich Council’s Planning Board last month.

Image of how new gate is expected to look.

GREENWICH Council’s Cabinet will decide next week whether to hand over the running of its libraries to an outside company.

Councillors are being asked to approve the transfer of control of libraries to Greenwich Leisure Limited (GLL).

It is proposed that the running of libraries be added into an existing contract for the borough’s leisure centres that will last for 15 years.

A report by council officers says that GLL will maintain current opening hours as a minimum, update the computers, bring forward the roll out of wifi and increase activities for children by 50%.

The plan to give GLL control of the libraries has caused an angry response from Unison’s local branch secretary, Onay Kasab.

A meeting for library users to learn more abou the plans will be held at West Greenwich Library on Friday night between 7pm – 8pm.

GLL was formed as a not-for-profit organisation in the early 1990s to run the borough’s leisure centres and since then has taken over the running of leisure centres across the capital. Diana Edmonds, who used to be run libraries at Haringey council, was appointed by GLL last year to run their new libraries division.

TRANSPORT for London has launched a consultation on plans on plans to create new ways to cross the Thames.

A tunnel from North Greenwich to Silvertown would create new road capacity in the area and also allow tall vehicles to cross the river.

TFL is also proposing a new vehicle ferry is also proposed between Thamesmead and Becton.

The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, said last month that he would like to see the new Silvertown crossing built within ten years.

Nick Raynsford commented:

“While the Silvertown link is very welcome and will help to relieve the acute congestion which frequently affects the Blackwall Tunnel, the Mayor’s proposals for a ferry at Gallions Reach is an unsatisfactory alternative for the Thames Gateway Bridge.

The closing date for responses to the consultation is March 5th.