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Greenwich news and information

Council proposes four year pay freeze

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Greenwich Council is proposing to freeze the pay of its workers for the next four years.

A statutory consultation with workers must be undertaken before the freeze can be implemented but the council says that he measure would save £2.4 million – the equivalent of “77 front line jobs”.

The council is having to find savings after being warned to expect a 40% cut to its grant from central government.

Councillor Peter Brooks, Deputy Leader of the Council, commented:

“This is a consultation  – not a firm decision.  We are bracing ourselves for the Coalition Government’s spending review on October 20th and must allow ourselves the flexibility to be able to make savings where we can.  We have always indicated that front line services must come first. We have been told to prepare for a 40% reduction in funds and have no choice but to plan for what might lie ahead.

Daily Photo: 11/10/2010 – Oxjam in the Pleasaunce

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Here’s a photo taken at Saturday’s Oxjam event in East Greenwich Pleasaunce. Organiser, Bhaswati Guha, who kindly allowed me to use this picture, commented:

We raised £287.35p for Oxfam’s good causes and want to thank everyone including the artists – Global Jazz guitarist Carlos Brizolla, young rock band FireFuds (9-10 years age), Jehnniel – accoustic solo with an alternative twist, Janos our busking clown, councilors – Mary Mills and John Fahy, face painters – Nikola Hooks and Victoria Connolly, our young fundraisers – Jake (7 years) and his sister Polly (5 years) who sold their old books and toys in their stall for Oxfam, Oxfam stewards – Jade, Tim, Ethan, Richard, Alix and Allana, our sponsor Lizzie and her team – Pistachios in the Park Cafe and Friends of East Greenwich Pleasaunce Community Group, Council officers – Locksley Douglas and Annette Muskell, Emma and Rachael Nissim for lending us their amp, and above all the Greenwich local community

Johnny Depp’s surprise visit to Greenwich school

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Hollywood star, Johnny Depp, made a surprise visit to a Greenwich school this week.

The actor, who is currently shooting the latest Pirates of the Caribbean movie in Greenwich, turned up at Meridian Primary School in Old Woolwich Road.

Accompanied by a motley crew of pirates, Depp, who plays Captain Jack Sparrow in the movie, remained in character throughout the visit.

His visit was prompted by a letter from year 5 student, Bea Delap, asking for assistance with a mutiny. The star’s advice for the the young mutineers, who gathered for a special assembly, was that they remember to brush their teeth.

Filming for “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides”, which also stars Penelope Cruz, Geoffrey Rush and Ian McShane,  has been taking place at a large set at the Old Royal Naval College.

The unexpected visit to the local primary school drew media attention from around the world.

Pickles calls time on Greenwich Council’s weekly newspaper

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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”.

‘High Quality’ development proposed in Woolwich Road

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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

Meeting planned to discuss new ‘free school’

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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.