Greenwich news and information
I had a very nice lunch of sausages (from local butchers, Dring’s) and mash today at the Guildford Arms, which is now managed by Guy Awford who created Inside on Greenwich South Street. I had meant to take a photo of my meal when it arrived, but to be honest it looked so good, I just started eating it. So today’s Daily Photo is just a picture I took in there after lunch.
King Charles Court –Click here to read more about the architecture at the Old Royal Naval College.
South London Healthcare NHS Trust has instigated a ban on non-essential visitors at Ward 2, Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Woolwich.
The action has been taken to combat the current out break of Norovirus, also known as “winter vomiting bug”.
The restriction on visitors will initially last for 72 hours, although the medical staff can make exceptions for visits to acutely unwell patients.
Two other hospitals under the control of the Trust – Queen Mary’s Sidcup and Princess Royal University Hospital Bromley – had already had to start putting in place restrictions yesterday.
“We are very grateful to staff, patients and the public for their cooperation, support and understanding during this outbreak. The measures we have taken reflect how seriously the trust takes patient safety and infection prevention,” comments Tracey Cooper, Director of Infection Prevention and Control.
Plans to cut the speed of driving in Greenwich Park have been announced by Margaret Hodge, the Minister for Culture and Tourism.
The speed limit in the park will be reduced from 30mph to 20mph. The change came as part of a package of regulation changes throughout the Royal Parks which were subject to a public consultation last year.
The new regulations will also allow Private Hire Vehicles into the park for the first time, and also bring parking charges, which have been frozen since 2004, and penalties for non payment into line with Greenwich Council car parks.
Subject to parliamentary approval, the changes are expected to come into force in Spring 2010.
The Royal Kent Dispensary on Greenwich High Road, which was, I believe, formerly part of the Miller Hospital.
Frankly, the novelty of snow has long since worn off for me but I couldn’t ignore this lovely photo from the batch that Fergal Spelman kindly emailed in.
Many thanks to Fergal Spelman who sent me a fantastic batch of photos to use – here’s the first, which shows some recent sledding action in Greenwich Park.
London 2012 plans to use land at Blackheath as part of their planning application are unlawful and Greenwich Council do not have the power to even “entertain” the proposal, a local pressure group has claimed.
London 2012 submitted their planning application to Greenwich Council in December and it contained proposals to make use of the Circus Field at Blackheath with a fenced compound to house canteens, horse boxes, stables and training areas. But NOGOE (No to Greenwich Olympic Equestrian Events) claim that two laws dating back to the 19th century will make this impossible.
A retired solicitor, Lionel Lewis, and local historial, Neil Rhind, have carried out research into whether use of the land would be permssable, and claim that enclosure of the land is prohibited generally, and those managing the Heath only have the power to install an enclosure for the “shortest period of time for the purpose only of repair of the grasses”.
The two laws they say will ‘scupper LOCOG’s plans’ are the Metropolitan Commons Act 1866 and the Supplemental Act for Blackheath of 1871
The Metropolitan Commons Act 1866 states:
The Commissioners shall not entertain an application for the inclosure of a metropolitan common under the control and management of a London borough council, or any part thereof; . . . and notwithstanding any proceedings taken under any Act other than this Act, or any provisional order of the Commissioners made but not already confirmed by Act of Parliament, proceedings may be taken under this Act in relation to any metropolitan common.”
Blackheath was then designated as a “metropolitan common” in the Supplemental Act for Blackheath of 1871.
NOGOE’s Coordinator, John Hine commented:
“We are most impressed with the careful research that has been carried out by Lionel and Neil. They have developed what seems to be an unarguable case, which we expect the Council to endorse. We always said that Greenwich Park was too small and since LOCOG are unable to use Circus Field, it should do the decent thing and take the events to a venue which does have the space, but not the fantastic heritage that they wish to destroy at Greenwich.”
A spokesperson for LOCOG told Greenwich.co.uk
“We disagree with what NOGOE/Lionel Lewis says about the use of Blackheath. The legal provisions that NOGOE has pointed to have nothing to do with Greenwich Council’s ability to consider our planning
application. Greenwich Council has confirmed that it will be considering our planning application in the normal wayWe will of course be seeking any necessary consent for the use of the land in due course.
We have gone into a huge amount of detail about in our planning application about all our proposals, and we would not have submitted this if we believed it was not legally sound
We have confirmed that Greenwich Park will not be closed for more than four weeks at Games time and that we will return Greenwich Park to The Royal Parks in the state in which we received it. The use of Blackheath is nothing to do with the claim that Greenwich Park is too small, it is all about operational use and causing less disruption to the Park itself.”
The Metropolitan Police is holding a Precious Items Fair this Saturday to reunite local victims of robbery with their stolen jewellery.
The jewellery was all stolen from addresses in SE3 in a string of burglaries between January and September 2008.
Police say that the recovered items range from Tiffany necklaces, to broaches, bracelets, earrings, expensive pens and even include a trombone.
The items will be on display at the fair which is being held in the church hall of St Michaels’s and All Angels this coming Saturday (16th) between 1-6pm.
An officer from the Blackheath Safer Neighbourhoods Team, said: “We are looking for people who live specifically in the SE3 area and that have been burgled between May and September 2008. Some of the items we have recovered are very unique and we would be delighted to give them back to their original owners.
“We know that some of those are very expensive but we are also aware that some of them might have high sentimental value. We would strongly encourage locals who have been burgled to attend the fair.”
A street sign in Greenwich High Road, SE10.