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Greenwich news and information

Council consults on Greenwich pedestrianisation proposals

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Greenwich Council has initiated a consultation on proposals to part pedestrianise Greenwich town centre.

The pedestrianisation scheme would entail closing College Approach and King William Walk (northern section) to all traffic except for access. Greenwich Church Street north of Creek Road would allow some traffic access.

Cllr Chris Roberts. Leader of Greenwich Council, said, “We are very keen to get the views of everyone who lives in, works in or visits Greenwich, and I hope as many people as possible will take part in the consultation on the Council’s proposals.”

The options currently under proposal are:

Option 1 – two-way traffic on all the non-pedestrianised roads.
Option 2 – create new clockwise traffic gyratory with one-way traffic flows on Norman Road and the affected stretches of Creek Road, Greenwich Church Street and Greenwich High Road.

Those supporting the second option are invited to give comments on three variations:

2a – As Option 2 but with two-way movement permitted on Greenwich High Road southwest of Stockwell Street.
2b – As Option 2 but with a bus contra-flow on Greenwich High Road – Greenwich Church Street – Creek Road.
2c – As Option 2 but with a cycle contra-flow on Greenwich High Road – Greenwich Church Street – Creek Road.

The proposed options can be seen in detail, along with a visual computer model, at an exhibition being held at Devonport House on the 19th/20th/21st December between 10am – 8pm. More information is available from the Council website.

Maplin to open new store at Greenwich Shopping Park

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Electronics retailer, Maplin, is to open a new branch next Saturday (19th December) at the Greenwich Shopping Park off Bugsby’s Way.

The new branch will be Maplin’s 170th store, and will occupy the final unit at the retail park.

Maplin’s store manager, Phil Jarrett, who will open the store, explained: “We’re delighted to be opening a store at Greenwich Shopping Park and it’s great that we are able to open our doors just in time for the final push for Christmas, when shoppers will be looking to get the best electronic gifts on the market this Christmas.”

You can see the range of products they stock by visiting the Maplin website.

Shop Closures

Elsewhere in Greenwich, there have been a couple of shop closures.

The off licence on Greenwich High Road, Bottoms Up, has closed down after its parent company, First Quench Retailing Limited, went into administration.  In King William Walk, Revolutionz – the ski and skate wear shop – has also closed down. The company is still trading online and with a branch in Norwich, so visit their website if you need to speak to them about any returns or warranty questions.

New train timetables come into effect

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The biggest shake up of overground rail services for years came into effect today with the introduction of the new train timetables.

Southeastern say that the new timetables “mean an entirely new service pattern throughout the parts of Kent, East Sussex and South East London served by the company”.

For information about how find out how the new train services will effect passengers at Greenwich stations, see our useful guide to the new timetables.

LOCOG Respond to Andrew Gilligan

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LOCOG have issued the following statement to Greenwich.co.uk in response to Andrew Gilligan’s latest article.

LOCOG believes that Greenwich Park will be a stunning venue for the Equestrian and Modern Pentathlon events in 2012. We take our responsibilities very seriously and our planning application shows the detailed work we have carried out on all aspects of our plans for Greenwich Park. We will make sure that we return the Park in the condition in which we receive it, and we have fully involved The Royal Parks and English Heritage in the development of all studies and plans.

Closure of areas of the Park

  • The majority of the Park will remain open until July 2012.
  • There will be some scheduled closure of the north end of the Park for the Test Event but this will re-open afterwards. Installation of the temporary arena is estimated to begin in April 2012.
  • We have listened to people’s concerns and have reduced the time of full closure for the Park from six to four weeks, from 6 July to 3 August 2012.
  • The Children’s Playground, the Deer Park and the majority of the Flower Garden will remain open throughout, apart from the one day that the Cross Country event will take place.
  • The Park will not start closing from February 2010. Over the next two years, small sections of the Park will be cordoned off to allow ground improvement works to take place. Much of this is similar to the activity that routinely takes place already as part of The Royal Parks’ ground programme, such as mowing and aerating. It will have little impact on visitors to the Park who will still be able to access all areas freely, except for a narrow strip of ground in certain places.
  • We are clear in our Planning Application (Environmental Statement: Section 3.2. Table 3.2 – Indicative programme and extent of public access) that all works related to the Games will be completed by November 2012, other than the Acid Grass Restoration and Enhancement programme which is due for completion in 2015. The amenity grass affected by our activity in the Park will be reinstated within six months.
  • The Acid Grassland Restoration and Enhancement programme is a substantial three-year programme to improve the quality and extent of the acid grassland within the Park. This is a long-term programme to improve significantly the amount and quality of the acid grasslands in the Park, thus improving the Park’s ecology and offering a real legacy benefit.  This is fully supported by The Royal Parks.
    Lorry and vehicle movements
  • For planning purposes we have assessed the number of lorry movements on the basis of the maximum upper limit we may need to use.
  • On this basis the upper limit of lorries or lorry movements required is estimated as 3,210 over a period of 26 weeks. This is an average of 43 per day and 7 per hour for the 15 weeks of set-up, and an average of 58 per day/9 per hour for the 11 weeks of removal.
  • The Environmental Statement Non Technical Summary page 17 states that “Given the relatively low daily vehicle flows involved it is considered that vehicular traffic associated with the set up and removal of the event facilities would have an insignificant effect.  A maximum of seven lorry movements per hour is predicted which is anticipated to have no noticeable impact on the operation of the highway network.”
  • As a construction project in London, we anticipate that a Traffic Management Plan will be a condition of planning approval. This will ensure that affected local residents are kept informed and that measures are taken to minimise the impact of traffic movements. For example, minimising movement at sensitive times of the day and dispersing them throughout the week.
  • We have already said that there will be no residential road closures and Romney Road will remain open.

Heritage impact

  • Loss of heritage features, or preserving by record, are references to what might happen if we were to discover any previously unknown historical or archaeological items that the relevant historical or cultural authorities do not want to keep because they are of such low significance to warrant doing anything other than recording them.
  • If we find anything during our work in the Park we will, of course, preserve and protect it. We will be guided at all times by the appropriate authorities.

Visual impact and trees

  • The proposed perimeter security fence will run inside the existing perimeter wall for the Park. The majority of it will not be seen from outside the Park. Lighting for CCTV will be very low level.
  • No trees will be removed. All trees will be protected in accordance with BS 5837:2005 Trees in relation to construction. A full Tree Protection Plan will be put into effect in partnership with The Royal Parks.
  • Some minor tree pruning is unavoidable but it will be undertaken on a case by case basis with input from an arboriculturist accustomed to working in historic landscapes and in partnership with The Royal Parks. The extent of this pruning is minimal, the majority involving just branch tips, and arboricultural experts have confirmed that the proposed work poses no threat.
  • Minor pruning of this nature takes place routinely as part of The Royal Parks’ normal maintenance programmes.

Legacy

  • The Environmental Statement states that ‘The extent to which legacy benefits are generated by the Greenwich Park Events rather than the 2012 Games as a whole is not clear’. The Environment Statement is part of a formal planning application and as such is required to use quantifiable methodology.
  • We are not surprised, three years out from the Games, that this scientific data is not available. We have always said that hosting the Olympic and Paralympic Games in Greenwich provides a legacy of increased global profile for the Borough and inspiration for its residents, and will bring sport  to new audiences across the Borough and London. We fully recognise that it will take years to quantify the legacy effects of hosting the Games.
  • Nevertheless, the Statement, written by independent planning specialists, clearly identifies that ‘Greenwich Council is actively promoting a range of sports activities and programmes using the 2012 Games to inspire local children and residents to  become more active. The Council is also working with a number of sports governing bodies which are holding events in Greenwich in 2012 to develop opportunities to create meaningful long-term benefits’. This activity and investment has been driven by hosting the Games.
  • Greenwich Council is also working with the British Equestrian Federation’s HOOF project to develop a riding school for the borough, potentially at a site on Shooters Hill.
  • LOCOG is also in discussion with The Royal Parks about leaving behind a permanent legacy feature in Greenwich Park, such as an upgrade to the Children’s Playground. In addition to this, working in partnership with The Royal Parks, we will deliver on our commitment not only to reinstate but in fact to leave a larger area of high-grade acid grassland post-Games than currently exists. This is a long-term environmental legacy for Greenwich Park and, of course, requires a period of growing seasons to establish.
  • The Borough of Greenwich has also already benefited from an £80 million investment in the Docklands Light Railway to extend the line to Woolwich and increase carriage provision by 55 carriages.

Public support

  • We have no interest in ‘rigging’ figures. The research referred to was conducted independently for LOCOG by The Nielsen Research Company. Nielsen is one of the largest research companies in the world. The research complies fully with the MRS code of conduct.
  • The 81% figure in the Evening Standard poll referred to is not a specific figure representing the residents of Greenwich. The research that LOCOG commissioned was directed at local residents and was aimed at understanding their local feelings. These two polls therefore are not comparable.
  • These figures and the methodology of the Nielson survey are robust. They demonstrate the wide support for the Games in Greenwich, subject to certain conditions which we are fulfilling – specifically, closure lasting no more than six weeks and no long-term damage to the Park.

Daily Photo: 10/12/09 – Midas Touch

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The railings along Romney Road have had a fresh lick of paint in the last week or so, and Simon from Destinations London estate agents in Trafalgar Road kindly sent in this photo he took of someone applying the gold detail around the railings.

Nick Raynsford replies to NOGOE open letter

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Last week, we published an open letter from NOGOE’s John Hines to local MP, Nick Raynsford. We now publish Mr Raynsford’s response.

Dear John

Thank you for your open letter of the 3rd December. I have always believed that debates on any issue should be held in a respectful and civilised manner. I have been grateful that you and I have been able to discuss the issue in a non-confrontational way.

This, however, has not always been the case with other members of NOGOE who have repeatedly distorted the evidence and predicated their arguments on a mixture of fear and rhetoric in opposition to the planned Olympic and Paralympic events in Greenwich Park.

You stated in your letter that opposition amongst local residents to the use of the park for the equestrian events stands at some 66 per cent from those who responded to Gareth Bacon’s survey. The reason why I do not accept the veracity of that survey is because it was an unscientific survey prompted by political motives. By contrast, the polling carried out by an independent market research company, Nielsen, shows that just shy of 85 per cent of the residents of Greenwich support the use of the park for the Olympic and Paralympic events. This reflects the balance of opinion among constituents who have discussed the issue with me.

Whilst I will always be open to fresh evidence which indicates a change of opinion, I will not accept the credibility of a survey designed to promote a political point when it is so evidently debunked by independent polling. As the local MP, I have to listen to the views of all constituents, not only those who are the most vocal.

NOGOE has used some very effective campaigning methods. Indeed, I have a poster in front of me now which has a picture of the park with an accompanying caption which reads “This will be a NO GO area in 2012 for several months”. This, with respect, is scaremongering, and a complete misrepresentation of the facts.
LOCOG have been very clear that the park as a whole will not be closed for several months. Indeed, the flower garden and the children’s play area will remain open to the public throughout the run-up to the games with a complete closure of the park only on the one day of the events themselves. This, understandably, is for reasons of security.

NOGOE was continuing to perpetuate the myth that the park would be closed in a BBC report in October of this year in which a spokeswoman said that it would be “socially and morally wrong” for the park to be closed, despite knowing that this would not be the case. LOCOG have also stated, quite clearly and repeatedly, that there are no plans for any trees to be cut down and claims that the park and its flora and archaeological heritage will suffer serious damage are unfounded.

I am extremely disheartened that certain elements within NOGOE are misrepresenting the facts in this way and are continuing a campaign of misinformation to oppose the application without considering the facts of the case. I hope and trust that this is not something of which you would approve.
I have received numerous representations from both sides in this matter and will always listen to evidence put before me. I am not an uncritical cheerleader for LOCOG – I support the LOCOG plan because I believe that it will bring substantial benefits to the local area and I am reassured by the plans that they have put forward.

I attended a public meeting on 23rd September at Blackheath Halls where local residents were able to directly question members from the LOCOG team about the plans. It was my impression from the meeting that many people, who had arrived as sceptics, were won over by the calm and fact-based approach of the LOCOG team, who answered the concerns of people who had been led to believe by the NOGOE campaign that the park would be seriously damaged by the Olympic events and closed for long periods of time.
With regards to the forthcoming planning decision, LOCOG will be required to make all aspects of their plan publicly available, as is the case for all planning applications. The application will have been made, mindful of planning regulations and following public consultation. The council will consider the application based on those regulations and I hope that the debate, which will no doubt take place before the planning committee, will be well informed, based on evidence and will provide all interested parties the opportunity to have their say on an equal basis. Sadly, this has not been the form of the debate over the past eighteen months and I can only hope that matters improve in the near future.

Kind regards

Nick Raynsford MP

Cyclist seriously injured after being hit by lorry

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A female cyclist was left seriously injured yesterday after being hit by a lorry in Greenwich.

The incident happened at the junction of Vanbrugh Hill and Woolwich Road on Monday.

No further details are yet known but this article will be updated as soon as more information is made available.

In May this year, a female cyclist was killed after colliding with a lorry at the junction of the A102(M) and Woolwich Road.

See also: Greenwich Phantom

UPDATE – The Metropolitan Police have not confirmed any further details at all about this, but local sources have told Greenwich.co.uk that the victim was 66 year old Stella Chandler and that she has since died due to her injuries.