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The news section of Greenwich.co.uk has been paused since 2018. Please enjoy browsing archive news articles below.

Exclusive: Town centre pedestrianisation proposals scrapped

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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.

Cabinet agrees 103% allotment price hike

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Greenwich Council’s Cabinet unanimously agreed price rises for its allotments at a meeting last night at Woolwich Town Hall.

The allotment price hike has been watered down since originally being proposed but the concessions were not enough to win over allotment holders who left the meeting angry, disappointed and with the air turned blue.

It was originally intended that the full rate for residents rise to £20 per rod this year, but the increase will now be phased in over two years following consultations.

The full cost of renting an allotment will go from £6.50 per rod to £13.20 per rod this year – an increase of 103% – and then rise to £20 the following year.

An average 5 rod size allotment will cost £66 in 2011/12 under the new proposals, and £100 next year.  Rods are a system to measure allotments – one square rod is the equivalent of about 25 square metres.

49% of current allotment holders qualify for a concessionary rate which sees them pay about the half the standard price.

Local growers at the meeting criticised the council’s consultation, claiming it hadn’t been properly publicised. Allotment holder, Irene Woods, said she only found out about the consultation once it was too late to be involved.

She had already invested both expense and effort into preparing her plot, she said, and was left “demotivated” and unsure as to whether she could afford to carry it on. The rise would “set a precedent for massive increases” in the future, she said.

Another allotment holder called the proposals “rubbish”, adding “It’s not fair, it’s not right and it’s not justice.”

The Cabinet agreed to defer this years rise from April until July and will allow allotments to be paid for quarterly, although the holders claim the council was legally obliged to offer this anyway.

A report by council officers says allotments currently get a 73% subsidy and the new pricing will take this to 45% this year and approximately 25% the year after, which matches the current subsidy to leisure centres.

Cabinet Member of Culture and the Olympics, Cllr John Fahy, said the “funding to local government has been significantly reduced by central government” and the allotment price increases were “probably the most difficult decision we’ve had to take as part of this budget process”.

Raynsford slams Nationwide closures in Commons debate

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Greenwich and Woolwich MP, Nick Raynsford, has again criticised the decision by Nationwide to close seven branches in south east London.

Raynsford secured an adjournment debate in the House of Commons on Friday afternoon where he, and other MPs from the area, highlighted the branch closures.

He called it “a crude and discriminatory exercise in which the leafy suburbs are favoured while inner London is punished”, pointing out that all the south east London branches inside the South Circular would close whilst those outside it would remain open.

He closing remarks in the debate were:

Unless Nationwide accepts that it is making a serious mistake and agrees to consult its customers further on options to maintain access to some branches in the area, it will stand accused of walking away from the inner city, from its history, and from social and economic responsibility. It will be a sad epitaph to the long, proud history of mutuality in the financial sector.

The full text of the debate can be found on Hansard.

Hovercraft crashes during Bulwark demonstration

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A military hovercraft crashed into Blackfriars Bridge during yesterday’s military display on the Thames.

As spectators watched the impressive helicopter displays over the recently refitted HMS Bulwark at Greenwich Reach, Royal Marines were travelling up and down the river in fast boats and a LCAC hovercraft.

Local worker, Mike Paternott, witnessed the incident as the amphibious vehicle collided with Blackfriars Bridge shortly after 2.30pm. An MOD spokesperson confirmed the collision and said nobody was injured.

Read more at TheCity.co.uk or check out Mike Paternott’s set of photos on Flickr.

HMS Bulwark shows spectators her capabilities

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HMS Bulwark 009

Spectators in Greenwich looked on this morning as HMS Bulwark put on a demonstration of her varied capabilities.

The amphibious assault warship arrived at Greenwich Reach yesterday having recently rejoined the fleet after an eight month refit.

This morning’s demonstration, on and above the Thames, allowed the Royal Navy to illustrate the warship’s versatility alongside a number of boats and helicopters.

HMS Bulwark’s Commanding Officer, Captain Alex Burton, said:

“HMS Bulwark is the country’s very own Swiss Army Knife. Totally indispensable and phenomenally versatile, she packs a punch with our embarked group of Royal Marines and delivers proven essential support to the softer humanitarian and disaster relief operations.”

HMS Bulwark will be moored at Greenwich until Monday.

Council shuts down Itoshii sushi restaurant

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A sushi restaurant in Nelson Road has been shut down after repeatedly breaking food hygiene laws.

Itoshii was closed down by the council temporarily last year but after persistently failing to meet basic food safety standards Woolwich Magistrates have ordered the restaurant’s closure and the owners have been banned from running a food business in the UK for 12 months.

Health and safety officers from the council have found a catalogue of hygiene violations in their inspections.

February 23rd 2010 Inspection

  • Mouse droppings found in kitchen including the seals of fridge doors and inside a rice steamer
  • Extensive mould found on the walls of the walk in chiller and on tube of food inside
  • Work surfaces and the floor were “filthy”
  • No hand basin in the kitchen for staff to wash their hands

April 20th 2010 Inspection

  • Cardboard boxes found which had been chewed by rodents
  • Large holes in the walls
  • Mouse droppings in serving dishes
  • Work surfaces were dirty

June 15th 2010 Inspection

  • Dirty food containers were in use
  • Owners had ignored council’s advice on food safety

September 21st 2010 Inspection

  • Out of date cheese and cheesecakes in the fridge
  • Soy sauce bottles contaminated with dead flies

In addition to being banned from running a food business, the owners, Thai Chung Ltd, have been fined £2800 and ordered to pay £2000 legal costs to the council.

Councillor Maureen O Mara, Greenwich Council Cabinet Member for Environment and Community Safety said:

“The Council is pleased that the court recognised the severity of these offenses and imposed an order which protects future customers from serious food safety risks. This case shows that on a number of occasions the Council provided good support to the restaurant to improve their standards.  However, our primary objective is to ensure the safety of the public and it was clear that despite our efforts, the restaurant could not get a grip on its important responsibilities… What we will not tolerate are businesses that continue to ignore the advice and put the health of customers at serious risk.”

Line up for Greenwich Summer Sessions announced

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Squeeze, Status Quo and Mark Ronson will all be headlining this year’s Greenwich Summer Sessions.

The concert series returns to the grounds of Greenwich’s Old Royal Naval College for its second year and will also include performances from The Divine Comedy, The Pogues and José González.

The sessions, which are the brainchild of local promoter, Peter Conway, will take place at the end of July with more acts still to be announced.

“Greenwich Summer Sessions got off to a great start last year and this year’s line up looks to be just as popular. Where better to to spend a summer’s evening than in the grounds of the Old Royal Naval College listening to a line up of top musical acts?” commented Cllr John Fahy, Cabinet member for Culture and the Olympics.

The announcement came this morning at a launch event at the Old Brewery in Greenwich attended by Squeeze legends, Chris Difford and Glenn Tilbrook . Tilbrook teased assembled journalists by announcing this would be Squeeze’s last ever gig – before clarifying he merely meant their last gig in July!

For Chris Difford, this morning’s launch was his first visit to the grounds of the naval college since  Sir Francis Chichester was knighted there in 1967.

I asked Chris, who no longer lives in Greenwich, if he was looking forward to seeing some familiar faces from his past. “I think there’ll be local faces and whenever we play locally, we get that. We’re like the village cat I suppose; we come back around and everyone strokes us”, he said.

Line-Up

26 July – The Divine Comedy / José González
27 July – Mark Ronson & The Business Intl. + support
28 July – Status Quo + Nine Below Zero
29 July – Squeeze + support
30 July – The Pogues + Support
31 July – TBA

More information can be found at www.greenwichsummersessions.co.uk

Greenwich - March 2011

Alex Wilson selected as local Conservative London Assembly candidate

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A Blackheath Westcombe ward councillor has been selected as the Greenwich and Lewisham Conservative candidate for the London Assembly.

Alex Wilson, aged 28, won a ballot of members of local Conservative associations at a selection meeting on Wednesday night. Elections to the London Assembly will take place next year on the same day as the London Mayoral election.

Cllr Wilson commented

I am delighted to be selected as the Conservative party candidate for the GLA elections next May. As someone who has grown up in Greenwich and Lewisham I am proud to have the opportunity to stand here. I attended local schools and know both boroughs well.

Since May 2008 I have seen the improvements that Boris Johnson has made as Mayor of London to Greenwich and Lewisham, from “Oysterising” the overland rail to freezing City Hall’s precept of Council tax. As well as more local improvements such as spending £400,000 to improve Avery Hill park, and planting over 350 trees in Brockley and Deptford as well as putting more Police and PCSO’s on the beat.

I look forward to the campaign and working with people from across the area to win this GLA seat and return Boris as Mayor of London.

The current member of the London Assembly representing Greenwich and Lewisham is Len Duvall OBE, who has held the seat since the creation of the London Assembly in 2000.

Councillors back Greenwich budget cuts

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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.

Nick Raynsford: Nationwide branch closures “disgraceful”

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Greenwich and Woolwich MP, Nick Raynsford, has slammed Nationwide Building Society for its decision to close branches across south east London.

The MP described the plan to close branches in Greenwich, Woolwich, Blackheath Lewisham, Catford and Peckham as “disgraceful”.

Speaking after a meeting with Nationwide’s Group Distribution Director, Matthew Wyles, Mr Raynsford said:

‘The decision to close every single inner-South East London branch inside of the South Circular Road makes a mockery of Nationwide’s current advertising campaign which invites customers to come and visit a branch. This simply will not be possible if you live in Greenwich and Woolwich. How is a young mum reliant on public transport living in Woolwich, or a pensioner with no car living in Blackheath, expected to get to Bromley to visit a Nationwide branch?

‘For Nationwide to turn its back on the entire inner-South East London area is shameful and a betrayal of the building society’s co-operative history and roots in mutual banking. Instead, this disgraceful decision harks back to the redlining practices of the 1970s, when banks deliberately denied their services to people from poorer backgrounds and low incomes’.

The plan, which was first reported by 853, will see the branches closed by May this year with Nationwide customers expected to visit branches in Eltham, Bexleyheath or Bromley instead.