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Greenwich news and information

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

Olympic Torch Relay: Greenwich prepares for ‘moment to shine’

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THE LONDON 2012 Olympic Torch Relay will arrive in Greenwich tomorrow morning.

The flame will start the sixty-forth day of its nationwide tour at the Prime Meridian in Greenwich Park in the hands of 15-year-old John Road student, Natasha Sinha.

With the park closed, the first chance for the public to see it will be when it exits the park and heads for Cutty Sark Gardens. Once there, it will be taken on a lap around the restored tea clipper by Sir Robin Knox Johnson – the first person to sail solo non-stop around the world.

Crowds are expected to line the streets and the flame then heads east, travelling along Trafalgar Road and Woolwich Road.

It will then go on to Eltham and finish its trip to the borough in Woolwich.

Councillor Chris Roberts, Leader of the Royal Borough of Greenwich, said: “Royal Greenwich is proud to be the first London Borough to witness the fantastic spectacle of the Olympic Torch Relay.

“It will provide a rare opportunity to welcome the Olympic Torch and share in the excitement of the Olympic spirit, as we mark the countdown to the 2012 Games.”

Full Details of Flame’s Journey in the royal Borough of Greenwich

07:21 Greenwich
07:21 Greenwich Park
07:31 Royal Observatory and Meridian Time Line
07:31 Narrow sloping path leading down from the Observat
07:32 Tarmac pathway through park
07:33 Path to Equestrian venue
07:34 Equestrian venue
07:36 Pedestrian ramp leading out of Equestrian venue
07:36 Right hand side of Queen’s House
07:38 Guilded gate onto Romney Road
07:38 Royal gate at Old Naval College
07:38 Upper Grand Square, Old Naval College
07:39 Cobbled road through College
07:41 King William Walk
07:42 Cutty Sark Gardens
07:44 College Approach
07:45 King William Walk
07:46 Romney Road A206
07:50 Trafalgar Road A206
07:57 Woolwich Road A206
08:04 Combedale Road
08:04 Westcombe Hill
08:13 Charlton Road B210
08:16 Stratheden Parade B210
08:17 Stratheden Road B210
08:20 Shooters Hill Road A2
08:23 Kidbrooke Park Road A2213
08:32 Kidbrooke Way
08:37 Rochester Way
08:48 Well Hall Road A208
08:59 Eltham High Street A210
09:06 Westmount Road
09:25 Well Hall Road A205
09:29 Academy Road A205
09:38 Woolwich Common A205
09:41 Grand Depot Road A205
09:46 John Wilson Street A205
09:47 Wellington Street
09:50 Thomas Street
09:55 Woolwich Ferry Approach

The progress of the torch can be followed live online via the BBC’s website.

Greenwich cross country “jump zone” unveiled

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Greenwich Park - Greenwich X-Country Furniture

LONDON 2012 organisers have unveiled the Greenwich-themed “jump zone” on the Olympic cross country course.

National and London landmarks will be the inspiration for the areas around the 40 jumps on the course, known as jump zones, and local school kids were last year invited to come up with designs for a Greenwich-themed jump zone.

Successful designs came from students at Joan Roan School, Alderwood Primary School, Timbercroft Primary School and Invicta Primary School. The plans were then turned into a plywood backdrop by students at Ravensbourne College and shown off for the first time this morning.

Double Olympic champion, Jonathan Edwards, said the sculpture was “brilliant” and offered a “super view” with Canary Wharf in the background behind it.

Greenwich Park - Greenwich X-Country Furniture
Local school kids and students from Ravensbourne pose in front of the jump zone.

Course designer Sue Benson told Greenwich.co.uk that the cross country course was “beyond my dreams.”

“It’s been brought together beautifully,” she added. “There’s masses of decoration to put in but the fences are all in their correct sites and they’ve all been measured to legal height. I’m really comfortable with it.”

The cross country event will take place on July 30th.

Greenwich Park - Greenwich X-Country Furniture
Course designer Sue Benson with Jonathan Edwardes from London 2012.

Greenwich Park - Greenwich X-Country Furniture
London 2012 branding being hung around the temporary stadium

London 2012 chairman Seb Coe told journalists this morning that parts of Greenwich Park had been left “waterlogged” by recent rain.

 

Greenwich Market: No redevelopment for at least a year

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GREENWICH Market bosses have told traders there will be no start to its controversial redevelopment for at least another year.

The news was delivered by Edward Dolby, Resources Director at Greenwich Hospital, at a recent meeting with traders, held at the Trafalgar Tavern.

The naval charity, which owns large parts of Greenwich town centre, committed itself at the meeting to giving all commercial tenants twelve months’ notice before beginning works.

When Greenwich Hospital won its planning appeal to go ahead with the scheme, it was anticipated that the project would get under way in January 2013.

The delay is good news to some traders who feared for their place at the market  during, and after, the regeneration. John Dawson, who runs a spanish food stall, welcomed the news and told this website it was a “huge relief.”

“You invest thousands of pounds and many hours of work into setting up the business, so to think it could be lost in a few mounths time was a bad feeling,” he added

The market revamp which includes a new 99-bedroom boutique hotel had been unanimously rejected by the Greenwich Council’s Planning Board, but the decision was overturned by an independent planning inspector.

Mr Dolby told Greenwich.co.uk, “We are continuing to take strategic advice on the best method of moving the market regeneration forward in these very challenging times.”

HMS Ocean returns to Greenwich this week

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HMS Ocean - Greenwich Reach

THE LARGEST ship in the Royal Navy’s fleet will return to Greenwich on Friday evening.

HMS Ocean has been tasked with helping to keep London safe for the duration of the Games, which start in just 15 days.

She will also accommodate 400 marines and sailors who are part of the Venue Security Force for Greenwich Park.

There will be a chance to look around the Mighty O on Sunday afternoon when the Royal Navy open her up to the public.

She will be open to visitors from 10am – 3pm with boat transfers operating from Greenwich Pier. Visitors should queue up in the grounds of the Old Royal Naval College where there will be a bag search point.

A chance to look around the amphibious assault ship on her most recent visit to Greenwich proved extremely popular and the Navy advise visitors to “get there early and expect to queue.”

Developer proposes new townhouses in Greenwich High Road

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Greenwich High Road
24-28 Greenwich High Road, with Maurice Drummond House seen to the rear

A DEVELOPER has proposed knocking down three Victorian houses in Greenwich High Road to build new homes.

Four 4-bedroom townhouses would replace the houses at 24-28 Greenwich High Road if the scheme gets planning permission.

“The houses, though possessing a certain dour simplicity, are unremarkable examples of later Victorian housing and do not have any notable heritage significance or architectural merit,” notes a Heritage Statement accompanying the planning application.

The plans for the 4-storey homes, each with an added basement, have been revised following an earlier application and a public exhibition held in January.

The developer behind the scheme is Periquin Limited, which lists Lady Rona Zara Delves Dowager Broughton as its sole director.

The same company is also redeveloping Maurice Drummond House in Catherine Grove, adjacent to 24-28 Greenwich High Road, as a new hotel which is due to open in the next few weeks.

Maurice Drummond House
Scaffolding starts to come down at the former police section house about to reopen as a hotel.

Greenwich Park almost completely closed for a month

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WITH THE start of London 2012 just weeks away, Greenwich Park is now almost completely closed.

The park is inaccessible to the public, with the exception of the children’s playground area and the majority of the Flower Garden, until August 4th.

It will be closed in its entirety on July 30th – the day of the cross country event which will see 50,000 spectators in the park.

The park’s tennis courts have been closed until September 8th.

Parts of the park will start to reopen from early August and by the second week of September, the park would have fully reopened apart from the area where the main arena has been built and either side of the Avenue near to St Mary’s Gate.

The Avenue through the park will reopen to traffic from October 2nd.

Councillors blast Greenwich Pier restaurant signs

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COUNCILLORS have thrown out a planning application for signs and advertising already installed at the new Zizzi restaurant at the Greenwich Pier development.

Greenwich West councillor, Maureen O’Mara, blasted the restaurant for not having have the “guts” or “courage” to be at the meeting of the Greenwich Area Planning Committee on Wednesday night.

She said: “What I wanted to ask them if they had the guts to turn up is, ‘Why did you do this without any planning permission at all?‘”

The clearly furious councillor added, “This is a World Heritage Site. It’s one of the most precious sites in London. I’ve heard that they say, ‘this is what we do wherever we open up places‘. Well, this is Greenwich and we do not do this in Greenwich. This horrible application needs to be turned down.”

Councillor Dick Quibell (Peninsula, Labour) said the plans were “violently out of keeping with the tone of a World Heritage Site.” Councillor Hayley Fletcher (Hornfair with Kidbrooke, Labour), who was earlier elected as Vice Chair of the committee, commented that the signs looked “hideous.”

Conservative councillor Geoff Brighty, representing Blackheath Westcombe, said he had found the Pier development “disappointing” and that the signs were “trashy.”

The committee unanimously voted against the restaurant’s lettering, menu box and window signs, despite council officers recommending the plans be approved.

Councillors also had the chance to determine the signs, and proposed parasols, at Frankie and Benny’s.

Claims were made by the applicant that advice had been sought from the council before their signs were initially put up but this was disputed by council officers and councillors decided to investigate that point and reconsider the applications at September’s meeting of the committee.

Commenting to Greenwich.co.uk the day after the committee meeting, Paul Mitchell from The Restaurant Group, said they would “proceed with the current application” which they believe is “appropriate for the area”, but added that they would “continue to liaise with the Planning Officer who has been dealing with our application and take advice.”

Asked whether the company had experience of opening branches in sensitive heritage sites, Mr Mitchell commented:

“As a Group we do have a number of sites in our portfolio in sensitive areas where we always work with the Local Authorities and other relevant bodies to achieve a signage scheme which is mutually acceptable to all parties.

“We always seek dialogue and guidance before an Application is submitted to ensure a successful and speedy decision and that our Advertisement Applications take into account the needs of the community in which we are operating.”

Developer to set up temporary bicycle cafe

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GREENWICH will be getting a new temporary “bicycle cafe” this Summer.

The new cafe and bike storage facility is being set up at the corner of Waller Way and Greenwich High Road on the new Movement scheme by developers Cathedral Group and will be open in time for the Olympics.

The cafe will be designed by artist Morag Myerscough and created in partnership with the Greenwich Cooperative Development Agency. Cathedral memorably created a cafe in a train carriage at its Deptford scheme, The Deptford Project.

The plans were outlined to residents who attended a community liaison evening on Tuesday evening – the first of what will be quarterly meetings.

With the former industrial estate now cleared from the site, work can begin in earnest on the Movement development which will include 180 apartments, hundreds of student homes, two new hotels, a fitness club, a permanent bike cafe and business start-up space. The homes and student accommodation are due to complete in the Summer and Autumn of 2014.

As part of its Section 106 agreement with the council, Cathedral are building a new larger extension on West Greenwich House.

Cathedral Group’s Development Executive, Alex Philips, gave his “personal pledge” that the West Greenwich House extension would be completed within a year of the existing extension being demolished.

The new development will also include a new pedestrianised road through the centre with the new street name yet to be confirmed.

Waitrose confirmed for Greenwich Reach development

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A NEW branch of Waitrose is set to open in Greenwich next year.

The long-rumoured opening has been confirmed by Legal & General’s property division who are funding the development of the new supermarket.

The supermarket will be built at Galliard Homes’ New Capital Quay development and has been pre-let to Waitrose in a 25-year deal.

The new branch of Waitrose, voted the country’s favourite supermarket by Which? readers in 2010 and 2011, will measure up at 31,000 sq ft. Sainsbury’s Local in Greenwich is 2,700 sq ft and Sainsbury’s on the Peninsula is 56,000 sq ft.

There will be spaces for 150 cars at the development which is expected to be completed next Spring.

A planning application was recently submitted to Greenwich Council for a footbridge spanning Deptford Creek linking New Capital Quay with Millennium Quay

Tributes paid to former councillor

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COUNCILLORS paid tribute on Wednesday night to former councillor Roy Preston who has died.

His passing was announced at the full meeting of Greenwich Council by new mayor, David Grant.

Mr Preston was a Labour councillor for what was the Charlton ward between 1974 and 1986, and more recently was the Chair of the Blackheath Westcombe Labour Party.

The mayor asked for a minute’s silence in memory of Roy Preston also led the tributes: “I had a great deal of respect for his views on a wide range of subjects.”

Blackheath Westcombe ward councillor Alex Grant said “It was a real shock when I heard. He was incredibly active right up until his death. He will be greatly missed.”

Conservative councillor Dermot Poston said, “There’s no doubt about Roy Preston, he was notable for the conscientious contribution he made to the affairs of this council and I have no doubt at all we have lost a very good man.”

Cllr Mary Mills said: “I heard about Roy’s death yesterday lunchtime and I spent most of yesterday and this morning not believing it. Most people in the Labour Party knew Roy and knew him quite well… I want to say how sorry I am.”

Cllr Allan McCarthy said of Mr Preston: He was very resolute in his determination but he was someone with whom you never fell out and I regarded him, and indeed his family, as great friends. My condolences, and I’m sure for all of us go to his family.”