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Cost of parking set to rise in 2011

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Greenwich residents face a 150% increase in the cost of car parking permits next year and visitors to the town centre could pay almost twice as much to park.

The large increases in the cost of car parking are part of a package of cost saving and revenue raising measures put together by council officers in response to budget cuts imposed by the Government.

The proposals would see the cost of a yearly resident car parking permit rise from £27.70 to £70 – a rise of over 152%. A further rise would come into effect in 2013 taking the cost to £84 per year.

Business parking permits face a 358% increase, leaping from £24.00 to £110 and then rising again to £132 in 2013.

Town centre parking is set to rise by 92% with the price per hour at Burney Street, Greenwich Park Row and Cutty Sark Gardens car parks going from £1.30 an hour to £2.50, and then rising again to £2.70 per hour by 2013.

The cost of parking in metered pays in road adjacent to Greenwich Park, such as Maze Hill, Park Row and Park Vista, will also rise to £2.50 and then again to £2.90 per hour in 2014.

The cost of parking in the park itself increased this year to bring it into line with local authority charging but a spokesperson for Royal Parks has told Greenwich.co.uk that “Royal Parks currently has no plans to increase parking charges in Greenwich Park.”

New charging areas would be established in East Greenwich and Westcombe, as well as elsewhere in the borough, although council officers say that “detailed consultation will be required” and that a review would take place after six months.

The new charges are expected to come into force on April 1st, 2011. Taken as a whole, the council believes that the changes will bring in almost £2million in additional revenue a year by 2013 which would be used to “contribute additional revenue towards the cost of the parking service and enforcement operations and other transport related activities.”

Kings of Leon O2 gig cancelled after tour bus fire

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A King’s of Leon concert scheduled for tonight at the O2 arena has been postponed after a fire on a tour bus.

The London Fire Brigade were called out to the O2 this morning after a fire broke out on one of the double decker tour buses belonging to the band who are famous for the number one hit, “Sex on Fire”.

Sixty firefighters and twelve fire engines attended the scene and had the blaze under control by 11.33

Sally Cartwright, from the London Fire Brigade, said: “One double decker tour bus within a loading bay was badly damaged by the fire. It was quite a large incident and we had around 60 firefighters there at the height of the blaze. Firefighters arrived on the scene quickly and were met by extremely hot and smoky conditions. ”

She added, “Our crews should be extremely proud of themselves – they did a fantastic job today and managed to prevent the fire from spreading. We are now working closely with staff from the O2 to ensure that a normal service is restored as quickly as possible.”

Tonight’s gig was immediately thrown into doubt by the blaze and it was confirmed by the O2 this afternoon that the concert would have to be postponed. A statement said:

Whilst a lot of people have been working very hard and every attempt was made to go ahead with tonight’s show, thorough assessments had to be carried out as a matter of procedure before any decision could be made as to whether the show could go ahead. Unfortunately, once the assessments were completed in full, there was not enough time to set up the show for tonight’s performance.

The cause of the fire is being investigated.

Greenwich Foot Tunnel closed on Christmas Day

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Greenwich Foot Tunnel will close on Christmas Eve and not reopen until Boxing Day, it has been revealed.

With the stairs at both ends of the tunnel closed for refurbishment, a decision has been taken not to provide staff to operate the lift on Christmas Day.

Southeastern trains, the DLR, London Underground and London Buses will also not be running on Christmas Day.

The £11.5m refurbishment of both Greenwich and Woolwich foot tunnels started in April of this year. The Woolwich Foot Tunnel is expected to remain completely closed until March 2011.

Breakdowns and disruption “regretted”

At last night’s full council meeting, Cllr Denise Hyland, Cabinet Member for Regeneration, Enterprise and Skills, expressed her regret at recent “breakdowns and consequent disruption” in the foot tunnel.

In a written answer to a member of the public, she revealed there had been six unplanned closures of the tunnel, totalling 9hr50, during November due to the lift breaking down.

She added that the council has managed to reduce the lift contractor’s call out time to 1 hour and that the council’s Twitter service notifying the public of unplanned tunnel closures is “being revised to include references to the alternate crossings.”

Unplanned foot tunnel closures in November

3 Nov     17.20 – 20.00
5 Nov     16.30 – 17.00
17 Nov   16.00 – 16.45
24 Nov   17.45 – 19.00
27 Nov   13.55 – 16.15
28 Nov   13.55 – 16.15

Council to consult over West Greenwich rat running

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Greenwich Council is to consult West Greenwich residents over concerns about “rat running” in the area.

In a written response to Conservative Group Leader, Spencer Drury, at last night’s full council meeting, Cllr Denise Hyland (Cabinet member for Regeneration, Enterprise and Skills) explained that the ongoing consultation into town centre pedestrianisation and a gyratory scheme had resulted in the issue of rat running being raised by West Greenwich residents.

She said that the rat running was an “issue of concern regardless of whether or not the pedestrianisation proposals proceed.”

She added, “We are seeking to bring this work forward and will commence consultation on these proposals imminently.”

Separately, some residents have been informed by email that letters about the consultation on traffic calming measures will be distributed to homes from next week.

The consultation will run until January 31st, and council officers will be be putting on a technical exhibition too although details of when and where it will take place have not yet been publicised.

Government announces council budget cuts

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Secretary of State for Local Government, Eric Pickles, has announced details of cuts to council budgets.

Greenwich Council is in line for a cut of 7.72% in its “revenue spending power” in 2011-2012 and by 4.4% the year after.

Revenue spending power is determined by adding  the formula grants and specific grants  from central government to income from Council Tax. From 2011-2012, councils will also be allocated money from NHS budgets to spend on local social care.

Formula grants come from a central allocation which is the same for all local authorities delivering the same services and specific grants are ring-fenced for certain priorities and projects.

Eric Pickles told the House of Commons yesterday that he had “sought achieve a fair and sustainable settlement for local government” but that “every part of the public sector needs to do its bit to help to reduce the highest deficit in the UK’s peacetime history and the rapidly rising national debt that this Government have inherited.”

He added that he had “set aside £650 million so every council can freeze council tax next year without hitting local services.”

Caroline Flint, Labour’s Shadow Local Government Secretary, said “these cuts will hit front-line services and cause massive job losses in the public and private sectors. For all Ministers’ traipsing around the TV studios pretending that savings of this magnitude can be made by efficiency drives and sharing back-room functions alone, the reality is very different-and everybody knows it.”

Whilst the headline figures have been announced by the Government, Greenwich.co.uk understands that council officers are still examining the details of specific grant allocations to full understand their impact.

The first details of cuts being put forward by Greenwich Council emerged last week in a report considered by the Budget and Scrutiny committee. The package of measures – covered in greater detail by Darryl at 853 – includes job losses, such as lift attendants in the foot tunnels, cuts to grants to local voluntary groups and raising more revenue through parking costs.

Uni lecturer wins water fountain competition

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A lecturer from the University of Greenwich has been named as the joint winner of a competition to design a new water fountain for London’s eight Royal Parks.

Mark Titman, a part time lecturer at the University’s School of Architecture & Construction, submitted his “Watering Holes” design to the international competition which attracted over 150 entries from 26 countries.

Mark commented:

“Having won, I feel encouraged that there remains civic pride in this marvellous city. So much effort and money is spent on the built environment lately with little care for the person on the pavement.

“My first response to the brief was to ask, what is a water fountain? I answered this by suggesting it was a civic monument and that it offered a delightful connection between the drinker and the natural elements. I came up with the design after meeting architect Robin Monotti in Hyde Park and looking at an ancient sundial which was a block of stone with an engraved hole carved into it. From there I developed the notion of two or more holes.

“The references to the monolith in 2001: A Space Odyssey, standing stones, grottoes, sculpture and seaside photo panels in which you insert your head all showed our proposal to be one of both contemporary delight and timeless classicism.

“Water fountains save energy and prevent pollution by reducing the need for water bottles which consume energy in their production and are the cause of much litter in our parks. Therefore it is hoped the fountains will re-emerge as an engaging and sustainable addition to our cities and parks.”

The competition, called Tiffany – Across the Water, has been organised by the Royal Parks Foundation in partnership with the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) and mainly funded by the Tiffany & Co. Foundation, the charitable arm of the famous jewellers.

Sara Lom, CEO of the Royal Parks Foundation said: “The new drinking fountain will benefit millions of runners, walkers, riders, cyclists and other visitors to The Royal Parks and will, we hope, be adopted by other green spaces around the world.”

CABE reviews Thames Cable Car proposals

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The government’s advisor on architecture, CABE, has welcomed the proposed cable car link between North Greenwich and the Royal Docks.

Their review of the scheme applauds “the elegance, inventiveness and originality” of the towers that will straddle the Thames, suggesting they will make an “iconic contribution” to this stretch of the river.

The designs for the stations are described as “less inspiring” and “lacking the ambition” of the towers, although the report notes that the “the south station seems well located, on the axis of the new Greenwich master plan.”

The review says that the crossing may “become a major visitor attraction” as well as needing to cope with a surge of users following events at the O2 and ExCel and so space will be required to accommodate “large numbers of visitors” and more consideration needs to be given to “passenger marshalling and control”.

WCs should be installed at the stations, CABE says, and if the stations become a place to “meet and linger” rather than just pass through, as they believe is likely, there might might be a “greater demand for cafes, restaurants and other facilities surrounding these stations than is currently predicted.”

Planning applications for the scheme have been lodged with Greenwich and Newham councils.

Read the full CABE review of the proposals here

Squeeze plaque gets planning consent

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Planning permission has been granted for a ‘Heritage Award’ celebrating local band, Squeeze, to be put up – again – at the Borough Halls.

The PRS for Music plaque was unveiled back in March but had to be taken down shortly after because of the Borough Halls’ Grade II listing status.

A planning application was subsequently submitted to Greenwich Council and permission has now been given for the plaque to be re-installed.

The plaque marks the venue at which Squeeze had their first gig in 1975. PRS for Music set up the Heritage Award in 2009 to recognise the unusual ‘performance birthplaces’ of famous bands and artists.

Snow brings travel chaos for Greenwich commuters

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The earliest snow fall for years has caused travel misery for Greenwich commuters.

Train services to and from central London terminals have been badly affected by the adverse weather conditions.

Many passengers have complained that the problems with the disrupted train service have been compounded by the lack of reliable information. Twitter has been buzzing with angry commuters voicing their opinions with many pointing the finger at train operator, southeastern.

Information boards at some stations stopped showing train information yesterday, and southeastern’s website was providing different information to that found on the Network Rail website.

Twitter user, @Helstweets, tweeted: “No #southeastern trains going from #Greenwich this morning, and no staff at the station (at least at 0720)”

One passenger, @nairobiny, arrived at Maze Hill station this morning to find there was no “No trains, no staff, no info, no announcements.”

Southeastern came in for heavy criticism last time there was snow. In January of this year, local MP Nick Raynsford accused southeastern of not having learned the lessons from snow-related disruption in February 2009. He returned to his theme today when he told Greenwich.co.uk:

“Every year SouthEastern Railway assures us that they are doing their utmost to keep trains running during the worst of the winter weather. And in this case, the severe weather had been forecast several days in advance, so it is disappointing that so few trains have been running. This has caused immense inconvenience to passengers and I will be raising with them as a matter of urgency.”

Southeastern have published a contingency timetable that will remain in operation throughout Wednesday and Thursday.

Keep an eye on 853 blog for more detailed coverage of southeastern’s response to the adverse weather.

What have your experiences of travelling on the train been like since the snow came down?

Ravensbourne students to showcase talent at Penrose Market

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Students from Ravensbourne College are planning a special market in December to showcase their creative talent.

Penrose Market will feature a range of products designed by the students at the college, which recently moved to its impressive new building next to the O2 arena.

The market will include bespoke jewellery, chess piece cruet sets, vintage clothing, hand crafted cards, flat packed 3D decoration sets and plenty more one-off Christmas gift ideas you won’t find elsewhere.

Penrose Market will be held inside and outside of the Ravensbourne building in Penrose Way at the Greenwich Peninsula on December 15th from 2pm until 6:30pm, and the organisers that if the event goes well, this could be the first of a number of market events put on by the students.

Twitter users can keep up to to date by following @penrosemarket.