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200 more buildings to be locally listed – is your house one of them?

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APOLOGIES for delaying last week’s column until this week – I have been waiting, so far in vain, for news of the Olympics planning application (promised by “late November” – only one day left, guys!) and the closure of the foot tunnel (supposed to be discussed by the council’s cabinet on 17 November – but the meeting was cancelled).

I’ll post a new column as soon as I have anything concrete to tell you on either subject – probably later this week – but while we wait, let’s talk conservation areas. There are six in SE10 and the Greenwich borough parts of SE3 – and the council has been reviewing five of them: West Greenwich, Greenwich Park, East Greenwich, Blackheath and Blackheath Park. The sixth, Ashburnham Triangle, was done last year but I will include that too, for completeness. The reviews also consider whether any more buildings should be listed or locally listed.

Greenwich Council reviews always cause small a ping on my sonar – is the agenda to sneak through something we might not like? In this case, however, there appears to be little cause for alarm. The proposals from the six reviews are as follows:

– Listing about 25 buildings, all in Ashburnham Triangle; see below for the full list.

– Locally listing about 200 buildings, including the Greenwich Power Station, the Pavilion tea-house in the Park and most of the Span estates in Blackheath. See below for the full list.

– In West Greenwich, reducing the boundaries of the conservation area to take out flats “of no special merit” around Dutton Street and Winforton Street. Adding two Victorian schools, St Alfege with St Peters (in Creek Road) and James Wolfe (Randall Place). Possibly adding the cabaret club in Creek Road.

– In East Greenwich, extending the conservation area to include the whole of Trafalgar Road from Christ Church to the Royal Naval College, including all of Old Woolwich Road.

– In Ashburnham Triangle, small extensions on the fringes the conservation area. (No changes proposed to the boundaries of the other three.)

All buildings in conservation areas are subject to extra planning controls – on, for instance, the placement of satellite dishes and the size of extensions allowed, fences, walls and railings. West Greenwich, East Greenwich and the Ashburnham Triangle (though not the other three) are “Article 4” conservation areas with enhanced protection where nearly all external alterations, including re-roofing and new windows and doors, need planning permission.

Listed buildings have statutory protection – that is, it is a criminal offence to change them (inside or out) without special listed building consent. Locally listed buildings have no special extra protection – they are just buildings the council thinks are nice. Having your house on the local list might increase its value, though.

The buildings proposed for listing (in alphabetical order by street) are:

Blackheath Road: 53-75 (odd numbers)
Greenwich High Road: 21, 24, 26, 28, 133, 133a, 135
Greenwich South Street: 80-98 (even numbers)

The buildings proposed for local listing (in alphabetical order by street) are

Ashburnham Place: 18-27 (odd)
Corvette Square: all
Greenwich Park: Pavilion Tea House
Greenwich Park Street: Former Post Office sorting office
Greenwich Power Station and coal jetty
Hardy Cottages: all
Kidbrooke Park Road: 11-29 (odd)
Maze Hill: 75-81, 89-93 (odd)
Orlop Street: all
Point Hill: 29-35 (odd)
Randall Place: All houses on north side
Roan Street: 33-47 (odd)
Shooters Hill Road: 63-103 (odd)
Straightsmouth: Lovibonds Brewery Warehouse
Trafalgar Road: 177
Wellington Grove: St Ursula’s School

Plus most of the Span estates in Blackheath Park, including The Plantation, Corner Green, The Keep, The Lane and The Hall except 1-27 Foxes Dale and 51-63 The Hall.

It’s also nice to see how the Greenwich Park conservation area appraisal waxes lyrical about the park’s “sense of continuity and timelessness” that “acts as an oasis for visitors… hugely significant for historical, cultural and ecological reasons.” The Olympics’ll soon put a stop to all that nonsense, eh!

PS – Nice to see the Mercury and News Shopper following up another one of our stories – on Chris Roberts’ moonlight flit to a safer ward – for the second time in two weeks, though again sadly without acknowledgement. You read it here first…

NOGOE Go To Downing Street

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Representatives of the campaign to halt the events from the 2012 Olympic Games taking place in Greenwich Park have visited 10 Downing Street to deliver their petition to the Prime Minister.

NOGOE (No to Greenwich Olympic Equestrian Events) delivered the box containing 13,200 signatures last Friday and cheekily included a packet of biscuits.

The petition signatures were collected at the gates of Greenwich Park during the summer, and NOGOE say that postcode analysis showed that 80% of the signatories were from south-east London, 10% were from other parts of London and the remaining 10% were from the rest of the country and abroad.

Another box of signatures will be delivered to London Mayor, Boris Johnson, and Green Party assembly member, Jenny Jones, today at City Hall.

London 2012 Is Listening

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November 2009 has, for a long time, been a date etched in my mind as this is the month the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games makes its planning application submission. So it’s a good moment to reflect on the enormous amount of detailed work that’s been done on the use of the Park as a venue for Olympic Equestrian and Modern Pentathlon and the Paralympic Dressage competitions in 2012.

For more than a year now we’ve talked to local residents and consulted with Greenwich Council, The Royal Parks, English Heritage, Natural England and other key organisations. We’ve listened to the many things residents have said and points raised and, where possible, adapted our plans accordingly.

We know, for example, many residents expressed their concern about how The Flower Garden and The Children’s Playground would be affected by events in 2012 and about Park closures.
Having considered these issues we’ve altered the Cross Country course so it now only runs through the northern part of The Flower Garden avoiding any flower beds and the pond. The remainder of The Flower Garden will remain open to the public except for the day of the Cross Country competition which is, provisionally, 31 July 2012.

Similarly, following feedback from residents, The Children’s Playground will now be placed outside the secure perimeter of the Games which means it too will remain open apart from the day of the Cross Country event. We’re also in discussions about upgrading the Playground after the Games.
On the issue of Park closure we’ve reduced this to around four weeks. We cannot give absolute guarantees at this stage because of security assessments and other considerations, but this is our aim.

We’ve also heard the concerns raised over traffic congestion and the question of resident and business access. As a result plans for the Olympic Route Network (ORN) have been adapted to minimise the impact. Even if a road is ‘designated’ as part of the ORN it does not mean it will automatically be closed. Residents and business owners will have access to their homes and properties and there are no planned residential road closures.

In addition we have moved the venue entrance to the National Maritime Museum side of Romney Road instead of the Old Royal Naval College so ensuring Romney Road is no longer within the venue perimeter. This means the Old Royal Naval College will remain accessible to the public during the Games. Circus Field in Blackheath will be used as an operational compound to avoid the need for large vehicle access to the Park. This will cause less disruption and impact to the Park itself.

We know Greenwich Park is a site of unique historical, environmental and archaeological significance and important to local residents and users. And we are committed to ensuring the Park is returned in the condition we receive it. We will not be cutting down any trees in the Park. There may be some minor pruning but this will be carried out in full consultation with The Royal Parks.

We are also working on our legacy plans with the British Equestrian Federation and Greenwich Council which includes the development of an equestrian centre in the Borough.

We hope the changes we have made so far show how important residents’ views are to us and how we will continue to listen. On our dedicated website, www.london2012.com/greenwichparkconsultation we’ve answered some key questions and cleared up some of the misinformation around the proposed use of the Park. There’s also an opportunity for you to tell us what you think through our online ‘Feedback’ forms. Please do fill this form in because your views are important to us.

Or you could come and visit us at 8 College Approach from Wednesday 28th October until Saturday 31st October 2009 where you can see our plans in detail and give us feedback in person.
We look forward to seeing you there.

Tim Hadaway is the London 2012 Organising Committee’s Sport Competition Manager for equestrian events at the London 2012 Olympic Games.

Andrew Gilligan: Locog Goes Back on its Promise

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LONDON 2012 has backed away from a pledge it made only last month over the total closure of Greenwich Park for the controversial Olympic equestrian events.

In a press release on 28 September, Locog announced without qualification that the period of complete closure would be cut to “four weeks, from 6 July to 3 August 2012.”

The announcement was presented as a “key concession” and hailed by the Greenwich Society as a “clear commitment as to the length of Park closure.”

However, material produced for this week’s public consultation in Greenwich shows that this “clear commitment” has already been abandoned.

In its consultation brochure Locog no longer promises to reopen the majority of the park, or any of it, on 3 August. Instead it says it will “seek” to reopen “some areas” of the park “potentially as soon as 3 August.”

Further material published on Locog’s website says explicitly: “We are unable to make guarantees about Park closures.”

As well as the total closure in summer 2012, large parts of the Park will be closed for most of the rest of the year to allow a 23,000-seat showjumping arena, ancillary buildings and stabling for 200 horses to be erected and dismantled.

It had been believed that these closures, beginning in April 2012, would be lifted in October. However, a presentation published on the Locog site shows that closures are now expected to continue until at least November.

The same presentation also shows that the Park’s closure in 2011 for the pre-Olympic test event will be far greater than previously expected.

The closure will seal off almost half the park for three weeks in June and July 2011. Almost everything which lies east of the road running through the park – except the children’s playground, the flower garden and a small area around the Observatory – will be closed.

Locog’s press release also said that “there are no planned residential road closures.” However, the presentation shows that three residential roads, Park Vista, Maze Hill and Shooters Hill Road, are designated as “core Olympic Route Network” roads, which will carry the vast majority of traffic to the Park. It seems unlikely that these will not be closed.

The presentation also makes clear that there will be a coach park in the Park for vehicles bringing competitors, staff and the “Olympic family.”

The presentation says spectators for the arena will enter the Park through the grounds of the Royal Naval College and pass through security on the front lawn of the National Maritime Museum. This means that 23,000 people will have to cross, or queue up on, Romney Road – thus almost certainly requiring its closure, too, during the Games.

Charlton Way, the main road immediately to the south of the Park, will also be closed and a “vehicle screening point” will be set up at the junction with Maze Hill.

The material also includes the first plan for the cross-country course which has not been labelled “indicative.” This shows that the course will cross directly through an avenue of the Park’s most precious trees, sweet chestnuts planted in the reign of Charles II, which are among the oldest living things in London.

One further piece of news: last week’s Mercury quotes a statement by Tim Hadaway, the equestrian competition manager, that the Olympics will “bring activity around the clock.”

I don’t know about you, but I’m looking forward to it more than ever!

Andrew Gilligan: Huge Majority Oppose Greenwich Olympics

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HIGHLY-controversial plans to hold the Olympic horse events in Greenwich Park are opposed by almost 70 per cent of local residents, the first full-scale survey has found. The survey, by the London Assembly, is a serious blow to the Olympic organisers, who have always claimed – without any apparent evidence – that the horseriding event is popular.

John Fahy, Greenwich Council’s cabinet member for culture and the Olympics, said at a public meeting in March: “The Olympics in the Park have universal support.” Lord Coe, the chair of Locog, described opponents of the use of the Park as “minority voices.”

But nobody has actually known what local people think – until now. And it turns out that, in a less-than surprise development, both Greenwich Council and London 2012 have been talking out of their bottoms.

Almost 12,000 survey forms were posted or emailed to most households in the three Greenwich Council wards around the Park. 1,267 were returned – a very high response given that the respondents had to pay their own postage, and a bigger sample than in most professionally-conducted opinion polls.

Three neutrally-worded questions were asked:

1. Are you in favour of the equestrian event being held in Greenwich Park during the 2012 Olympics?
No – 68% Yes – 31% Don’t know – 1%

2. Have you received any communication from the Mayor or Locog about the possible impacts of the proposed venue within Greenwich Park?
No – 90% Yes- 10%

3. Have you been invited to or attended any public meetings regarding the equestrian competition to be held in Greenwich Park?
No – 78% Yes – 22%

Many respondents made heartfelt comments. “Our park is a rare haven of peace…I am horrified that such a short-term, temporary, status-ridden excitement can threaten the calm and spiritual nature of such a well-needed refuge for Londoners,” wrote one.

“I am fully in support of the Olympics generally, but… the changes required to Greenwich Park…seem disproportionate to the benefit of holding the event in the Park,” said another.

“There is clearly very strong feeling about this,” said Gareth Bacon, the Tory assembly member who co-ordinated the survey. “What it tells me is that Locog have not really attempted to connect at all with the people of Greenwich.”

Lord Coe will be questioned on the survey results by Assembly members today on a day which also sees the opening of London 2012’s temporary “consultation” exhibition in a vacant town centre shop (on College Approach, between Rhodes Bakery and the Admiral Hardy.)

However, the London Assembly survey provides a rather more thorough form of consultation than anything the exhibition could achieve.

The results underline, once again, the futility of Locog’s attempts to “engage” the public through what we can now safely say are unrepresentative pro-Games groups like the Greenwich Society, which yet again finds itself on the wrong end of public opinion.

As Bacon says: “In the eyes of local residents, the public consultation on the equestrian event has been woeful. Locog must understand that holding big public events or giving presentations to local societies is no substitute for trying to build a direct picture of the concerns of the majority of residents.” In an attack on the Greenwich Society, he says: “Chairs of conservation societies don’t necessarily represent the views of the wider populace.”

To be fair, however, Locog has now started direct communication with the public. More detailed plans have been published on its new Greenwich Park microsite and many households, mine included, last week received a duplicated letter from Lord Coe outlining the opportunity to “have your say” on the plans. More on that next week.

This sort of communication, according to Locog’s spokeswoman, Jacqui Brock-Doyle, is how public opinion can be turned round. “I’m not surprised by the survey result,” she said. “What we’ve been finding in our own surveys, which are being carried out at the moment, is a huge amount of misinformation – that trees will be cut down, the park closed for a year, and so on. When we sit down and talk to people, we will get a significant change in what they think.”

I disagree with Brock-Doyle: I think that most people are reacting not to the scare stories but to what the event really involves (a cumulative ten-month closure of most of the lower Park, total closure for at least a month, tree pruning, the risk of serious damage, great disruption to the neighbourhood, no legacy or other benefits whatever for Greenwich.)

It could also, of course, be argued that those who sent back their survey forms are not necessarily representative. Those who are angry with the plans would perhaps take more trouble to respond.

But what it does clearly show is what I have always believed, that active, motivated enthusiasm for the Games in the Park locally is very close to nil. Even those who do want them don’t really want them with much passion.

Whatever you think of the survey, it makes the worst possible backdrop for Locog’s planning application, expected within the month. They’d hoped that the opposition was going away. But it isn’t.

Greenwich Park: YouTube If You Want To

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The debate over Greenwich Park being used as an Olympic venue continues to rumble on and the respective corners have taken to Youtube to get their message across.

First up is a new film (in two parts) from NOGOE, directed by Edward Hoffman and narrated by Sophie Aldred – born in Greenwich and an erstwhile assistant to Sylvester McCoy’s Dr Who.

And to get the opposite side of the story, here’s a video from the London 2012 team which features LOCOG Equestrian Manager, Tim Hadaway.

Pub In The Park Cancelled

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A “celebration of the Great British Pub” due to take place in Greenwich Park has been cancelled.

Pub In The Park was scheduled for the 18th – 20th September and promised  a celebration of “grassroots sport, music, community fun, charity events, entertainment and food and drink”.

But with just over a week to go until the event, a message has been posted on the Pub In the Park website announcing that it will not now go ahead.

It is with enormous regret that the organisers of Pub in the Park have been left with no option other than to announce that this year’s Pub in the Park will not be going ahead.

The organisers of the event blamed “slower than expected ticket sales, and the pressures bought on by this uncertain economic climate” for the failure of the event.

Ticket holders are advisers to contact their point of purchase “to receive your refund of your ticket price less booking and transaction fee”. Customers who purchased a ticket through See Tickets will be automatically refunded.

Pub In The Park was listed as being in association with The London Paper, which itself recently announced it is closing.