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Greenwich news and information

Platform: How will disabled spectators reach Greenwich Park from Maze Hill station?

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Local resident and member of the Westcombe Society, Lawrence Smith, is concerned about provision for disabled Olympic spectators arriving via Maze Hill railway station. He has contributed this article to Greenwich.co.uk:

When the Planning Board considered the application to use Greenwich Park for the Equestrian events, the Planning Board report (p.94) records that the Westcombe Society urged that “Special attention should be given to the inadequate provision for disabled travellers at Blackheath and Maze Hill stations, including the installation of a disabled access on the down platform at Maze Hill”. 

The Council responded (p.143) that it  “is committed to ensuring convenient and safe access for disabled spectators and it is considered that this matter can be resolved as part of a planning condition.”

It added:

“Network Rail and South Eastern Trains, who operate Blackheath and Maze Hill stations, have plans to improve these stations. As an interested party/stakeholder London 2012 will be working with these bodies to explore opportunities to deliver the needed improvements. It is important to note that the Council are confident that effective transport operations for the Events at Greenwich can be delivered by the existing and additional rail infrastructure (being provided by the ODA)”

 Unfortunately the Council’s confidence seems to have been misplaced.  No planning condition seems to have required the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) to deliver the promised additional rail infrastructure to provide disabled access at Maze Hill Station for departing disabled spectators. The plans for ‘the last mile’ to be considered by the Council in January require passengers to reach the departure platform by means of a footbridge that is inaccessible to wheelchair users. There is no proposal for a ramp to the platform from an existing gap on the bridge.

Maze Hill (with Blackheath and Greenwich) is one of three Rail stations designated as a destination for spectators for the Olympic Equestrian Events in Greenwich Park.  Unlike the non-Olympic stations on the line, it will have a full, six trains an hour service for arriving spectators from North Kent and London City Airport.  But although it is the closest station to Greenwich Park, Maze Hill will have no disabled access to the down platform.

The Westcombe Society had also sought assurances on the availability of a ‘walking’ route for the disabled from Maze Hill station to the venue.  In its response (p.136) , the Council stated  “Given the plans for spectator marshalling and signage discussed within the TA and that there are still some two and a half years before the start of the Games, it is considered that clearly defined spectator walking routes (including for those who are less able) will be established well in advance.”

However, no such safe and convenient route for the disabled has been established, less than nine months before the start of the games.  The plans propose that the footbridge is reached using a very narrow pavement across the rail bridge and require possibly unsighted and slow moving disabled persons to cross Maze Hill close a blind bend, with no marked pedestrian crossing.

No attempt is made to use the existing gap in the bridge wall (at a point where the pavement is much wider and road crossing much safer) to provide a step-free pedestrian ramp to the departure platform for the disabled.  Unlike the footbridges over the A2 and Romney Road, there would be no expense involved in removing such a ramp after the games.

John Roan School redevelopment gets go-ahead

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GREENWICH Councillors  backed plans to redevelop John Roan secondary school at a Planning Board meeting last week.

John Roan's Lower School in Westcombe Park Road will be demolished and replaced with a brand new school building, while the historic Upper School is to be refurbished and have new covered courtyards.

Parents of the children who attended the meeting were left angry by having to wait through the lengthy Shooters Hill Equestrian Centre planning application, calling it a "disgrace" when councillors finally got to consider the John Roan scheme late on Thursday night.

But frustration at the meeting's agenda turned to jubilation at its decision, as councillors on the Planning Board supported the proposals.

The plans, which Greenwich.co.uk first reported on in August, received the unanimous support of councillors.

One John Roan student impressed councillors with an impassioned plea to back the proposal, with Cllr Hayley Fletcher telling her: "You are a credit to your school and I hope the new school buildings are a credit to you."

Plans for redeveloped John Roan School revealed

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PLANNING applications for the redevelopment of John Roan School have been submitted, along with proposals to temporarily move hundreds of pupils to a former school in Royal Hill.

The John Roan Lower School in Westcombe Park Road is set to be completely demolished and replaced with a new 7,845 m2 campus. Using a "marketplace" design concept, the redeveloped site will comprise of a main academic block and a dedicated sports block with state of the art facilities and a drama studio.

A new "entrance plaza" will be created for "public safety" and to "minimize disruption along Westcombe Park Road."

The Grade-II listed Upper School in Maze Hill will be refurbished throughout with the original building "returned to its former glory". The gymnasium will be converted to a dedicated 6th form facility and new ICT facilities will be added.

Two previously infilled courtyards will be opened up to create new "covered dining, social and break-out areas."

The project, which already secured funded from the Building Schools for the Future initiative, could begin early next year and take two years to complete.

To enable teaching to carry on throughout the redevelopment, it is also proposed that about 400 year-10 and year-11 students be temporarily "decanted" to the Victorian school building in Royal Hill, Greenwich.

The school is named after its founder, John Roan, who died in the seventeenth century and bequeathed money for the education of the "poor town-bred children of Greenwich".

The school has had various incarnations at several sites for boys and girls in the borough, before coming together in a new mixed Comprehensive school in the early 1980s.

Controversial plans to move the John Roan School to Greenwich Peninsula were dropped in 2009.


Illustration of the interior of the new Westcombe Park Road site


Illustration of a newly covered courtyard at the refurbished Maze Hill site

School in Royal Hill, Greenwich
Victorian school in Royal Hill where it is proposed that year-10 and year-11 students be relocated to while the John Roan redevelopment takes place.

Andrew Gibb Memorial vandalised

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The Andrew Gibb Memorial in Blackheath at the junction of Maze Hill and Charlton Way has been struck by vandals.

The memorial, which is opposite the Greenwich Park war memorial and comprises of a water fountain under an impressive eight-sided shelter, was badly damaged in the attack which is believed to have happened sometime on Thursday night.

The stone obelisk has been smashed from its fixings on the fountain and then broken into pieces. I understand that although the panes of glass are smashed frequently, this may be the first time the obelisk has been so badly damaged since the £100,000 refurbishment in 2003.

The damage was spotted by local resident, Mr M Qavi, shortly after 1pm on Friday and quickly reported to the council. He told Greenwich.co.uk "that the Councillors and the Council Officials responded immediately by sending out a team to remove the stone ball and glass shards".

Ward councillor, Alex Grant, visited the memorial to view the damage for himself on Friday afternoon.

Andrew Gibb was a local ship-repairer who lived at Garthlands in Westcombe Park, as well being a philanthropist and one of the first Aldermen of the Metropolitan Borough of Greenwich.  According to the Greenwich Council website, he left £1,200 for the erection of a public water fountain when he died in 1908.

You can see how the Andrew Gibb Memorial looked before the vandalism here and here.

Andrew Gibb memorial Andrew Gibb Memorial

Should Maze Hill station be renamed?

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Maze Hill Train Station

The East Greenwich Cultural Corridor Committee are considering ideas for promoting East Greenwich. Here, Liz Wrigley puts forward the suggestion that Maze Hill station be renamed "East Greenwich station"

The station is very close to the East Greenwich area, and is the most convenient station for both the park and for the University, as well as servicing the shops on Trafalgar Road and other East Greenwich venues. As a mainline station is has a fast, regular service to London Bridge, where you can join the underground easily, get to Charing Cross (by changing platform) and to the south to connect to say Gatwick also by changing platform.

However at present visitors by rail get off, understandably, at Greenwich station (which is nearly half way to Deptford! It is a station that was the Greenwich stop on the original London to Greenwich route, way back in 1838 when this little Kent village first joined with the capital, before the tunnel under the museum and park was made and the route extended east, and has no other significance to its location or name).

No one would guess that Maze Hill is actually much closer to the Greenwich historical town centre attractions.  National Rail travel to here from central London is now on the oyster card system so you do not even need a separate ticket.

We are looking at a long term strategy to bring East Greenwich onto the mental map of the rest of London and the world, as at present it is overlooked, being just beyond the east edge of the World Heritage area, a place where at present maps may as well say 'there be dragons here'.

In summary, the station is:

  • close to the park, with a park entrance very near
  • close to the Maritime Museum
  • close to the river Thames,
  • close to the town centre markets

Liz Wrigley
Planning  / Urban Design Consultant
East Greenwich Cultural Corridor Committee

What do you think? Would it be beneficial to East Greenwich if Maze Hill station was renamed? Have your say in the comments below.

Andrew Gilligan: Rail Fares To Fall Tomorrow – Shock News

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SO there I was, all set to write an angry piece about Boris Johnson's "massive fare rises." (The fare changes happen tomorrow, by the way). But then I thought: you know, I'd better check the new fares, hadn't I?

And guess what? If I use my new Oyster card, the ticket I most often buy (an off-peak single from Greenwich to London) hasn't gone up at all. It has in fact fallen - by nearly 30 per cent, from £2.40 to £1.70. (If I travel in the peak, it will be £2.10 - still a reduction of 12.5 per cent.)

Maze Hill, Westcombe Park and Blackheath single fares fall even further, by up to 35%.

The ticket I occasionally buy (an off-peak return from Greenwich to London) hasn't gone up either. It too has fallen, by 3 per cent, from £3.50 to £3.40. Peak returns have fallen by 2 per cent, from £4.30 to £4.20.

Maze Hill, Westcombe Park and Blackheath return fares fall by 2.5 per cent.

The ticket I always used to buy before I got a bike (a one-day Travelcard) hasn't gone up. It is still £5.60. The tickets I would buy if I commuted to work by train - period Travelcards - haven't gone up. They are the same price, too. All this applies almost universally across the zones, by the way.

In other words, virtually every National Rail journey in Greater London will in fact be cheaper, in real terms, this year than it was last year.

It really does serve me right for believing this recent attempt by a declared political partisan to spin the change as "London's great train robbery" in which "voiceless commuters get screwed again."

Of course, if you look hard enough, like he does, you can find someone who's going to pay more. But you do have to look pretty hard (in this case, someone who decides to carry on buying off-peak returns on a paper ticket will indeed pay more).

Or you have to be deliberately misleading. Look, for instance, at that sly reference to evening peak single fares being higher than off-peak for the first time; no mention of the fact that even the evening peak fares will still be lower than they are now.

Look, to take another example, at the claim that "South London families" will "lose out in [the] Oyster upgrade." Well, it's true that a concession on the Tubes allowing under-10s to travel for free with an adult is not going to be extended to the National Rail network south of the river. But since we never had such a concession in the first place, it is not something that we have "lost in the Oyster upgrade," is it?

You have, I suppose, to admire the hours which must have been spent combing through the detail in order to find examples this obscure. But the desired political effect is likely to be rather short-term. Because from tomorrow, real train passengers will start paying real fares. And when almost all of them find that, contrary to the propaganda, their prices have not gone up, it's going to hurt the credibility of the wolf-cryers.

The benefits of Oyster are not just limited to lower fares, either. Never again will I have to allow five minutes to buy a ticket. Never again will I have time-consuming confrontations with penalty-fare Nazis at the other end.

There certainly are losers from tomorrow's fare changes - on the buses, where the single fare rises by 20 per cent. A headline about Greenwich's "great bus robbery" would have been honest - and might also have provided a genuine attack line about Boris's cynicism in holding down the fares of rail commuters while hammering bus passengers, who tend to be rather poorer and less Tory-voting.

But for rail users in general and Greenwich rail users in particular, this is a boon. Just remember your little piece of blue plastic.

Rail fares (Oyster) to London from...

Offpeak Peak Travelcard
Single Return Single Return 1 Day 7 Day
Greenwich was 2.40 3.50 2.40 4.30 5.60 25.80
Greenwich now 1.70 3.40 2.10 4.20 5.60 25.80
Maze Hill was 3.10 4.10 3.10 5.30 6.30 30.20
Maze Hill now 2.00 4.00 2.60 5.20 6.30 30.20
Westcombe Park was 3.10 4.10 3.10 5.30 6.30 30.20
Westcombe Park now 2.00 4.00 2.60 5.20 6.30 30.20
Blackheath was 3.10 4.10 3.10 5.30 6.30 30.20
Blackheath now 2.00 4.00 2.60 5.20 6.30 30.20

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...

Pay As You Go Oyster Arrives in Greenwich

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Greenwich commuters will finally be able to use Oyster pay-as-you-go for rail journeys from 2 January, after years of negotiations between Transport for London and the capital's private rail operators.

But there's a sting in the tail for some rail passengers, with cheaper off-peak tickets withdrawn for those who don't use Oyster cards, and higher fares for all in the evening rush hour.

Many local passengers have been using Oyster on local rail services for some time, but because they have Travelcards loaded onto their tickets.

Now all passengers will be able to use the smartcards to pay for individual journeys, just as Tube and Docklands Light Railway users have done for the past six years. On the Greenwich line, this means the cards will be as valid as far out as Slade Green, on the edge of zone 6.

From 2 January, passengers who don't use Oyster cards will be charged a flat rate of £2.40 from Greenwich and other zone 2 stations to London Bridge, Waterloo East, Charing Cross or Cannon Street, with a return costing £4.30.

Those travelling from Maze Hill or Westcombe Park, in zone 3, will be charged £3.10 single, or £5.30 return.

But passengers who do use Oyster cards will be charged cheaper rates, with all journeys being charged as singles.

From Greenwich, passengers for central London will have to pay £2.10 if their journey takes place in the morning or evening rush hour - between 6.30am and 9.30am, or 4pm-7pm.

If their journey avoids those times, or is at weekends, then they'll be charged £1.70.

Oyster card holders from Maze Hill or Westcombe Park will pay £2.60 for a peak journey, or £2 off-peak.

The new system also means passengers can combine rail and Tube/DLR journeys. If their journey does not include Zone 1, it's at no extra cost. Someone travelling from Maze Hill to South Quay DLR via Greenwich would be charged £1.80 in peak hours, £1.50 at other times - the same fare as Maze Hill to Deptford.

But there's an extra £1.10 added for journeys through zone 1 - so Maze Hill to Goodge Street will cost £3.70 or £3.10 single.

A cap will apply on fares, so passengers making different journeys during the day will find they pay no more than the appropriate rate for a one day Travelcard.

For people using paper Travelcards or season tickets, it's business as usual.

However, the Oyster deal will not make travel as convenient as some users might like.

Passengers with Travelcards who need to travel outside their zones will be expected to get a free "Oyster Extension Permit" from a ticket machine or ticket office, or Oyster shop, before they travel to a National Rail station.

So someone with a zones 1-3 Travelcard will need to get a permit before travelling to Abbey Wood, in zone 5, for example. However, permits can be picked up weeks or months in advance, and will stay on Oyster cards until they are actually used.

Gold Card holders - who have annual Travelcards - will still have to buy paper tickets to get their usual one-third discount on tickets outside their zones.

And all passengers wanting to travel to Dartford or deeper into Kent will need to buy a paper ticket as normal.

As part of a separate agreement, Thames Clippers river services have already started to accept Oyster pay-as-you-go tickets, offering a 10% discount on normal cash fares, while Travelcard holders will get a 30% discount.

A £5.80 single ticket from Greenwich or QEII piers to central London will be reduced to £4.80 with Oyster PAYG, or £3.55 with a Travelcard.

John Roan School governors recommend staying put

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Controversial proposals to move John Roan School to Greenwich Peninsula have been dropped by the school, it has been announced.

School governors have instead recommended refurbishing and rebuilding the school on its current sites at Maze Hill and Westcombe Park, and are asking the Council to endorse their decision.

The move had been held up by the need to decommission a gas holder at the peninsula, and with no firm time table in place for this to happen, the school governors undertook a feasibility study to examine whether they could stay at their existing locations.

A statement issued this week by the school says:

The Governors recently commissioned a feasibility study to investigate whether it was possible to rebuild and refurbish the school on its existing sites. Following the completion of this study, the Governors wish to progress this option and have entered discussions with both the Council and Partnerships for Schools. The next step will be to secure formal endorsement from the Council for the new approach, taking into account the impact on the overall schools’ strategy for the Borough.

The proposals were strongly opposed by some, and a John Roan School campaign group was formed in response. Andrew Steed, a member of the campaign, has told Greenwich.co.uk that they are "thrilled to bits" with the Governors' findings and only "regret that this didn't happen three years ago".

Updated - Greenwich Council have responded to the news...

On Monday 2 November, the governors of The John Roan School determined
they no longer wished to take advantage of the opportunity to move into
the new school to be built on the Greenwich Peninsula. This is because
the decommissioning of the gas holder, which is not within the control
of either party, will take longer than originally hoped

The Council's position throughout has been that it would support the wishes of the Governors of The John Roan School. We will continue to do so. To this end, we will work with the Governing Body and with Partnership for Schools (PfS), the agency which is delivering the Building Schools for the Future programme on behalf of the Government, to try to secure funding for the refurbishment of The John Roan School on its existing sites.

In the meantime, the Council will continue with its plans to build a new secondary school on the Greenwich Peninsula, using the PFI credits already allocated to us by the Government for this site.

Local MP, Nick Raynsford, has issued this statement to Greenwich.co.uk

‘I have been working closely with John Roan School’s Headteacher and Governors to help the school resolve the problem of the current unsatisfactory premises. As it is now clear that an early move to new premises on the Greenwich Peninsula is not possible because of the delay in decommissioning the gasholder, I will be exploring alternative options including the possibility of provision on the school’s two existing sites, with the school, Greenwich Council and Partnerships for Schools - the Government agency which is overseeing the ‘Building Schools for the Future’ programme. My overriding concern will be to ensure an outcome which enables the school to continue to improve its educational performance and to meet the needs of young people in Greenwich’.

Ofsted Praises John Roan School

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John Roan School has been praised in its latest Ofsted inspection. The report describes the impact of the recently appointed head, noting his "good leadership" and that he has been a "driving force for change" in galvanising the staff.

Behaviour in the classrooms is described as "good" and there are apparently few instances of bullying in what is described as a "racially harmonious" environment.  However, the report does say that teaching can vary between "outstanding and inadequate" and the teachers don't make good enough use of ICT.

Have you noticed improvements at John Roan School? One parent told me, via Twitter, "the place is still a shambles - no reports this term as they as a computer virus". Please post your thoughts in the coments form below.

The inspection was carried out at the school, in Maze Hill, on March 17th and 18th.  Read the full report here.