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Galliard’s Constellation wins planning appeal

July 19, 2010 By Rob Powell

A new development of over two hundred apartments will be built in Charlton after the developers finally gained planning permission.

The Independent Planning Inspectorate has given Galliard Homes the go-ahead for the development, which has been marketed for several years as the ‘Constellation’, on land behind Victoria Way.

The application, which had taken Greenwich Council two years and five months to decide, was previously rejected over air quality and noise concerns. A large warehouse, which will be well known to the many drivers who pass it everyday on the A102, will be demolished to make way for the development.

In the Inspectorate’s findings, he acknowledged that “the considerable number and range of objections” suggested the “proposed development would not be welcomed by many existing residents in the local area” but goes on to say that the “planning system works to regulate the development and use of land in the public interest, not to protect private interests.”

The Inspectorate found fault with the Greenwich Council had handled some parts of the planning application and they will have to pay partial costs for the appeal.

See also: 853 – There goes the neighbourhood

Filed Under: News Tagged With: Planning Decisions, SE7, Victoria Way

Victoria Way planning inquiry kicks off

April 20, 2010 By Rob Powell

A public inquiry into a large planning application in Victoria Way started today at Woolwich Town Hall.

The application from Galliard Homes would see the demolition of the existing warehouse building at the site and the development of 209 apartments – rising up to six-storeys in part – and basement parking for 169 vehicles at the land to the rear of 40 Victoria Way.

Galliard have been marketing this development under the name Constellation for several years off plan.

After having the application rejected by Greenwich Council, Galliard have appealed to the independent Planning Inspectorate.

The public inquiry at the Town Hall is scheduled to run until Friday.

Filed Under: News Tagged With: Planning Decisions, SE7, Victoria Way

Cutty Sark pub expansion blocked by Council

March 3, 2010 By Rob Powell

Cutty Sark Tavern

A plan to build a three-storey extension to the Cutty Sark pub has been refused by the Planning Board of Greenwich Council.

The proposal by the owners – Morden College – was that a current one-storey extension to the Grade-II listed public house in Ballast Quay be demolished and replaced with a three-storey extension

The council received 12 responses to the planning application – all against the move.  Criticisms included that the proposal would substantially change the nature of the business from a pub to that of a restaurant and that the changes were not in keeping with the character of the building or of the street.

Council officials had recommended that permission be granted but Councillors turned down the application at their meeting on Tuesday night.

Filed Under: News Tagged With: Ballast Quay, Planning Decisions

Greenwich Hospital confirms Market appeal

February 19, 2010 By Rob Powell

Greenwich Hospital has confirmed that it will be appealing against the Council’s decision to reject its market regeneration plans.

The decision – first reported on this site yesterday by Andrew Gilligan – was relayed to traders at a meeting last night and confirmed by Greenwich Hospital in a press release this morning.

Greenwich Hospital will be asking the Planning Inspectorate to consider the same proposal that was unanimously rejected by Greenwich Council’s Planning Board last August.

Martin Sands, Director of Greenwich Hospital, said:

“The Hospital’s criteria for the regeneration of Greenwich Market has always been that any improvements to the Hospital’s properties in Greenwich town centre would need to:

  • Retain the diversity of shops and stalls.
  • Be architecturally, physically and financially viable.
  • Be capable of standing the test of time.
  • Be mindful of Greenwich’s status as a World Heritage Site and as a
  • Maritime Heritage Site.
  • Complement Greenwich’s unique position as a tourist and retail
  • destination.

Greenwich Hospital continues to believe that the market regeneration scheme which was not approved by Greenwich Council in August 2009 meets the above criteria.

Greenwich Hospital says that if permission is granted, work will not begin until 2013.

In an interview with Greenwich.co.uk last December, Nick Raynsford MP said “I think that if they appeal they have a very good chance of success“.

Update: A spokesperson for Greenwich Council has told Greenwich.co.uk:

The council will defend the unanimous decision of its Planning Board and would urge all residents who opposed the scheme to make representations to the planning inspectorate.

Filed Under: News Tagged With: Greenwich Council, Greenwich Market, Nick Raynsford, Planning Decisions

New Family Council Homes Approved for Woodlands Park Road

November 26, 2009 By Rob Powell

SIX new council homes will be built in Woodland Park Road after the go-ahead was given at a meeting of the Council’s Planning Board last night.

There will be five 4-bed homes built, and one 5-bed home. The semi-detached family sized homes were given the green light along with twenty-eight other new council properties around the borough.

The homes will be paid for with £4.2million worth of funding that has been allocated by the Homes and Communities Agency.

Cllr Peter Brooks, Deputy Leader of Greenwich Council, said, “The new Government programme which allows councils to build homes themselves offers a great opportunity to use local sites in the borough for the creation of family homes, and in particular to help meet the housing needs of larger families.

“It’s also an opportunity to create job opportunities for local people and we will be ensuring that our contractors work closely with Greenwich Local Labour and Business to ensure that local residents have access to work and training on these sites.”

Filed Under: News Tagged With: Planning Decisions, Property, Woodlands Park Road

Greenwich Council Rejects Market Redevelopment

August 26, 2009 By Andrew Gilligan

PLANS TO demolish Greenwich Market were unanimously rejected by Greenwich Council tonight in a decision which stunned both the developers and their opponents alike.

Members of the council’s planning board voted to turn down the highly controversial scheme, which would have seen the existing market replaced by a modern market, a contemporary shopping precinct and a 104-bedroom hotel.

The rejection comes despite Greenwich Council planning officers recommending acceptance of the plans.

The council leader, Cllr Chris Roberts, a member of the planning board, said at the meeting: “I simply don’t believe the design is good enough for the World Heritage Site. I am not convinced it would create a place I would want to spend time in.”

The council’s cabinet member for regeneration, Cllr Peter Brooks, also a board member, said he had “grave concerns” about the quality of the design and said: “I’ve not been convinced by anything I’ve heard” from the developers and landowners, Greenwich Hospital.

Tory councillor Dermot Poston said the scheme could be anywhere: “Those shops might be in Brazil, or Canada, or Manchester – not Greenwich.”

Backbenchers from all parties said that the proposed hotel – which would be up to two storeys higher than the existing buildings – was an overdevelopment which could give rise to traffic congestion in the busy one-way system.

They echoed concerns first raised by greenwich.co.uk, which has run many articles analysing the weaknesses in the scheme.

Earlier, the Hospital’s director, Martin Sands, had told the meeting that the landowner was committed to maintaining a retail mix, with small shops of the kind the market has now. He said the hotel would enhance Greenwich’s economy by improving the town’s shopping and allowing more tourists to stay overnight. He was backed by the South-East London Chamber of Commerce.

But, questioned by councillors, Hospital officials pointedly declined to give a clear commitment that all existing traders would be able to return after the redevelopment at rents which they could afford.

David McFarlane, the Hospital’s spokesman, told the committee: “We are prepared to make some concessionary rents, but we have to have regard for the overall viability of the scheme.”

The meeting, which was attended by around a hundred members of the public, also heard from several of the objectors to the scheme. Almost 900 people sent formal letters of objection to the council.

Elaine Marshall, a shopkeeper at the market since it reopened in its present form more than two decades ago, said: “There is nothing wrong with the market as it is. It is vibrant and popular – it is often impossible to get around on Sundays.”

Another objector described one of the most controversial features of the design – a modern transluscent plastic roof – as “like Bluewater” and “a gift to pigeons.”

Two of the three councillors representing Greenwich West, the ward which covers the market, also spoke against the plans from the audience. One, Cllr Maureen O’Mara, said: “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”

The leader of the opposition, Cllr Spencer Drury, said the proposal put before councillors was not detailed enough and did not answer critical questions such as what the proposed wooden finish on the buildings would look like and how far the new buildings would disturb famous views and sightlines.

The existing listed buildings on the street side of the market would have been kept, but the issue of how far the new buildings behind would poke up above them became a central concern at the meeting. Councillors criticised the Hospital for not providing any long-distance images of how the town centre would look.

However, the Greenwich Society spoke in favour of the proposals, saying they were an “object lesson” in how to present a planning application. The society’s vice-chairman described them as “welcome” and an “improvement” to the area.

Had the plans been approved, the market would have closed at Christmas for a two-year construction process. Stallholders and a few of the shopkeepers would have been moved to a smaller temporary market on Metropolitan Open Land in the grounds of the Naval College. A separate planning application for the temporary market was withdrawn tonight.

The rejection is a serious blow to Greenwich Hospital, which has spent the last two years preparing for tonight’s meeting. The Hospital engaged a professional PR firm, distributed thousands of leaflets and newsletters and enlisted those it regarded as “key stakeholders,” such as the Greenwich Society and the local MP, Nick Raysnford, as cheerleaders for the scheme.

Mr Sands left the meeting tight-lipped and refused to make any comment when approached. “We will issue a press release tomorrow,” he said. It is not clear what the Hospital’s next move will be. It could appeal against the decision, but the council appears to be on strong ground since the scheme is in breach of more than a dozen of the policies in its Unitary Development Plan, the official statement of its planning policy.

The Hospital could return to the council in future with a revised scheme which addresses councillors’ concerns about the size of the hotel and the quality of the design. But reducing the size of the hotel and improving the design may cost too much to allow the scheme to remain economic in the current climate. Whatever happens, the Hospital’s hope that the scheme can be completed in time for the 2012 Olympics is now at an end.

Kate Jaconello, a trader from the market, said she and other traders felt a “huge, huge sense of relief” about the decision. “We can now get on with running our businesses without worrying about our future,” she said.

UPDATED 27/08/09:

Greenwich MP, Nick Raynsford, has responded to the news:

“I am grateful to all members of the Key Stakeholders Consultative Group, stakeholders and residents who have been involved in the Hospital’s plans for the market regeneration and for the huge amount of input received from the local community.

I believe this was, and still is, the right scheme; to ensure a successful future for Greenwich town centre which preserves and enhances the market.

I intend to meet with all parties concerned, and continue to support the sensible regeneration plans which preserve and enhance the market and Greenwich town centre”

Filed Under: News Tagged With: Cllr Maureen O'Mara, Greenwich Council, Greenwich Market, Planning Decisions

Greenwich Council Set To Decide Market Future

August 26, 2009 By Rob Powell

The Planning Board of Greenwich Council will meet tonight at the town hall in Woolwich to make their decision over the proposed redevelopment of Greenwich Market.

They will consider the plans for a new market development, as well as the related application for a temporary market in the Monument Garden of the Old Royal Naval College.

The controversial plans for Greenwich Market include the creation of a 100 bedroom boutique hotel. Last week, Andrew Gilligan reported in his weekly column that planning officials have recommended to the board that permission be granted.

The Planning Board will also be considering giving permission for a new 82 bedroom hotel in Greenwich High Road, on the site of the old petrol station that is currently operating as a car washing business. Planning approval had originally been granted for 14 flats at the site, but the developer backed out due to the economic climate and Travelodge stepped in, acquiring a 25 year lease.

Contentious proposals to expand the number of flights at London City Airport are also going to be discussed at the meeting, and the board will determine whether to enter into a Neighbouring Authority Agreement with the airport.

The meeting begins at 6.30pm.

Filed Under: News Tagged With: Greenwich Council, Greenwich Market, Hotels, Planning Decisions

Andrew Gilligan: Don’t Buck The Market

March 4, 2009 By Andrew Gilligan

A FEW years ago a vigorous campaign, in which I played a part, was mounted to save Greenwich Market. Though the battle is not definitively won, the new plans are better than the old ones, and the market continues to thrive.

Across the street, however, there is a market that has suffered a very different fate. Last Sunday, the Greenwich Village Market, which sprawls across a big site at the junction with Stockwell Street and Greenwich High Road, had a desolate air. Only about half the space was filled. Many of the lockups which used to disgorge intriguing piles of tat every Sunday were, well, locked up. This is a market that is about to die.

Almost without anyone noticing, something that has been a cornerstone of Greenwich’s weekends for the last twenty years has been destroyed. The market will close for ever on 22 March, to make way for a much-needed…er… much-needed patch of derelict wasteland.

It was going to be one of those hideous rabbit-hutch “housing and retail” developments – but as Greenwich.co.uk reported in January, the recession has put paid to that. The developers have pulled out. Now there is talk of Greenwich University buying the land to build an architecture school, though no deal yet appears to have been done.

I am very saddened about the Village Market’s demise. It was the best of our three weekend markets – cheaper, bigger and more random than the slightly chi-chi, scented candle stalls of Greenwich Market. It had the fleamarket atmosphere that so many markets have lost.

The desk I’m writing this piece on was bought secondhand from the Village Market. What could be greener than recycled furniture? A lot of the books in the shelves in front of me came from there, too. So did some of my clothes. Greenwich’s weekend markets are a major draw to the area – but the closure of the VM, by far the largest one, will reduce the size of the market area by more than half.

But more than sadness, I feel anger at the utter madness of throwing the stalls off now. Even if the university does indeed buy the land, even if it does have the money to build an architecture school, there is no planning permission for such a project. There isn’t even, as far as I can tell, a project design. It will be literally years before it gets through the design and planning process.

Why on earth not allow the Village Market to continue until at least the fate of the site is decided and the builders move in? Wouldn’t that be preferable to a gaping hole right in the heart of Greenwich for most of the next decade?

Part of the reason, it’s said, is that they need somewhere to put the stalls from Greenwich Market while that is redeveloped (assuming it ever happens – recession again.) But those stalls occupy a fraction of the space that the Village Market has. There ought to be plenty of room for them, even if most of the Village Market traders stay.

The Village Market is something that generates wealth, employment, character, interest, and even the odd bargain. It is being torn up for no reason that I can see, and yet another thing that makes Greenwich special is being lost for ever. What is the problem with the people who run this place? Why do they so often get it wrong?

Filed Under: Andrew Gilligan Tagged With: Greenwich Village Market, Planning Decisions, Stockwell Street

Mycenae Gardens Village Green Hearing

February 11, 2009 By Rob Powell

There is a hearing taking place tonight at the Town Hall in Woolwich to discuss proposed plans for Mycenae Gardens Village Green in SE3. Visit the Westcombe Society’s blog to find out more about the meeting and the issues surrounding this Council owned green space.

Filed Under: News Tagged With: Planning Decisions, Public Meetings, SE3

University to buy Stockwell Street “Village Market” land?

January 27, 2009 By Rob Powell

Has the University of Greenwich purchased the land at Stockwell Street where the Village Market is held? That was the question sent into me by Johanna, who heard this from a Cabbie – usually the best informed people in London.

The site in Stockwell Street, which includes John Humphries House and hosts the “Village Market” every weekend whilst being a private car park for the rest of the week has had redevelopments planned for it for as long as I can remember. In fact, I had an office in John Humphries House about four years ago and was told not to expect to stay too long as it would soon be demolished.

Plans by the developers – WestCity Plc and Capital & Counties Properties Ltd – for a mixed use development of flats, offices, shops and space for new market stalls were granted permission by the Council last year, and also got the nod from the Mayor of London and the Government Office for London.

But with new home building coming to a stand still, have the developers decided against going ahead with their plans? I contacted the University of Greenwich to find out if there was any truth in the rumour, and their spokesman told me:

“The university does have plans to move its School of Architecture & Construction to Greenwich and we have been looking for a suitable site for some while. Although we have been in talks with a number of landowners, we have not yet purchased a site.”

So, intriguingly, the Cabbie was half right – the University is looking for a site but no, it hasn’t purchased the land in Stockwell Street… yet!

What would you like to happen to the site in Stockwell Street? Would you like to leave it as it is – a private car park for five days a week and a market for two days – or do you think it could be more productively used?

Filed Under: News Tagged With: Planning Decisions, Stockwell Street, University of Greenwich

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