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Greenwich news and information

Greenwich cruise liner terminal approved

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A planning application for a cruise liner terminal, hundreds of new homes and a new hotel has been approved by Greenwich Council.

The mixed use development will be built at the disused Enderby's Wharf adjacent to Christchurch Way on the south western side of the Greenwich Peninsula.

In addition to 770 new homes and a 251 bedroom hotel, the 3.6 hectare site will also include shops, a creche and a gymnasium. The cruise ship terminal will have one cruise liner berth capable of accommodating  ships up to 240m in length. There will also be two berths for Thames riverbus services.

The land includes the Grade II listed Enderby House which was built in the mid 19th century. The property will be extended and converted into a restaurant "with accompanying exhibition and tourist" space.

Once completed,  365 full time equivalent jobs are expected to be created and a "skills academy" will train 16 - 21 year olds for opportunities at the cruise terminal and hotel.

The site itself was formerly owned by Alcatel Lucent - still based on adjacent land - and it was from here that the Enderby Brothers were pioneers in the development of telegraph cables that would be laid across the Atlantic.

The proposals received the unanimous backing of councillors at last week's meeting of the council's Planning Board.

James Blakey, commenting on behalf of developers Mason Properties who are behind the scheme, said:

“We are delighted that the Planning Boardhas decided to endorse the recommendation to approve the Enderby Wharf proposals. The collaborative approach to preparing the proposals over the past 18 months has resulted in a comprehensive mix of uses, which will bring a range of economic, environmental and social benefits to the borough and London as a whole. At the heart of the proposals is the provision of an international cruise liner terminal in the maritime heartland of Greenwich and London. The proposals have optimised the deep water within the River Thames to create a new tourist destination in a highly accessible location”.

Daily Photo: 31/01/2011 – Sculpture on the Beach

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Sculpture on the foreshore - taken in December 2010

Many thanks to Peter Grahame Woolf for sending me photographs of a sculpture on the foreshore near to Greenwich Sailing Club. Peter explains that it has "survived all the tides and weathers including the recent freeze, and gradually accreted more bits and pieces over the years."


Taken in March 2010


Taken in October 2008

Thames Cable Car Proposed

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A new cable car across the Thames, linking Greenwich Peninsula with the Royal Docks, has been proposed by Transport for London (TFL).

The new river crossing would see journey times between the O2 and ExCeL - both venues for London 2010 - fall to around five minutes.

TFL say that the cable car, expected to be privately funded, would operate at a height of 50m, and be able to carry up to 2500 passengers over the Thames every hour.

Cable cars are used successfully in other cities such as Barcelona, Cologne, Hong Kong, Lisbon, New York and Singapore, but this would be the first such system in London.

Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, said:

“A cable car spanning the majestic Thames would not only provide a unique and pioneering addition to London's skyline, but also offer a serene and joyful journey across the river. Passengers would be able to drink in the truly spectacular views of the Olympic Park and iconic London landmarks whilst shaving valuable minutes from their travelling time. It would also provide a much needed enhancement of cross river options to the east of the city.”

Peter Hendy, London’s Transport Commissioner said:

“A privately funded cable car system offers a relatively quick and cost effective way of improving connections across the river for pedestrians and cyclists while road links are progressed in parallel. It would be frequent, with cable cars every 30 seconds carrying up to 2,500 passengers per hour in each direction, equivalent to the capacity of 50 buses per hour.”

Len Duvall, London Assembly member for Greenwich and Lewisham, commented via Twitter:

cable car: great for tourists but not a solution for E/London commuters. We only have 3 crossings east of Tower Brg Vs 16 to the west

As Darryl at 853 notes, a previous idea for a cable car to the dome in the late 90s came to nothing. You can have your say on the new proposal as TFL have launched a consultation which will last until August 2nd.

Updated - 06/07/10

Nick Raynsford MP has told Greenwich.co.uk that the cable car proposal is a piece of "tourist frippery" that is "not a solution to the cross river transport needs of South East London".

The MP for Greenwich and Woolwich said that although the scheme was a "nice little project" which would be good for tourism, it wouldn't address the "much wider problem" of  the "absolutely hopeless cross river links" in the area.

He re-iterated his support for a new crossing at Silvertown and said that the Thames Gateway Bridge should never have been cancelled.

Andrew Gilligan: Railways’ Snow Failures Show Need for the Riverbus

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Yesterday, Boris Johnson and I launched a new pamphlet for the Policy Exchange think-tank, At A Rate of Knots, advocating a dramatic expansion of the Thames Clipper commuter riverboat service. I confess that, given the weather forecast, we had high hopes last night of a repeat of February's total snow shutdown - when Thames Clippers was more or less the only public transport in London that kept going, and certainly the only link between Greenwich and the rest of the world. What more demonstration of the river's usefulness could you ask?

Looking at the fairly light snowfall in inner London yesterday, I thought we were destined to be disappointed; and certainly the main roads were clear, with buses, DLR and Tube running well. I reckoned without the unique and seismic hopelessness of Southeastern Trains.

This ridiculous company decided on Tuesday night to axe two-thirds of its daytime service and its entire evening service, hours before so much as a flake of snow even fell. The daytime frequency was cut to half-hourly and the last train from London to Greenwich was at 7.47pm. It is doing exactly the same today, even though there has at the time of writing been no snow for eighteen hours and none is forecast until a very light shower at 3pm.

Southeastern (in its earlier guise as Connex) is of course the company that cancelled trains because the sun was shining, memorably described by Connex announcers as "adverse weather conditions" (it got in the drivers' eyes, or warped the rails, or something.) But this performance over the snowfall, or in south-east London the snow-dust, is far worse. As far as I can tell from their websites, every single other London commuter operator - including those in areas of the capital with much heavier snowfall, such as South West Trains - is trying to operate a proper service today, though there will no doubt be cancellations. Southeastern isn't even trying, even though there's not actually that much snow in its part of London.

Since Southeastern can no longer be seen as a serious transport operator for several months of the year, it has made my case about the river for me. I confess that I didn't go to the launch last night by Thames Clipper - I used my lovely new Boardman mountain bike - but I should have done. (The bike's thick tyres and the full suspension are more suitable for this weather than my normal hybrid - but it doesn't, unfortunately, have mudguards, meaning that I arrived at the high-powered event with a brown stain down the back of my trousers.)

The riverbus would have whisked me from the launch at the Shell Centre, Waterloo, to Greenwich in about 35 minutes - about the same time as the train, now you nearly always have to change at London Bridge (another Southeastern triumph.) They run every 20 minutes during the day, and every 30 minutes in the evenings, with the last one from Waterloo Pier at 12.15am - half an hour later than Southeastern, even on a normal day. That last boat, and the entire service, ran normally yesterday and is expecting to run normally today.

If Southeastern stops bothering with us, it is time to stop bothering with them. If you travel every day between Greenwich and central London, the riverbus price is almost exactly the same as travelling by train. And it is about a million times nicer, with a guaranteed seat, even in the rush-hour, guaranteed no jams or points failures, an on-board coffee bar and a view of the world's greatest city unfolding before your eyes.

Our pamphlet proposes that the service be jacked up to operate every ten minutes, and that there be a second, westerly route between central London and Putney - making the riverbus the equivalent, in passengers carried, of about half a new Underground line, in a tenth of the time and for about a thousandth of the cost.

Look at our pamphlet and try the riverbus - here's the timetable. You have nothing to lose but your trains.