21 July (Part 2) - Wilton Road Stakeholder Forum
It’s
all happening down in Abbey Wood. Not only have we got
Crossrail and Network
Rail calling meetings to keep everyone as happy as possible with their life of
noise and dust and traffic chaos but Greenwich council is trying to keep everyone, traders in particular, sweet too.
Rather late in the day (15th July) Greenwich’s Cabinet Member for Regeneration,
Danny Thorpe, invited the traders and all the relevant Bexley councillors,
including his opposite number Linda Bailey, to The Link in Thamesmead to keep
them all up to date on the £300,000 scheme set to improve the shopping area
around Abbey Wood station.
I was rather looking forward to listening to councillor Bailey speak on this
subject because Greenwich has made all the running so far, but alas although councillors from both sides of the borough border showed up
in force last night, Linda didn’t. Maybe
Teresa O’Neill will announce that fact at the next council meeting as she did
when Labour (and Tory) councillors missed the first Crossrail Panel meeting. I’m sure she would
like to be even handed.
Danny Thorpe not only chaired the meeting but he was supported by his Director
of Regeneration and several knowledgeable support staff.
Just as is the case at the Crossrail Panel the chairman had to diplomatically
deal with some damn fool questions. He kept his patience when asked about the
noise and pollution caused by aircraft flying in and out of London City Airport
and the state of Greenwich’s public toilets. Do they still have some?
Bexley sold all theirs off. First they came for the bogs and good men stood
by and did nothing. Now they come for your parks and playgrounds.
Despite all that quite a lot of useful information came to the fore.
Greenwich council is “seriously” talking to TfL about river crossings at both
Gallions Reach and Belvedere and the word seriously was repeated in connection
with a DLR extension to Thamesmead. “We must deliver all those crossings. There is a momentum now.”
The possibility of an Overground extension did not get a mention.
£6·08 million is to be spent on Public Realm in connection with the new
Crossrail station and footfall in the surrounding area is expected to go up by
100%. Subsequent questioning tested that figure somewhat and maybe it should be regarded as a best guess.
There is to be a public square on the Bexley side of Harrow Manorway.
A retail consultant has been hired to plan and facilitate the improvements
that will come from the £300,000 which in effect extends the area to be improved
with the £6 million. That extended area will go as far as the Community Centre in Knee Hill.
It is the same retail consultant who
redesigned Sidcup High Street and
introduced what I always regarded as rather nice shop fronts. It should be
possible to spend in the region of £15,000 on each of the shops around Wilton and Felixstowe Roads.
Artist’s impressions showed a green avenue from Knee Hill to the station and
parking spaces in the Bexley council owned land at the end of Wilton Road facing
Gayton Road, but only a small fraction of the money will be spent on
improvements to the street. If there are to be basic infrastructure changes
they will not be extensive. The consultant favoured removable seating provided by
the traders to reduce overnight abuse and none of the Greenwich people were
aware that Bexley has the car parking space up for sale, or at least on its consideration list.
The lady behind the redesign (Sally) appeared to be very keen on consultations
offering to spend a couple of hours with each trader and to set up a ‘pop
up tent’ in Wilton Road in the next few days so that shoppers could have their
say too. Later on she started to speak of having one in the Community Centre, so
keep your eyes peeled if you are local to the area.
An audience member said that “Bexley and Greenwich have never worked well
together” and gave as an example the two betting shops opposite each other, one
in each borough.
Do you remember when cabinet member Peter H.
Craske labelled Greenwich council “disgraceful” in Bexley’s council chamber
and found himself on the front page of the News Shopper for his pains?
Does a leopard ever change its spots?
The differing parking enforcement regimes was the subject of audience comment as
was the fact that the Wilton Road was “rubbish everywhere” and “Bexley no longer
empties litter bins”. Chairman Danny Thorpe thought there might be scope for
synchronising street cleaning and there was now “a greater will to get things
moving”. On some days morning visitors might conclude that Bexley is clean and
Greenwich is filthy and during the afternoon the reverse is true.
An interesting 90 minutes with the Greenwich council officers, Tom and Pippa and
others, brimming with enthusiasm and Bexley showing its usual contempt for the
north by staying away and contributing nothing.