16 August - Transforming the face of Abbey Wood Village
After what seemed to be a slow start the contractors have been busy spending
some of the £300,000 allocated to making Wilton Road, Abbey Wood, or
Abbey Wood
Village as we are now supposed to call it, look a bit better. £150,000 came from
the Mayor’s Office when Boris Johnson controlled the purse strings and £75,000
from each of Greenwich and Bexley Councils - less the rather more than £100,000
which disappeared in the inevitable consultant fees and the not so easy to
understand council officers’ time. So much money went down various drain holes that the
participating traders were, contrary to the initial plans, compelled to chip in 10% of the cost.
The past two weeks have seen a lot of changes and work in Wilton Road has been either completed
or is well under way at all but one of the shops due for a face lift. A couple around the corner in Abbey Road are still waiting.
The Launderette (Photo 7) opted out of the scheme and the work going on there is
presumably 100% privately funded. The hairdresser, West End Styles, did the same thing and
very nice it looks too.
Occasions, the gift and flower shop is, I understand, due to have its front ripped out tomorrow. So far my favourites are
the Mini-Cab Office and Mickey’s Grill.
The Village Store could, in my opinion, have benefited from a larger font, it’s the biggest shop but its name is not particularly prominent. Similarly the
Chinese script seems to be lost on its plain background.
Greenwich Council has found another £250,000 from
its HILLS budget to do
something about the state of the footpaths and introduce a few trees and
benches, those who loiter noisily outside the two Betting Shops need somewhere to sit.
