Author: Darryl Chamberlain

Greenwich Council plans to hold £165,000 festival in Charlton Park in August

Darryl Chamberlain
Charlton Park
Charlton Park could host Greenwich Council’s main summer festival in August

Greenwich Council’s annual Great Get Together festival is to move from Woolwich to Charlton Park and be given a new look and name, tender documents issued to potential event producers reveal.

Held to coincide with Armed Forces Day for the past decade, the event began life at Barrack Field on Woolwich Common, as a merger of smaller events held around the borough in the years before that. It moved to Woolwich town centre in 2019.

After last year’s event fell foul of the pandemic, the council is now planning to relaunch its annual jamboree, with Saturday 21 August pencilled in as a start date – at a cost of £165,000.

The move from Woolwich to Charlton Park will disappoint those hoping for a boost to the troubled town centre, which is receiving up to £17.1m in government funds to make it more appealing to visitors and residents.

But the council says “this year provides a natural opportunity to reconfigure the event and move location”.

“This location has been chosen as the park is in the centre of the borough, is a large, flat, green space with many sections, fenced with several gates, a small car park and is well equipped with existing facilities including a skate park, cafes and a playground making it the perfect location for a contemporary outdoor community festival, with exciting new content for residents to enjoy,” the tender document, spotted by tweeter Jo Brodie, states.

“The event will also provide an opportunity for thanks to our NHS and key workers, as well for reflection and memorial to those lives lost during the pandemic. The focus for the event should be a contemporary family festival with an overriding theme of equality and diversity,” potential organisers are told.

“We envisage music, arts, culture, food and entertainment from around the world, but embedded in the diversity of the variety of communities we have in Royal Greenwich [sic]. The event needs a rebrand – with a new name that captures this essence.”

The document says that for this year only and as “a celebration of the potential end of the pandemic, we are able to invest more in the event than ever before, enabling the opportunity to produce a really spectacular show”.

While coronavirus restrictions remain in place until at least June 21, and scientists have warned of a third wave in July or August, the tender document makes the assumption that London will be in a better position to hold outdoor events.

“The end of summer date hopefully allows for the Covid-19 restrictions to have been lifted, the vaccination programme to have been completed, and anticipates that visitors will have regained confidence in large events and social gatherings again,” the document states.

The proposals appear to be similar to those for the hugely popular Lewisham People’s Day, which takes part in Mountsfield Park in Catford. However, organisers have also been told that “due to the borough’s rich military history and some armed forces content at previous events, we may want to include some content of this nature such as an assault course and visibility and support from local community groups such as the Army Cadets and British Legion”.

The plan to spend £165,000 on a festival in Charlton Park comes two months after the council declined to spend money on improving lighting in the park to make it safer during the winter months.

Companies who want to put the event on have until 30 April to submit their application.

A version of this story appears on our sister website 853.

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Charlton Parkrun takes step forward with Community Voting Day grant

Darryl Chamberlain1 Comment
Charlton Park
Fancy doing 5k in Charlton Park? Parkrun encourages you to give it a go

Plans for Parkrun to come to Charlton Park have taken a great stride forward after local people voted for organisers to receive £2,000 from a fund to help the local area bounce park from the pandemic.

The free weekly five-kilometre events have been suspended since last March but are expected to return this summer as the country reopens. Thousands of people run, jog or walk their way around parks and open spaces each Saturday morning with the help of an army of volunteers.

The nearest Parkrun events to Charlton are at Hilly Fields in Lewisham, Avery Hill Park in Eltham and Mountsfield Park in Catford, as well as at Royal Victoria Dock across the river. Last summer, The Charlton Champion featured an appeal for volunteers interested in helping bring the event to SE7.

Now the £2,000 from Community Voting Day two weeks ago will help the team push forward and make the idea a reality.

In all, 86 people took part in the vote two weeks ago, with £16,000 to distribute to a variety of different projects. The money comes from central government and is being distributed by Greenwich Council.

Ten projects won funding: Charlton parkrun (£2,000); Creative Community Meals (£2,000); Picture Me There – half-hour touring dance performances (£2,000); Fresh Chances Deep Neighbourhood Digital Inclusion – a digital skills project (£2,000); Charlton Power Up – a project aimed at teenage girls (£1,975); Dancewalking for Wellbeing – a Greenwich Dance project (£1,840); Staying Connected – a Global Fusion Music and Arts project with tai chi, art classes and meditation (£1,430); Feel Good Yoga (£1,200); NuVitality Fit FamJam (£897.42); Weekly Saturday Chi Gong and Tai Chi Exercise (£497.58).

The projects have to be delivered within the next six months.

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Charlton’s Metro Bank has had its chips as McDonald’s looks to super-size

Darryl Chamberlain
McDonald's Charlton
Sinking feeling: McDonald’s says its current drive-through suffers from subsidence

Metro Bank has dropped plans to open a drive-through branch in Charlton, with McDonald’s looking to rebuild and expand its restaurant on Bugsby’s Way instead.

Plans for a bank on the busy site were approved by council officers 16 months ago as Metro, which has high street branches in Bexleyheath, Bromley and the City of London, looked to expand its presence across the country.

But just four months later the bank was forced to rein in its plans after recording a thumping £131m loss. Now McDonald’s is looking to stay put – and Metro Bank has confirmed to The Charlton Champion it has withdrawn from Charlton.

“We are no longer looking at the Charlton site. We will be opening two new stores in 2021, in Bradford and Leicester,” a spokesperson said.

McDonald’s is now looking to knock down its existing site, which it says suffers from subsidence, and start again with a two-storey building. “Whilst the proposed building is bigger, this is to improve the overall operation, rather than the scale of the restaurant,” it says. “The proposed second floor will be used for back of house only. The dining area would only increase minimally and the number of covers would increase from 90 to 95.”

It also wants to introduce a “side-by-side” operation in the drive-through, increasing the capacity for cars from 11 to 15.

On litter, it says: “It is company policy to conduct a minimum of three daily litter patrols, whereby employees pick up not only McDonald’s packaging, but also any other litter that may have been discarded in a 150m vicinity of a restaurant. This may be expanded to suit local needs.”

McDonald's drawings
McDonald’s plans for a new drive-through

The site is earmarked long-term for residential development as part of the Charlton Riverside masterplan. A council report following the Metro Bank application said: “Whilst the proposals would not incorporate residential uses …it is noted that the redevelopment of the wider area known as Woolwich Road West is not envisaged to come forward till at least the next plan period; with the current plan period running until 2028. It is therefore reasonable to assume that redevelopment of the area is likely to be realised in the medium-term, rather than short-term.”

More details and comments can be left on the Greenwich Council planning website (or search for reference 21/0919/F).

Close by, Asda has also applied for permission to build an extension into its car park to accommodate home shopping and drive-in click-and-collect services. The application, which was submitted in February, seeks the go-ahead to build out into the area currently used for minibuses.

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Build ’em up: Developer wants to build taller on Victoria Way

Darryl Chamberlain
Fair Apartments, Victoria Way
The developer wants to add two storeys to the three-storey block

Two extra floors could be built on top of a development in Victoria Way under a recent law change that enables developers to add storeys to existing buildings without having to apply for planning permission.

Developer Imtiaz Mukhtar has notified Greenwich Council of plans to add the extra storeys – and eight new flats – to the Fair Apartments block at the northern end of Victoria Way that was built in the mid-2000s.

Legislation introduced by the Conservative government last year allows developers to build up to two extra storeys on housing blocks built after 1948 or before 2018.

Fair Apartments
The current development is roughly level with existing homes

The original development – built in the site of a small print works – was contentious when it was first proposed 18 years ago, with Greenwich Council refusing initial plans for 18 flats and four three-bedroom houses. A planning inspector subsequently approved the scheme. The current development – for 14 flats and four houses – was given approval in 2004.

While the current scheme is roughly level with the Victorian terrace next to it, this scheme would see it grow higher, from three storeys to five.

Fair Apartments
The developer hopes to skip the usual planning permission process

Three years ago, Greenwich councillors controversially approved 330 homes from Fairview on the other side of the terrace – although while the inclusion of 10-storey blocks upset neighbours, the buildings closest to the terrace were kept down to three storeys. That development is now partly occupied, with a footpath linking Victoria Way and Dupree Road now open.

Greenwich planning officers now have to decide whether this development meets the new law. Residents can submit comments on the Greenwich Council website (or search for reference 21/1109/PN4).

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Housing association sells ex-council ‘affordable homes’ plot to private developer

Darryl Chamberlain
Denmark House garages
The old Denmark House garages site has been fenced off for years

A leading housing association has sold land in Charlton to a private developer – despite that land being earmarked for “affordable housing”.

L&Q has sold the plot in Maryon Road to an Abbey Wood-based developer, Brunswick Square Investments, 18 years after its former subsidiary Tower Homes bought the land from Greenwich Council for £361,000.

The land formerly housed garages for the Morris Walk Estate, and a covenant was put in place in December 2002 to ensure the land would be developed into 12 homes.

However, no development took place, and in 2015 a further covenant was issued on the land transferring it to L&Q, and pledging that the site “be used for no other purpose than Affordable Housing”, which it defines as being “social rent, affordable rent and intermediate housing” – the latter usually meaning shared ownership. It also restricted the size of any development to 33 habitable rooms.

Denmark House Garages site
This land was sold by Greenwich Council in 2002

But L&Q has now sold the land to Brunswick Square Investments, which gives its headquarters as a private house in Overton Road, Abbey Wood. The Charlton Champion understands the sale price was £605,000, but has been unable to independently verify this as Land Registry records have not yet been updated.

The site has been fenced off for years and the housing estate around it – including the next-door tower block, Denmark House – has been demolished by the building company Lovell, which is redeveloping the old Morris Walk Estate as Trinity Park.

An L&Q spokesperson told The Charlton Champion: “This land was sold as it was surplus to our requirements. As part of the sale, the covenant restricting the size of the development, and the tenure to affordable housing, remained in place.”

Brunswick Square Investments was formed in 2019 and has not yet filed accounts with Companies House, which classes the company as being involved in “buying and selling real estate”. Its sole named director, Herbert McLaughlin, has not responded to a request for comment.

Greenwich Council’s cabinet member for regeneration, Sarah Merrill, told The Charlton Champion: “We are committed to ensuring that the covenants secured against the land are fully enforced. The new owner will need to ensure that any planning application for development respects the adjacent new and existing developments and this should be a policy compliant scheme delivering the maximum amount of affordable housing.”

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Want to see The Green Goddess beer café come to Blackheath Standard? Here’s how to show support

Darryl Chamberlain
Green Goddess render
How the bar could look

Drinkers who want to support a Plumstead brewery’s plans to turn a former bank at Blackheath Standard into a “beer café” can now show their support to Greenwich Council.

As The Charlton Champion revealed last month, Common Rioters Brewery wants to turn the former Barclays into The Green Goddess, which will also provide it with a place to brew its own beers.

Documents submitted to council planners reveal plans to turn the old basement vault into a bottle cellar and tasting area, with the main bar and brewery on the ground floor. Separate plans have been submitted to convert the first floor offices of the bank into housing; there is already a flat on the top floor.

The building would also need a premises licence to operate as a bar – for now, the planning application indicates that it would close by 11.30pm.

“Education is a core theme of the concept – It’s planned to hold occasional brewery tours and ‘be a brewer’ events as well as sommelier led tasting and training sessions,” the application says. It’s anticipated that an apprentice (covering all aspects of brewing and bar management) will be taken on in due course to help open access to the industry.”

Full details can be seen on Greenwich Council’s planning website (or search for reference 21/0799/F), where residents can also leave comments before 22 April.

In the meantime, Common Rioters are opening a pop-up bar at Charlton House from 12 April to show off their offerings to locals.

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Green Goddess pop-up beer garden coming to Charlton House from 12 April

Darryl Chamberlain2 Comments
Charlton House in the evening
All being well, Charlton House will be open for drinks from the 12th

The team behind plans to turn the Barclays Bank at Blackheath Standard into a bar are hoping to give locals a taste of what they can offer in a pop-up beer garden at Charlton House.

The Green Goddess visits Charlton House will open for business from 12 April when, all being well, coronavirus restrictions are loosened and pub beer gardens can welcome customers.

It’ll offer table service only on the patio with two-hour bookable slots between 2pm and 8pm, with last orders at 7.30pm. For the first week, it will open every day through to Sunday 18 April; then open Thursday to Sunday for the rest of April – opening times for May and beyond are yet to be decided.

“It’s very much a pop-up pub so the times maybe subject to change along the way,” Stephen O’Connor of Common Rioters Brewery told The Charlton Champion.

“We will be serving up cask and keg beer, cider, selected spirits, wine, and low and no-alcohol drinks. In addition we hope to have some pop up food stalls at certain times.”

For more details and booking, visit www.thegreengoddess.pub.

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