Can you help the Old Cottage Coffee Shop this Christmas?
The Old Cottage Coffee Shop in Charlton Park is one of the area’s local gems. Earlier this year, its owners Michael and Mimi were delivering food to the vulnerable during the spring lockdown. And every Christmas Day, it has hosted festive dinners for the elderly.
Things are different this year – so they are making 24 boxes to deliver to older people on Christmas Day. And Michael and Mimi are asking for your help.
Can you write a Christmas card for each person? Michael and Mimi will send you a name and you can write a personal message.
Can you donate presents and snacks for nine men and 15 women?
Can you help deliver on Christmas Day between 11am and noon?
…or could you donate cash to help the project?
If you can help, drop in at the cafe (open Wed-Sun, 9am-4pm), text 07737 922 792 or email m.speak9[at]icloud.co.uk.
We’ve not been sent any information about this (engagement, eh?), all we’ve seen is a little-noticed tweet from Greenwich Council, but it’s worth flagging up – TfL is holding an online event on Monday 14 December to explain and discuss its plans to create a cycle route between Greenwich and Woolwich.
The first section, which begins at Old Woolwich Road and stops at Farmdale Road, right where Greenwich becomes Charlton, is due to be finished by next week after being delayed for about two months. A second section, through Charlton to Anchor & Hope Lane, is due to follow soon after. A third section, to the Woolwich Ferry roundabout, is currently being covered by wider bus lanes until funding can be found for cycle lanes – which have led to some traffic problems as drivers adjust to only having one lane rather than two.
The cycle route is part of a wider plan to create a continuous cycle route between Tower Bridge and Woolwich.
TfL analysis showed that Charlton and Woolwich would benefit most from low-traffic neighbourhoods (darker scores are higher, see the full details)
The wider Streetspace scheme also includes the blocks on through traffic in west Greenwich and new proposals for streets around Maze Hill. There is nothing for side streets in Charlton, despite rat-running problems here, and TfL advice that suggests that streets between the A102 and Woolwich town centre would benefit most from measures to to block rat-running – advice based on factors including traffic and casualty levels, cycling potential, schools, population density, deprivation and low car ownership.
Here’s chuck-out time at Fossdene school – hardly a conducive and friendly environment for walking and cycling, with pedestrians penned in and cars dominating what should be a residential road.
Plenty, then, to discuss. You can sign up using this form for the meeting, which runs from 6pm to 7.30pm.
Update: A decision on this was postponed so councillors could visit the site.
Controversial plans for 48 “pocket homes” on The Heights will go before Greenwich councillors next week – with planning officers recommending they allow the development on an estate car park.
Developer Pocket Living plans to build 45 one-bedroom flats and 3 two-bedroom flats on the contaminated plot overlooking The Valley. It plans to sell them all for 80 per cent of market value to people earning under £71,000 within the borough of Greenwich – meaning they tick the official definition of “affordable”, if not the dictionary definition.
The company specialises in “compact flats” – its one-bedroom flats are little bigger than a studio flat. After six months, Pocket will be allowed to market them across London at limits set by City Hall, which has been giving funding to the company under both the Johnson and Khan mayoralties. Former Greenwich & Woolwich MP Nick Raynsford is among its directors.
As well as the funding it has received from City Hall over the years, Pocket is asking to be excused from paying the Community Infrastructure Levy – a charge on property developers which is reinvested in local facilities.
Two linked blocks of four and five storeys are planned for the site, with two car parking spaces for residents – 21 spaces for existing residents will be retained and relocated. The blocks will be next to the two-storey homes of The Heights estate.
The Charlton Society has lambasted the scheme. It said: “The proposal would harm and block views across London. The land stability issues are unresolved and the ground is unstable.
“The massing does not respect the local context. Worse, in our view: it actively insults it. The proposal is best regarded as a case of over-development, given its context.”
It added that the land should be used for green space instead.
The blocks would sit behind two-storey homes on The Heights
Transport for London has objected to the scheme, saying there are too many car parking spaces as the existing facilities are underused.
However, Greenwich’s planning officers say they are happy with the decontamination plans and the stability of the site. Officers quote a report from Pocket which says: “The homes will meet an affordability gap by providing options for those who would not be able to afford a Shared Ownership / Private Sale home.
“It is noted that based on previous schemes, Pocket Living have detailed that typical purchasers are likely to be 50% key workers, 69% earning less than £46,000 and had rented within the private sector for 8 years prior to buying.”
The officers add: “The design quality of the proposal is of an appropriate standard that works well with the existing building as well as the wider character, form and scale of the surrounding area and the visual amenity of the street scene.
“The impacts of the proposed development upon the amenity of neighbouring occupants have been assessed and have been found to be acceptable.
“Overall, the proposal is considered to be an acceptable redevelopment of an underutilised site.”
Councillors will discuss the development at the planning board meeting next Tuesday.
Got small children to entertain next weekend? Charlton Toy Library, which is based at Charlton House, is putting on a treasure hunt in Charlton Park next Saturday. In their own words…
Charlton Toy Library is putting on a Christmas Treasure Hunt, on Saturday 12 December between 10.30 – 12.30.
There will be two trails for little hunters. One easier one for kids up to 3 years and one advanced one for kids over 3 years. Starting point is at the Charlton Toy Library to collect the treasure map.
The event is free to attend and participants will receive a treat at the end. All social distancing measures and government guidelines are being followed for this event.
It follows a pumpkin hunt held at Halloween, which we’re told was a roaring success. To sign up, visit eventbrite.co.uk.
Want to see your Christmas message turned into a decoration and displayed outside a local church? You can at St Luke’s in The Village and St Thomas in Woodland Terrace. Read on to find out more…
Charlton’s Church of England churches have got lots planned this Christmas and something for everyone!
– Online Community Carol Service – A celebration of Christmas & Charlton – Messages on Christmas Trees (St Thomas, Woodland Terrace & St Luke’s, Charlton) – Digital Advent Calendar – with a message each day from members of the community – Online Christingle – make a Christingle at home as you watch – Messy Christmas – fun and creativity for all – Online Carol Service for Care Homes – Christmas Eve and Christmas Day online and in church – the perfect way to start your Christmas
If you’d like to send a greeting to local people or a message of hope we’ll convert them into decorations to be hung on the Christmas trees. Email your words to arekp[at]dawid.com.pl by Saturday December 19th and read messages from your Charlton neighbours as you pass by.
Transport for London says the widened lane improves safety for cyclists
Transport for London says it is monitoring the effects of widened bus lanes between Charlton and Woolwich after over 2,000 people signed a petition calling for them to be removed.
The lanes have been widened between Anchor and Hope Lane and the Woolwich Ferry to assist buses and improve safety for cyclists, cutting the ordinary traffic lanes down to one in each direction.
In January TfL consulted on plans to build a segregated cycleway between Charlton and Woolwich, which would have had a similar effect, but after the coronavirus pandemic the route between Greenwich and Charlton was prioritised instead. Eventually TfL hopes there will be a continuous cycle route between Tower Bridge and Woolwich.
Bus lanes were widened as an interim measure – and introduced to Woolwich Church Street for the first time – to speed up services and to add some extra safety for cyclists. However, they have been blamed for increased congestion on Woolwich Road and Woolwich Church Street.
A petition created three weeks ago by Gagandeep Singh says there are “vehicles queuing up all day and evening”. By Thursday evening it had gained 2,359 names. One signatory claims it took them 90 minutes to travel between Woolwich and Charlton; another said: “It’s impossible to get out of the roundabout at Warspite Rd. Traffic jams are terrible all day long.”
While there has been a huge jump in traffic since the end of the first coronavirus lockdown, there has been congestion where drivers attempt to filter from two lanes to one at the junction with Anchor and Hope Lane. While the wider bus lanes – which replace narrow cycle lanes on Woolwich Road – allow cyclists to overtake buses at stops, they are not continuous. This means riders still have to take their chances with HGVs and other fast-moving traffic at roundabouts – despite the introduction of a 20mph speed limit on the route.
Two lanes merge into one at Anchor and Hope Lane
A Transport for London spokesperson told The Charlton Champion the widened lane had been introduced as part of its Streetspace programme “to create more space for people to safely walk and cycle”.
He added: “The bus lanes push general traffic and HGVs further away from cyclists; making this corridor a much more pleasant and less intimidating route, and provide a link from Woolwich into the Cycleway that is currently being built between Greenwich town centre and charlton. These lanes are an interim measure while we work on the permanent scheme that was consulted on earlier in 2020, and which would provide a two way segregated cycle lane taking people from Woolwich all the way into Greenwich, and eventually into central London.
“Bus lanes protect buses from congestion and ensure journey times and intervals between buses are more reliable. Bus lanes will help guard against a damaging car-led recovery by improving bus journey times and safety for Londoners making journeys by public transport and the increasing proportion travelling by bike.
“Changes made as part of the Streetspace programme are being introduced on a temporary basis under temporary traffic orders, and will be monitored after implementation to ensure they deliver the expected benefits. Monitoring along the A206 corridor will include reviewing cycle flows, perception of safety, collision rates, general traffic flows and bus journey times.”
The widened lanes do not run across junctions
He continued: “We are reviewing the operation of the bus lanes with the Royal Borough of Greenwich, and the data we are collecting is helping to inform these ongoing discussions. Where appropriate, adjustments to the scheme will be made if they aren’t performing how we expected. The new measures will be in place for up to 18 months, after which the monitoring strategy will form a key part of discussions between TfL and the council as to whether the scheme should be removed or made permanent.”
CYCLEWAY 4 PROGRESS
Woolwich Ferry to Anchor and Hope Lane, Charlton: Bus lanes as interim measure, funding for cycle route not yet certain
Anchor and Hope Lane to Farmdale Road, Greenwich: Work yet to start
Farmdale Road to Old Woolwich Road: Due to open early December
Old Woolwich Road to Old Royal Naval College: Uses existing routes
Old Royal Naval College to Norway Street, Greenwich: Awaiting funding application
Norway Street to Rotherhithe Tunnel: TfL in discussions with local councils, plans due in coming months
The TfL spokesperson said: “This is later than originally anticipated for a number of reasons, including delays in our supply chain for temporary materials, issues with ducting identified when on site and a recent design change to Vanburgh Hill bus stops to assist bus operations.
“We are currently finalising plans for the section of cycleway between Charlton and Anchor and Hope Lane and will announce our proposals and construction timescales shortly.”
A small section of Cycleway 4 is already open between Tower Bridge and Rotherhithe Tunnel; TfL said this week that plans for the section through Deptford would be announced “in the coming months”.
Happier times – but the toy library is still helping families
Lockdown may have closed the independently-run Charlton Toy Library until December 2, but it is still helping local families. It’s just launched an appeal to raise money to buy food vouchers for families in need – can you help them raise £2,000?
They tell us…
At the end of one of the most challenging years in a long time more families than ever are in need of some Christmas cheer and support. Charlton Toy Library is continuing a long-standing tradition to provide Christmas gifts and food vouchers for vulnerable families.
“This year we are supporting over 40 families in dire straights and have an ambitious target of £2,000 to raise for food vouchers. We are grateful and humbled by all the support from the generous Greenwich borough community we have received in the past and believe that we will do it again this year, together,” says Sharon Jay, outreach worker at the Charlton Toy Library.
The Charlton Champion 