With the shift to online banking, Barclays says “only 232 customers use this branch exclusively for their banking”, while 28 per cent of the branch’s customers already use other branches.
After the last day of trading on 15 January, the nearest Barclays branches to Charlton will be in Blackheath Village and Woolwich.
Charlton’s own branch of Barclays, next to Charlton station, was demolished in the late 1990s as part of work to create a transport interchange for the Millennium Dome.
The Barclays branch in Deptford High Street – an old Woolwich Building Society branch – is also closing, on 11 January; the branch at Rotherhithe will shut its doors five days earlier. (See a full list of branches that are closing.)
Whizz-bang: There are no fireworks this year on Blackheath, but we’ll still have a brief display on our doorstep (Clogsilk via Creative Commons CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
There may be no pyrotechnics on Blackheath next month, but fireworks fans in Charlton will be able to get their fix soon without going too far from home.
According to a notice issued by the Port of London Authority, there is due to be a fireworks display off the Greenwich Peninsula from 8.30pm on Saturday 17 October. It will take place between the O2 and Trinity Buoy Wharf.
It’s not clear what the five-minute display is for, but you’re unlikely to miss them in Charlton, and they should liven up what’s currently forecast to be a damp Saturday night.
Danish-American businessman Thomas Sandgaard has bought Charlton Athletic, ending months of uncertainty about the troubled club’s future – but The Valley remains in the hands of its eccentric former owner Roland Duchâtelet, whose botched sale of the side brought it to the brink of administration.
Sandgaard has bought the club from East Street Investments (ESI), which in turn purchased it from Duchâtelet nearly a year ago. However, the ESI deal unravelled in March after a public falling-out between its principals Matt Southall and Tahnoon Nimer, with the two trading insults on social media and promised investment not appearing, contributing to its relegation last season. It also emerged that, contrary to statements at the time of sale, the pair had not bought The Valley or the club’s training ground in Sparrows Lane in New Eltham.
ESI was then “sold” to Manchester businessman Paul Elliott, however, the English Football League blocked the deal and the club’s future was then dragged through the courts. Last week, an injunction prevented the sale of ESI while the ownership wrangle was resolved. The club would have run out of money within a week if the deal had not been done; in July it was effectively been warned it risked expulsion from the league.
Fans had left ESI in no doubt of their feelings
Sandgaard – who owns hospital equipment company Zynex Medical – emerged as a potential bidder for the club last month, and this morning dodged the injunction by buying the club itself rather than ESI.
The Valley and Sparrows Lane, however, remain with Duchâtelet. Sandgaard said he had agreed to extend the lease on them from five to 15 years. The EFL, which had put a transfer embargo on the club, has agreed the deal.
“When I started negotiating with Duchâtelet, I wanted to buy the stadium, but the conversation quickly turned into a rental agreement and it seems for now that is the best for all parties,” he told Talksport radio. “I’m renting the stadium and training ground for 15 years and have got rid of all the weird side deals so everything’s cleaned up.”
Ownership of The Valley is a sore point with Charlton fans; not having control of The Valley led to the club’s disastrous seven-year exile from SE7 in 1985.
He added: “This is one of the best days of my life, it’s up there with when my two kids were born. The support I’ve had from fans during this whole process has been unbelievable.”
📢 “I’m so happy to announce I’m now owner of Charlton!”
🙌 “This is one of the best days of my life! It’s history in the making.”
Sandgaard said on his own website: “With the club about to run out of funds this month, it was important that I moved quickly to complete the acquisition and put funds in to the club to ensure its survival.
“I have always had two passions – rock music and football. I was a bit of a nerd when I was 13 so decided to go out and buy a guitar because I loved music and wanted to be one of the cool kids – and become a rock musician. I ultimately ended up playing in lots of rock bands in the seventies and early eighties.
“My love of football started when I played at an amateur level in Denmark and then really fell in love with the English game when I watched the FA Cup finals on Danish television in the 1970s. In the last few years, I’ve reached a point financially where I can really do something like this. Four months ago, a friend asked, ‘Have you thought about owning an English football club?’ And I thought, wow, that could be one of the most positive things that I could ever be a part of.”
About 500 fans held a protest at The Valley five weeks ago
Fans held a protest against Elliott’s “ownership” last month, while a group invaded his solicitor Chris Farnell’s office in Hale, Greater Manchester.
Local MP Matt Pennycook said the takeover of the club was “outstanding news”, while Greenwich Council leader Danny Thorpe joked “a freedom of the borough is in order ASAP!”
Greenwich borough’s Conservative opposition leader Nigel Fletcher said the news was encouraging but wanted to “seek assurances on some key outstanding issues”.
How Mendoza says the new home would look from Torrance Close, behind the pub: it would largely be hidden from view by a wall
Greenwich councillors deferred a decision whether or not a house should be built at the back of the White Swan pub so they can take a closer look at the site themselves.
Council officers are recommending councillors approve a three-bedroom bungalow on land behind the beer garden – taking a strip off the beer garden to build an access path so council bin lorries can take away its rubbish from the front of the pub.
It is the company’s fourth attempt to build on the land since it bought the freehold from Punch Taverns in March 2015 – past attempts have been refused by the council and a planning inspector. The pub itself has been closed since March, but the company has said it will look for a new tenant.
After a discussion about the removal of trees in the beer garden (from 57 minutes in the video above), Thamesmead Moorings Labour councillor Averil Lekau said she was unfamiliar with the site and would prefer to see it for herself. “Would it not be possible to have a visit to get some clarity on what we’re deciding on?,” she said.
She was supported by Nigel Fletcher, a Conservative councillor for Eltham South, who called it an unusual application. “I know the pub but I don’t think I’ve ever been in the beer garden,” he said. “I’m having quite a bit of difficulty visualising the site and it’s quite a sensitive one; a lot of what we’re being asked to consider are the narrow grounds between this and previously refused schemes.”
There were nine objections, including from the Charlton Society. Planning officers are recommending an acoustic fence is put up to shield the house from the pub’s noise, while a tree in the beer garden should be replaced.
The scheme will return to the committee once councillors have visited the pub to see the location for themselves.
The Cory boatyard is an important part of the area’s heritage
What do you like down by the river? Greenwich Council is asking people for their views on what they value about the two new conservation areas on the Charlton riverside – helping protect the area’s heritage as developers eye up the industrial land for thousands of new homes.
Two conservation areas – Charlton Riverside, and Thames Barrier and Bowater Road – were created two years ago as part of plans to make sure the area’s history wasn’t completely wiped out when the construction companies moved in, as has happened in other riverside areas of London.
Now Greenwich is consulting on the details – area appraisals – to work out what is of value to the area and what isn’t.
Places like the old Cory barge works and the modern homes at Vaizey’s Wharf are cited as having a positive impact on the area – but the old Watercoombe House office block on Anchor and Hope Lane and the McDonald’s on Woolwich Church Street are seen as negatives.
The council has prepared two detailed documents which are worth a look if you’re interested in the area – even if you don’t want to respond to the consultation – as they are full of details about the history of the buildings and their uses.
After the consultation, proposals will go to councillors on planning committees before being considered by the council’s ruling cabinet.
The pool timetable will stay the same during October, although will be reviewed as the months go on.
In previous years, the winter hours have seen the pool closed at lunchtimes and on a couple of weekdays, but for now the pool remains open from 6.30am to 8pm on weekdays and 9am to 5pm at weekends.
What’s more, we hear that new pool covers are being installed this week so the water should be warmer, particularly in the mornings.
Can I give a big shout-out once again to the wonderfully friendly and helpful staff @charltonlido? Thank you for this little piece of heaven! pic.twitter.com/BSpw2RJiYu
Mendoza Ltd, the property company that owns the pub, wants to build a three-bedroom bungalow on land behind the beer garden – taking a strip off the beer garden to build an access path so council bin lorries can take away its rubbish from the front of the pub.
The proposed house would sit behind the pub’s beer garden
There were nine objections, including from the Charlton Society. Planning officers are recommending an acoustic fence is put up to shield the house from the pub’s noise, while a tree in the beer garden should be replaced.
The officers say that “the area of pub garden retained would continue to provide usable outdoor space for patrons and would be proportional in size to the pub gardens of surrounding pubs”. They add: “The existing area of pub garden space is not integral to the overall viability of the White Swan because the significant and high quality internal facilities and the nature of the food and drink offering are also key selling points of the pub.”
“The development of part of the pub garden of The White Swan would maintain the viability of the pub and would provide a high quality residential development which would preserve the amenity of neighbour properties as well as the character and appearance of the Charlton Village Conservation Area,” officers conclude.
The Charlton Champion 