Sunday afternoon and the queue can be seen building up from the A102 (photo: Neil Clasper)
So, the first weekend with an Ikea on our doorstep is over. How was it for you?
The east Greenwich Ikea’s first Saturday appeared to get off to a quiet start with traffic appearing to be a little quieter than normal – but queues did start to build, not helped by congestion at the Blackwall Tunnel. In the retail park itself, queues (of people) formed during the afternoon, with Transport for London reporting congestion in the area.
The whole of south east London is at IKEA Greenwich today. Iβm queuing in the rain. I donβt know who I am anymore. pic.twitter.com/ctn3txiUfx
As a resident and non-driver I'm worried IKEA is being blamed for an existing issue. The retail park further down is constantly gridlocked at the weekend. This area does not favour pedestrians and never has.
— πππππππππππππππ π (@sitdowncomedian) February 1, 2019
Ikea – with its notoriety for bringing areas to a standstill – has merely become the latest poster child for years of bad planning and short-term thinking in the Charlton/ east Greenwich retail parks. And there’s been years of bad feeling built up by a decision to approve a store that perhaps could have been better-placed on the quiet dual carriageways of Thamesmead.
While Charlton has had warehouse shopping since the 1970s, it intensified in the late 1990s with the appearance of Peninsula Park (Pets at Home, Smyths Toys etc – approved c.1987 and 1995), the “Greenwich” Shopping Park (Sports Direct, Homesense, Hobbycraft – planning permission granted in 2000; Matalan – extension approved in 2014) and the Brocklebank Retail Park (Aldi, Next, Primark – approved 2013); providing stores which are big draws for repeat visits, rather than the DIY/furniture stores which had been the Charlton retail park staples in the 80s and 90s.
And the traffic in these retail parks, adjacent to Ikea, is frequently terrible. But few go on social media to give Matalan or its customers a kicking for causing traffic jams. Or Asda or Makro, for that matter, which have been there 35 and 45 years respectively, outlasting a whole host of other retailers.
The problem was already there: Traffic trapped “Greenwich” Shopping Park on a December Sunday
What does appear to be different, though, is the queues coming off the A102. Yet this was foreseen, and action should have been taken to prevent this.
The Blackwall Tunnel approach is awful, slip road off (to Ikea) queueing and blocking the road back to Sun in Sands. Actual traffic past the roundabout isn't bad at all! Even in the retail park….
The 2014 legal agreement between Ikea and Greenwich Council which enables the store to be built specifically says that Ikea should have provided money for signage to be put in place directing customers away from the Woolwich Road roundabout – signage which hasn’t appeared.
From Ikea’s 2014 legal agreement
It is unclear quite what has happened to these signs. Pedestrian improvements, which are under the control of Greenwich Council, are due in the spring. It’s also unclear quite what local councillors are doing to make sure their officers are on top of the situation.
I drove from the village down to the yacht club and back this afternoon via Bugsby's Way and the traffic was less than expected for a usual Sunday to be honest. It was busier going down towards Ikea but not unusually so.
The first weekend seems to have been a mixed bag of experiences; some appearing to contradict each other. Early shoppers could get in and out quickly; later shoppers, less so. Travellers on the Woolwich Road seemed the unluckiest of all. Predictions of gridlock could have driven some away from the area. Whether the traffic will settle down or whether it will be like this every weekend remains to be seen.
But with many of the decisions around Ikea so far not really engendering much hope in the store’s interest in the community around it – a feeling exacerbated by the tone-deaf attitude of Greenwich Council over the years since the scheme was approved – for every shopper delighted to have a flatpack furniture emporium within half-an-hour’s drive, there’ll be a neighbour approaching each weekend with trepidation for some time to come.
If you were out and about over the weekend and saw the conditions for yourself (rather than watching on social media), please let us know your experiences in the comments below. Thank you.
When the doors opened at 9.55am, the first customers were greeted with cheering staff waving Swedish flags.
Traffic coped well in the initial minutes, but shortly after the doors opened the bus lane past the store began to be congested with drivers who had ignored the one-way system put in place to alleviate fears of gridlock. There was no sign of any enforcement of the bus lane, with the two police officers on duty watching the queue rather than the traffic. Within half an hour, traffic had begun to queue around the Woolwich Road flyover, although queuing for the Blackwall Tunnel was also causing problems in the area.
For the first day, high winds were the worst problem shoppers had to deal with, with one couple seen chasing along Bugsby’s way to retrieve one of the store’s trademark blue bags.
The Old Cottage Cafe won’t be shut for much longer
The Old Cottage Cafe in Charlton Park reopens at 11am on Thursday, less than two weeks after it was trashed by burglars who made off with takings and the cafe’s till.
More than Β£6,700 has been raised by customers to get the cafe back on its feet after the theft, with neighbours rallying round to help the business pick up the pieces.
Thursday’s new start at the Old Cottage Cafe won’t be the biggest opening in the area that day – a certain furniture store is seeing to that – but it will be one that at least the whole community can get behind.
What’s more, if fears of traffic carnage are correct and Ikea does snarl up the traffic on Saturday, at least you’ll have somewhere to go to hide from frustrated drivers.
U+I submitted plans indicating it wanted to demolish 37 Bowater Road (photo: Neil Clasper)
Developer U+I will reveal its plans for the old Siemens factory site near the Thames Barrier next week, with three drop-in sessions – two being held on Valentine’s Day.
Until 1968, this was home to the giant Siemens cable works. While some of the buildings have since been demolished – notably the headquarters building (see below) – many remain in place.
A great episode from Series 5 sees an explosion in a hotel cause devastation! All filmed in Bowater Road, Woolwich, SE18. The building used as the Hotel was part of the Siemens Brothers site. A fantastic looking building but sadly since demolished #londonsburning#woolwichpic.twitter.com/PjSOeKig99
Several of them have recently been given local listing status by Greenwich Council, which has created a conservation area. Recent plans submitted to Greenwich indicated that U+I wanted to demolish 37 Bowater Road but keep the rest.
The site is just to the east of the Thames Barrier (pic: Neil Clasper)
U+I says:
We know weβre not going to have got the proposals right yet. We want to hear your thoughts, ideas and criticisms so that we can shape Faraday Works into an amazing new place for Charlton. We will be holding a public exhibition where you can meet the project team and let us know your thoughts at this early stage.
Thursday 14th February, 4pm to 8pm
Education Space at Thames Side Studios
Unit 2, 5 Harrington Way, Woolwich, London, SE18 5NR
Saturday 16th February, 12pm to 4pm
Education Space at Thames Side Studios
Unit 2, 5 Harrington Way, Woolwich, London, SE18 5NR
WITH FREE BIKE SERVICE AND REPAIR
The scheme, which included building 10-storey blocks, was bitterly opposed by residents in Atlas Gardens and Derrick Gardens, who said the buildings would loom over their homes. It was rejected by Greenwich councillors in July, despite council officers recommending they approve it, because it did not conform with the recently-agreed masterplan for the Charlton riverside.
But Khan overturned the decision a month later, “calling in” the scheme to decide himself. City Hall’s planning officers recommended he approve a slightly amended scheme, but the mayor made the surprise decision to reject the scheme himself after a hearing last week. (See the full documents.)
In his written summary, Khan says: “This is an underutilised, brownfield site in an opportunity area and very accessible. It is well-connected and in an area capable of accommodating growth. It is precisely the kind of site that we need to bring forward in order to create vibrant and active places, ensuring a compact and well-functioning city.
Neighbours feared the development would loom over Atlas and Derrick Gardens
“However, I am clear that we must deliver good growth, not growth at any cost, where people have more of a say and don’t feel excluded from the process. I have listened carefully to the concerns of residents and considered the substantial amount of work done on the Charlton Riverside Masterplan. I consider that this is the wrong development for the site.”
Khan outlines four reasons: poor design; its effect on Imex House, a commercial building next door which houses Squeeze singer Glenn Tilbrook’s studio; the lack of space for existing local businesses on the site; and the lack of a Section 106 agreement for “affordable” housing and other mitigation of the scheme’s impact.
Neighbours disputed Rockwell’s images of what the scheme would look like
In his reasons, he urges Rockwell to “go back to the drawing board, in partnership with the community, the council and the GLA, to come up with a scheme that delivers on the strong ambitions we all share for the future of Charlton Riverside”.
Khan’s reasons may raise eyebrows elsewhere in Charlton, where 10-storey blocks at Victoria Way – just outside the masterplan area – were approved by Greenwich councillors in January 2018 without any explanation to objectors, a decision that was later ratified by the mayor. Indeed, Rockwell can still appeal to planning inspectors and challenge Khan’s decision.
Ahead of its official opening on Thursday, Greenwich Ikea has been holding preview days for members of its loyalty club (including Saturday – details here). The Charlton Champion‘s DARRYL CHAMBERLAIN, who has followed the saga since the store’s plans first emerged in 2013, signed up and went for a look.
We’ve been here before, of course. 19 years ago, Jamie Oliver fired a little white cannon on this site to declare the “environmentally-friendly” Greenwich Peninsula Sainsbury’s store open. Inside, you couldn’t move for reminders that this was something different – even the flooring in the toilets had a sign telling you that it came from recycled plastic.
There’s very little of that in the new Ikea which has taken its place after Sainsbury’s found some of those eco-features didn’t work and decamped half a mile down the road to somewhere bigger. For all the claims that this is Ikea’s most sustainable store yet (TM), it feels little different from any of the chain’s other London area outlets.
Some residents’ groups had pinned their hopes on something like its Harburg store in Hamburg, a high street outlet full of signs exorting German shoppers to use cycle delivery services and take public transport. There’s very little of that here.
Spot the spelling mistake
First impressions matter, and for those bruised at seeing the blue behemoth land in their neighbourhood, the in-store DJ’s choice of Rihanna’s We Found Love (“we found love in a hopeless place…”) seemed bleakly apt. After all, if the council had seen anything of value in this end of east Greenwich, between the traditional neighbourhood and the Millennium Village, it wouldn’t have encouraged a multinational to plonk its warehouse here.
If you love Ikea – and most people do, even if they pretend not to – then you will fall in love in this hopeless place. It’s an Ikea, doing the things Ikea do reliably well. The smaller footprint of the store means this is a little bit more cramped than other stores – but just as Ikea show you how to ingeniously squeeze stuff into your tiny flat, its twisty route through the salesfloor shows it can do this in retail too, even though it can feel a little claustrophobic at times.
This way forward..
Ikea-spotters will also note the marketplace – the bit where you pick smaller items off the shelves – is on two levels, with garden plants downstairs. Between the showroom and the marketplace is the restaurant, which was packed – it is likely this will be as much a draw as the furniture will be. But faced with an unpleasant walk around some of London’s most forbidding public realm to get there, will diners travel sustainably?
The major nod to the community is tucked away upstairs, with a roof terrace and an indoor space that can be used for events and meetings. A day of dire weather was not the best opportunity to show the roof terrace off, but views up towards Blackheath and Canary Wharf will look better when the sun’s out. Shame about the dual carriageway in between, which may make you think you’re taking a break in a motorway service station. A second nod to the community is a “learning hub” downstairs.
Downstairs, the warehouse section – where you pick up your flat-pack purchases – was seeing very little trade; somewhat surprising, as today would have offered the ideal chance to pick something big up before the crowds descend. But cheapskates will be delighted to know that Bargain Corner is already well-stocked, while the food outlet was doing a roaring trade (although the booze was taped off, clearly someone forgot to get the licence in time). Yes, there are plenty of meatballs.
The community hub and roof garden
In conclusion, it’s an Ikea, and if you expected anything different, go back to the start of this sentence and read it again. The store was reasonably busy for a Friday lunchtime, and the roads seemed to be holding up okay – despite the impatient (and totally unsustainable) horn-honking out on Peartree Way. How things will be next week, when the store’s first Saturday coincides with a Charlton match, is anybody’s guess.
Long-standing residents who remember this as a sports field will wince at the “sustainability” claims. This store has created jobs (about 100 have gone to people in the borough, councillors were told this week) but it would have created jobs if it had opened on the empty dual carriageways of Thamesmead – or on Eltham High Street, for that matter.
But they winced when Sainsbury’s came here, and that turned out to be something people become rather fond of. Will the people of SE10, SE7 and SE3 – so powerless when this was decided five years ago – learn to love the big blue beast in their midst? Only you can answer that.
Residents in Atlas and Derrick Gardens say the new development would loom over their homes
London mayor Sadiq Khan has thrown out plans to build 771 homes off Anchor & Hope Lane – the first major scheme to come forward as part of the redevelopment of Charlton Riverside – at a meeting at City Hall today.
Greenwich Council rejected the plans last year, saying it was against the masterplan for the riverside land. But within weeks Khan “called in” the proposal to decide himself. Local councillors and residents fear that approval will set a precedent for the riverside, which has no major infrastructure improvements planned, to be developed with tower blocks rather than family housing. Many thought Khan would simply rubber-stamp the scheme.
The mayor said the site was easily accessible, and said council planning committees needed to bear in mind London’s housing crisis.
But he told the audience to cheers: “In my view, this scheme is not of sufficient design quality, and the layout and massing leads to a poor residential environment and poor quality public realm.”
He also voiced concerns on the effects on local businesses.
Neighbours and local businesses had lined up to reject the scheme, and Khan praised the contribution of residents, calling them “the opposite of NIMBYs”.
The chair of the Charlton Central Residents Association, Jodie Coughlan, laid into Rockwell’s lack of consultation – something highlighted by Khan in his verdict.
βThis is a serious insult to the intelligence of the public, and our confidence in the GLA as a planning authority,β she told the mayor. βFor something of this scale, an intelligent approach should have been taken from the beginning. Many residents are saying βwhy bother?β … CCRA would strongly urge the mayor to reject this application and send Rockwell back to engage with the community.β
Squeeze singer Glenn Tilbrook – whose recording studio is next to the site – also spoke, to say he had been “locked out” of meetings between Rockwell and the Greater London Authority since 2015.
Rockwell’s revised scheme will be examined by City Hall, not Greenwich Council
All 11 councillors on Greenwichβs planning board rejected the scheme, with chair Sarah Merrill declaring: βThis application in no way resembles the spirit of the Charlton Riverside masterplan, in terms of height, massing and design. Itβs reminiscent of Stalingrad.β Other objectors include local MP Matt Pennycook, who says the scheme remains too dense and should be cut from a maximum of 10 storeys to six storeys, while it also needs more family-sized homes. He also calls the design βsterile and monotonousβ, and says there needs to be a cut in car parking.
Rockwell wants to build 771 homes, with the possibility of 165 homes (21.4%) for βaffordable rentβ and 127 (16.4%) for shared ownership with a City Hall grant.
Residents, who believe the development would tower over the cul-de-sacs at Atlas and Derrick Gardens, have accused Rockwell have circulating misleading images of the scheme.
You can see a recording of the hearing, which began at 2pm and lasted two hours, on the City Hall website. Brief updates on what happened follow…
Live updates (most recent first) – refresh for updates
5.05pm. And that’s that – a surprising verdict, but not too much of a shock to those who heard the residents’ testimony this afternoon.
4.50pm — DECISION REJECTED
Khan says he called in the population to give it more scrutiny and that London has a booming population and needs housing. “In Greenwich alone, I’m told there are 17,000 households on the waiting list. We must optimise the development of underused sites while protecting the green belt… this needs to be recognised at a local level by council planning committees.” He criticises Rockwell’s lack of consultation, but says council planning committees need to bear London’s needs in mind. He says the site is clearly accessible… but then rejects it to cheers from the public gallery, citing a poor quality environment, poor quality public realm. Blimey.
4.49pm Khan is back in the chamber.
4.04pm Smith says Rockwell has had interest from three providers to take on the “affordable” housing. Khan is now going to retire to consider his decision. “Hopefully it’ll be today when I come back,” he says.
4.03pm Khan questions Greg Smith on Rockwell’s lack of consultation. He claims to have attended five different consultations. “We feel we’ve done everything we should be doing, and we’ve tried to do more.” Asked engagement with the riverside industries, Smith says Rockwell has agreed to send construction materials by river rather than road. Questioned about Glenn Tilbrook’s objections, Smith says Rockwell did engage, but Tilbrook responds but he did not get sufficient details in the answers given to him. “There is nothing in the reports about sound going into my premises, and I’ve asked.”
3.57pm Sadiq Khan commends planning chair Sarah Merrill for her engagement with residents, adding that “it is an example for other councils to follow…. the residents are “the opposite of NIMBYs”. But he asks her: “If an applicant reduces height and density, do you appreciate that it results in fewer homes and affordable homes?” She responds that Greenwich could make up the numbers because Charlton Riverside as a whole is such a land area. “If we’re given the leverage, we can deliver the affordable homes that would be lost here. We believe that this is housing at any costs… and we need to spread the housing along the vast area of riverside,” she said. Asked about Rockwell’s plan for businesses: “Our view is it’ll provably be Costa Coffee for want of a better word. We would have liked to have seen a greater mix with low-scale manufacturing and industry, not just retail space.” Senior planning officer Victoria Geoghegan backs her up.
3.51pm Now Greg Smith of GVA, Rockwell’s consultants says the site “has excellent transport links”, and says existing industrial occupiers will be helped to move locally. Rachel Huff of Simpson Huff architects promises a “vibrant, mixed-use” development, and outlines some of the changes to the scheme since the mayor called it in. It will “create a new working, thriving, living neighbourhood,” she says.
3.45pm London Assembly member Len Duvall speaks. “This site is simply too small for the number of homes planned on it, I’ve had people come to me and say the previous scheme that went to the council was better.”
3.42pm Glenn Tilbrook of Squeeze thanks the mayor for his over-60s Oyster card, then says Rockwell and the GLA have spent 16 hours in meetings since 2015. “We’ve been locked out of them,” he said. “The model of the proposed development was a model of misrepresentation – existing buildings were depicted as being larger than they are, I wish my studio was a three storey building.” He adds: “The GLA have ignored us and swept our concerns away.” He says he faces a loss of income from studio rental and a loss of access for his tour bus. “We thank Rockwell for the offer of soundproofing, but this needs to be dealt with by independent professionals answerable to us.” He adds: “Where’s the hope and where’s the love in this development?”, calling the scheme “a kick in the teeth for residents”.
3.37pm David Gayther of Charlton Together, a network of community groups, says the community feels “let down” by the GLA in calling it in. “Mr Mayor, you’ve said over and over that Londoners should develop their own communities, but nowhere in London is doing that better than Charlton. We have better relations than ever with our own council.”
3.33pm Phil Connolly of the Atlas and Derrick Gardens Residents Association. “I have Parkinsons disease, so I’ve joined the movers and shakers before I met you,” he jokes. “The planners have lost the plot a little – they think significance is related to quantity and scale,” he says, pointing out that Rockwell hasn’t monitored for PM2.5 pollution. “We have 13 deaths a year in our council ward… the Rockwell development is set to make that worse.” He adds: “You’re our mayor – we elected you. We beg you not to leave you in the bands of Rockwell, getting darker and colder, and we don’t want the pollution Rockwell is threatening us with.”
3.27pm Carol Kenna of the Charlton Society: “We believe the masterplan as it stands at the moment is a very good starting point for the development of the riverside area. On the contrary, at our first resident with Rockwell, the developers were offered sweeties – to tick a box if we wanted a creche. We were told we couldn’t discuss principles, and we feel we are not being treated that way. We were given two days notice of the latest consultation – two, two-hour slots at the weekend. The model was inaccurate, we were told by one representative it was in scale, another that it wasn’t in scale, and they had a public disagreement.” She says she is “puzzled” that the GLA has called it in based on inadequate Greenwich housing figures – but the GLA did not respond to a query on why. Kenna would like to know where Khan stands since he has recently called for community-led development.
3.23pm Jodie Coughlan from the Charlton Central Residents Association criticises Rockwell’s approach to consultation – four hours right at the end of the consultation period, with a 3D model produced right at the end. “This is a serious insult to the intelligence of the public, and our confidence in the GLA as a planning authority,” she says. “For something of this scale, an intelligent approach should have been taken from the beginning. Many residents are saying ‘why bother?’… CCRA would strongly urge the mayor to reject this application and send Rockwell back to engage with the community.”
3.18pm Local resident Yann Leclerc thanks Rockwell for listening to community concerns – but says the scheme still isn’t good enough. “The play street is a lovely idea, but in reality I doubt it will be used very much,” saying it will not be an attractive setting and will be used as an access route for industry. “How many children will actually use it?,” he says, pointing out the lack of family housing and the overshadowing.
3.15pm Phil Aust of Day Aggregates, representing the riverside industry. He talks about the importance of the aggregate industry to London – a third of the capital’s building industry’s needs comes through the Greenwich/Charlton wharves. This development itself will require “tens of thousands aggregates” – but he says current plans will mean that this will come by road, not by river.
3.12pm “The scheme is a complete travesty of that masterplan… this is housing at any price, and its legacy will be that it is a social mistake,” Merrill says to applause.
3.07pm Greenwich planning chair Sarah Merrill says that the leader of council was “not comfortable” with it, and says it “in no way” reflects the Charlton masterplan, which took six years and Β£1 million of work. She cites overdevelopment, adding that the new plan compounds this; points out the reduced level of family housing; and the effect on business neighbours such as Squeeze’s recording studio. “We don’t want Squeeze squeezed out,” she says.
3.06pm Provisions are in place for a “potential bus transit route”, while Rockwell will pay Β£2.1m for a new west-east access road towards Warspite Road. “Although there are planned public transport improvements, these will not be delivered before this is determined,” the City Hall officer says, justifying the large amount of car parking on the site. There will be Β£830,000 for bus services (presumably the “bus transit route”).
3.04pm Dealing with Glenn Tilbrook’s criticism that the scheme will damage his use of his recording studio, the City Hall officer this there will be access for a tour bus, heavy works will be taking place at agreed times and Rockwell has agreed put in soundproofing to protect the studio if needed.
2.55pm Residents’ windows on Atlas and Derrick Gardens will, at most, experience a “minor adverse impact”, apart from one which will be in a room where there is another window that isn’t affected. So that’s alright then.
2.52pm. We are being shown views of the scheme from Atlas and Derrick Gardens. Many locals say these visualisations aren’t accurate.
2.48pm. A City Hall planning officer has been talking. His delivery isn’t too exciting, but to sum up, he says the scheme is in “sustainable location” and complies with London Plan policies – the London Plan is the mayor’s masterplan for all of the capital. Those who struggles to take buses to North Greenwich this morning may beg to differ…
2.43pm. WE’RE BACK! Thank you to reader Paul Chapman for suggesting randomly hitting the “play” button on the webcast. Let’s hope City Hall’s planning decision-making is more sound than its IT.
2.16pm There is currently no sound on the City Hall webcast, rendering this attempt at a live blog rather pointless. If the sound reappears, we will try to resume it, otherwise, we will catch up with the result after it is announced. Apologies.
2.05pm. Still waiting to start. It’s fair to say that many local decision-makers are expecting Khan to approve the scheme. Greenwich & Woolwich MP Matt Pennycook has already written to Communities Secretary James Brokenshire today to ask him to consider calling in the scheme to be decided by a planning inspector if Khan gives it the green light today.
The Charlton Champion 