Charlton

Charlton station gets a Black History Month crossing

Darryl Chamberlain

The crossing is one of a number in Greenwich borough

The pedestrian crossing at Charlton station has been given a new, colourful look to mark Black History Month. The crossing is one of four in Greenwich borough to have been painted in the pan-African colours of red, gold, green and black for October, and follows crossings in Greenwich, Woolwich and Plumstead being given a rainbow hue to mark Pride in London month during the summer.

Sponsors have covered the cost of the work – they include the developer U+I, which is redeveloping the former Siemens factory site by the Thames; and the housing association Peabody, which owns Charlton Triangle Housing. The other backers are Berkeley Homes, the Old Royal Naval College and Greenwich Hospital, the charity which owns Greenwich market.

A series of events are taking place across Greenwich borough to mark Black History Month, including a screening of Malcolm X at Charlton House on Friday 11 October and children’s workshops, also at Charlton House, on Saturday 26 October.

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Kevin Nolan’s Valley View: Charlton Athletic 1-0 Leeds United

kevinnolan

Kevin Nolan's Valley View

The Addicks returned to winning ways at The Valley on Saturday with a victory over Championship title favourites Leeds – KEVIN NOLAN reports…

After the corporation dustcart…the Lord Mayor’s Show. In turning the old epigram on its head, Charlton followed their passive performance at struggling Wigan with a stirring display of magnificent defiance to send hot favourites Leeds United home pointless. Goals still promise to be rare but one scrambled effort was enough to deliver this vital win.

After dominating possession (72-28%) and corners (13-2), Leeds made their bewildered way home wondering how they finished with nothing to show for their mathematical superiority. Their globally vaunted manager Marcelo Bielsa, secure in his bubble of denial, provided a post-game masterclass in ignoring the facts and missing the point.

Charlton 1 Leeds 0 Final Score“The difference between the sides was big.” explained the Argentinian visionary, “We didn’t impose our superiority and that was the reason for what happened. They had one shot and scored one goal. Our players were better than theirs.” He didn’t add “So there!” so we’ll do it for him. Codswallop, of course, but we have to accept he wasn’t in the best of moods. Otherwise he might have pulled himself together, acknowledged that his side fell short in the only statistic that matters and bent his efforts to figuring out why 72% of possession brought zilch to the scoring column.

In that regard, his opposite number Lee Bowyer was on hand to helpfully mark his card. Paying heartfelt tribute to the character of his players, he declared that sheer hard work made them worthy winners. “We held our own and tactically got it spot on. This is a group that never says die.” He diplomatically declined to point out that it’s goals that count but the fact that the Addicks scored from one of only two corners while the visitors were repelled on thirteen occasions by a posse of red-shirted sentinels might bring the hard-done by Bielsa to that conclusion in the longer term. But probably not.

Set piece improvements

Last week at Wigan, Charlton conceded twice to the same player from corners, a disastrous failing which was obviously addressed at the training ground. A succession of wickedly delivered flagkicks on Saturday from set piece specialist Kalvin Phillips was stoutly resisted, with even Jonathan Leko popping up in the first half to clear a goalbound effort from Ezgjan Aliosko. Whenever a block or interception was necessary, there was always a willing volunteer to put his body on the line. Not that Charlton retreated into siege mentality. They remained cohesive and always dangerous on the break. As they demonstrated shortly after the half hour to claim the only goal.

Chasing down Johnny Williams’ piercing pass to the right byline, Macauley Bonne found himself briefly isolated and sensibly settled for forcing a right wing corner – the Addicks’ first of the game – off Ben White. A low delivery from Josh Cullen was inconclusively met by Tom Lockyer, with ricochets off Kiko Casilla, Stuart Dallas and decisively Bonne pinballing the ball over the goalline. Undeniably lucky, of course, but as golfer Gary Player famously remarked “the more I practice, the luckier I get”. Competing in the six-yard area for the chaotic bits and pieces that derive from a cutely delivered corner is surely coached at Sparrows Lane. And that, despite Bielsa’s blinkered comments to the contrary, “was the reason for what happened.” So there!

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Picking out the key defensive highlights from such stubborn selflessness is a thankless task. Phillips’ superb low save from White was made at a critical time; a crucial interception from the inspirational Darren Pratley to deny Patrick Bamford access to Stuart Dallas’ menacing cross also deserves mention; as does Naby Sarr for nullifying Bamford’s dangerous turn at close range: and two critical headers beyond the far post by the outstanding Chris Solly, which whisked crosses off waiting heads in the second half, stood out. But each and every Addick, including the mercurial Leko, bought into the principle that defending involves everyone and that the end result justifies whatever means are legitimately employed to secure it. While goals promise to be elusive, the fighting spirit exemplified by the hard-grafting likes of teenager Conor Gallagher and Cullen, with Williams always prepared to suffer a battering for the cause (the adverse caution count of 3-1 tells you all you need to know about John Brooks’ cockeyed refereeing) will keep them going.

Catapulted back into the top six by their latest upsetting of the odds, meanwhile, Bowyer’s braves will pragmatically accept that survival in the Championship remains the priority. On Wednesday evening, they entertain Swansea City, another side with promotion aspirations. It may not be a footballing classic but the understanding Valley crowd will again accept that it’s not all about elbow-crooking style or foot-on-the-ball posturing as too often indulged in by Leeds. They used to call it getting stuck in but whatever the modern parlance, the Addicks will be up for it. They didn’t sweat blood at Wembley five months ago to crash and burn this season.

Charlton: Phillips, Solly, Lockyer, Sarr, Purrington. Pratley, Cullen, Williams (Aneke 56), Gallagher (Pearce 86), Bonne (Field 82), Leko. Not used: Amos, Oshilaja, Forster-Caskey, Oztumer. Booked: Pratley, Lockyer, Solly.

Leeds: Casilla, Dallas, White, Cooper, Alioski (Nketiah 46), Phillips, Costa, Shackleton (Forshaw 46), Klich, Harrison, Bamford (Roberts 69). Not used: Miazek, Douglas, Berardi, Clarke. Booked: Bamford.

Referee: John Brooks.  Att: 21,808 (3,179 visiting).

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In the mood for dancing? Join Greenwich Dance at Charlton House

Lara Ruffle Coles
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Classes in the Old Library (Photo: Chris Nash)

As Greenwich Dance celebrate their first anniversary at Charlton House, Chief Exec Melanie Precious tells The Charlton Champion about their upcoming plans…

The organisation has changed a fair bit since its days at The Borough Hall in Greenwich, and slowly but surely we are putting down new roots and building new programmes from our beautiful new Jacobean base!

We are now a smaller team and no longer have our own dance studio, but as tenants of the Royal Greenwich Heritage Trust we do have access to Charlton House’s beautiful spaces and gardens, which we have been filling with movement and colour – and we have many more treats in store.

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Youth dance class (Photo: Daniel Martin)

Here at Greenwich Dance we believe that everyone can dance regardless of age, experience or background. We run dance classes for adult beginners and improvers on a Wednesday evening, and attendance is growing steadily. In fact, you have already missed out on our very popular Adult Contemporary Ballet class – so do book for next term if you fancy it! But there are still spaces in our Adult Lindy Hop class, it is a joyous way to get fit – particularly if you have caught the Strictly Come Dancing bug! 

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Dancing to the Music of Time class (Photo: Rob Baker Ashton)

And if you think your dancing days are done, we can also prove you wrong! Every Friday we have the over 55’s creative dance class Dancing to the Music of Time led by Maria Ghoumrassi which is a pure joy to behold. This group of dancers are very close to our hearts – many have been dancing with us for over 10 years. Many of our attendees say how important dance is within their lives for well-being and friendship. Maria, who is much loved by the class, has a magical way of engaging and supporting the dancers, encouraging them to move as gently or as energetically as they feel on the day. 

Our Dancing to the Music of Time class members also create and rehearse together in preparation for performances at festivals and events around the borough. You may have caught them at the Maryon Park Big Picnic in the summer and they are not to be missed!

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Youth dance class (Photo: Daniel Martin)

We also have a free dance activity programme for young people aged 8-19, funded by Charlton Athletic Community Trust and the Royal Borough of Greenwich. This takes places at venues all over the borough, including Tramshed in Woolwich, LSEC Greenwich Park campus at Kings Place and Middle Park Community Centre. Young people have the opportunity to gain an Arts Award and also work towards auditioning for the Lotus Youth Dance Company. We will be adding more venues in April 2020 including Charlton House.

Part of our new vision as an organisation is to do more work within the community, and we will soon be launching our touring season Up My Street which will bring high quality, professional dance and social events to community centres around the borough. Our Spring 2020 season will take the form of relaxed cabarets: mixing community performances with professional artists against a backdrop of conversation, food and socialising. A great way to meet your neighbours!

Maryon Park 8 Ed Simmons
Dance class at the Maryon Park Big Picnic (Photo: Ed Simmons)

Last but certainly not least, on the 9th of November we will be having a wine-tasting event at Charlton House. Hosted by Greenwich’s Theatre of Wine, and within the grandeur of the Old Library, the audience will be able to sample eight delicious wines paired with a smorgasbord of delectable dance. Do book your ticket and come along to support us, and bring a full purse for the raffle!

If you have any questions or want to know more about Greenwich Dance, do join our mailing list and follow us on social media, You are also welcome to pop in and see us – we will put the kettle on! See you soon!

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Kevin Nolan’s Valley View: Charlton Athletic 0-1 Birmingham City

kevinnolan

Kevin Nolan's Valley View

The Addicks marked 100 years at The Valley on Saturday – but their fine start came skidding to an end with a talismanic striker absent, as KEVIN NOLAN reports…

There’s no such thing as a one-man football team. Any fool knows that. But any fool also appreciates the positive impact that one charismatic player – if he’s the right player – can exert on his teammates, not to mention his besotted supporters. Such a player is Lyle Taylor, whose profound influence at The Valley radiates from the pitch into the stands. Even when he’s not on duty.

Injured while on international assignment with Montserrat, Taylor missed this awkward game and will apparently be sidelined for several more weeks. Despite his absence, his aura was still palpable as Charlton duly lost for the first time this season and, significantly, failed to score – also for the first time this season. It could be a coincidence – we’ll know more after their visit to Wigan next Saturday – because their performance was as committed and competitive as ever. The spark normally provided by Taylor was, however, painfully missing.

The nature of his injury remains unclear, with manager Lee Bowyer remarking during the build-up to Birmingham’s visit that he was hopeful his star striker would be fit to play. Reading between some fairly obvious lines, though, it seems that the once-warm relationship between player and club is now somewhat strained, a hangover from Brentford’s abortive attempt to recruit him during the summer. Taylor’s blistering start to the season, which brought him five goals in six games, might yet turn out to preface a last hurrah in a Charlton shirt. Streetwise Addicks fans won’t be too surprised if he leaves. They are grimly aware that it doesn’t pay to get too close to your heroes. That way only ends in heartache.

Competent but colourless

The blond bombshell’s absence on Saturday meant a first start for Tomer Hemed alongside West Brom loanee Jonathan Leko. The experienced Israeli worked hard but is clearly not yet up to Championship speed; Leko began brightly but gradually found himself trapped in those one-way streets and cul-de-sacs where his solo meanderings lead him. Passing is apparently considered only as his last option.

Elsewhere, Charlton were competent but, without Taylor, colourless. Their spirit remains intact as Sam Field’s early, hell-for-leather block to deny Marc Roberts’ blockbuster made clear. Central defenders Jason Pearce and Tom Lockyer were superb while, behind them, Dillon Phillips contributed two fine saves to keep the Addicks in a fruitless hunt. They were Birmingham’s match in everything but finishing. And in that vital department, they were taught an expensive lesson shortly after the interval.

Dark art of timewasting

In an evenly-fought game, there was little to choose between similar teams, with Championship respectability their mutual priority. Chances were few but, significantly, Lee Camp’s two genuine saves were made from defender Chris Solly and midfielder Conor Gallagher. Between them, strikers Hemed and Leko mustered only the late chance which the former shovelled over the bar from close range. Seven minutes into the second half, the Addicks were themselves destroyed by a goal of excellent quality scored by a kid who spent last June 29th celebrating his 16th birthday. Presumably with his mum and dad at Nando’s and the pictures.

Picking up possession near the halfway line, French defender Maxime Colin accelerated into Charlton’s penalty area before slipping Kerim Mrbati into space on the right. The Swedish wide man judged his square pass perfectly for young Jude Bellingham to sidefoot firmly past the helplesss Phillips despite Solly’s last-ditch effort to block his shot. Cheeky little sod deserved a clip round the ear.

To their credit, the Addicks refused to accept defeat as inevitable. They beavered away gamely as the Blues used means both fair and and foul to hang on to their advantage. In front of lamentably lenient referee Matthew Donohue, the visitors brought to the dark art of timewasting interesting but irritating innovations. Stricken Brums – and their ill-health was alarming – were painstakingly attended by a deeply caring physio and his youthful, eager-to-learn apprentice, who might well have been a classmate of Bellingham’s.

It all became too much for Bowyer, who was banished to the stands when the Brummie bench mischievously threw an unrequested ball on to the pitch. To be fair to Donohue, it was unlikely that Charlton’s incensed guv’nor stuck exclusively to the Oxford Dictionary in voicing his objections.

Bowyer was more measured in evaluating the consequences following his side’s first experience of defeat this season. “It’s how you react,” he observed. “We go again next week and we have to make sure it doesn’t happen again.” It is what it is, as the annoying cliche goes, and what it is appears to be a solid, hard-grafting team of many virtues, one sound in defence, imaginative in midfield but woefully lightweight up front.

There was, meanwhile, an elephant in the stadium on Saturday, oddly low-key but with a definite say in the proceedings. It’s fervently hoped the he’ll be rejoining Bowyer’s herd sooner rather than later. Unless he goes rogue.

Charlton (4-4-2): Phillips, Solly, Lockyer, Pearce, Purrington, Field (Aneke 71), Gallagher, Cullen, Oztumer (Williams 59), Hemed, Leko (Kayal 78). Not used: Amos, Pratley, Bonne, Sarr. Booked: Pearce.

Birmingham: Camp, Pedersen, Roberts, Colin, Crowley (Gardner 87), Jutkiewicz, Dean, Mrbati (Maghoma 61), Bellingham (Gimenez 90), Davis, Sunjic. Not used: Stockdale, Harding, Clarke-Salter, Bailey. Booked: Dean, Davis.

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Charlton Athletic mark 100 years at The Valley

Darryl Chamberlain
Valley pitch invasion
Going up: fans invade the pitch after the play-off semi-final win over Doncaster Rovers in May

Today marks 100 years since the first Charlton Athletic match at The Valley. The centenary will be marked at tomorrow’s match against Birmingham City, with Lee Bowyer’s side hoping to continue its excellent start to the Championship season. The first match in what was then known simply as the Charlton Enclosure, a 2-0 win for Charlton’s “A” team against Summerstown, took place in the South Suburban League – league football was still two years away.

The Addicks were founded as a boys’ team at Siemens Meadow, by the present-day Thames Barrier, in 1905. They became a senior team in 1913 – capitalising on Arsenal’s move to north London – and took over a ground at Horn Lane, east Greenwich, roughly where Ikea is now. But the club closed during the First World War, and the Angerstein Athletic Ground was requisitioned as a petrol dump. After the war, a reborn club played friendlies at Charlton Park and the Rectory Field while the club’s board prepared for its future.

The earliest evidence of Charlton at The Valley is a letter found in Greenwich Council’s archives, dated January 18, 1919, asking to borrow a steam roller from the local council as the club was “engaged in laying out a sports ground in Floyd Road, Charlton”. On May 13, 1919, the club’s newly-elected president, the Conservative MP for Greenwich, Sir Ion Hamilton Benn, told a meeting at the Mission Hall in Troughton Road (now Rathmore Youth Club) that Charlton had been invited to join the Kent League and would be playing at the new ground.

Volunteers did the work of converting the Charlton Sand Pits – known locally as The Swamp – into a usable football ground. Sir Ion, whose influence greatly helped the fledgling club, offered to act as guarantor for £700 of the £1,000 needed to do the work – but all the money was raised locally.

Facilities were basic, as Jimmy Seed, the club’s legendary FA Cup-winning manager, was to write in 1958:

“What a dump it was in those days without a stand or dressing rooms. The players changed in a nearby house and took their meals in a local pub. I recall how dreary The Valley was in 1920 when I played there for the first time for the Spurs reserve team against Charlton in a friendly game… After a cold, wet and thoroughly miserable day we were unable to take a bath or a shower, but had to stroll to a nearby hut so that we could change into our dry clothes.”

The club finished fifth in the Kent League in its first season at The Valley, and went professional in 1920, joining the Southern League. The year after that, Charlton became a Football League club, when it elected ten clubs into its new Third Division South.

But the switch to League football – and the punishing cost of getting The Valley up to scratch – proved costly. An FA Cup run in 1922/23 brought in the crowds, with 41,023 squeezing in for a fourth-round match against Bolton – but fencing collapsed, injuring spectators, and the cost of compensation is said to have wiped out the profit. Crowds shrank again, and in December 1923 the directors wrote off any chance of Charlton being able to draw a decent crowd in Charlton itself – and upped sticks to The Mount, in Catford. That move was even bigger disaster, with even smaller crowds of just a thousand, and the club’s directors moved back home for the following season, tails between their legs.

In the decades to come, Charlton would rise to the First Division under Seed, and attract a record 75,031 to a 1938 match against Aston Villa. The club entered a slow decline after relegation from the top flight in the 1950s, with crowds falling away and the stadium starting to crumble – despite occasional initiatives like bringing camels to the ground…

By the 1980s, and the aftermath of the Bradford City and Heysel stadium disasters, the Greater London Council moved to close the ground’s vast East Terrace. That, and a property row, led the club to repeat its mistake of 1924 and move out of Charlton in 1985, this time to Selhurst Park, leaving The Valley derelict and overgrown.

After a lengthy fans’ campaign – first against the club, then Greenwich Council – the Addicks returned in 1992, and the rest is history. Each side of The Valley tells a particular part of the club’s recent history – the Jimmy Seed Stand, the away end, dates from the late 1970s and is the only surviving structure from the pre-1992 ground. The East Stand, completed in 1994, was the first permanent stand to be finished at the rebuilt Valley, the west stand came at the time of Charlton’s first promotion to the Premier League. The huge Covered End, finished in 2001, which faces Floyd Road, is probably the biggest reminder of the club’s spell in the top flight.

Around 2000, the club flirted with the idea of a move to the Millennium Dome site, and in the early 2010s a move to Morden Wharf on the Greenwich Peninsula was mooted by the club’s then-owners. But despite the anniversary falling under the shadow of Belgian electronics tycoon Roland Duchatelet’s eccentric ownership, there are no plans for a third move away. 100 years after the first match, it is very hard to imagine Charlton without The Valley.

Come back on Monday morning for KEVIN NOLAN’s report from the Birmingham City match. Acknowledgements: The Jimmy Seed Story by Jimmy Seed (Sportsmans Book Club, 1958); The Story of Charlton Athletic, 1905-1990 by Richard Redden (Breedon, 1990); Home and Away with Charlton Athletic 1920-2004 by Colin Cameron (Voice of The Valley, 2003)

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Cllr Gary Parker’s Charlton Ward Report: September 2019

Neil Clasper

What has Charlton ward councillor GARY PARKER been up to? Here’s his latest report.

Cllr Gary Parker

Dear Charlton Residents, this is my current ward report, this is a ‘snap shot’ of my recent activities it does not cover individual case work or a range of other meetings. I try to highlight a few key activities which maybe of general interest. Please contact me direct if you want more information- gary.parker [at] royalgreenwich.gov.uk; Twitter: @CllrG2013

Apologies that I have not reported for sometime, but I will try to get back to more regular reporting, in future.

The past year or so has seen the local elections, Euro elections, more Brexit issues and a lot of campaigning, I have done a lot of this both locally, regionally and nationally, which I did not expect to do, together with local street campaigning in the local and Euro elections. I have always supported Remain, but respect the views of Leave voters (I oppose Brexit, not them) and I hope that we can move beyond this issue in due course, though at the time of writing that looks doubtful to say the least!

New funding

Charlton-based organisations or those that support Charlton residents can now bid for new funding from the council. This includes the ward budget – your ward councillors want to give money to as many local organisations as possible within the £30,000 budget allowable and also from the Community Infrastructure Levy 2019 programme – a fund from actual development to support local neighbourhood wards including Charlton, the new programme with significant funding will be launched soon, in either late September or early October 2019 – for more info see www.royalgreenwich.gov.uk.

Planning & Development Issues

I have been working with local groups and individuals regarding a range of planning issues, yet again. I also support the local campaign to establish a Neighbourhood Planning Forum by Charlton Together and other groups/individuals and have had a number of meetings with local people about this on an individual basis. For more information, visit www.charltonneighbourhoodforum.com and click on ‘’Contact’’ to get in touch.

I opposed the recent application by Rockwell and spoke at the planning board meeting in July 2018 as did many local residents. The application was rejected and the Mayor of London ‘called in’ the decision for review and rejected it too. There is a large group of residents, community organisations, businesses and groups in the area actively opposing this development – I will support them as much as I can. Rockwell and Meyer Homes developers have both made eleventh hour appeals to the Secretary of State against rejection of their planning proposals, and Meyer Homes for a 24 storey tower in General Gordon Square, Woolwich. Greenwich Council’s Planning Board rejected the proposals in separate planning considerations in 2018, and the London Mayor turned down an appeal by Rockwell last January – this further appeal was submitted on 13 August, just two weeks before the six month deadline. The Secretary of State has decided both appeals will be determined through public inquiries, and both are opening on 19 November – Rockwell for 12 days, and Meyer Homes for 6. The council will be vigorously resisting both applications as will I as one of your local councillors.

Events & Engagements – A selection

I attended the meeting on Co-ops and community development on Tuesday 16th April at the Town Hall, which I am a strong advocate of and their capacity to create and support local jobs.I attended the Board meeting of the Royal Greenwich Heritage Trust on 14th May and a meeting with Speak Out Woolwich on regeneration issues in the area on 20th May. I also attended the AGM of Volunteer Centre Greenwich on 22nd May, which was an excellent event. Other events included:

  • The launch of the new Woolwich Creative District on 11/3/19
  • Met with the CEO of Royal Greenwich Heritage Trust about Charlton House and the re-location of the RGHT Heritage Archives 29/5
  • The Great Get Together event at Woolwich Arsenal on 29/6
  • CASE public meeting on new National Education Service
  • Unite Community SE Lnd Branch- spoke on Universal Credit issues on 19/6
  • Unions 2019 event in Woolwich on 22/6
  • SE London Business Network meeting on 2/7
  • Greenwich Housing Forum on 25/6

I supported the John Roan anti-academisation campaign and attended the picket line to support striking workers and supportive parents and also at the Halley Academy in Kidbrooke.

Surgeries and Casework

I am concerned about issues being raised regarding Universal Credit and Disability Benefit, some of which are shocking but due to confidentiality and GDPR rules I cannot go into details. I have a large amount of housing and planning related casework, community safety and crime related issues which is ongoing. I also dealt with some issues in Charlton Park related to alleged drug dealing, motorcycling, dangerous dogs and anti-social behaviour and continued graffiti and vandalism around the toilets. I am concerned about the escalation of such behaviour in Charlton Park and am working with my co-councillors to address this issue.

Council

I have attended all of the main council meetings in 2018/19 so far and have spoken on several occasions on issues including, Climate Change Emergency, Austerity and economic development and others

I attended the July 2019 full council meeting and other meetings including main overview and scrutiny panel meetings of which I am a member. This received reports from senior council officers and cabinet members about major issues in Greenwich. I chair the Regeneration, Culture and Transport Scrutiny Panel, which will shortly publish a review of Community Regeneration in Greenwich, which has taken nearly a year to complete and was developed in association with community representative from across the Borough; the report will be presented at the next meeting on 26th September 2019 or will be available online via the council’s website at www.royalgreenwich.gov.uk

You can contact Gary Parker and any other councillor via the Greenwich Council website.

 

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White Swan freeholder plans to shrink beer garden for new housebuilding plan

Darryl Chamberlain
The road to the house’s bin store would run through this outbuilding and the beer garden behind

The company that owns the freehold to the White Swan pub has made its fourth application to build on land behind the pub’s beer garden – taking a strip off the pub’s beer garden in doing so.

Isle of Man-based Mendoza Ltd, which makes money through buying pubs and turning part of the land into housing, again wants to build a three-bedroom house on land behind the pub, although with a new design that takes inspiration from the Swan’s neighbour, The Bugle Horn. The plan eight months after a planning inspector threw out its last attempt.

In an application submitted to Greenwich Council, it says that planning officers are now supportive of the scheme, which would see the house face the Torrance Close service road behind The Village.

This access route would be extended to the new house

However, the new plan involves using the yard at the side of the pub – and part of the beer garden – as an access route so council bin lorries can collect refuse from the new house by driving in from The Village. Plans submitted by Mendoza show the road running through an outbuilding and the east side of the beer garden. Greenwich Council had told the developer that its bin lorries were too big to use Torrance Close.

The beer garden will be used on Sunday for a Charlton and Woolwich Free Film Festival screening of Life of Brian.

While Torrance Close had been seen as unsuitable for new homes by many, the planning inspector who dealt with the last application did not agree, saying: “The local area to which the site belongs [Torrance Close] has an air of neglect and to my mind is capable of successfully accommodating a bespoke form of new development.

“The conservation area itself has no single unifying architectural theme and there is no obvious reason why it could not in principle readily assimilate a variety of new dwellings in terms of size and style.”

The access route to the bin store can be seen on maps submitted with the planning application

The developer says the design of the home is informed by “a visual analysis of the area”, citing the Bugle Horn and Charlton Assembly Rooms. “The immediate site context is interspersed with Victorian outhouses, chimneys, single and gable- pitched roofs, brick ornamentation, linear facades and window surrounds,” it says. “There is a sense of establishment with most buildings with specular geometries added to address function and enhance the parent form.”

Mendoza render of new White Swan home
How Mendoza says the new home would look

Mendoza bought the pub from previous owner Punch Taverns in March 2015, evicting the then-management three months later. A first attempt at development, to build two homes, in October 2015, was thrown out by Greenwich Council planners. That decision was upheld by a planning inspector. A second attempt was rejected earlier in 2017. The third attempt, for one three-bedroom house, was rejected by council planners in December 2017 and again by a planning inspector in January. The pub was declared an asset of community value in March 2014, although this has now lapsed.

It is four years this month since the once-tatty pub was taken over by Geoff Keen, owner of Greenwich’s Pelton Arms. It recently launched a new menu on Tuesdays to Sundays, with a vegan pop-up, Rocket, in place on Monday evenings.

Plans can be seen on Greenwich Council’s planning website, reference 19/2600/F. Comments should be sent to the council by 2 October.

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