News

Greenwich councillors give Thames Barrier ravers permission to hold new event

Joe Coughlan, Local Democracy Reporter

Flyer for Rave in the Car Park

A panel of Greenwich councillors have given permission for another rave by the Thames Barrier, despite noise complaints from past events and fears from police that it could attract gang violence.

The event, called Rave in the Park, will begin at 10.30pm on Saturday April 29 and finish at 5.30am the next day. Unlike five past parties held on the site, this one will be held indoors.

Locals submitted over 30 complaints for previous events, including from residents in flats across the Thames, leading to neighbouring Newham Council sending a warning to the promoter, Andy Mills.

Last month Mills – also known as Andreas Millios – had applied to Greenwich for a permanent licence for the car park at the Bunker 51 paintballing venue in Herringham Road, next to the Barrier. But it was later withdrawn and planning issues mean no further events can be held in the car park.

This event would be held within Bunker 51 itself, which is largely underground.

Bunker 51
The event will be held inside Bunker 51

At a Greenwich licensing meeting last week Mills claimed that the complaints from Newham residents were confirmed to be in relation to another venue. He also said that a Greenwich officer believed complaints from locals south of the river during another event were incorrectly directed at Rave in the Park.

Mills said: “There’s been a lot of complaints and stuff like that, but none of them have ever been proven to be myself. I’ve got a big background of noise, sound and production. I build music festivals and stuff like that and I put everything in place the best I can for these events so they run smoothly so we have no problems.”

But police licensing officer Sam Bobb spoke against the plans, saying alcohol and drug-related issues could arise from such late events due to strained police resources.

The site falls within the former Woolwich Riverside ward, which Bobb said had “previously had the highest recorded crime within the borough of Greenwich. There are concerns that the attendees could, in the lack of their geographical knowledge, find themselves falling foul of gangs or crime in the area, exposing themselves to assaults or muggings.”

Darryl Crossman, Mills’ representative, said Bobb had not given any figures to prove the high crime rate in the area.

Crossman said: “Mr Mills has held several events there successfully so we must give him credit for those… With light of the residents’ complaints that were going ahead, he decided to hold the event [inside] Bunker 51, which is obviously incurring extra costs, but the idea behind that is the sound will be restricted and that noise will be completely limited to attract zero complaints from residents.”

Mills said there would be signs at the event to remind patrons to be considerate of neighbours, with stewards and security directing people out of the event once it has finished.

The council announced yesterday that the licensing sub-committee – councillors Matt Morrow, Cathy Dowse and Sam Littlewood – had granted permission for the event.

In 2018, the developer Komoto applied to build up to 500 homes on the site, which was home to the Johnsen & Jorgensen glass works until the early 1980s. Revised proposals were submitted in 2021, but little has happened since with the scheme, called Flint Glass Wharf.

Additional reporting by Darryl Chamberlain

LDRS logoJoe Coughlan is the Local Democracy Reporter for Greenwich. The Local Democracy Reporter Scheme is a BBC-funded initiative to ensure councils are covered properly in local media.
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We’ve reached the end of the road – The Charlton Champion will close this spring

Darryl Chamberlain2 Comments

Bramshot Avenue at twilight

We’ve covered well over a thousand stories, and brought you all kinds of news about Charlton. But this one’s about us. Site editor DARRYL CHAMBERLAIN has an announcement to make.

I’m sad to say that after nearly 13 years, The Charlton Champion will be closing this spring. We’re making this announcement now in case anyone wants to pick up where we have left off, and to give warning to the kind people who have helped fund the site over the past few years.

The main reason for this is that I no longer have enough time to do a community news site for the Charlton area justice. Our sister website, 853.london, has grown over the past few years and demands much more of my time than it used to.

Running two websites on a part-time basis was always a tall order – and eventually something had to give.

I’m enormously grateful to those who have helped with the site over the years – particularly Neil Clasper, who has devoted much of his spare time to keeping things running when I have been away – and to all those who have donated their hard-earned cash to make sure the bills are paid.

But over the past couple of years it has also become harder to convince community groups and other organisations in Charlton that having a locally-run, locally-owned website that can carry their news is a useful thing.

I’ve always been a strong believer that our local media should be run from SE London, not Silicon Valley. But many local groups choose to promote their activities on social media outlets, helping them grow their reach for advertising, rather than letting us know about them so we can do the same.

Ultimately, that makes what we do unsustainable.

Trying to fix this and (re)build the relationships needed would take time that I can no longer put in. We’ve lasted for much, much longer than other comparable websites – but all good things must come to an end. The archives will stay live for the foreseeable future, and Kevin Nolan’s peerless match reports from Charlton games will continue elsewhere – keep your eyes peeled for more details.

Unless, of course, you want to pick up the baton. I’d be very happy to help host and contribute to the site if others are willing to pick it up – there is some money in the pot here at Flyover Media CIC, the community interest company which runs this and 853, to help keep it going.

Talk to me if you’re interested – email charltonchampion.se7[at]gmail.com. But if nobody steps forward, we will be closing in May. Until then, we’ll keep going as normal.

To those who have supported us, thank you.

White Swan: Developer plans flats above pub in ‘affluent’ Charlton

Darryl Chamberlain
The White Swan
The White Swan closed in March 2020 and still displays Six Nations rugby paraphernalia

The property developer that owns the closed White Swan pub is applying to Greenwich Council to convert the first floor into two flats.

Isle of Man-based Mendoza Ltd claims that it is “common to have residential units above a public house” and insists that the proposal would not affect the viability of the pub, which would be restricted to the ground floor and beer garden.

The company, which bought the freehold from Punch Taverns for £900,000 in 2015, won planning permission nearly two years ago to build a house on part of the beer garden after a casting vote from the council’s then-chair of planning, Stephen Brain.

However, despite submitting proposals that would have seen the house completed in October last year, work on the house has not started.

A marketing assessment from Jenkins Law, which had been marketing the pub on behalf of Mendoza, describes Charlton as “a densely-populated affluent suburb” and falsely claims that the pub ceased trading in November 2019.

In fact, the pub, which is an asset of community value, closed just before the first coronavirus lockdown in March 2020, after a lengthy battle to pay the rents demanded by Mendoza. At the time Mendoza insisted that it was committed to reopening the pub.

A planning consultant for Mendoza conceded that the rents may have been too high in the meeting which approved the house behind the beer garden.

Charlton and Woolwich Free Film Festival screening of They Shall Not Grow Old at the White Swan
The Charlton and Woolwich Free Film Festival were regular users of the pub’s upstairs rooms

Jenkins Law says the pub was initially on the market at £50,000 per year before being reduced to £40,000 per year. The company says four potential occupiers viewed the pub but concluded the area did not have enough footfall and that they would struggle to compete with the nearby Bugle Horn.

It is “unrealistic for the property to continue in community use”, Jenkins Law said.

Losing the upper floor would mean a reopened pub would be unable to host events such as the Charlton and Woolwich Film Festival, which regularly used its function room; while the upstairs bar frequently accommodated fans after Charlton Athletic matches.

It took Mendoza four attempts to get permission to build the house, and now the developer has shown its hand a similar lengthy tussle could now begin.

In July, Greenwich Council began an investigation after plasterwork collapsed from the ceiling of the Swan. Neither Glasshouse Asset Management, Mendoza’s property agent, not ECF, which was looking after the company’s communications, responded to a request for comment at the time.

The application can be seen on Greenwich Council’s planning website, where comments can also be left. Comments can also be sent to planning[at]royalgreenwich.gov.uk, citing reference 22/2746/F.

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Plumstead brewery Common Rioters plans ‘beer café’ at closed Blackheath Standard bank

Darryl Chamberlain2 Comments
Barclays Bank, Blackheath Standard
The bank closed its doors on 15 January

A Plumstead-based brewery is hoping to turn the former Barclays branch at the Royal Standard into a “beer café” – just weeks after the bank closed its doors for the final time.

Common Rioters has submitted a planning application to Greenwich Council to change the building’s use – the first stage in a journey it hopes will end with its own bar and place to brew its beers.

The three-year-old brewery, run by Stephen and Maryann O’Connor, takes its name from the Plumstead Common rioters, whose revolt in 1876 saved the open space from being destroyed by a developer.

They had originally hoped to take on a unit at the Jack’s Acre development on Rochester Way in Eltham, but when that fell through, Stephen told The Charlton Champion that he spotted the Blackheath bank building was being let.

“We’re into learning about historical and modern styles of brewing coupled with peoples’ history,” he said. “Not yet having a commercial brew kit or place to brew means that until now we’ve relied on friends in the industry to brew our beers with. Our beers have been available at a select few pubs in the area and at our Plumsteadshire stall, which pops up in various locations as well as online. Following the theme of our stall somewhat we intend to have guest brewery appearances at our pub alongside many other non-beer items for enjoyment.

“The opportunity to bring The Green Goddess to Blackheath in an iconic building was too good to miss.”

Common Rioters’ interest in the bank comes less than two months after it closed. Barclays announced it was shutting the branch – the last bank at the Royal Standard – in October, and it closed its doors on 15 January. Nearby, the former NatWest branch has not yet found a tenant nearly three years after the state-owned bank pulled out of the area.

The brewery is currently selling beers from other suppliers though its online shop, with free delivery in SE7 and other Greenwich borough addresses every Friday.

While all pubs are closed because of the lockdown, there have been hopeful signs for SE7 drinkers looking for a decent pint once the restrictions have passed, despite the loss of the White Swan a year ago.

Matchday favourite The Royal Oak on Charlton Lane is being refurbished under new management and is planning to serve food during the week, while the once-notorious White Horse on Woolwich Road has also been given a makeover.

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Join a Charlton coronavirus community meeting: Make sure nobody gets left behind

Darryl Chamberlain
xxx
You can help the community in Charlton get through the pandemic

With coronavirus cases on the rise again, Greenwich Council’s public health team wants to know what it can do to support you and those you care about as the pandemic goes on.

The team are working their way through different parts of the borough holding community meetings. Everyone is at risk from Covid-19, but the risk is higher for some – such as those who live in deprivation, in dense housing, bedsits, people from black and minority ethnic groups.

Nobody knows this community like those who live here, and to make sure nobody is forgotten in Charlton, the team is inviting residents to a Zoom meeting on Wednesday morning to talk about what happened during the first wave of the virus, who missed out on help, and what can be done now to help people through the coming months.

Just as importantly, with social media spreading false claims about the virus, it is a chance to find out what is really happening with the pandemic.

Overall, the aim is to keep the spread of the virus as low as possible and to and help everyone stay protected.

The public health team have identified an area of Charlton they’re particularly interested in hearing from – see the map below.

Charlton health neighbourhood

The meeting is at 10am on Wednesday 28th October. All are welcome.

To find out how to take part, email kelly-ann.ibrahim[at]royalgreenwich.gov.uk and she’ll send you the Zoom link.

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Coronavirus in Charlton: Sainsbury’s ‘listening to feedback’ after older shoppers’ hour failed to take place

Darryl Chamberlain
Sainsbury’s promised an hour exclusively for older shoppers – but it did not happen at its Charlton Riverside store

Sainsbury’s says it is “listening to feedback after its Charlton Riverside branch did not reserve its first hour of opening for older shoppers to help them stock up during the Covid-19 pandemic, as promised by the supermarket giant’s chief executive.

In a statement to the media yesterday, Mike Coupe said “we will set aside the first hour in every supermarket this Thursday, 19th March, for elderly and vulnerable customers”.

However, one Charlton Champion reader, Joy Brown, told this website that the store’s manager simply let all customers in when the doors opened at 7am.

“He refused to allow even a ten minute window and said everyone must take their chance before disappearing into his hidey-hole. You can imagine what happened when everyone was let in at the same time and the disadvantaged were jostled and shoved by the younger customers,” she said.

Brown’s experience was backed up by social media users. “Queues are longer than the aisles, elderly forced to wait alongside the rest of the general public,” wrote Joey Brown.

Sandra Smith wrote: “Unless 60 percent of them had had a recent face-lift, you did not deliver your promise. My 90 year mum went for three items, toilet paper, Oats and Kitchen roll. Got none!”

Greenwich and Woolwich MP Matt Pennycook said he had also heard about issues at the Sainsbury’s store and that he was concerned that the government was complacent about the pandemic’s outbreak on food supplies. “From the large number of reports I’m receiving, many local supermarkets are either not taking action to limit overbuying or are struggling to enforce such a policy and more worryingly are failing to ensure older people have dedicated shopping hours to secure essential supplies,” he said.

A Sainsbury’s spokesperson told The Charlton Champion: “A Sainsbury’s spokesperson said, “We asked our customers to respect our decision to dedicate an hour in our supermarkets this morning to serving the elderly and vulnerable and work with us as we try our best to help those that need it the most. We’re listening to feedback from our customers and colleagues and understand some stores faced challenges supporting the hour.”

If you’re doing something special to help local communities get through the Covid-19 crisis, drop us an email and we’ll try to feature it on the site.

Charlton fans helping Greenwich Foodbank at The Valley this week

Darryl Chamberlain
Fans Supporting Foodbanks will be collecting outside The Valley on Tuesday and Friday evenings this week

Charlton Athletic fans are being asked to help Greenwich Foodbank this week by donating non-perishable food at the club’s two home matches on Tuesday and Friday evenings.

A similar appeal last year resulted in local families in need receiving 1,000 meals. With the promoted club experiencing a spike in attendances, Fans Supporting Foodbanks will be hoping to beat that number this year.

You’ll find a collection point in The Valley’s car park from 6.15pm on Tuesday, ahead of the match against Huddersfield Town, and from 6.15pm on Friday, before the Hull City game. You don’t have to be going to the match to donate.

The food bank is looking for food with a long shelf life and that doesn’t require refrigeration. Examples include cereals, rice, long life milk or canned meat or fish. It currently has plenty of beans and pasta but is in great need of tinned fruit, tinned carrots, tinned peas, long-life fruit juice and tinned rice/custard.

If you can’t make it to The Valley, there are collection points at Charlton House, Sainsbury’s Charlton Riverside and Charlton Asda.

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