Did you get along to the exhibition about the plans for a new Sainsbury’s and M&S? Reservations about inviting even more traffic to the area aside, it all looks fine to me, and I like the developers’ ambitions to try to open up new routes to the riverside.

I do know one senior figure on Greenwich Council – Woolwich Riverside councillor John Fahy – has voiced reservations that further developing Charlton’s retail offerings could damage Woolwich town centre. He’s got a point, but that’s not stopped Greenwich Council before. Bearing in mind the first retail barns opened 30 years ago, and Asda was unveiled in 1984, that ship seems to have sailed away a long time ago.

But I do have one quibble. The name. Currently, the development has the working title of The Meridian Centre. But the meridian is in Greenwich, and this is in Charlton. So surely it should have a name which celebrates SE7, rather than clinging to the skirt of SE10? It’s bad enough having the “Greenwich Shopping Park” sat down the road.

But what, though? Most of the street names in the area have connections with the river – Gallions Road, Bugsbys Way, Derrick Gardens, Anchor & Hope Lane. Actually, the Anchor & Hope Centre could be nice, even if it sounds like the pub’s gained a huge extension. Or what about one of the big, long-gone riverside industries?

Maybe a celebration of the football club? Bartram Parade? The Valley Centre? The Sir Chris Powell Shopping Park?

I’m flailing around a bit here, but The Meridian Centre just doesn’t cut it for me. If you have any suggestions, share them here. This could be your chance to leave your mark.

Charlton should be reunited under one parliamentary constituency, Greenwich & Woolwich MP Nick Raynsford told a public hearing into proposed boundary changes on Monday.

The area has been split between Mr Raynsford’s seat and Clive Efford’s Eltham constituency since the last election, but proposed changes provided an opportunity to bring Charlton back under one MP, he said.

A Boundary Commission report suggests splitting the Greenwich & Woolwich seat as part of nationwide changes designed to cut the number of MPs – leaving Charlton divided between a new Woolwich seat and an Eltham constituency that would stretch as far as Sidcup and Blackfen.

But Mr Raynsford told the hearing at Lewisham Town Hall he endorses an alternative proposal put forward by the London Labour Party, which would see Greenwich and Woolwich retained, gaining Lewisham borough’s Blackheath ward and the Kidbrooke with Hornfair ward which takes in the southern part of Charlton.

This, he said, would mean both Greenwich and Blackheath would both be represented by one MP (current plans would split Greenwich) and, Charlton, “a community with a historic core”, would also be reunited he said.

Referring to Charlton House’s position “at the heart” of the area, he said the boundary between the Greenwich & Woolwich and Eltham seats “comes almost to the southern edge of Charlton House”.

Current arrangements do not “comfortably represent Charlton as a community”, he added. At present the border between the two seats runs along Indus Road and Canberra Road.

Labour’s proposals for south-east London seats also include the creation of a new Eltham & Plumstead constituency and retaining the Erith & Thamesmead seat currently represented by Teresa Pearce. While the Boundary Commission suggests a new Deptford & Greenwich seat, Labour suggests a Deptford & Nunhead seat as well as retaining an expanded Greenwich & Woolwich.

The hearing continues tomorrow, with Clive Efford and representatives of Greenwich borough’s Conservatives and Liberal Democrats due to speak.

Wednesday update: Here’s the local Conservatives’ take on the boundary issues. Local Liberal Democrats also support the Boundary Commissions proposed changes.

Remember these? In 1999, a controlled parking zone was introduced across parts of Charlton, Blackheath and Greenwich because of fears the area would be overrun by Millennium Dome visitors sneakily avoiding the “no-car zone” around the peninsula.

As everyone knows, visitor numbers for the Dome were wildly overestimated, and if I remember correctly, the restrictions were lifted with a month or two to go. The parking bays stayed, though, and some controlled parking zones were created – in Charlton, one was created around the station. In other areas, parking remained – and remains – free in the spaces.

But the permits could return for the Olympics. It’s already been confirmed that the Charlton controlled parking zone will run from 0830-2100 seven days a week between 28 July and 6 August, and 30 August and 6 September 2012 to stop people parking up to visit the North Greenwich Arena (Dome/ O2).

But residents and visitors outside the zone could have to use Olympic permits under plans to ensure that visitors to the Dome, Greenwich Park and the Royal Artillery Barracks don’t park in back streets and take the train instead, according to plans revealed by LOCOG today.

(Longer term, it’s likely those streets could become part of parking zones as part of Greenwich Council spending cuts. But that’s another story.)

I’ve written more about the plans on 853, but you can find out more on Friday between 9am-6pm, and Saturday between 9am-5pm, at an exhibition at Devonport House, King William Walk, Greenwich. It’s worth a look – even if you don’t drive or have a car – because life around here is going to be very different for a few weeks next summer, and forewarned is forearmed…

Interesting news from Vancouver, where a five feet by eight feet drawing of Maryon Park is the lead piece in an art exhibition in the Canadian city. It took artist Adrian Walker five years to complete the piece after visiting Charlton in 2006.

Like many other visitors, Walker was alerted to the South London park’s beauty through its appearance in the 1966 Michelangelo Antonioni movie “Blow Up”. He knew he would one day create a painting of Maryon Park. The scene became an obsession, realised during a 2006 visit to London to attend the Jeff Wall exhibition at the Tate Modern. An assistant to Wall in the early 1990s, Walker is now an Instructor in the Media Arts, Art & Technology in tertiary education.

“I’d already seen a series of photographs of Maryon Park taken for ‘Blow Up’,” says Walker.

“Confronting Jeff Wall’s large-scale black and white photographs at the Tate Modern gave me the final impetus I needed to embark on the project.”

Walker visited Maryon Park, taking numerous photographs. On his return to Canada he re-worked them in Photoshop to give the image a menacing and brooding feeling in line with the enigmatic movie scene. The next phase was sketches and drawings. “ I proceeded to develop several studies in oil on masonite. These suggested to me the scale and overall palette,” says Walker.

The artist chose graphite powder as his medium as he liked the tactile feeling of working powdered pigment with his fingers. It was also a way of imparting a sense of depth and gesture onto the 40 square foot canvas. “From the early stages , it was clear I would end up building this image up through many successive layers of graphite powder.” he says. The final black and white execution is a compliment to the imposing character of Maryon Park and its starring role in Blow Up.

If you happen to be in Vancouver, the exhibition is at Walker’s school, York House, until 10 November.

Springwatch host Kate Humble and athlete Roger Black were in Charlton Park this morning launching a scheme to protect Britain’s open spaces from development.

Save A Space For Me – part of the Queen Elizabeth II Fields Challenge – aims to permanently protect 2,012 open spaces, including footpaths, paths and playing fields, from development. The idea is to create a legacy from next year’s Olympics and Diamond Jubilee.

Visitors can nominate their local open spaces, and volunteer to help look after them too.

Humble and Black were joined by children from Charlton Manor primary school, Greenwich mayor Jim Gillman, Olympics cabinet member John Fahy and Eltham MP Clive Efford.

Humble said: “Research shows time outdoors is good for us, both physically, and mentally – but we don’t need research to prove it, as we all know a couple of hours outside in the fresh air makes us feel a whole lot better than sitting in front of a computer, or lying on the sofa eating crisps.

“Sadly, many of our parks and open spaces are under threat, and there is increasing pressure on local authorities to sell off green spaces. They’re valuable economically, but that’s very short-termist. We’ve got to think long term.”

Before challenging the Charlton Manor pupils to a race across the park, Roger Black hailed a “great” project, adding: “There was one word which kept coming up when we were bidding for the Olympics – legacy. That’s been a real challenge for people – for some it’s the buildings, for others it’s about the medals, but for me it’s always been about these guys here.

“It’s been about every child in this country knowing what the Olympics stands for, enjoying sport and getting engaged in sport, and that can’t happen if we don’t have spaces like this across the country.”

One local open space which has been under threat has been Hervey Road playing field in Kidbrooke, just half a mile from Charlton Park, and until recently was the planned site for a new special school to replace one in Plumstead.

“The council is going to be reaching a decision shortly on the development of Willow Dene school on its original site,” John Fahy said. “This will give us an opportunity to look at the future of Hervey Road, which in the long term I believe will be sustainable.”

To “save a space”, visit www.qe2fields.com.

You may know about this already, a letter may have appeared on the doormat this morning. In fact, a letter appeared on 13,000 people’s doormats this morning.

Sainsbury’s and developers LXB want to hear your feedback on proposals to build a new store in Charlton’s retail parks, set to be the biggest in the country. It’s being held on Friday 21st (1.00pm – 6.00pm) and Saturday 22nd October (10.00am – 3.00pm). The venue is the former council office at Valley House, 445 Woolwich Road (see picture, it’s opposite the BP Garage).

The Sainsbury’s is proposed to be on the northern end of the plot of land highlighted above. There will be four other retail units to the south of this development, connected to Woolwich Road. This website understands that negotiations are underway with Marks & Spencer to occupy the larger of these units with a clothes and food store. The other three are being reserved for smaller, and perhaps more “local” shops.

As for the Sainsbury’s, its promoters say it will be a lot more “eco” than the current store without necessarily looking like it is. There will be a small nature reserve at its rear, car charging points and energy-efficient fibre-optic lighting, and it will recycle its own cooking oil. Additionally, there will be canopy walkways for the pedestrian and new markings will alter the roads in the locality, with traffic lights being installed at the bottom of Gallions Road.

So, make sure you make the trip and have your say. See you there.