A London mayoral hopeful has voiced fears for the future of the Thames Barrier’s visitor centre after it was revealed visitor numbers have dropped sharply over the past three years.
Liberal Democrat Mike Tuffrey, who hopes to become the party’s candidate in next year’s election, said the fall in visitors was a “serious concern”.
The London Assembly member said: “At a time when awareness of flooding needs to be increased, I suggest that perhaps the centre could be doing more to engage with the public.”
Between April 2007 and March 2008, 15,191 people visited the centre, but this had fallen to 9,351 in the year to March 2011.
In a letter to the Environment Agency’s chairman, Lord Smith of Finsbury, he said many of the exhibits were “somewhat dated” and did not address the threat to the river from untreated sewage.
“I would be grateful if you could provide some assurances that the Environment Agency is committed to maintaining the centre and is planning improvements,” he continued.
“It is an important asset for London and a public showcase for the agency. An updated information centre, properly marketed, could attract far more visitors each year and would be hugely beneficial for your work and London.”
An Environment Agency spokesperson told the Mercury that the fall in numbers was down to fewer school parties visiting since its learning centre closed, but it had a target of 15,000 visitors for the current year.
Laura Johnson appears as far removed as is possible from the lawless “underclass” said to have been blighting Britain’s streets.
The 19–year–old is a high–flying pupil who attended St Olave’s Grammar School – the fourth best performing state school in the country.
She is now reading English and Italian at the University of Exeter.
However, Miss Johnson now stands accused, along with two others, in connection with the alleged theft of £5,000 of goods from the Stonelake Retail Park in Charlton, south London.
The goods were allegedly found in a car being driven by Miss Johnson.
It was claimed that they were stolen from a Comet store [sic]. Miss Johnson appeared before Bexleyheath magistrates’ court where she indicated a plea of not guilty to five counts of burglary.
Her parents, Robert and Lindsay Johnson, live in a large detached farmhouse in Orpington in Kent. They bought the house, which has extensive grounds and a tennis court, in 2006.
Before moving there they sold their previous house, 10 miles away near Greenwich, for £930,000.
Mr Johnson is a successful businessman, with directorships in several companies. The couple run Avongate, a direct marketing company. Mr Johnson was also a director in a company that took over the Daily Sport and Sunday Sport newspapers in 2007.
Miss Johnson was granted bail on condition that she does not associate with her co–accused, wears an electronic tag, submits to a curfew between 7pm and 6am and does not enter any London postcode. Both her parents were in court to offer her their support.
She is due to return to the court on Sept 21 when her case is expected to be committed to the Inner London Crown Court.
Most shops and businesses in Charlton had closed by the middle of Tuesday afternoon as fears grew of further riots across south-east London. In Charlton Village, all premises were closed except the Bugle Horn pub and the new Baguette sandwich bar.
Down the hill, the clean-up continued after a night of looting at the local retail parks. Charlton Champion reader Simon captured the scene in the Greenwich Shopping Park, and the debris from a night’s thieving was still obvious around the foot of Victoria Way this morning, with piles of wrappings adding to the usual clutter in the alley leading to the GSP.
Despite rumours carried by a local newspaper website, there was no fire at Asda, which opened for business as usual. Argos, Staples and the Carphone Warehouse were all closed, along with other clothing and electrical retailers.
But the worst damage, though, was at the Stone Lake Retail Park, where PC World and Currys were looted and daubed with graffiti. This afternoon, PC World staff were removing stock from the store.
It’s not known when the affected stores will be back in operation.
Greenwich Borough Commander Richard Wood said last night’s scenes were “utterly unacceptable”, adding “I will do everything in my power to ensure that those involved are caught.”
He continued: “I urge everyone in the borough of Greenwich to clear the way for police at night so that we can deal with those criminals who intend to bring disruption to our area. Also, people must not to take matters in their own hands and have to let the police deal with incidents in a law abiding manner.
“I ask parents, schools, local leaders and others to stand together and convey the message that the crime and disorder we have witnessed will not be tolerated. I have spoken to many people across the borough today and without exception, they are appalled by the outrageous criminal acts of thuggery that took place.
“Many arrests have already been made, but I would ask everyone to work with police and help us to identify those involved so that we can arrest them at the first opportunity.
“We continue to work with the Council and other emergency services to ensure that we keep everyone in Greenwich safe.
“Above all, we remain unfaltering and united in tackling criminals on our streets and look for support from you, the community we serve.”
Anyone with information can call police on 101, or images and video can be e-mailed to rgviido@gmail.com.
The grimmest night in south-east London I can remember. Seeing masked youths swarming around the alleyway to Asda and the Greenwich Shopping Park felt inevitable, seeing discarded clothing wrappers across Victoria Way wasn’t. Looters’ cars racing up Victoria Way rammed it home – and no police in sight.
There’s been a lot of nonsense spread about tonight, both by social media and by broadcast media, including persistent rumours that Asda was on fire. A caller claimed on LBC a little while ago there were 500 looters at work and a police officer was run over by them. Did you see anything? If you saw anything in Charlton, please share it below.
There’s a new sandwich shop in The Village. ThePirateKing reports:
Was passing at lunch time and bought six sandwiches for the gang. All good. Prices v reasonable at £2.20 for a stuffed sandwich. Also things like scrambled eggs on toast for £2.50. Was busy and the staff and owner seemed a little overwhelmed, but am sure they enjoyed the trade. A very welcome addition to Charlton Village.
Anybody else visited yet? Any thoughts? From passing by earlier, it’s certainly added a bit of life to the village, and that’s only after being open for a day and a half…
How the Travelodge's backers hope Woolwich Road will look 12 months from now
Greenwich Council’s planning board backed building a Travelodge hotel in Charlton last night – with the scheme’s backers pledging to get it up and running before the Olympics.
The seven-member panel unanimously endorsed the plan to build a 120-room hotel at the junction of Woolwich Road and Victoria Way, along with a supermarket on its ground floor and a standalone restaurant next to the Greenwich Shopping Park.
But council leader Chris Roberts, who sits on the planning board, raised worries that the restaurant could be a “magnet for people to hang around” if it was let to the wrong tenant.
While the scheme’s backers said it should be “predominantly a sit-down restaurant and coffee shop”, and the conditions were made on the planning permission to encourage this, Cllr Roberts said he was “still nervous” about the eatery.
“It could be a sit-down fried chicken restaurant,” he said, but added that with an 11pm closing time, “It should be no more disruptive than a pub.”
Even though the Olympics are less than a year away, Travelodge’s representative said the hotel should be open by July 2012, with much of the construction work being done off-site.
The development sits on the site of a demolished retail and industrial estate which was left vacant for use in the now-scrapped Greenwich Waterfront Transit scheme.
Concerns were raised about the height of the building, with Cllr Roberts commenting that it seemed to face its car park rather than the Woolwich Road. The Greenwich Conservation Group said the design was “mediocre” and the lobby looked “mean and uninviting”.
How the site looks now, facing Woolwich Road
How the development will affect the road junction at Victoria Way was left undecided after local resident Simon Hall called for the zebra crossing to be moved west, to line up with a revamped footpath and cycle route through to the Asda supermarket. It was decided the scheme’s backers should have more discussions with local residents and planning officials on what to do about the junction.
Mr Hall, who lives on Woolwich Road, told the meeting he was worried about the junction being made more complicated with the addition of a hotel.
“I’ve lived there for 11 years, and I dread crossing the road, especially with my two-year-old daughter. We’re keen that this is sorted out,” he said, adding he would prefer to see traffic lights at the junction.
Council planners, who had originally proposed moving the junction 2.5 metres to the east, said discussions with Transport for London had ruled out traffic lights at the junction, and creating a crossroads there would not be feasible.
But Cllr Roberts supported Mr Hall, saying: “I don’t care what the mayor thinks about traffic lights – if it needs traffic lights, it needs traffic lights.”
Mr Hall also called for the hotel to invest in signage to promote attractions in Charlton such as Charlton House, the village and the Thames Barrier. He saw his suggestion adapted as a condition in the planning application to promote local tourism.
Plumstead councillor Sajid Jawaid, a former resident of the area, said he was “really glad” to see the site being developed, but said Mr Hall’s ideas “need to be taken seriously”.
Kidbrooke with Hornfair councillor Hayley Fletcher said: “It is refreshing to hear a [planning] applicant that is listening to local people.”
A little outside this site’s normal area, but still worth noting anyway. Plans to build a school on a sports ground in Hervey Road, Kidbrooke were formally dropped by Greenwich Council at its cabinet meeting last night.
The council had planned to move Willow Dene special school from its current site in Plumstead to Hervey Road. It was claimed it would replace outdated facilities at the school’s original site, while the new location would be easier for pupils to travel to.
However, with the scheme facing years of delays because of planning issues about building on open space, the council formally backed down last night and endorsed plans to rebuild Willow Dene on its existing site at Swingate Lane.
In the years since the council first proposed the scheme, the Hervey Road field has become dilapidated – with locals taking advantage of holes in the fence to use it as an unofficial park.
The Save Hervey Road Sports Field group now hopes to keep the site as an open space in community use. It does seem bizarre that with Greenwich borough hosting Olympic events next year, that the council has been content to let a sports field go to rack and ruin – hopefully it can be put to better use in the months and years to come.
The council had planned to move 
The Charlton Champion 