The Charlton Champion

Here’s a date for your diary if you live in the central part of Charlton – 31 January at 7pm. That’s when there’s a “meet your councillors” event at the Charlton Liberal Club, held by the Charlton Central Residents Association.

Charlton is unfortunate in that it’s divided into four different wards, Charlton, Kidbrooke with Hornfair, Peninsula and Woolwich Riverside, with the boundaries slicing right through some important areas (a stroll from Charlton post office to the Stone Lake retail park will take you through three of those wards).

Do you hear from your councillors very often? I can’t say I ever hear from the Charlton trio outside of election time – which is why the “meet your councillors” event caught my attention. You may have had a different experience from me, mind. Peninsula ward’s Mary Mills is that rare thing, a blogging Greenwich councillor – see Mary’s Diary – and also sends out regular e-mails detailing what’s happening on her patch. But what about the other SE7 wards?

I might well sneak along to hear what my councillors have to say. But I’d love to hear what your experiences have been with local councillors – have they been helpful or hopeless? If it’s the former, let’s celebrate it, and if it’s the latter – what can we do to improve matters?

You might have seen the return of Michael Portillo’s wonderful BBC2 series Great British Railway Journeys, in which the hardline politician-turned-genial conversationalist tours the nation with just a battered copy of a Victorian railway guide, to see how the trains have changed Britain.

Tuesday’s instalment was all about the capital – Waterloo to Canary Wharf. But where he actually ended up was Charlton; chatting in the Anchor & Hope beer garden, going out on a barge from the nearby Cory yard, and musing aloud on the London-bound platform at Charlton station. Well, we’ve all done that, haven’t we?

I’m told there’s a few inaccuracies in his description of riverside life, but on the whole the programme’s a great watch – indeed, it’s a fascinating series. If you missed last night’s programme, you can watch it again on BBC iPlayer.

Happy new year! What would you like to see happen in Charlton over the coming 12 months. Here’s a few ideas from myself – obviously they reflect my own views and prejudices, which you may well know too much about anyway, so I’m more interested in what you’d like to see in SE7 in 2011.

1. A decent pub in Charlton Village. 2010 saw a valiant attempt to bring the village’s White Swan into the 21st century. The old decor was ripped out, a new landlord came in, a few olives were placed at the bar, and… it all shuddered to a halt as the Swan turned from a tatty but strangely cosy bolthole to a tatty boozer with no carpets. Having two female friends of mine harangued at the bar by a knot of sad old punters one summer evening reminded me not to return. The landlord threw in the towel during the autumn – so what will happen to the Swan? Will it become a destination worth hauling up the hill for – or is its decline set in stone? I hope it’s the former. Maybe we’ll return to pubs during the year…

2. Cleaner, safer streets. This has been a bugbear of mine for years, and it certainly drove the now-departed Charlton Average to distraction. But the lack of care and effort taken in looking after the streets, particularly around Charlton Church Lane and the streets leading off it, continues despite years of complaints to Greenwich Council. Whether it’s wheelie bins left blocking narrow pavements, or weeks-old rubbish left blowing around in the wind, parts of Charlton don’t receive the attention other parts of the borough get. Clearly the lazy low-lives that can’t be arsed to clean up after themselves share the blame – but a dirty environment will only get dirtier… and more dangerous. Hopefully 2011 will be the year this cycle is broken – but how?

3. Can we save the animal centre at Maryon Wilson Park? December’s news that the mini-zoo was under threat touched a chord that I expect surprised Greenwich Council, which aims to save £43,000 by trying to find sponsorship for it. If our local councillors really care for the area, now’s the time they should step forward and demand the council keeps this much-loved facility going.

4. A supermarket on Charlton Church Lane. This looks like it might well happen – it’s rumoured Sainsburys is to open a store beneath the housing now being built on the corner of Charlton Church Lane and Floyd Road. The supermarket giant has told The Charlton Champion it’s interested in the site, but hasn’t secured a deal. A store here would provide competition for the knot of newsagents and off-licences by Charlton station, as well as the Co-Op in The Village. Would a supermarket be welcome – or would it chase away much-appreciated small businesses?

5. A secure future for Charlton Lido. Hopefully, the fiasco of the lido’s redevelopment will give way to a better pool which we’ll be proud of, instead of scratching our heads and wondering if it’s still open. This website will continue to watch events…

6. An end to the Charlton station “dance of death”. Matt wrote last month about the mess of trying to take a bus between Charlton and North Greenwich stations – a problem which could be solved by simply re-routing either or both of the 161 and 472 buses to join the 486 at the last stop on Charlton Church Lane. With the O2 arena’s bosses wanting to boost travel from Charlton station, this could be a goer – although what to do with buses in the other direction is an interesting question…

Any other thoughts, or any observations on the above? Let us know. If you’d like to turn any ideas into a full story for the Champion – you’d be more than welcome.