A carol service is taking place at St Luke’s Church next Wednesday
The annual Christmas carol service returns to St Luke’s Church next Wednesday evening. All are welcome, says REVD LIZ NEWMAN, the rector of the Benefice of Charlton…
As usual, St Luke’s Church, The Village, will host Charlton Community Carol Service on Wednesday December 15th at 7pm. It’s a simple service of readings that tell the Christmas story, interspersed with carols. Mulled wine and mince pies will be served afterwards! Representatives of a variety of community organisations will read and sing. There will be a chance as well to sing your favourite carols. Everyone is welcome and we encourage everyone to please wear a face mask.
The forum aims to involve local people in the redevelopment of Charlton’s riverside as well as the rest of SE7
Plans for a neighbourhood forum for Charlton – which could allow local people to have a greater say in new developments in the area – have taken a big step forward with Greenwich Council launching a consultation into the idea.
Residents can now have their say on the idea, put forward by the Charlton Neighbourhood Forum, that a neighbourhood plan should be put together for the SE7 area.
Only two other neighbourhood forums exist in Greenwich borough at the moment – the Moorings forum, which covers a small part of Thamesmead, and the Lee Forum, which extends into Lewisham borough.
The proposed forum area – which covers the entire SE7 postal area plus areas included in the Charlton Riverside masterplan
While both groups have received town hall recognition, neither have yet had a plan approved.
There is also the question of just how seriously Greenwich will take any forum at first. At last night’s full meeting of the council, Conservative opposition leader Nigel Fletcher wrongly thought that the Charlton forum was the first in the borough. (Fletcher has been in touch to say that he misspoke, and meant to say that Greenwich had not yet approved any plans.)
Then the council’s deputy leader, Denise Scott-McDonald – who wasn’t listening to his question and had to have it repeated to her – seemed unaware of the Thamesmead forum, despite it being the only one wholly within the borough.
But if a forum can get a neighbourhood plan together, then by law the council and developers have to abide by it. And while there is a masterplan for the Charlton Riverside, there is nothing at all for the rest of the area, apart from the borough-wide commitments in Greenwich’s local plan.
And if you’ve ever listened to the average Greenwich councillor bumble around issues of planning or public realm (like the exchange above) and thought you could do better… this is your chance.
The proposed area would cover all of Charlton as well as very small parts of east Greenwich (industrial and retail sites off Horn Lane) and Woolwich (the old Siemens site which is due for redevelopment as Faraday Works), which come under the Charlton Riverside masterplan.
Many residents are frustrated with the council’s lack of action on bad parking
Many households in Charlton will have had a thumping great envelope thwack onto their doormats last week – Greenwich Council has finally got around to unveiling its plans for extending Charlton’s controlled parking zone (CPZ), two years after carrying out a survey into it.
Most of Charlton is already in the CPZ – but much of the area still permits free parking regardless. That will change if the council’s plans go through, with drivers in most streets between the A102 and Maryon Wilson Park set to need £107 annual permits.
With the growth in back-street traffic over the years and complaints about retail park customers parking up in side streets, much of this was probably inevitable, although some streets close to the A102 – where finding a space is less of a problem – may feel a little hard done by.
But if you regard lots of parking as a problem, there are some baffling omissions. Most of Victoria Way, home to vans which don’t move for weeks or even months at a time, would remain free for anyone to dump their old bangers on. As would nearby Tallis Grove, Highcombe and Bramhope Lane, which would find themselves squeezed between streets gaining restrictions.
Here is the same problem @Royal_Greenwich This person was parking on the pavement next to double yellows as I was walking. She got out and said she was going to call the police. I said do, and tell them that someone is taking a picture in the public of you parking illegally. pic.twitter.com/3dU501jyIc
Nor are there plans for permits in Charlton Park Road, where drivers frequently leave their motors where they like, with little enforcement. You may know of other omissions.
If you want to check whether your street is affected, download the maps at royalgreenwich.gov.uk/charltoncpz – the consultation lasts until 13 December.
First they came for the catalogues. Now it’s the standalone stores – Charlton’s Argos Extra store has only a few days left before it moves down the road to share space with Sainsbury’s.
The last day of trading at the standalone Argos on Bugsby’s Way will be Thursday 2 December – with the new Argos store inside Sainsbury’s opening the following day, Friday 3 December.
Argos was bought by Sainsbury’s five years ago, and all its standalone stores are gradually being closed in favour of smaller outlets inside the chain’s supermarkets.
If the group can get a plan together, then this will be a hugely important step for the area – so if you’ve got an interest in the future of the area, it’s worth heading along. Too often, this kind of group gets packed out with well-off homeowners objecting to schemes that will chip away at housing waiting lists, so if you’re someone that feels shut out of these kinds of decisions, now’s the time to go along and have your say, and think about joining its committee.
The event is in the Long Gallery on the first floor of Charlton House on Saturday 27 November at 11am. For more details, see the Charlton Neighbourhood Forum website.
A packed Valley roared on Johnnie Jackson’s Addicks as they took the League One leaders apart yesterday. KEVIN NOLAN was there.
With the faithful Green Army at their back, Plymouth Argyle swept into The Valley on Saturday as confident table-toppers, unbeaten in sixteen league games since losing their opening fixture.
Not numbered among the pre-season promotion favourites, the Pilgrims have surprised the pundits by setting the pace in League One with fluent, easy-on-the-eye football. Scoring at a rate of nearly two goals a game, their blistering start is no flash in the pan. Argyle seem capable of going the distance.
No slouches themselves under rookie managers Johnnie Jackson and Jason Euell, Charlton have turned their miserable, early season form on its head. Since Nigel Adkins was handed his P45, 13 points have been won from five league games; whether Jackson has convinced owner Thomas Sandgaard to make his position permanent remains to be seen. He certainly did his chances no harm by masterminding this magnificent victory.
Boosted by the club’s bold offer to season ticket holders of free seats (buy one, get three free), The Valley was a heaving, pulsating wave of passion before kick-off. There was unmistakably something in the air, a surge of irresistible partisanship driving Jackson and his boys.
In a packed Jimmy Seed Stand, the visiting Westcountrymen did their best to stem the vocal tide but their task was hopeless. Saturday’s home crowd was having none of it.
Riding a wave of raw emotion, the Addicks responded with a stirring, cocklewarming performance to which each individual contributed. From the dependable Craig McGillivray in goal to the bravery of Josh Davison up front, and in every position between them, each player found an extra yard and ounce of energy for the cause.
Plymouth were clearly more than useful opponents but, as their manager Ryan Lowe graciously conceded, they “were beaten by the better side”. Had Charlton added clinical finishing to their all-round excellence, Lowe’s tribute might have qualified as faint praise.
Despite starting on the front foot, Charlton came close to sustaining an early setback which might have seriously changed things. Conor Grant’s free kick from the right touchline was untouched as it reached Macaulay Gillesphey at the far post, bounced off the left back’s shin and rolled harmless inches wide as McGillivray scrambled across his goal line.
In reply, George Dobson intercepted Dan Scarr’s wayward pass but fired narrowly off target, Purrington’s point blank effort was gamely blocked by Joe Edwards and Alex Gilbey’s header sent Elliot Lee’s outswinging corner goalwards to be blocked almost at source by Panutche Camara.
Charlton’s pressure hardly amounted to a siege of Michael Cooper’s goal but after Josh Davison recycled a right wing centre, Dobson’s cross was headed by Lee into the side net at the far post.
Ending the first half as they’d started it, Plymouth went dangerously close to taking an undeserved lead back into the dressing room with them. Edwards’ subtle pass sent Ryan Hardie through a scattered defence to confront McGillivray. Standing firm, the advancing keeper charged down the forward’s shot and a hugely relieved Valley breathed again.
Mere minutes after resumption, the stadium erupted when Purrington, with his second goal in successive weeks, fired the Addicks into the lead. Drifting intelligently into space on the right of the visitors’ penalty area, the marauding left-back met Dobson’s deep cross from the left and squeezed a bouncing volley between Cooper and the right post.
It wasn’t the cleanest of strikes but was celebrated with an explosion of joy mixed with entirely understandable relief. And appropriately, it was scored in front of the North Stand, where Purrington and his mates gathered to milk the moment until firmly called to order by referee Peter Wright.
💬 "I'm trying to be like Ben Purrington, get on the back post and hopefully get a few goals!"@DJaiyesimi_ starred in the Addicks' victory over Plymouth, but he wants to step things up further…
Argyle are too good a side to accept defeat until it’s over and hit back spiritedly. Grant shot narrowly over the bar, then drilled over a centre which eluded a posse of straining players but was cleared by Purrington at the far post. A second goal became Charlton’s priority but when Lee combined with Washington to set up a shooting chance for Gilbey, the midfielder was foiled by Cooper’s fine save.
The visiting keeper’s defiance had kept his impressive side in the hunt but with six regulation minutes remaining, Washington eased the tension with his fourth goal of the season. Sent clear down the inside right channel by Lee’s shrewdly judged pass, the Northern Irishman used his deceptive pace to outstrip Gillesphey, closed in on Cooper and crashed an unstoppable drive inside the right hand post.
The coup-de-grace had been delivered but Argyle’s defeat would have been more decisive had Washington and Lee converted simple chances to double their misery. Not that it mattered. A complete team performance had already been delivered to an ecstatic Valley, one marred only by the 55th-minute injury sustained by Jason Pearce. The skipper had been a towering influence and, on an afternoon when every Addick was a hero, was on his way to man-of-the-match recognition.
💬 "I thought today was the best performance yet. It had a bit of everything. I'm very proud of them."
Watch what Jacko had to say on CharltonTV following the victory over @Only1Argyle…
We’ll settle instead on Akin Famewo, who celebrated his escape from suspension (last week’s referee Trevor Kettle confirmed that his vision is boss-eyed by confusing Famewo with Purrington) with a splendid contribution of responsible defending and enterprising attacking.
On second thoughts, let’s nominate 14 men-of-the-match and say no more about it. This one was that special.
Plymouth: M Cooper, Gillesphey, Houghton, Wilson, Scarr, Broom (Mayor 71), Edwards (G Cooper 88), Hardie (Jephcott 70), Garrick. Grant, Camara. Not used: Burton, Agard, Randell, Galloway. Booked: Gillesphey, Broom.
Referee: Peter Wright.
Attendance: 26,090 (2,846 visiting).
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A Christmas tree is returning to Charlton House this year
Charlton House’s Christmas tree makes a comeback on Thursday, with a lighting-up ceremony to be held from 4pm.
There’ll also be a Christmas market in the Great Hall from 3.30pm to 6pm, with carols and readings from St Luke’s Church at 5pm. You’ll also be able to nip over the road and climb St Luke’s tower to get a view of the capital after dark.
The event is also the launch of a new cafe inside Charlton House, Frilly’s, which will offer “a seasonal snack menu including mince pies, mulled wine, hot chocolate, and sausage rolls”.
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