Become a Charlton Champion: Join our membership scheme and help improve this site

Darryl Chamberlain
Charlton Village
You can now support this website by becoming a member

The Charlton Champion has been running for seven and a half years now, telling you what’s what and what’s happening in London SE7.

Apart from a small income from ads which have recently appeared on the site, it’s always been produced in our spare time by Darryl Chamberlain and Neil Clasper.

We know that a lot of people are grateful for what the site provides, and we’re also looking at ways to develop the site.

So we’re starting a membership scheme for The Charlton Champion. We would be very grateful if you could consider supporting the site with a monthly subscription.

How will The Charlton Champion membership scheme work?

We’ll be using Patreon, which means we can manage our income and keep in touch with members.

Membership is charged in US dollars and aims to reflect the London Living Wage (currently £10.20/hour) – it starts at about £2.60/month, which covers just over 15 minutes of work on the site.

How do I do it?

Sign up for a Patreon account, then click on www.patreon.com/charltonchampion. Because payments are taken in US dollars, we suggest you use PayPal for simplicity if you’re new to this. Follow the instructions, and you’re in. And you’re free to cancel or change your donation at any time. Please be aware that Patreon charges VAT on donations, so factor that into your payment.

What will I get in return?

There are some goals we’d like to hit. If we raise about £300/month, we will restore comments to the site. If we get to £500/month, we will look at producing a one-off printed version of The Charlton Champion. (Darryl knocked up a mock-up a few months back, it looked very good…)

At present, we aren’t able to offer anything extra in exchange for becoming a member – unless you’re a business wanting to sponsor the site, in which case you can have your name in lights on the site.

But if this scheme is wildly successful, it may change, and we may have a few things up our sleeve at a later date. So if you’re interested, please leave your home address if prompted.

I’m a local business – what can I do help?

We’d be delighted if you’d like to sponsor the site – please take a look at the sponsorship option on our Patreon page: www.patreon.com/charltonchampion.

How will the money improve the site?

It means we’ll be paid something for what we do – which is an incentive to do more of it. Please remember the site is run in our spare time, so that’s always a restriction – there are are only so many hours in a spare day or evening – but we’re always looking for new contributors. Building up a pot of money means they can also be rewarded for what they do.

If you think of how 853 (a sister site to this one) and From The Murky Depths improved after raising money, hopefully we’ll be able to do the same thing.

What will you do with the money?

The money will be split between the site’s two main contributors – Darryl will take 60%, Neil will take 30%, and we will save the rest to pay the site bills and pay new contributors. We may tinker with this as it goes on, but the aim is to pay us for our work and make the site sustainable.

How can I help improve the site?

We’d like to keep the site based around what it does now – telling you about community events, sharing what’s planned for the area and giving you an insight into what your elected representatives are doing.

But we would like to do more, and do it more regularly – a regular Charlton Athletic column, perhaps, or interviews with people in the area. If you can help do either of those things, then please let us know.

And if there’s some news that needs sharing – don’t just keep it to an email list or Facebook group. Let your other neighbours know too, and tell us – get the details here.

What if I don’t want to use Patreon?

You won’t be able to become a Charlton Champion member – but you can always provide funds to Neil or Darryl through the ko-fi.com link at the bottom of each story, or directly into the site fund via PayPal – paypal.com/charltonchampion.

The Charlton Champion will remain free to all – any money you can give will help us keep it that way.

The Charlton Champion provides news and information about issues and events in London SE7.
– Help us by telling us your stories
– Buy Darryl a coffee at ko-fi.com
– Buy Neil a coffee at ko-fi.com
– NEW! Become a monthly patron at patreon.com/charltonchampion
– NEW! Donate directly to the site at paypal.me/charltonchampion

Greenwich ward budgets are set to return – how much was spent in Charlton last time?

Neil Clasper3 Comments
Charlton House front lawn from above
Ward budget funds were allocated to Royal Greenwich Heritage Trust for a laser survey of Charlton House’s grounds

Greenwich Council Ward Budget scheme is all set to return, leader Danny Thorpe announced last week. So we thought we’d take an overdue look at what was funded in Charlton ward during the last round.

Tweet from Danny Thorpe

The announcement came during last week’s full council meeting – watch it here.

Each ward in the borough was allocated a £30,000 budget to be spent on schemes proposed by the community and selected for funding by local councillors.

When we checked in on the schemes in July last year, only 22% of the £30,000 budget had been allocated.

So how does it look a year later?

PROJECT AMOUNT APPROVED (£) RECIPIENT HOW THE PROJECT WILL IMPROVE THE WELLBEING OF THE AREA AND BENEFIT THE LOCAL COMMUNITY DATE APPROVED
The Big Red Bus Club              950.00 The Big Red Bus Club To provide specialist play equipment for the Big Red Bus Club, Stay and Play service for disabled children in Charlton. 21/07/2016
Thorntree Community Garden                      500.00 Thorntree Primary School To provide gardening equipment, plants and shrubs to renovate a piece of land next to Thorntree Primary school as a community garden for the school children to plant and maintain. 21/07/2016
Valley Hill Hub – Air Pollution Monitors                      120.00 Valley Hill Hub To fund 10 air pollution monitors to install around the Valley Hill Hub area to monitor to measure air quality in the area and examine what affect the local topography may have on possibly trapping pollution. 11/4/2017
Charlton Hope Sale                   1,500.00 Charlton Hope Sale The funding will be used to promote the work of the outreach project and provide practical help sessions for children and families in need along with a summer celebration for the community. 28/04/2017
Guide Camps 2,940.50 7th Charlton Guides To support the cost of an annual residential trip for the 7th Charlton Guides and 1st Charlton Rangers. 6/7/2017
Cold Calling Campaign 740.00 Central Charlton Residents Association To support by the Central Charlton Neighbourhood to run a cold calling campaign targeting cold callers in the Charlton area. 31/08/2017
Charlton Society Events Programme 1,620.00 The Charlton Society To support an events programme on matters of local interest for the Charlton Community 31/08/2017
Cherry Orchard School – Sensory Garden Project  2,000.00 Cherry Orchard School To provide a timber framed canopy for the nursery outdoor play area to complete the works to the sensory space. 29/11/2017
Large and Legging It – Big Red Bus Club 2,425.00 Big Red Bus Club To support a health and fitness campaign in Charlton run by the Big Red Bus Club focussed at women struggling with weight issues. 29/11/2017
Charlton and Woolwich Free Film Festival 1,981.30 Charlton and Woolwich Free Film Festival To support a local volunteer film festival bringing communities together to enjoy films in various locations across SE7 and SE18. 22/01/2018
Thorntree Music Project  854.96 Thorntree School To purchase musical instruments for Thorntree Primary school both to expand the potential to learn new instruments and to support the provision of public performances to engage with the local community. 26/01/2018
Valley Hill Hub – Air Pollution Monitors  120.00 Valley Hill Hub To undertake a second air quality survey in the Charlton area during October 2018. 14/02/2018
Laser Survey on Charlton House Grounds 6,985.00 Royal Greenwich Heritage Trust To carry out a digital survey of the grounds within Charlton House to identify the historic features of the landscape which may be undiscovered during its changing development through its 400 year history 3/3/2018
Big Red Bus – ESOL Equipment and Resources  2,630.00 Big Red Bus Club To support the Big Red Bus Club in providing English language support to a diverse range of service users whose first language is not English. 2/2/2018
Greenwich Foodbank Van (£6k split between 14 Wards)  428.00 Greenwich Foodbank To support the purchase of van to facilitate the efficient transport of food collections around the borough. 6/5/2016
TOTAL   25,794.76

By our calculations that’s over 85% of the budget allocated by the time the funding round closed.

Many thanks to the Positive Plumstead Project for passing on the cross-borough list of approved applications. We hope that the next round will be easier to follow: we suggest a page per ward on Greenwich Council’s website would allow residents to keep up with what’s been approved through the year.

We hope to bring more information on the next scheme following July’s Cabinet meeting.

PS. if anyone would like to go through the numbers for the wards adjacent to Charlton (Woolwich Riverside, Peninsula, Kidbrooke with Hornfair), we’d love to add them – get in touch!

The Charlton Champion provides news and information about issues and events in London SE7.
– Help us by telling us your stories
– Buy the author a coffee at ko-fi.com
– NEW! Become a monthly patron at patreon.com/charltonchampion
– NEW! Donate directly to the site at paypal.me/charltonchampion

‘We’re fighting for our community’s survival’: Why the Rockwell Charlton Riverside row matters

Darryl Chamberlain3 Comments
Rockwell Charlton Riverside scheme
Rockwell’s new blocks would sit behind the small houses which make up Atlas and Derrick Gardens

Controversial plans to build 10-storey blocks behind homes off Anchor & Hope Lane go to Greenwich Council’s main planning committee on Monday. Developer Rockwell plans to build 771 homes on land surrounding Atlas and Derrick Gardens – which, if approved, would be the first housing development in the Charlton Riverside regeneration scheme.

Council planning officers are backing the scheme – but residents of Atlas and Derrick Gardens say the plans ignore a recently-finished masterplan that cost £850,000 and took five years to prepare. A petition has been set up to demand the council sticks to its plan.

Derrick and Atlas Gardens Residents’ Association chair SELINA TALLETT says the people most affected by the scheme feel patronised and ignored – and Greenwich councillors need to defend their council’s own masterplan.

At the river end of Anchor and Hope Lane, you’ll find Atlas and Derrick Gardens. It’s a community of 74 homes, a few houses with the rest being small flats. Our community is a blend of social and private tenants as well as homeowners. I’m a resident of Derrick Gardens – I have only ever lived in the borough of Greenwich.

These homes are examples of model worker home properties and carry some historical significance, having been built by local shipping industrialist William H Cory for his employees and their families in 1908. Earlier this year, our homes were given conservation area status to reflect this history.

However, our community is now fighting for its survival.

As the only homes on the Charlton Riverside, we have peacefully lived for years with all industry around us – including what is now the VIP Trading Estate, which is behind Atlas and Derrick Gardens. But now the Mayor’s development plan identifies Charlton Riverside as an “opportunity area” for London.

To capitalise on this, Rockwell Property – on behalf of Leopard Guernsey Anchor Propco – has bought the VIP Trading Estate and wants to build luxury “family homes” on the site.

These ‘”family homes” would feature a collection of tower blocks, with most of the 771 properties exceeding £500,000. After nearly two years of discussions, the “affordable” housing provision has climbed from the initial offer of 8% to 25%, whilst the density has reduced from 975 to 771 homes.

Derrick Gardens
Atlas and Derrick Gardens are now part of a conservation area

‘We would lose all natural light’

Rockwell’s proposed blocks of flats, with up to 10 storeys, would be just 18-20 metres behind our homes. We would completely lose all and any natural light.

Yet Greenwich Council’s planning officers deem this an “acceptable” trade-off to “kick-start development in the area”.

London needs new homes, but I and other Atlas and Derrick Gardens residents feel our quality of life should not be forfeited for financial gain and to meet local authority targets.

Especially where there is established planning guidance in place which says that homes built within this area should be of low height and low density, and complementary to the heritage of the area while not having a negatively impact on existing neighbourhoods.

Rockwell’s development has been designed without meeting key parts of local strategy, policy and the masterplan established specifically for the Charlton Riverside.

For me, it’s beyond disappointing that Greenwich Council’s hard work in establishing this local guidance is being ridden roughshod over by a need to meet targets and a desire not to upset developers.

The housing crisis has been a very easy loophole for developers to exploit: how many Londoners can afford luxury one/two-bedroom flats exceeding £500,000? Rockwell’s plans are disingenuous at best, mercenary and opportunistic at worst.

We need new homes which meet all layers of planning policy, not just the bits which are convenient or release the most profit for developers, regardless of the consequences for others. Which is why Greenwich Council needs to hold the line.

Rockwell Charlton Riverside
Away from Atlas and Derrick Gardens, this is what Rockwell is promising…

‘Don’t be scared of refusing Rockwell’

But nothing in this process has convinced us that housing Greenwich borough’s residents, especially the 17,000 on the waiting list, is actually a priority for either the developers or for the council.

Greenwich planning officers are scared of what will happen if Rockwell’s application is rejected: paying for an appeal and a date with the Planning Inspectorate.

But Greenwich Council should not fear an appeal. Rockwell knew the local policies in place when it purchased the land.

It has already spent five years and £850,000 of existing residents’ money in developing a masterplan – not upholding this and not explaining in detail why planning officers are supporting Rockwell’s schemes calls for questions to be asked about whether public funds are being mismanaged. We support the petition urging councillors to stick to their masterplan.

We have been disappointed with the lack of honest engagement from the council – including some of the very councillors we elected – with an apparent inability to see the wider issues that approving this application will create and exacerbate.

Even though this proposal has loomed over us for two years, we only had a site visit a month ago, where it was clear that some who participated and would be deciding on the application did not even know our neighbourhood existed.

Rockwell render
…but residents say the new blocks would loom over their homes and deny them natural light

‘We demand better for Charlton Riverside’

Charlton Riverside is already an identified opportunity area – development does not need to be kickstarted by inappropriate schemes by hook or by crook. It needs to have the right start to set the tone for the rest of the area.

Many communities across London will be going through similar issues with development which is both inappropriate for their local community and does little to address the actual housing crisis.

Our planning system needs to change and we need to see Greenwich at the forefront, listening to and engaging with us, using the policies developed with taxpayers’ support to benefit its residents, not for the financial benefit of developers – especially when those developers are aided by consultation organisations employing former council leaders.

We hope that by raising awareness of our plight, we can urge both officers and councillors to reject this application, and demand better for our Charlton Riverside.

The residents’ petition on the Charlton Riverside Masterplan can be found at change.org.

Read previous Charlton Champion coverage of the Rockwell planning application here.

The Charlton Champion provides news and information about issues and events in London SE7.
– Help us by telling us your stories
– NEW! Become a monthly patron at patreon.com/charltonchampion
– NEW! Donate directly to the site at paypal.me/charltonchampion

Rockwell returns: Controversial Charlton Riverside scheme to be heard on 9 July

Neil Clasper1 Comment
Rockwell’s plans for Charlton Riverside

Plans to redevelop the VIP Trading Estate by developer Rockwell are to go before Greenwich Council’s Planning Board on Monday 9th July, the original hearing in April being deferred until after the local elections held in May. The plans have caused controversy over the height and density of the proposed housing, plus the level of affordable and social housing to be included in the scheme – the latest plans are for 25% of the housing to be ‘affordable’, of which 71% will be social housing.

A petition raised by local residents asking Greenwich Council to enforce the terms of its own Charlton Riverside Masterplan – citing the £850,000 cost of developing the plan – had over 400 signatories at the time of writing.

From The Murky Depths has taken a look at the outline plans for the £4.9 million of Section 106 payments – money paid to the council which is meant to be spent in the local area – due to come from the development.

At least two local councillors have tweeted their intention to oppose the plans:

 

Also due to be heard at the same planning board meeting is a request for Revocation of Hazardous Substances Consent for East Greenwich gasholder, one of the steps necessary to allow demolition of the historic structure. Labour councillors recently voted down a motion opposing demolition of the gasholder.

Also on the Greenwich Peninsula, councillors will also discuss plans for a temporary 4,400-capacity concert and conference venue to be built at the north end of Tunnel Avenue.

Read previous Charlton Champion coverage of the Rockwell planning application here.

The Charlton Champion provides news and information about issues and events in London SE7. Help us by telling us your stories – or buy the author a coffee.

Charlton House Tea Rooms now open for business on Saturdays

Neil Clasper
Charlton House
Charlton House

Charlton Champion reader LARA RUFFLE COLES has been in touch with news from Charlton House:

I’ve lived in Charlton for nearly four years and I’ve always been perplexed about the opening hours of the tea rooms at Charlton House. Why are they only open during the week? What about the weekend when most people are home from work, and are able to pootle on down for a cup of tea and a piece of cake?

Given how few places there are for a tea or coffee in Charlton – The Old Cottage Coffee Shop is my usual spot, you might have thought that filling the tea rooms on a weekend would have been an easy win for the Royal Greenwich Heritage Trust who run the building. Alas however, the tea rooms shut up shop on Friday.

But, good news is here!

Charlton House manager Edward Schofield has confirmed that after a successful trial run earlier this year, the tea rooms will now be open on Saturdays from 11am-3pm.

No word on Sunday opening hours so far, but as the Saturday change is permanent, perhaps opening on a Sunday is the next step?

At last, somewhere else to go at the weekend!

The Charlton House site has now been updated to state the new opening times, and an updated banner will be displayed outside Charlton House in the next week or so.

If you would like to give feedback on the new opening hours, their office is based at Charlton House, or you can email the trust on office@rght.org.uk, or find them on social media.

The Charlton Champion provides news and information about issues and events in London SE7. Got a story, or heard some local news? Get in touch!.

Thames Path ‘missing link’ is launched – with council hoping to open it all night

Darryl Chamberlain2 Comments
Cyclists on the Thames Path missing link
Cyclists and walkers gathered on Wednesday for the opening of the Thames Path’s ‘missing link’

The “missing link” on the Thames Path between Charlton and Woolwich opened on Wednesday – with Greenwich Council pledging to finish the job by trying to open it 24 hours a day.

After 15 years of lobbying by Greenwich Cyclists, the £1.5m route from the Thames Barrier in Charlton to King Henry’s Wharf in Woolwich was officially launched by London cycling and walking commissioner Will Norman and Greenwich Council cabinet member Denise Scott-McDonald.

Scott-McDonald, the cabinet member for public realm, told guests that while the connection – which passes through an industrial estate – would “initially” open from 6am to 9pm seven days a week, “our ambition is for it to open 24 hours a day, for everyone”.

37 Bowater Road
37 Bowater Road is the building on the right of the new “missing link” cycle route
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The link uses a ramp to pass from the Thames Barrier site into the Westminster Industrial Estate – the old Siemens factory, which dominated the area before closing in 1968 – before passing Thames-Side Studios and the Arts Cafe. A second ramp at the end of Warspite Road then takes walkers and cyclists above the riverside before rejoining the existing Thames Path at King Henry’s Wharf.

Closures by developers aside, the completion of the “missing link” now means near-uninterrupted access to the Thames right through Greenwich borough from Deptford to Thamesmead and beyond, as well as improving cycle access to both North Greenwich tube and the forthcoming Woolwich Crossrail station.

Will Norman, who wheeled a bike through the link as part of the opening ceremony, said: “This really sits at the heart of what the mayor and his team are trying to do: to enable more people to be more active, to get out of their cars and actually enjoy exploring the city and finding new spots. Far more people can access this and use it as part of their daily lives.”

New signage indicates that the link will eventually be joined to Quietway 14, a cycling route which currently runs from Blackfriars Road to Canada Water station.

A Greenwich Council spokesperson told The Charlton Champion that signs directing users to “Greenwich Peninsular” would be corrected.

While the new route will be welcomed, actually getting to the Thames Path can be a challenge for cyclists – particularly crossing the Woolwich Road, which has seen plans for a segregated cycle lane – Cycle Superhighway 4 – dropped. Cyclist Edgaras Cepura was recently killed at the Woolwich Road roundabout in east Greenwich – nine years after Adrianna Skrzypiec died on her bike at the same spot.

Will Norman told The Charlton Champion that the A206 from Greenwich to Woolwich had been identified as one of the top 25 in London that needed action to make it better for cyclists – but that work on the Greenwich one-way system would come before the rest of the route.

Will Norman
Will Norman takes his bike along the “missing link”

He said: “CS4 was separated out under the previous administration into chunks, and the section from Greenwich to Woolwich was downgraded as part of that decision.

“We recently have been looking at the Liveable Neighbourhood programme, and working with the borough to address concerns around the [Greenwich] gyratory and making that safe, which as you know has millions of people coming to visit the Unesco world heritage site.

“Then clearly the next section is to work with the borough on the next part of the route, with borough officers and politicans and coming up with the best way to tackle that.” (See more at our sister site 853.)

Thames Path missing link crowd
Cyclists and walkers gathered for the openeing ceremony (Photo: Charlotte Brooke)

Fixing the missing link was one of the ambitions of campaigner Barry Mason, the former co-ordinator of Greenwich Cyclists and neighbouring Southwark Cyclists, who died in 2011.

Mason was well-known for leading a “midsummer madness” ride on 21 June each year, which would start from the Cutty Sark at 2am and arrive at Primrose Hill to see the sun rise on the longest day of the year.

The Charlton Champion provides news and information about issues and events in London SE7. Help us by telling us your stories – or buy the author a coffee.

‘Stick to your masterplan’: Residents launch Charlton Riverside petition to Greenwich Council

Neil Clasper3 Comments
Rockwell’s plans for Charlton Riverside. Local residents’ groups say that the application “drives a coach and horses” through Greenwich Council’s Charlton Riverside Masterplan

Residents worried about the future of Derrick and Atlas Gardens – the two streets at the riverfront end of Anchor & Hope Lane – have launched a petition asking Greenwich Council to enforce the terms of its own Charlton Riverside Masterplan.

Citing the £854,000 cost of developing masterplans for the area – a figure revealed through a Freedom of Information request submitted by the organisers – the petition highlights discrepancies between the masterplan’s objectives and Greenwich Council planning officers’ recommendation to approve the upcoming Rockwell housing development application:

The Rockwell development application currently before the council drives a coach and horses through the carefully created masterplan in terms of building heights, levels of density/massing, and affordable housing. 

If the Rockwell development is approved by the planning board it will set a precedent for all future developers to ignore the masterplan in respect of further planning applications for the wider site. This will have a huge impact on the whole of Charlton.

For reasons that are hard to understand, the council’s own officers have recommended giving approval to the Rockwell development even through the application does not meet the vision or targets described in the masterplan which was commissioned by the council and approved by cabinet in November 2017.

The petitioners are unhappy about Rockwell’s plans for 771 new homes on an industrial estate which surrounds their homes. The scheme includes five 10-storey blocks.

Councillors voted to defer making a decision on the application at a planning board meeting held just prior to the May council elections.

One of the petition organisers, Helen Jakeways of community group Charlton Together, said: “It’s really vital for all of Charlton that Greenwich Council lives up to the vision and ambition of its own Charlton Riverside Masterplan.

“Not only would it be £850,000 of public money wasted if it didn’t, the knock on effect for all of Charlton would be awful if developers are allowed free rein on the Riverside plot. We’re asking everyone Charlton wide to sign the petition and support the Charlton Riverside Masterplan.”

You can sign the petition here: change.org/p/danny-thorpe-enforce-the-charlton-riverside-masterplan.

Derrick & Atlas Gardens Residents’ Association has recently joined Twitter – you can follow it here: twitter.com/DagraSE7.

Read previous Charlton Champion coverage of the Rockwell planning application here.

The Charlton Champion provides news and information about issues and events in London SE7. Help us by telling us your stories – or buy the author a coffee.