No chance of a 380 on Charlton Church Lane next week
Water main works will close Charlton Church Lane just south of the junction with The Heights for up to a week from Tuesday. Traffic will be “diverted via Charlton Road, Victoria Way and Wellington Gardens and vice versa” (that’s nice of them – Ed) while buses will naturally face more inconvenient diversions. The news has only been published in the back of an hardly-seen freesheet, so we thought you might like to know here.
The old Charlton Conservative Club (image: Google)
A developer has applied to Greenwich Council to turn the old Charlton Conservative Club on Charlton Church Lane into 26 bedsits, accommodating up to 49 people.
The club closed seven years ago and permission was given in 2015 to demolish the rear hall to provide a two-bedroom flat and a three-bedroom maisonette together with a new block of three two-bedroom flats, and construction of a terrace of four two-bedroom houses on land at the back of the property. Work began but was never completed.
While the club had little to do with the political party in its later years, the application came the same day as the Conservative government announced plans to tear up the planning system to make it harder for councils to refuse new developments.
The plans for what the developer is calling “co-living units” will, however, have to go through the existing system. “The proposal is a form of residential accommodation aimed at providing affordable and high quality accommodation in the form of co-living arrangement,”planning documents say. “With the average house price in Greenwich at a value of £554,000, co-living which is a house in multiple occupation, offers an affordable alternative of living accommodation whilst retaining the luxury. Therefore, this a growing trend and co- living arrangement caters for young professionals who struggle to afford London’s increasing property prices.”
Planning documents refer to 30 rooms with 19 double rooms, 3 accessible double rooms and 8 single rooms. The developer says there “will be a concierge presence 24 hours a day”.
The owner of a closed newsagent shop on Charlton Church Lane is applying to Greenwich Council to convert the premises into a fried chicken takeaway.
Work began last year on converting the Charlton News shop, separating access to the upstairs flat from the retail area, but the council has only recently received a planning application for the work, along with a second application for an illuminated sign.
According to the planning application for the premises, which is next door to the Valley Cafe: “The client would like to convert this into a Fried Chicken shop with the opportunity for customers to takeaway or eat and drink inside and outside. The access to upstairs flat will be separated.
“The Ground floor shop area is small and will not have any major refurbishment done
other than equipment.
“The Café area will have a main serving area, with seating for approximately 16
customers. There will be a warm display cabinet for the hot food. 8 additional
seating area outside is also proposed.
“The kitchen are at the rear of the shop will be very simple with frying stations and grill all appliances will be electric. Extraction fans will be installed with grease filters to extract the heat from the kitchen area.
“The duct will exit out the rear wall and across the storage area roof and up above the roof eaves level. This will be done according to manufacturer’s specification and Building Regulations. Similar to the next door café (No 20) ductwork avoiding all windows on top foor. Downstairs flat is part of the shop where the staff will be living.
“The ceiling will be sound proofed and have 2hr fire protection. The party wall between shop and the residential access to Flat above to have 2 hr fire protection and sound proofed.
“There will be highly efficient low energy lighting installed throughout the floor. Externally the front will be refurbished and the sign will be changed with LED letters
signage similar to Charlton Kebab opposite the proposed shop.
“Internal finish will be tiled floors with light coloured paint to eating and serving areas.”
There are already a number of takeaways in the area along with a long-closed kebab shop opposite, while anti-social behaviour has long been a problem in the immediate area.
To see more and comment on the proposal, head to the Greenwich Council planning search and look for reference 18/0322/F (and 18/0522/A for the illuminated sign).
We first mentioned it back in January 2011 and progress has been slow since, but it looks like Sainsbury’s is finally to open a Local branch on Charlton Church Lane; hoardings appeared on the building overnight indicating that it will open in November.
We don’t know why it’s closed or what will replace it at this point, but hope that whoever takes it over are as friendly as the people that ran Brew & Choo. If you know what’s taking its place, let us know.
Dramatic scenes on Charlton Church Lane last night, as at around 9pm fire broke out at the Fresh Fry Fish Bar. I was in the Cattleya Restaurant next door when we suddenly smelt a pretty acrid burning smell and could hear shouting outside. As we stepped out of the restaurant, black smoke was billowing out of the chip shop and the staff were only just making their way out. By this point it was impossible to see into the chip shop at all, as it was completely consumed by smoke.
While they didn’t have that far to come, the fire brigade still reached the scene incredibly quickly. Five engines made the scene, and while the shop was fully checked out, it thankfully appeared that everyone had managed to escape in time.
A word of thanks to Cattleya, who kept their patrons informed of what was going on, and once it was clear that we wouldn’t have access to the restaurant for some time, waived our bill, and would not accept any payment at all. Brilliant customer service from them, especially while their business was at risk of damage from the fire.
Here are a couple of shots of the fire. You’ll see why I won’t be pursuing a career in photojournalism…
The Charlton Champion 