Two Labour councillors have criticised their own town hall’s decision to exclude part of Charlton from a new neighbourhood forum for the area – with one branding it “a real nonsense”.

Greenwich Council approved plans to set up a neighbourhood forum for Charlton last week – the third such body in the borough.

Neighbourhood forums are led by residents and, once approved by councils, can set up neighbourhood plans which have to be taken into consideration when deciding the future of the area.

Areas with neighbourhood plans can also have more cash from developers spent in the area – 25 per cent of the community infrastructure levy, rather than the 15 per cent seen in other parts of the borough.

But the Charlton forum has lost a northwestern chunk of the area after objections from the three councillors for the soon-to-be abolished Peninsula ward, including Stephen Brain, the controversial chair of planning who has clashed with the residents’ groups who are likely to dominate the new forum.

Brain, together with fellow councillors Chris Lloyd and Denise Scott-McDonald, said it would be “highly inappropriate” for residents from elsewhere in Charlton to have influence over decisions made in their ward – or to receive the extra cash from developers.

Landowners and businesses by the river had also objected to the forum including their area, which includes safeguarded wharves. The decision leaves an area north of the Greenwich railway line and west of Anchor & Hope Lane – including new housing at Bowen Drive and residential streets around Troughton Road and Gurdon Road – outside the forum area. The Bugsbys Way retail strip and Cory’s boatyard are also excluded.

Other councillors are unable to challenge the move after it was made an “urgent” decision, meaning they cannot call it in for scrutiny.

• See the council papers on the issue
• Charlton Neighbourhood Forum website

In July, Brain clashed with representatives of residents’ groups during a planning hearing on a development in the Charlton Riverside, arguing with them over the heights allowed in the area. “I don’t want to be argumentative, but I’m going to be because I’m the chair,” he told one resident.

Neither Brain nor Lloyd will be councillors in the area after May’s election – Brain is standing down while Lloyd has switched to the new West Thamesmead seat. But Scott-McDonald, the council’s deputy leader, remains and will be contesting the new Greenwich Peninsula seat for Labour.

David Gardner, a Woolwich Common councillor who is also a member of the Charlton Society, told a council scrutiny meeting on Monday: “It’s a bizarre decision – it splits conservation areas, it splits Charlton station, it splits communities and it splits the Charlton Riverside. It’s a real nonsense and it doesn’t really allow for a proper neighbourhood plan.

“The report was left so late, there was no ability for councillors to go through the call-in procedure. I’m very very concerned as to why that should have happened.

“It’s a bizarre decision that makes no sense, there was no dialogue about it, and call-in was miraculously avoided, which I think is very, very worrying.”

Helen Brown, a member of the forum, said the changes seemed “quite arbitrary”, and that it would prove a “weakness” in planning for the future of the Charlton Riverside area.

“Our boundaries had been through a proper consultation with the community to find the best way to represent the whole of the SE7 postcode,” she said.

We have this wonderful decision to take us forward, we have an amended area that doesn’t really follow the intentions of our original proposal. It’s a lost opportunity that we’ve not had the opportunity to talk to anyone about.”

She said she felt it would be a “mistake” for the new forum to simply accept its shrunken area.

Gary Parker, a Charlton ward councillor who was chairing the meeting, said there had been “a complete lack of transparency” over the decision.

Victoria Geoghegan, the council’s assistant director of planning, confirmed that the decision could not be challenged but said she would look at what options were open to the new forum. She also said there had been objections from within the Peninsula ward area.

“Once the decision is made we can’t go back and review that decision,” she said. The rationale for the decision was in a report to councillors, she said. ”If it’s not clear, I will go back and see what I can extract to explain it better.”

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Charlton’s new neighbourhood forum is to be recognised by Greenwich Council – bringing the prospect of local people having more of a say in planning decisions.

Its members now have five years to draw up a neighbourhood plan for how they think the area should develop in the coming years, which could then be included in official planning policy.

But it will not cover the northwestern corner of SE7 after objections from the three councillors who cover the area. The Peninsula ward trio of Chris Lloyd, council deputy leader Denise Scott-McDonald and chair of planning Stephen Brain said it would be “highly inappropriate” for residents from elsewhere in Charlton to have influence over decisions made north of the railway line – or to receive the cash from developers that can come with neighbourhood plans.

Other councillors are unable to challenge the move after it was made an “urgent” decision, meaning they cannot call it in for scrutiny.

The forum will now cover all the SE7 postal area, with the exception of streets to the west of Anchor & Hope Lane and north of the Greenwich railway line – meaning streets such as Fairthorn Road, the north end of Victoria Way and Troughton Road will not be covered. Neither will the Bugsby’s Way retail park strip – which is slated for redevelopment in the longer term.

A small part of SE18 around Prospect Vale will be included, as will industrial estates west of Warspite Road, including the proposed Faraday Works development on the former Siemens factory site.

• See the council papers on the issue
• Charlton Neighbourhood Forum website

The decision to include the rest of the riverside area is a significant win for the forum, as it will then hope to influence the future shape of development there. While thousands of new homes are planned for the riverside, just one home has been approved so far after a number of planning wrangles.

One of the riverside developers, Montreaux – which owns the Stone Foundries site – objected to the area covering the riverside, saying that a neighbourhood plan was not needed because of the number of plans that already exist for the development site.

In total, there were 32 submissions of support, with seven objections – one coming from an anonymous councillor who claimed the forum was “anti-housebuilding”, while one resident raised concerns about the influence of local residents’ groups who they said were unrepresentative of the area.

The forum will only be the third in Greenwich borough after the Moorings forum, which covers part of Thamesmead, and the Lee Forum, whose area is shared with the borough of Lewisham.

Neither has a neighbourhood plan yet. Areas that successfully complete neighbourhood plans can get 25 per cent of funds from the community infrastructure levy paid by developers, something else raised by Lloyd, Brain and Scott-McDonald in their objection. In Greenwich, the rate for neighbourhoods is usually 15 per cent.

The forum’s chair, Clare Loops, said the group were “considering our next steps” after the loss of a chunk of the area. Despite his objection to the forum having any say in his ward, Brain, an outspoken chair of planning who has clashed with residents groups in Charlton, will be standing down at May’s council election.

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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.

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.

You can find the consultation on the Greenwich Council website until January 14. And if you have any questions, then you can ask the Charlton Neighbourhood Forum at its meeting on Saturday.

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PLEASE SUPPORT THE CHARLTON CHAMPION

We tell the SE7 stories you won’t read elsewhere. And we’ll do the others better than anyone else. We can’t do it without your help.
– Please tell us about your news and events
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It feels like a long time ago now, but last year we covered the launch of the Charlton Neighbourhood Forum, which aims to give residents a bigger say in the future development of Charlton – particularly with the riverside awaiting development. Earlier this year, the first big riverside development – Rockwell’s scheme for Anchor & Hope Lane – was thrown out after a residents’ campaign. CLARE LOOPS, the forum’s chair, explains why this shows the forum is needed – and how you can take part.

The monumental decision by the Secretary of State on 3rd June to refuse planning permission for the Rockwell development on the VIP Trading Estate gives testament to what can be achieved when communities work together. Charlton Together is a collective of local voices, who made the case that this development was not good enough for Charlton.

Last year, we established the Charlton Neighbourhood Forum with a view to bringing forward a neighbourhood plan for Charlton. An neighbourhood plan must legally be taken into consideration for planning applications, but is produced by the local community – both residents and businesses. The forum needs to be formally designated by Greenwich Council before we can proceed in developing a plan.

Businesses can join too. Business membership is for anyone working in Charlton. Joining provides an opportunity for the business community to have their say in future decisions about employment and business opportunities. You and your colleagues can voice your concerns and discuss your ideas for improving accessibility and trading in Charlton.

With almost half of the development area designated for employment, it is essential that all stakeholders – businesses and residents – work together to create a thriving new area in the Charlton Riverside of that we can all be proud.

If you haven’t joined the forum and want to know more about how you can be part of this exciting new community of businesses and residents, visit charltonneighbourhoodforum.org

Be part of something special, make a difference to Charlton. Join the forum today and please share this information around your networks.

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PLEASE SUPPORT THE CHARLTON CHAMPION

We tell the SE7 stories you won’t read elsewhere. We can’t do it without your help.
– Please tell us about your news and events
– Become a monthly supporter at presspatron.com/charltonchampion
– Donate to our running costs at paypal.me/charltonchampion