If you use buses regularly, you’ll have noticed January’s sudden cut to route 53 caused by roadworks by Westminster Bridge. The service stopped running the full length of its route to Whitehall, depriving many local workers, from cleaners to civil servants, of their usual route to central London.
The diggers have moved away from Bridge Street, but initial dates for the restoration of service in March and then April have been missed. Transport for London blames new works at the Elephant & Castle for continuing to stop the service at Lambeth North. However, no other bus through the Elephant is suffering such a severe cut in service.
Now the Charlton Society (declaration of interest: I’m on its committee) has launched a petition to get the route back to is full strength once again. To sign it, visit Change.org.
Confirmed candidates so far (clockwise): Ryan Acty (Ukip), Abbey Akinoshun (Green), Lynne Chamberlain (TUSC), Matt Pennycook (Labour), Tom Holder (Lib Dems), Matt Hartley (Conservative)
Current MP Nick Raynsford is standing down after 23 years in the post. A full list of candidates won’t be known until after the nominations have closed on 9 April.
The Charlton Central Residents Association is also holding a hustings at St Richard’s Hall, Swallowfield Road on 27 April at 7.30pm (members and associate members can reserve a place by contacting CCRA).
Details of other hustings would be appreciated, including those covering the Eltham constituency, which covers streets to the south of Charlton Park.
Other hustings for Greenwich & Woolwich: Friday 17 April, 6:30pm, Greenwich West Community Centre (organised by Breast Cancer Care – register for free ticket); Sunday 19 April, 11.30am, Greenwich Dance Agency, Royal Hill (Christian Life Fellowship); Wednesday 22 April, 1pm, Greenwich Community College Plumstead campus; Thursday 23 April, 7.30pm, Christ Church East Greenwich (local Church of England churches); Tuesday 28 April, 6.30pm, Forum at Greenwich (Greenwich NUT); Wednesday 29 April, 6pm, Forum at Greenwich (Greenwich Association of Disabled People).
As you may know already, Ikea has planning permission to build a store on the site of the old “eco” Sainsbury’s in Greenwich – a prospect which has flat-pack furniture fans five miles already reaching for their car keys, and residents who live a mile away groaning.
“How can we make the best of this situation? What do we, as neighbours of the proposed store, want to see to prevent Ikea grinding local transport to a halt? What do we think the store should look like? And what part should Ikea play in the local community?
“The Charlton Society’s planning committee is talking to Ikea about the future. We’d like to hear your ideas. Should the road junction at the Woolwich Road flyover be altered? How can we make it easier for people to have goods delivered? What extra public transport would you like to see? And how can we improve on Ikea’s trademark blue box?”
Ideas include emulating the new-ish Ikea store in Altona, Hamburg, which is aimed at attracting a 50/50 split between car drivers and those coming on public transport, on bike or by foot.
It’s the AGM of the Charlton Society this Saturday at 2.30pm at Charlton House. I’ve been on the society’s committee for a year now, so I can’t really pretend to be unbiased over this one – come along, join up (it’s £12/year to join), grab a glass of wine, bend the ear of local politicians and chew the fat over local issues.
There’ll be a talk from Greenwich & Woolwich MP Nick Raynsford, while I’m sure Greenwich cabinet member David Gardner will have a few words to say as outgoing chair.
I think it’s fair to say the Charlton Society’s been a bit of a sleeping institution in recent years – it does a lot of work on planning issues behind the scenes, but it’s been not really well-known beyond its membership. It started in 1969 in response to threats to the Village from roadbuilding – but in recent years its profile had slipped somewhat.
So I’ve been working with the committee to try to make the society’s light shine a bit brighter – starting with the long, long overdue creation of a simple Charlton Society website. But the society’s also been involved in getting the White Swan pub listed as an asset of community value. It’s also given help to the campaign for a community council.
It’s easy to mock amenity societies as being out of touch and serving small-minded interests – but I thought I’d come into help open the Charlton Society up, and get more people involved in its work. We’re hoping to make some changes to the way the committee work, so there’s a stronger focus on issues such as environment and planning, while still preserving its traditional programme of Saturday talks.
But all this is a bit of a waste without more people involved, so if you’re the sort of person who reads this website and takes an interest in local issues, you’re just who the Charlton Society needs as a member. I’ve a few regular Charlton Champion commenters in mind here…
So, if you’ve got Saturday afternoon free, please come along and say hello – it’d be great to see you.
The panel listens to a question from the audience at the Woolwich Riverside hustings.
The hustings for Charlton and Woolwich Riverside wards have come and gone, and there wasn’t one fist fight to report – barely even a cross word. A good amount of people turned out for both evenings, and those that stayed around to chat at the end seemed on both nights to think that the Charlton Society’s experiment in access to local democracy had been worthwhile. Discussions were civil – audience members had a chance to put to the candidates the local issues that were really bothering them, and candidates responded thoughtfully.
Questions put to the panels ranged widely across local topics: how to tackle youth crime, road safety, air quality, the council’s responsibility for public health and even the future of the Woolwich Ferry were all mentioned. Perhaps you couldn’t make it and you’d like to catch up? If you’re in Woolwich Riverside, and you’d like to find out:
why Labour’s Jackie Smith thought maybe one day Woolwich could be like Berlin,
which of the candidates had to admit to not having heard of Windrush School or
which of the candidates agree with rent control and landlord registration
there’s much much more detail to be found in this collection of recordings and tweets: Woolwich Riverside Hustings.
Or you’re in Charlton ward, and you’d like to know:
whose reaction to being shown around cycling infrastructure in the borough was ‘Christ, are these the good bits?’
who thinks that the treatment of Charlton House shows Charlton to be ‘an unwanted child’
or what the panel as a whole thought that councils should do with their new public health responsibilities
then, likewise, there’s much more for you to take in here: Charlton Hustings.
In both meetings, one party’s candidates declined the invitation to appear: in Charlton, no Conservative candidates joined the meeting while in Woolwich Riverside none of the Liberal Democrat candidates appeared. In both cases, the Greenwich borough parties offered to send a substitute speaker, but the Charlton Society felt that the meetings would only keep their integrity as local hustings if only the candidates from that ward were on the panel.
It’s probably fair to say that many of the attendees were not entirely new to local politics, and in both meetings the hosts didn’t make a point of asking those submitting questions to declare interests or introduce themselves. It’s probably worth thinking about this for the next time we do something similar in Charlton. At both meetings, questions were asked by people active in party politics and the process might be more transparent if everybody knew who was asking what.
Did you go to one of the meetings? Were you happy with the way the candidates answered? Did you get out of the meeting what you hoped for? If you had anything to suggest to the organisers, what would it be? Let us know in the comments below.
UPDATE – 14th May
The organisers of the hustings meetings have been in touch to offer a correction:
To say “the Charlton Society felt that the meetings would only keep their integrity as local hustings if only the candidates from that ward were on the panel.” isn’t accurate.
After it became clear that the three Riverside Lib Dems were unable to attend, the organisers went to some considerable effort to include Lib Dem candidates from the next door and nearby wards in the interests of providing as wide a range of views as possible on the night. However, this was not considered acceptable by other attending candidates, and the organisers agreed that this was not an unreasonable position for them to take. Consequently, it became impossible to reach a compromise with out-of-ward candidates from the Conservative party for the next night. The organisers were disappointed that in each case major parties were not represented during the discussions but hope that now a precedent has been set for running fair, well moderated and unbiased hustings events, all those seeking election for the future will be keen to attend and make their case in front of the voters.
Apologies to the Charlton Society for the initial error.
Dates for your diary
A round-up of February events we’ve found in and around SE7. What have we missed? Let us know in the comments below or email neilclasper[at]gmail.com, and we’ll update the post as we get the chance.
15th Feb, 2.30pm: Charlton Society talk – John Beckham on ‘Wildlife in our local parks‘, Charlton House.
20th February, 7-9pm: Death Cafe at Charlton House. “Join us in the comfortable Dutch room to drink tea, eat cake and discuss life, death and what comes after!”.
26th February, 6.30pm: Global Fusion Music and Arts’ Fairtrade Fortnight Networking Event, Charlton House. “Fairtrade stalls including clothing, food, gifts, books, arts, and massage; plus dance, music and poetry – including a few songs from the GFMA singing group. Topping the bill will be the amazing Kora player Mosi Conde from Guinea – and if fancy trying your hand at drumming, Tai Chi or African dance, there will be some fun taster sessions”. Free entry. Email globalfusionarts@yahoo.co.uk.
Disclaimer: These listings are up to date to the best of our knowledge, but we advise checking details with the event organisers before attending any events.
Photo feature
Have you got a Charlton photo you’d like to share with the world? A shot of your favourite part of SE7, or a recent event? We’d love to feature some readers’ photos in our monthly diary round-up. Send your image to neilclasper[at]gmail.com with a title and – if you like – some words to tell us what the picture means to you (don’t worry: we’ll attribute the photo as you wish, and you’ll keep full control of copyright).
English Heritage have complained to Greenwich Council about new signs promoting Charlton House, which have been placed outside the Jacobean mansion.
The two signs, in the council’s house style, use stock photos to advertise the Grade I-listed venue’s availability for weddings, meetings, and other events.
Charlton Society chair David Gardner, which is also chair of the Greenwich & Woolwich Labour Party, said he was unaware that the signs would be installed but that the heritage body had complained to the council.
The revelation came at the Charlton Society’s annual general meeting on Saturday, where the council’s management of the house was repeatedly criticised.
Plans for Charlton House’s management to be taken over by a specific trust have been scrapped by council leader Chris Roberts, with it now to be run by a trust which looks after all of Greenwich borough’s community venues.
Charlton Society president Lord Gough – a descendant of the Maryon Wilson family which owned the house – voiced his regret at the collapse of the plans, while Gardner complained the council was “not talking to us” about the future of Charlton House.
The new signs point potential customers to the council’s website, despite the council having recently launched a new website for Charlton House. A previous website for Charlton House, which cost £3,500 to develop, lasted only two years.
The meeting also saw Charlton councillor Allan MacCarthy appeal for people to get in touch with council chief executive Mary Ney (mary.ney [at] royalgreenwich.gov.uk) if they wished to complain about the Run to the Beat event, while assembly member Len Duvall said Greenwich Council and organisers should either improve arrangements and information or axe the event.
The meeting was also addressed by Greenwich & Woolwich MP Nick Raynsford, who spoke about the opportunities – and dangers – presented by riverside developments. You can hear some of his speech below.
Charlton Champion contributors Darryl Chamberlain (that’s me) and Nikki Coates, along with Andrew Donkin from the Friends of Maryon and Maryon Wilson Parks, were elected to the Charlton Society committee on Saturday. We’ll be looking at ways to breathe some new life into the organisation and get more people involved – if you’ve got any ideas, get in touch.
The Charlton Champion 