The former wire workshop would become a new hub for offices and industry (pic: Neil Clasper)
Developer U+I is planning blocks of up to 13 storeys and 500 new homes on the old Siemens cable factory site next to the Thames Barrier.
The Faraday Works project, on the Charlton-Woolwich border, promises 8,000 square metres of employment space, with 40% at discounted rents to keep businesses in the area.
U+I’s vision for Bowater Road, with the wire workshop on the right
The scheme, the latest to come forward for the Charlton riverside, includes transforming a crumbling former wire workshop on Bowater Road – the street recently opened up as part of the Thames Path “missing link” – into an “exciting new co-working space promoting and helping young and emerging businesses in the area”.
But U+I has confirmed plans to demolish another heritage block, the 1911 Faraday building, which it plans to replace with a similarly-designed block – although 13 storeys high – containing new housing, with a courtyard garden in front of it. It says the building is in poor condition with damage to windows and concrete.
U+I wants to demolish the Faraday Building and replace it with homes (photo: Neil Clasper)
The developer says it wants 35% of the homes to be “affordable”, with a priority for housing at social rent (usually half of market rents).
It says the Wire Workshop element of the scheme will create 460 jobs, and will be similar to The Old Vinyl Factory in Hayes, west London, which was built out of the former EMI record-pressing plant.
U+I plans to build up to 13 storeys on the site
The scheme also plans to keep light industry on site, with the Telegraph Works building extended to accommodate industry downstairs and homes above.
U+I revealed the scheme at a public consultation last week, and the exhibition boards can now been seen on its website, faradayworks.com, where it is also asking for public comments on its ideas.
Lots of parking means buses find it a squeeze to get up Charlton Church Lane
Charlton Church Lane could gain a new bus route if TfL goes ahead with plans to create a service linking the Kidbrooke Village development with North Greenwich station.
A new route linking the development on the site of the former Ferrier Estate with the Jubilee Line has long been planned, and TfL’s preferred option is for it to run via the Charlton retail parks, according to a document released at a council scrutiny meeting last week.
A question-and-answer document from TfL claims that “councillors and many residents have lobbied” for the service to run to the Royal Standard at Blackheath, then along Charlton Road, then down Charlton Church Lane, Anchor & Hope Lane and onto North Greenwich station via the current 472 and 486 routes.
In an answer, TfL says “the route preferred by residents and councillors is also our preferred route”. It is not known what other options were on the table, which residents were consulted or how they were consulted.
TfL says the route would “link Blackheath to the new Sainsbury’s in Charlton, connect people in Kidbrooke to Blackheath, Charlton and North Greenwich [and alleviates pressure on the 132, as it is another route that goes to North Greenwich from Kidbrooke Park Road”.
While another route to North Greenwich will be welcomed, the narrow Charlton Church Lane often struggles with the existing two services – the 380 and 486 – that use it. It is not known whether any parking restrictions would be put in place to allow buses to pass on the road. It also not known if there are any plans to improve bus access outside the Sainsbury’s/M&S development, where the eastbound bus stop is some distance away from the stores.
“We will shortly have internal approval to allow consultation to happen,” TfL’s reply says. “The implementation is reliant on section 106 [developer] funding from sites at North Greenwich and Kidbrooke (and to a lesser extent, Charlton).
“We need confirmation from the borough on when Kidbrooke’s funding will be released, which will influence when consultation and implementation can occur. TfL are keen on doing this as soon as possible.”
Many long-standing residents will remember when Charlton Church Lane had no buses at all – the 380 started running up and down the hill in 1993, while the 486 started using the road when it was introduced in 2001.
TfL is cutting back frequencies on the 486 at most times of the day from Saturday, although it is increasing them slightly during weekday morning peak hours.
Documents submitted to the Silvertown Tunnel planning hearing in 2016 showed TfL planning a service between Grove Park and Canary Wharf via Charlton Church Lane and the proposed tunnel, which would run four buses per hour.
Either Sainsbury’s or Asda in Charlton could be placed at risk of closure this week when a competition report into the merger of the two supermarket giants is released. The Competition and Markets Authority is expected to recommend the closure of a number of stores if it allows the tie-up between the two chains to go ahead. Yesterday’s Mail on Sunday claimed the merger may not go ahead if the CMA recommends closing more than 170 stores. A provisional report is expected this week, with a full report due this April.
ACV status gives limited protection over The Valley
Charlton Athletic fans have succeeded in having The Valley declared an Asset of Community Value – meaning they can bid to buy the stadium if it is ever put up for sale.
The Valley was first made an ACV in 2013, and now Charlton Athletic Supporters’ Trust has successfully renewed the designation on the ground, which was first used for football 100 years ago. Charlton have played there ever since, apart from two near-disastrous spells away at The Mount in Catford (1923) and at Selhurst Park and Upton Park (1985-92).
With the club’s future up currently up in the air, the renewal of ACV status with Greenwich Council goes some way to asserting the importance of the Addicks to the wider community. Charlton’s absentee owner, eccentric Belgian electronic magnate Roland Duchatelet, oversaw the side’s relegation to League One in 2016 and a calamitous drop in attendances. His representatives have been in on-off talks about selling the club for well over a year.
Trust chair Richard Wiseman said: “Although ACV status might be viewed as largely symbolic it is nevertheless very important because it recognises the role of our historic ground and club in the community and offers some limited protection against worst case scenarios of asset stripping.
“I would like to thank the club, the Royal Borough of Greenwich and CAST volunteers who worked on this successful application. There is scope for strengthening the legislation to offer even more protection for historic football grounds, and we will continue to argue for this.”
Greenwich and Woolwich MP Matt Pennycook said: “I’m delighted that the council has re-listed The Valley as an Asset of Community Value. The ground and the club are an integral part of the local community and this decision reaffirms the right of the fans to be part of any discussion about their future.”
Charlton play Blackpool tomorrow in the annual Football For A Fiver match, with striker Lyle Taylor strongly criticising Duchatelet for authorising the signing of a new striker to add to the the team, who currently lie fifth in League One.
“I don’t know if he [Duchatelet] is even going to sell the club. He doesn’t seem to be that interested in anything Charlton, or anything helping Charlton at the moment,” he told the South London Press.
Traffic is already regularly jammed in the “Greenwich” Shopping Park
Discount supermarket Lidl is set to return to Charlton, having applied for a licence to serve alcohol in the former H&M unit on Bugsby’s Way.
The appearance of yet another hugely popular store will put even more pressure on the traffic network in the area, following the opening of Ikea last Thursday, as well as Primark and Matalan in 2017.
It is not clear whether or not Lidl will need to apply for planning permission to open the store – but the it does need a licence to serve alcohol.
Lidl did have a store on Bugsby’s Way until the 2000s and has long been linked with a return. Its German rival, Aldi, opened its doors on the other side of Bugsby’s Way in 2017.
There are 32 retail units in the Bugsby’s Way cluster – between the railway line and Gallions Road of which 30 are currently occupied.
Sunday afternoon and the queue can be seen building up from the A102 (photo: Neil Clasper)
So, the first weekend with an Ikea on our doorstep is over. How was it for you?
The east Greenwich Ikea’s first Saturday appeared to get off to a quiet start with traffic appearing to be a little quieter than normal – but queues did start to build, not helped by congestion at the Blackwall Tunnel. In the retail park itself, queues (of people) formed during the afternoon, with Transport for London reporting congestion in the area.
The whole of south east London is at IKEA Greenwich today. I’m queuing in the rain. I don’t know who I am anymore. pic.twitter.com/ctn3txiUfx
As a resident and non-driver I'm worried IKEA is being blamed for an existing issue. The retail park further down is constantly gridlocked at the weekend. This area does not favour pedestrians and never has.
Ikea – with its notoriety for bringing areas to a standstill – has merely become the latest poster child for years of bad planning and short-term thinking in the Charlton/ east Greenwich retail parks. And there’s been years of bad feeling built up by a decision to approve a store that perhaps could have been better-placed on the quiet dual carriageways of Thamesmead.
While Charlton has had warehouse shopping since the 1970s, it intensified in the late 1990s with the appearance of Peninsula Park (Pets at Home, Smyths Toys etc – approved c.1987 and 1995), the “Greenwich” Shopping Park (Sports Direct, Homesense, Hobbycraft – planning permission granted in 2000; Matalan – extension approved in 2014) and the Brocklebank Retail Park (Aldi, Next, Primark – approved 2013); providing stores which are big draws for repeat visits, rather than the DIY/furniture stores which had been the Charlton retail park staples in the 80s and 90s.
And the traffic in these retail parks, adjacent to Ikea, is frequently terrible. But few go on social media to give Matalan or its customers a kicking for causing traffic jams. Or Asda or Makro, for that matter, which have been there 35 and 45 years respectively, outlasting a whole host of other retailers.
The problem was already there: Traffic trapped “Greenwich” Shopping Park on a December Sunday
What does appear to be different, though, is the queues coming off the A102. Yet this was foreseen, and action should have been taken to prevent this.
The Blackwall Tunnel approach is awful, slip road off (to Ikea) queueing and blocking the road back to Sun in Sands. Actual traffic past the roundabout isn't bad at all! Even in the retail park….
The 2014 legal agreement between Ikea and Greenwich Council which enables the store to be built specifically says that Ikea should have provided money for signage to be put in place directing customers away from the Woolwich Road roundabout – signage which hasn’t appeared.
From Ikea’s 2014 legal agreement
It is unclear quite what has happened to these signs. Pedestrian improvements, which are under the control of Greenwich Council, are due in the spring. It’s also unclear quite what local councillors are doing to make sure their officers are on top of the situation.
I drove from the village down to the yacht club and back this afternoon via Bugsby's Way and the traffic was less than expected for a usual Sunday to be honest. It was busier going down towards Ikea but not unusually so.
The first weekend seems to have been a mixed bag of experiences; some appearing to contradict each other. Early shoppers could get in and out quickly; later shoppers, less so. Travellers on the Woolwich Road seemed the unluckiest of all. Predictions of gridlock could have driven some away from the area. Whether the traffic will settle down or whether it will be like this every weekend remains to be seen.
But with many of the decisions around Ikea so far not really engendering much hope in the store’s interest in the community around it – a feeling exacerbated by the tone-deaf attitude of Greenwich Council over the years since the scheme was approved – for every shopper delighted to have a flatpack furniture emporium within half-an-hour’s drive, there’ll be a neighbour approaching each weekend with trepidation for some time to come.
If you were out and about over the weekend and saw the conditions for yourself (rather than watching on social media), please let us know your experiences in the comments below. Thank you.
The Old Cottage Cafe won’t be shut for much longer
The Old Cottage Cafe in Charlton Park reopens at 11am on Thursday, less than two weeks after it was trashed by burglars who made off with takings and the cafe’s till.
More than £6,700 has been raised by customers to get the cafe back on its feet after the theft, with neighbours rallying round to help the business pick up the pieces.
Thursday’s new start at the Old Cottage Cafe won’t be the biggest opening in the area that day – a certain furniture store is seeing to that – but it will be one that at least the whole community can get behind.
What’s more, if fears of traffic carnage are correct and Ikea does snarl up the traffic on Saturday, at least you’ll have somewhere to go to hide from frustrated drivers.
U+I submitted plans indicating it wanted to demolish 37 Bowater Road (photo: Neil Clasper)
Developer U+I will reveal its plans for the old Siemens factory site near the Thames Barrier next week, with three drop-in sessions – two being held on Valentine’s Day.
Until 1968, this was home to the giant Siemens cable works. While some of the buildings have since been demolished – notably the headquarters building (see below) – many remain in place.
A great episode from Series 5 sees an explosion in a hotel cause devastation! All filmed in Bowater Road, Woolwich, SE18. The building used as the Hotel was part of the Siemens Brothers site. A fantastic looking building but sadly since demolished #londonsburning#woolwichpic.twitter.com/PjSOeKig99
Several of them have recently been given local listing status by Greenwich Council, which has created a conservation area. Recent plans submitted to Greenwich indicated that U+I wanted to demolish 37 Bowater Road but keep the rest.
The site is just to the east of the Thames Barrier (pic: Neil Clasper)
U+I says:
We know we’re not going to have got the proposals right yet. We want to hear your thoughts, ideas and criticisms so that we can shape Faraday Works into an amazing new place for Charlton. We will be holding a public exhibition where you can meet the project team and let us know your thoughts at this early stage.
Thursday 14th February, 8am to 10am
Drop in session at Chef House Café
19 Bowater Road, Woolwich, London, SE18 5FL
WITH FREE BREAKFAST FOR THOSE WHO LEAVE FEEDBACK
Thursday 14th February, 4pm to 8pm
Education Space at Thames Side Studios
Unit 2, 5 Harrington Way, Woolwich, London, SE18 5NR
Saturday 16th February, 12pm to 4pm
Education Space at Thames Side Studios
Unit 2, 5 Harrington Way, Woolwich, London, SE18 5NR
WITH FREE BIKE SERVICE AND REPAIR
The Charlton Champion 