Charlton – Page 9 – The Charlton Champion

Kidbrooke with Hornfair by-election 2021: Meet the candidates for Thursday’s poll

May 1, 2021June 19, 2023Darryl Chamberlain

Five candidates for the election — From left: Andrea Borbely (Conservative), Pierce Chalmers (Liberal Democrat), Sharon Kent (Independent), Odette McGahey (Labour), Carol O’Toole (Green; photo by Karin Tearle)

Thursday sees elections for the mayor of London and London Assembly, but there’s also a council by-election in part of Charlton.

Voters who live in Kidbrooke with Hornfair ward – west of Indus Road and south of Charlton Park – are being asked to choose a replacement for Labour’s Christine Grice, who died a year ago.

While this has been a reasonably safe Labour ward in recent years, this hasn’t always been the case – the Conservatives took seats here in 2006. Whoever wins is only likely to be in place for a year – the seat is likely to be broken up before next May’s council elections.

Five candidates are standing: communications consultant Andrea Borbely for the Conservatives, Pierce Chalmers for the Liberal Democrats, neighbourhood watch coordinator Sharon Kent is standing as an independent, Odette McGahey is hoping to retain the seat for Labour, while retired biologist and immunologist Carol O’Toole is the Green candidate. All of them kindly answered our questions.

What made you want to stand in this election?

Andrea Borbely (Conservative): There’s two Labour councillors already in Kidbrooke. Knowing that I could be an independent voice for, and make a real difference in, the community I love made me want to stand.

Pierce Chalmers (Liberal Democrat): I have grown up and live in the local area, this gives me a vested interest to help the community. I have been looking for a way where I can give a real positive contribution to the area and I feel standing as a local councillor was the ideal way to do this.

Sharon Kent (Independent): Someone needs to. As a neighbourhood watch coordinator and active ward panel member I have kept appraised of how the residents feel in this ward. I would like the opportunity to speak on their behalf in a manner that can help.

Odette McGahey (Labour): I have been a local resident for many years and I would love to represent the community in which I live.

Carol O’Toole (Green): As a scientist I am concerned about Health and Wellbeing in Greenwich. Air Quality in KWH is impacted by heavy traffic on the A2 and Shooters Hill Road. Most of the ward is deficient in accessible green space, mature trees and biodiversity which are integral to health are not protected. An independent voice on the council for ecology, biodiversity, and sustainable development is now essential.

Why are you a member of your party (or not a member of any party)?

Andrea Borbely (Conservative): The Conservative Party believes in the power of the individual to better themselves and their communities, and, when it is in power, gives them the tools to do so. We have an optimistic vision of the local community, compared with Labour’s pessimism about how much any individual can do to make their life better.

Pierce Chalmers (Liberal Democrat): Of the main parties, I feel the Liberal Democrats were the party that had not strayed to the extremes and had remained representative of its values. This makes it a party I want to stand for, one where genuine discussion of ideas can be had and represent the needs of the public.

Sharon Kent (Independent): Because they just point fingers at each other.

Odette McGahey (Labour): I would like to live in a society where doing an honest day’s work pays for a decent quality of life. I have become increasingly concerned about rising homelessness, food bank usage and the general widening of inequalities in our country.

Carol O’Toole (Green): The Green Party has strong commitments to conserving and protecting biodiversity and sustainable development; improving air quality by reducing pollution from traffic; and stopping major roadbuilding in urban areas, such as Silvertown Tunnel project.

What makes Kidbrooke with Hornfair ward special?

Andrea Borbely (Conservative): Quiet streets in the heart of a busy borough, green spaces in a city, and a vibrant community from diverse backgrounds.

Pierce Chalmers (Liberal Democrat): The ward is host to such a diverse community, from the schools to the different sports clubs that encompass the ward, each brings something unique to the area. This is also what creates the strong sense of community that this ward proudly displays to anyone that visits there.

Sharon Kent (Independent): Our diversity.

Odette McGahey (Labour): The people make it a lovely place to live. We have a great parade of shops with a wide range of things on offer and if course the lido. This makes it a vibrant place to visit and meet friends and neighbours. We also have some wonderful green spaces which have been a source of relief for so many of us through the last year.

Carol O’Toole (Green): Not sure.

What can be done to improve it?

Andrea Borbely (Conservative): Put simply, a referendum on low-traffic neighbourhoods, more support than Labour is currently giving to our green spaces, a better voice for small businesses, and places and spaces for our young people to help them create a sense of community.

Pierce Chalmers (Liberal Democrat): One aspect that can be developed upon is the growth of the community, making sure that decisions help benefit the public and encourage the local community to work together. One way this could be done it to make sure we promote local events so they can be as successful as possible by getting as much of the area involved.

Sharon Kent (Independent): Keep it safe from those that would do us harm.

Odette McGahey (Labour): As we tackle climate change, I would like to see more green facilities like electric charging points for cars, and help people to move to renewable power sources in their homes, making sure we create opportunities for people to get training and jobs in the new green economy. I would be keen to encourage cooperative and not-for-profit means of achieving this.

Carol O’Toole (Green): Better planning laws which conserve and protect local green infrastructure.

What is the most pressing priority for the borough in the coming years?

Andrea Borbely (Conservative): Greenwich’s Labour council has put up rents for new council tenants by around four times the rent of inflation. Earlier this year it was revealed the council had failed to update its Housing and Homelessness strategy, as required by law – in the middle of a pandemic! Too many council tenants are poorly served by their landlord – Greenwich Council. Fighting for them, and keeping council rents down is critical in the coming years.

Pierce Chalmers (Liberal Democrat): Following the covid pandemic one of the most pressing issues is to ensure the survival of the small business in the borough. We need to make sure our high street shops remain open and in business, these businesses represent the hard work of our community and bring life to the area.

Sharon Kent (Independent): Safety, safety, safety!

Odette McGahey (Labour): Housing. We need to build environmentally sustainable homes that people can genuinely afford to rent or buy.

Carol O’Toole (Green): Build resilience to effects of climate change, using natural capital

What can you do to help people relate better with what the council does?

Andrea Borbely (Conservative): Being visible. The number of people who have told me they’ve never spoken to a local candidate before, from any party, on the campaign trail is shocking. As a councillor I’d strive to be as accessible as possible. More surgeries, more letters telling residents how I’m fighting for them, more knocking on doors. It’s so simple. Making the council relevant has to start with councillors explaining what they do on a day to day basis to as many people as they can!

Pierce Chalmers (Liberal Democrat): The best thing I could do is to promote transparency from the council. Many past projects have gone ahead and had decisions made without informing or giving people the opportunity to voice their opinion. Increasing transparency will allow the public to stay up to date on decisions and to hold the council more accountable.

Sharon Kent (Independent): Be their voice. Listen to what they want and need.

Odette McGahey (Labour): I am really looking forward to working with local people to get things done in their communities. For example, I’ve been speaking to our local MP Clive Efford and we hope to work together with the people of the Shooters Hill estate to create a residents association to address their safety and other housing issues.

Carol O’Toole (Green): Make sure that residents are really listened to and informed before decisions are taken.

Many users of Charlton Park believe there should be more lighting to make it safer for people at night. What do you think?

Andrea Borbely (Conservative): We are lucky to have some beautiful streets in our ward. However, further away from main roads, in residential areas, and in the park, visibility at night is nearly non-existent. If elected, I will ensure we all feel safe walking home at night. That’s one of my top priorities.

Pierce Chalmers (Liberal Democrat): Yes, I agree that there should be more lighting through Charlton Park. Ensuring people feel safe to walk around their local area should always be a main priority for the council, and if people feel this is needed then it is definitely something that needs serious consideration.

Sharon Kent (Independent): Lighting is important everywhere.

Odette McGahey (Labour): I will want to meet with users of Charlton Park regularly and support them with the work they do for our community. If there is a public safety issue, I would want to discuss this with the police, park users and local residents to find the best way forwards. If we agree that should be lighting, then I will do my best make sure it happens.

Carol O’Toole (Green): Important that ‘eco friendly’ lighting is used.

Is the Shooters Hill Road cycle lane a good idea?

Andrea Borbely (Conservative): I’m 100% for reducing pollution and encouraging healthy modes of transport such as cycling. But, I believe that’s for the community to decide. One of the key promises made by all the Conservative candidates in Greenwich is that we should have local referendums on any further LTNs. The council hasn’t done enough to consult residents.

Pierce Chalmers (Liberal Democrat): I do feel that that the cycle lane can be very beneficial to the community, making it safer to cycle and in turn encouraging people to travel via bike instead of using cars. I would also like hear the public’s view on it as they were not informed about the bid before it was agreed.

Sharon Kent (Independent): No, it is unsafe.

Odette McGahey (Labour): The cycle lanes were brought in during the first locked down at the request of central government. The terms of the funding support prevented advanced consultation. I hope the lesson learnt from this is that consultation provides a vital function and preferably should take place before changes are made. The responses to the retrospective consultation are currently under review and I hope that the final solution will enable and encourage cycle usage without restricting the flow of emergency vehicles and normal traffic.

Carol O’Toole (Green): This needs to be monitored, as to whether it contributes to better air quality, reduces congestion and is safe for pedestrians and cyclists.

Do you believe there should be curbs on through traffic to stop drivers using Charlton Park Road, Marlborough Lane and Canberra Road as cut-throughs?

Andrea Borbely (Conservative): Some of the current low-traffic measures introduced by the council simply divert congestion and pollution to residential areas. The Labour-run council is making decisions without asking the people who know best – the local residents. When I speak to them, they tell me they want the whole system looked at. I hear them, and back their desire for change. That’s what the Conservatives are offering. Labour needs to hear what local residents are saying and think again.

Pierce Chalmers (Liberal Democrat): I would need to get further detail on the effects of putting these curbs in place on each of these roads. I would not want to promote a policy that would ultimately result in a detriment to the local community by causing worse congestion elsewhere.

Sharon Kent (Independent): Traffic needs to flow. Congestion is the enemy.

Odette McGahey (Labour): I believe people should be able to enjoy peace and quiet in their homes without noise and pollution from rat-running traffic. I would be very happy to meet with local residents to discuss this issue and bring about changes they need.

Carol O’Toole (Green): Yes.

Have you had a dip in Charlton Lido since it reopened?

Andrea Borbely (Conservative): I feel the cold very badly! I’ll be going when the weather is a little warmer (I can’t wait for the two or three days of ‘summer’ we get every year!).

Pierce Chalmers (Liberal Democrat): Unfortunately, I have not yet had the opportunity to visit Charlton Lido, however as an ex club swimmer I do look forward to finding the time for a swim.

Sharon Kent (Independent): I am not a keen swimmer.

Odette McGahey (Labour): Sadly no, but I am a fan and I’m very tempted, especially when I see beautiful blue skies like we have today.

Carol O’Toole (Green): No, but will be there soon.

Thank you to the candidates for answering the questions. Polling stations are open from 7am to 10pm on Thursday.

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Greenwich Council plans to hold £165,000 festival in Charlton Park in August

April 19, 2021June 19, 2023Darryl Chamberlain

Greenwich Council’s annual Great Get Together festival is to move from Woolwich to Charlton Park and be given a new look and name, tender documents issued to potential event producers reveal.

Held to coincide with Armed Forces Day for the past decade, the event began life at Barrack Field on Woolwich Common, as a merger of smaller events held around the borough in the years before that. It moved to Woolwich town centre in 2019.

After last year’s event fell foul of the pandemic, the council is now planning to relaunch its annual jamboree, with Saturday 21 August pencilled in as a start date – at a cost of £165,000.

The move from Woolwich to Charlton Park will disappoint those hoping for a boost to the troubled town centre, which is receiving up to £17.1m in government funds to make it more appealing to visitors and residents.

But the council says “this year provides a natural opportunity to reconfigure the event and move location”.

“This location has been chosen as the park is in the centre of the borough, is a large, flat, green space with many sections, fenced with several gates, a small car park and is well equipped with existing facilities including a skate park, cafes and a playground making it the perfect location for a contemporary outdoor community festival, with exciting new content for residents to enjoy,” the tender document, spotted by tweeter Jo Brodie, states.

“The event will also provide an opportunity for thanks to our NHS and key workers, as well for reflection and memorial to those lives lost during the pandemic. The focus for the event should be a contemporary family festival with an overriding theme of equality and diversity,” potential organisers are told.

“We envisage music, arts, culture, food and entertainment from around the world, but embedded in the diversity of the variety of communities we have in Royal Greenwich [sic]. The event needs a rebrand – with a new name that captures this essence.”

The document says that for this year only and as “a celebration of the potential end of the pandemic, we are able to invest more in the event than ever before, enabling the opportunity to produce a really spectacular show”.

While coronavirus restrictions remain in place until at least June 21, and scientists have warned of a third wave in July or August, the tender document makes the assumption that London will be in a better position to hold outdoor events.

“The end of summer date hopefully allows for the Covid-19 restrictions to have been lifted, the vaccination programme to have been completed, and anticipates that visitors will have regained confidence in large events and social gatherings again,” the document states.

The proposals appear to be similar to those for the hugely popular Lewisham People’s Day, which takes part in Mountsfield Park in Catford. However, organisers have also been told that “due to the borough’s rich military history and some armed forces content at previous events, we may want to include some content of this nature such as an assault course and visibility and support from local community groups such as the Army Cadets and British Legion”.

The plan to spend £165,000 on a festival in Charlton Park comes two months after the council declined to spend money on improving lighting in the park to make it safer during the winter months.

Companies who want to put the event on have until 30 April to submit their application.

A version of this story appears on our sister website 853.

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Charlton Parkrun takes step forward with Community Voting Day grant

April 13, 2021June 19, 2023Darryl Chamberlain1 Comment

Plans for Parkrun to come to Charlton Park have taken a great stride forward after local people voted for organisers to receive £2,000 from a fund to help the local area bounce park from the pandemic.

The free weekly five-kilometre events have been suspended since last March but are expected to return this summer as the country reopens. Thousands of people run, jog or walk their way around parks and open spaces each Saturday morning with the help of an army of volunteers.

The nearest Parkrun events to Charlton are at Hilly Fields in Lewisham, Avery Hill Park in Eltham and Mountsfield Park in Catford, as well as at Royal Victoria Dock across the river. Last summer, The Charlton Champion featured an appeal for volunteers interested in helping bring the event to SE7.

Now the £2,000 from Community Voting Day two weeks ago will help the team push forward and make the idea a reality.

In all, 86 people took part in the vote two weeks ago, with £16,000 to distribute to a variety of different projects. The money comes from central government and is being distributed by Greenwich Council.

Ten projects won funding: Charlton parkrun (£2,000); Creative Community Meals (£2,000); Picture Me There – half-hour touring dance performances (£2,000); Fresh Chances Deep Neighbourhood Digital Inclusion – a digital skills project (£2,000); Charlton Power Up – a project aimed at teenage girls (£1,975); Dancewalking for Wellbeing – a Greenwich Dance project (£1,840); Staying Connected – a Global Fusion Music and Arts project with tai chi, art classes and meditation (£1,430); Feel Good Yoga (£1,200); NuVitality Fit FamJam (£897.42); Weekly Saturday Chi Gong and Tai Chi Exercise (£497.58).

The projects have to be delivered within the next six months.

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Housing association sells ex-council ‘affordable homes’ plot to private developer

April 4, 2021June 19, 2023Darryl Chamberlain

The old Denmark House garages site has been fenced off for years

A leading housing association has sold land in Charlton to a private developer – despite that land being earmarked for “affordable housing”.

L&Q has sold the plot in Maryon Road to an Abbey Wood-based developer, Brunswick Square Investments, 18 years after its former subsidiary Tower Homes bought the land from Greenwich Council for £361,000.

The land formerly housed garages for the Morris Walk Estate, and a covenant was put in place in December 2002 to ensure the land would be developed into 12 homes.

However, no development took place, and in 2015 a further covenant was issued on the land transferring it to L&Q, and pledging that the site “be used for no other purpose than Affordable Housing”, which it defines as being “social rent, affordable rent and intermediate housing” – the latter usually meaning shared ownership. It also restricted the size of any development to 33 habitable rooms.

Denmark House Garages site — This land was sold by Greenwich Council in 2002

But L&Q has now sold the land to Brunswick Square Investments, which gives its headquarters as a private house in Overton Road, Abbey Wood. The Charlton Champion understands the sale price was £605,000, but has been unable to independently verify this as Land Registry records have not yet been updated.

The site has been fenced off for years and the housing estate around it – including the next-door tower block, Denmark House – has been demolished by the building company Lovell, which is redeveloping the old Morris Walk Estate as Trinity Park.

An L&Q spokesperson told The Charlton Champion: “This land was sold as it was surplus to our requirements. As part of the sale, the covenant restricting the size of the development, and the tenure to affordable housing, remained in place.”

Brunswick Square Investments was formed in 2019 and has not yet filed accounts with Companies House, which classes the company as being involved in “buying and selling real estate”. Its sole named director, Herbert McLaughlin, has not responded to a request for comment.

Greenwich Council’s cabinet member for regeneration, Sarah Merrill, told The Charlton Champion: “We are committed to ensuring that the covenants secured against the land are fully enforced. The new owner will need to ensure that any planning application for development respects the adjacent new and existing developments and this should be a policy compliant scheme delivering the maximum amount of affordable housing.”

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Neighbourhood champions: Helping your local community through the pandemic

April 1, 2021June 19, 2023

Evie Hoyte has been looking out for the people of Woodville Estate, next to the Sun-in-the-Sands roundabout, for 50 years. She spoke to SAM DAVIES about the unique challenges she’s faced in the past 12 months.

“Twenty-seven people live along here, but you wouldn’t think so.” Evie Hoyte is showing me round the Woodville Estate at a social distance. “I’ve been doing it for a long long time, just keeping an eye on the community. It’s a little, closed-in place. But it’s not closed in.”

It’s a grey, locked-down Saturday and there aren’t many people about, but Evie seems happy right where she is. She gestures proudly towards her neighbours’ flats and a sports area with a goal and a basketball hoop. It’s clear she welcomes visitors.

Sitting just off the Sun-in-the-Sands roundabout in Blackheath, the Woodville Estate has been included as part of Greenwich Council’s neighbourhood champions scheme, which is targeting communities in and around Charlton as well as a Plumstead, Woolwich and Thamesmead.

Launched in November, the programme links volunteers with community leaders and organises regular check-in sessions with the aim of making sure everyone is alright. As someone who has been active in her community for over half a century, Evie was a natural fit.

Evie’s taken an interest in her community ever since moving to London from Trinidad aged 21. She worked as a nurse for most of her adult life and brought her children up on the Woodville Estate, watching them grow up and eventually move away to have kids of their own. When she retired from nursing in 2003, she started working in social services, then finally settled into full retirement in 2011.

Woodville Estate — The secluded estate lies just off the Sun-in-the-Sands roundabout

But she’s never been one to put her feet up. “I thought what am I going to do now?” she says. “I can’t be just squiggling my fingers and doing nothing. And this is when I started getting absolutely involved with the community.”

She helped install an allotment, allowing Woodville residents to grow their own fruit and veg, as well as a garden, which Evie looks after along with some of her neighbours. Her proudest achievement is the Woodville sports court. A decade ago the estate had a five-a-side football pitch around the corner from where it is now. But it wasn’t visible from the balconies of overlooking flats, meaning kids often felt more inclined to cause trouble there. Evie was instrumental in securing council funding to get a new court built in the middle of the estate.

“We deliberately made it open,” she says. “So that the teenagers don’t sit in a little cubbyhole and make mischief.” Because it is so secluded, Woodville was once an appealing spot for drug dealers. “But we were keeping an eye on things,” says Evie. “And if there was any anti-social behaviour, we would report it to the council.”

The sports court has been popular with people from all over, and Evie talks glowingly about visitors. “I am really really proud of the outside world coming in,” she says. “The other day I saw a gentleman with four kids and they were having such fun. I thought, that’s brilliant, because he was a complete stranger and he didn’t know this was here.” Charlton Athletic have even sent football coaches to Woodville to host games for kids.

Behind the sports court is a cluster of noticeably more modern buildings. This is a gated accommodation project, built recently, with houses available at prices considerably higher than those of the rest of the estate. The council consulted Woodville residents like Evie before granting planning permission to the project. While they got the green light, Evie says she’s had next to no contact with her new neighbours.

During the pandemic, Evie has tried to maintain a close relationship with the council. But at 77, she’s not especially keen on Zoom — where most of the neighbourhood champions’ meetings take place. “When we used to have participation meetings, we used to meet 10, 15 people, and everybody brings something to the table from where they live,” she says. “But now people depend on Skypeing and doing Zoom and all of that. So we don’t get involved as much as we used to.”

Instead she focuses on her immediate community, regularly knocking on doors and catching up with her neighbours from a safe distance. “All my neighbours know me,” she says. “If they need anything, if they want me to help, I put myself forward.” If anyone has a serious problem, Evie conveys it to the council through a younger, more technically-minded neighbour, who takes part in the Charlton neighbourhood champions’ meetings.

She admits that her social network has shrunk in the past year, making it hard to keep track of people she used to be in regular contact with. “Probably some people not well,” she says. “Probably some of them died, I don’t know.” Of Woodville’s 27 residents, so far nobody has had the virus. Evie has managed to stay safe, mostly keeping to herself except for trips to the supermarket with her daughter.

She has had her first dose of the vaccine already and is expecting her second soon. She says everyone on the estate has been sensible in adhering to the government’s lockdown measures. “You feel proud of people following the rules without you telling them to do it.”

Evie’s now looking forward to a post-pandemic world. “In the summertime, it really is buzzing,” she says, remembering barbecues from previous years. For now she remains positive. “Yes I am. Because I wanted to get back on my feet and get back out and do my work and do my allotment and do my exercises — all of these things that you cannot be doing, but we’re all thinking positive. And there’s always light at the end of the tunnel and I think the light is nearly on our doorstep.”

If you are in Charlton and want to become a neighbourhood champion, email kelly-ann.ibrahim[at]royalgreenwich.gov.uk.

There is also a broader Community Champions programme operating across the whole borough – visit the Greenwich Council website for more details.

SAM DAVIES is a journalist who has written for Dazed, DJ Mag, the Guardian, the i, Mixmag, Pitchfork, Readers Digest and Vice. He co-hosts the podcast Exit The 36 Chambers.

This is the last of a series of stories published here and on our sister site 853 about how SE London’s communities have reacted to the coronavirus pandemic. See all the stories published over the past year.

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Green Goddess pop-up beer garden coming to Charlton House from 12 April

March 30, 2021June 19, 2023Darryl Chamberlain2 Comments

Charlton House in the evening — All being well, Charlton House will be open for drinks from the 12th

The team behind plans to turn the Barclays Bank at Blackheath Standard into a bar are hoping to give locals a taste of what they can offer in a pop-up beer garden at Charlton House.

The Green Goddess visits Charlton House will open for business from 12 April when, all being well, coronavirus restrictions are loosened and pub beer gardens can welcome customers.

It’ll offer table service only on the patio with two-hour bookable slots between 2pm and 8pm, with last orders at 7.30pm. For the first week, it will open every day through to Sunday 18 April; then open Thursday to Sunday for the rest of April – opening times for May and beyond are yet to be decided.

“It’s very much a pop-up pub so the times maybe subject to change along the way,” Stephen O’Connor of Common Rioters Brewery told The Charlton Champion.

“We will be serving up cask and keg beer, cider, selected spirits, wine, and low and no-alcohol drinks. In addition we hope to have some pop up food stalls at certain times.”

For more details and booking, visit www.thegreengoddess.pub.

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Take a step into Charlton’s future: Support proposals for a Thames Barrier Bridge

March 26, 2021June 19, 2023The Charlton Champion

Two years ago, we reported on early ideas for a pedestrian and cycling bridge at the Thames Barrier, connecting Charlton with Silvertown on the north side of river. Now the team behind the proposals are looking for your support to make this a reality. ALEX LIFSCHUTZ, of the architecture firm Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands, explains more and how you can get involved.

The Thames Barrier Bridge, conceived by the London architects Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands, with the marine, civil and structural engineers Beckett Rankine, is a low-cost, low-impact pedestrian and cycle bridge that would link the communities of Charlton and Woolwich with the Royal Docks. The transport consultants Steer reckon that five million pedestrians and one million cyclists would use the bridge every year, based on journeys to work alone. These figures don’t include leisure or other trips.

The grim statistics of the pandemic have alerted us to so many issues of health and social inequality. Likewise the return of birdsong to our cities has reminded us that, as we emerge from lockdown, we really do have to replace motor vehicles with sustainable transport. Walking and cycling are part of the solution to all of these problems – promoting health, social and economic progress, and reducing pollution. A hopeful sign is the massive increase of bike sales – according to The Guardian, up 40% on last year.

But the river creates an enormous barrier to walking and cycling in east and southeast London. For instance, a journey from Charlton to the new City Hall at The Crystal, or the 70,000 new jobs in and around the Royal Docks Enterprise Zone, currently takes about 40 minutes, cycling and walking though the Woolwich foot tunnel (assuming the lifts are working or you don’t mind carrying your bike down and up the stairs), 40 minutes by the Docklands Light Railway, or over 70 minutes walking.

A bridge across the river close to the Thames Barrier would allow you to reach the same destination in 20 minutes, walking or you could cycle there in half that time. It would be the only bridge east of Tower Bridge (other than the Dartford Crossing), where half of London’s population now lives, compared to over 20 bridges in west London.

In the late 1990’s, Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands came up with the idea of a bridge connecting the South Bank to Charing Cross station and slung off the existing Hungerford Railway Bridge, creating minimal obstructions to river traffic. Completed in 2002, the Golden Jubilee Footbridges have become the Thames’s most popular crossing with about 8.4 million pedestrian journeys each year.

Our idea for the new bridge at the Thames Barrier is similarly opportunistic. Like the Golden Jubilee Bridges, its supports would shadow the piers of the existing structure and hence create only a small additional impact on navigation and the flow of the river. In fact, like our bridges further upstream, it would also provide the barrier with protection from impact on whichever side it is placed. Its low height (about 15 metres above Mean Water High Springs) makes it easier to access by cycle, foot or wheelchair, with minimal shore taken up by its relatively short ramps rising from the parks at either side. It would be around nine metres wide with separate lanes for walking and bikes.

Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands came up with the idea for the Golden Jubilee Bridge, linking the South Bank with the West End (image: Mary and Andrew via CC BY 2.0)

It would totally transform the accessibility of the Charlton and Woolwich waterfronts including existing occupants such as the Thames-Side Studios and the many new homes and businesses planned for Charlton Riverside. Looking further afield, it would link the Green Chain, including Maryon Park and Charlton Park on the south side, to the Lee Valley and Queen Elizabeth Olympic Parks to the north.

Like Tower Bridge, the Thames Barrier Bridge is an opening bascule bridge, so allows passage for boats and barges by raising its deck. The elegant structure is a series of small spans that use a minimal amount of material (especially steel), making it both cost-effective and environmentally friendly. With shorter, multiple openings, the bridge is less prone to the risk of malfunction compared to a single point of opening, and can be raised at the last minute for ships to pass, minimising disruption to cycles and pedestrians. The bridge would serve journeys to and from work but also attract visitors and tourists, bringing economic benefits north and south of the river.

The idea is receiving support from local MPs and councillors, residents’ groups, cycle organisations, developers, environmentalists and transport experts. What we need are local political champions, including the Royal Borough of Greenwich and the London Borough of Newham, the Greater London Authority and statutory agencies like the Environment Agency to pick up the idea and help us run with it.

Of course, we are only at the concept stage and much testing needs to be done. Curiously, once it has political support, funding the design work – and ultimately the £300 million structure – is less difficult than you’d expect as there is a large amount of green finance available at the moment, given government and corporate climate initiatives.

So what can you do to help? Click on the website – www.thamesbarrierbridge.com – to find out more and send us your comments, or write to your local council.

The pandemic has shown us that we can rapidly change our behaviour to counter a virus; we can use the same energy and enterprise to counter the even more dangerous threat of climate change and, in doing so, make better lives for ourselves.

ALEX LIFSCHUTZ is the founder and principal of Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands.

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