Greenwich Millennium Controlled Parking Zone (GMCPZ)

Although the author was unfortunately unable to attend the meeting of the local GMCPZ forum held on September 16th, 1998, Environment Committee member Roger Marshall has provided a briefing on the discussions. All attendees at previous meetings had been copied a Revised Draft Scheme for the Parking Zone. This was put together taking into account 640 responses received in the recent public consultation exercise including the four public exhibitions held in July. The key points are;

78% of responses were broadly in favour of the Parking Zone proposals, 22% were against.

11% considered the proposals to be not restrictive enough, 16% considered them too restrictive.

5% were concerned about enforcement, 13% about future charges for permits.

The Scheme now involves;

1. General limited waiting - two hours (no return within three hours) in all on-street parking places, with standard exemptions for permit holders, the disabled, etc.

2. Controlled hours to be 10.00am - 9.00pm throughout the Zone (i.e. free after 7.00pm)

3. 3 sub-zones to operate with no cross-zone permissions to prevent cross-zone car-commuting.

4. One residents' permit per owner/driver to be issued free of charge. Additional permits to be made available at a cost of £105 each. Free visitors' vouchers to be a maximum of 100 all-day vouchers/ household/annum, issued quarterly on application (25 on first issue), monitored to ensure abuse does not occur. Additional vouchers to be sold to residential premises, on request, at a cost of £3.00 for four-hour and £6.00 for all-day vouchers. All additions at Council's discretion.

5. Up to ten business permits to be made available to registered business premises inside the GMCPZ at a cost of £105 each (for all permits). These permits will be either 'sub-zone specific' or 'vehicle specific' (but non-sub-zone specific). Similar sub-zone specific visitors vouchers to residents.

6. Traders permits to be made available to builders, etc. at a cost of £10 for a two week period and £10 per week thereafter.

10. Penalty charge request lodged with the Parking Committee for London to approve rate of £80/£40 PCN (as recently approved in Westminster).

11. Greenwich District Hospital requirements to be met through a hospital voucher scheme with special all-day vouchers available to staff and visitors at a cost of £2.00 each.

12. Any further cases for 'special consideration' to be referred to the Council's Planning & Development Committee.

A proposal to revise the previously announced boundary to exclude Delafield Road and Maze Hill south of Westcombe Park Road as well as the 'Charlton Commercial Area' (Bugsby's Way - Thames Barrier) was the main item that came under discussion as well as further discussions on 'special case provision' for churches. Attendees were concerned at the plans for Maze Hill, especially considering the moves by Lewisham Council to impose additional restrictions on parking in roads on the Heath under their jurisdiction. The Forum Chair, Cllr. Alex Grant, was asked to call for a vote on the issue which went in favour of the continued inclusion of these roads in the parking scheme.

As part of the improved transport infrastructure being put in place for the Millennium Experience and the new North Greenwich Underground station, the London Transport Board have announced the second stage of their consultations on changes to the existing bus routes in the area. As far as the immediate Westcombe area is concerned it is interesting to note that a number of relevant local routes don't even deserve a mention in the proposals, including the 202, 286 and 386. Quite why this is the case when others, such as the 53 and 54 are referenced, but are not subject to any current proposed changes is currently the subject of some confusion. A public meeting on the proposals with the Council and LTB was held on October 7th 1998 at Christchurch Forum. Unfortunately this clashed with the monthly meeting of the Environment Committee, but the Society was able to communicate its views in writing.

The main changes proposed for local routes are;

Route 108: Stratford Station - Lewisham Station. Route to be diverted to include North Greenwich Station, returning to original routing in both directions. This service will also be upgraded to 6 buses/hour each way and 5 off-peak and at weekends. There is also a request with LTB to consider returning the route to run along Prince of Wales Road and Stratheden Road instead of the present Prince Charles Road and Charlton Way.

Route 422: Bexleyheath - Woolwich via Queen Elizabeth Hospital. Route to be extended from Woolwich Town Centre to run along Charlton Road to Blackheath Standard, Westcombe Hill, Woolwich Road, and Blackwall Lane terminating at North Greenwich Station. Greenwich Council have proposed that instead of adding to the total bus loading on Blackwall Lane, this route run along New Horn Lane (thus servicing the planned Sainsbury's supermarket) and Bugsby's Way to the station. A downside of this particular proposal is that it will operate with double-deck buses, something Westcombe Hill residents only currently have to suffer on railway maintenance weekends... can the trees cope?! It will also require a buses-only right turn provision at Combedale Road outside the Angerstein Arms*.

There are currently no plans to run any completely new services apart from the special rapid-transit links from Charlton Station and Greenwich Town Centre to the MEX. Greenwich Council are, however, keen to obtain better services from the Blackheath and Eltham direction and will continue to press for these.

It was drawn to the attention of the Westcombe Society Environment Committee back in July that various tree and path works are desirable in the vicinity of Holywell Close, off Ruthin Road, SE3.

We were approached by tenants in the Close about a completely dead tree in what was a public area outside their Council-owned maisonettes that was in a potentially dangerous state. Small branches had been dislodged in strong winds. They also commented on the fact that a large, three-stemmed sycamore surrounded by paving slabs has been cordoned off for some months as a consequence of paving irregularities caused by its roots forcing up slabs.

The Society wrote to the Council about this matter and is pleased to report that the dead tree has been cut down, some paving remedial works and trimming of the sycamores has taken place as well as the removal of another tree that was causing problems.

There is a need for further remedial work to paving areas damaged by earlier tree works, and the Society will be writing to request a more general tidying of the Close. Having said that, we are not in favour of total removal of the trees causing problems, but a further thinning and crown reduction may be desirable.

At the Greenwich Local Planning Committee Meeting on October 6th 1998, proposals for three 'Toucan' crossings, Pelican crossings specifically designed for cyclists, and an integral part of the London Cycle Network (LCN), came before the Committee. The first is planned to cross Charlton Road close to Dornberg Close and opposite Siebert Road. The second will cross Woolwich Road adjacent to Tunnel Avenue as a replacement for the zebra crossing near East Greenwich Library accompanied by a banned left turn into Tunnel Avenue. The third (outside the immediate Westcombe Society area) will cross Creek Road just to the west of the lifting bridge at the junction of The Stowage.

As funding for these crossings comes from the LCN, they appear to have been considered in a vacuum, directly relating to neither the Blackheath Gyratory System improvements in the case of Charlton Road, nor to the Council's recently proposed modification of the LTB plans for the area's bus routes described above* in the case of the Woolwich Road crossing. As a consequence of this, the Chair of the Environment Committee spoke at the meeting, and additionally sent a letter expressing its view to the LTB.

On the Charlton Road Toucan, reference was made to issues raised on behalf of the Society at earlier meetings on the Blackheath Gyratory System proposals. The revised plans now create a rather dangerous crossing of the West-East arm of the Gyratory opposite the end of Invicta Road. This is completely uncontrolled and may apparently be challenged by Safety Officers for the Traffic Director for London. An additional 'safe' route was indicated, following a new, paved, area of the bus stand and the existing zebra crossing from the narrow island, but this is not where a cyclist following the indicated tarmac path on the central island would end up.

The Chair also asked the Planning Committee for clarification of the current right of way on the Gyratory where cars progressing from Westcombe Hill towards Old Dover Road or Stratheden Road meet traffic coming from the Charlton direction to their left. According to the Council Officer present, right-of-way always exists for traffic entering a traffic lane of this type from the right (i.e. as per a roundabout), so despite not being specifically signed there is, in fact, no current right-of-way for Charlton Way vehicles. Road markings to this effect may now be incorporated as part of the Toucan crossing works.

It was further requested that the Woolwich Road Toucan proposal be seen in conjunction with a possible full-scale traffic-lit junction at the end of Combedale Road which would provide guaranteed access to Woolwich Road for traffic from Westcombe Hill (including the increased number of buses), as well as providing a controlled crossing for cyclists and pedestrians and the proposed right-turn for the proposed re-routeing of the 422 bus.

Without any obvious advance warning, apart from Public Notices in the local newspapers only two days before the changes came into force, Coleraine Road became one way, South-North, and Foyle Road one way South-North, on Friday, October 9th 1998.

The Chair of the Environment Committee contacted the Council on the 12th to find out more. Apparently Thames Water were supposed to have informed Coleraine Road residents in advance, as well as those in the wider Westcombe Society area who had received initial information about the works in Vanbrugh Hill. A number of accidents on the diversion routes over the past two weeks are thought to have been the reason for the changes to the initial diversion plans.

However, because of the poor advance warning of the changes, and the continuing totally inadequate signage in appropriate places, regular instances of traffic trying to proceed in the wrong direction, particularly along Foyle Road, is resulting in further minor accidents and near misses. There are also problems in the remaining section of two-way working of the diverted 386 bus route at the western end of Humber Road.

Various 'reserved matters' relating to the 'Food and Non-Food Retailing Development' on Greenwich Peninsula came before a Special Planning & Development Committee Meeting in early October. The Council approved the general siting, design, external appearance and landscaping of the buildings, but did not approve the current plans for access, servicing arrangements and car-parking.

The original proposal called for a total of 1,450 parking spaces, but this was to be inclusive of those required for the as yet undetermined 'leisure' uses at the northern end of the site. As no firm plans are yet available for this part of the development, the Council have insisted that permission, at this point in time at least, be given for only 960 spaces, 470 for the Sainsbury's 'food' store, and 490 spaces for the three premises planned for the 'non-food' component, including a new Sainsbury's Homebase (DIY) store.

The Sainsbury's food store will provide an in-store bakery and delicatessen, coffee shop and restaurant, customer toilets, including facilities for the disabled and baby-changing facilities, and will provide 400 full and part-time jobs. Access will be via Bugsby's Way and the new, re-aligned, New Horn Lane, but details of bus routes and Millennium Transit links (Dome-North Greenwich Station to Charlton Station) to the site have yet to be determined with L.T. and hence could not be agreed by the Council at the meeting.

The first 10" x 8" prints ordered from the 12 proofs arrived in early October. The Society has now been provided with bulk pricing information from the photographers, Chorley-Handford. In summary, the Society could obtain 50+ copies of a 10" x 8" size print (roughly £11.00 per copy as one-offs) at £5.00 per copy that could be made available to order at events such as the Dickensian Fayre with all profits going towards a Millennium Tree Fund. The Society is planning to mount a set of these 10" x 8" prints to be used as samples at such events and could then take orders to make up such multiples. It also hopes to approach Pegga-Stores and Mystic Moon at Blackheath Standard to see if they are interested in displaying the set of sample prints and taking orders so that the Society might reach the required numbers for the best price to be obtained.

Larger sizes are also available un-mounted, or mounted on backing card, but as these are likely to be requested in much smaller numbers or even as one-offs, consequently the prices will be very much higher (approximately £60.00 un-mounted, £85.00 mounted).

Following the earlier announcement we have received a number of expressions of interest, so please contact the Chair of the Environment Committee if you are interested in viewing the prints at some other time.

Chair of Environment Sub-Committee
David Riddle