Thursday, May 9, 2013

More ch-ch-ch-changes – on Creek Road...


What with New Capital Quay almost complete (the new Waitrose will open next month), and more mammoth towers and blocks at Creekside Village waiting in the wings, it seems Creek Road is about to alter beyond recognition.

Meanwhile, Family Mosaic plan to build along the Greenwich end of Creek Road, stretching from Bardsley Lane (next to the vintage clothes shop) down to Up The Creek, then from the Lord Hood pub over Bardsley Green (the patch of land with the car wash) down to Greenwich Book Place (the second hand book shop). The present building between Up The Creek and the corner of Bardsley Lane will be demolished. See the application 13/0364/F on the Greenwich website.

Although the impact on Creek Road is not ideal (bland and overshadowing), the designs for the back of the buildings, where it backs onto St Alfege's Park, look to be an improvement for Bardsley Lane itself. But that's easy for us to say since we don't live in the council estate behind. Both the Lord Hood and Up the Creek seem to be benefiting from the scheme, but we wonder if there are any benefits for the local residents in Bardsley House and Sextons House who will bear the brunt of the building works.

Family Mosaic specialise in Shared Ownership (as well as building family flats on main roads, eg Blackheath Hill). But out of the 83 units planned for the two sites on Creek Road (which will include ground floor commercial spaces to extend the shops out from the centre of Greenwich), only 29 are described as "affordable". However, at 34% this is far better than some targets being reached in the area.

Although 'public consultation' has already ended, local Greenwich activists based at Made In Greenwich Gallery have a campaign called "Keep the Green in Greenwich", aimed at developing a Neighbourhood Plan to establish the green area between the bookshop and the pub as a Community Asset under the Localism Act. They're concerned about the loss of the green space, among other things. We note from a planning search that one Ash, two Sycamores, one Cherry and two Norway Maples are to be felled. Such is progress...

One good thing to come out of the New Capital Quay development is the planned bridge from the new development across the mouth of the Creek to Millennium Quay which will extend the Thames Path. See the Deptford Dame's recent post.

Update from comments: the commercial spaces in this bland looking development are already being marketed:

© Kingsbury Consulting

4 comments:

  1. Interesting, I note you mention the next Creekside phase - any ideas when this is due to start? I thought the Lewisham phase was still subject to planning?

    Looking forward to the bridge though - it looks much better.

    As for the retail, I suppose they are playing safe but architecturally they are very bland - just squares of brick. I suppose it makes sense though as it will tie retail up between the town centre and Waitrose. Anyway, just found some more bits on the retail here: http://sppro.shopproperty.co.uk/pdf/40008382842NPIF.pdf?id=135ec8c939764cc99d1fe823f28972ee

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  2. Thanks for the link, Yokel, looks like a done deal!

    As for Creekside Village, your research powers may excel ours so let us know if you hear anything. Ampurius Homes were in dispute with Telford Homes, so it may not just be Lewisham holding up the march of progress for the sake of a suitable Section 106 agreement, but who knows what shenanigans control our environment.

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  3. Fuckin ell, has Prince Charles since this shit? He'd have a heart attack. The architects haven't even attempted to find any symbiosis with the Georgian or Edwardian architecture of Greenwich, or fucking anything except the fascist architecture of the Eastern Bloc, which pretty much signals the shit architecture to follow down Creek Road.

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  4. I, for one, am for the principal re-establishing the built environment that once existed along creek road. The empty lot we have now disconnects the town centre from what was once sequential connectivity to Deptford Creek. I know that others on this side of the so-called 'Bardsley Green' are in favour of re-establishing this connectivity with the town centre.
    Havign said that, a development replicating the traditional architecture of Greenwich town centre would be appropriate, rather than this blocky block.

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