Oh dear. There only has to be one person ringing Lewisham Homes to enquire why their visitor can't find a parking space because they're all taken up by MITIE workers, and it's an excuse to try and roll out the Parking Survey again.
We voted NO the last time we were asked in September 2012. Only 47 replied (out of a potential 364) and only 15 were in favour (with some reservations – see previous posts here, here and here).
There are some stories going around about how much residents pay on other estates – and that it is much more than the £10-£15 quoted by the Lewisham Homes' Tenancy Officer in the survey. We know, for instance that residents in Reginald Road pay at least £85, but they are having to park in the street. However, parking on Evelyn Estate (within the estate and not on the road) costs only £10 a year.
Presently, parking is at capacity on the estate during weekday working hours and half empty at the weekends, so is obviously used by non-residents. Although the MITIE workers are gone (temporarily at least before they return to do 'external works') and some of the business tenants at Faircharm Trading Estate who used to park here have left, the MITIE compound which is taking up a lot of parking bays is not causing the problems it did previously. High street shoppers continue to park on the estate especially on market days.
But perhaps there is another reason why the issue has come up again (apart from the alleged 'enquiries from residents' stated in the letter). There is soon going to be a lot of new development construction work going on in the immediate area at Faircharm Trading Estate, Belway Homes and Creekside Village. There will also probably be work at the Thames Tunnel site on Deptford Church Street if local campaigners lose the battle against it.
Construction workers from The Movement development on the other side of Deptford Creek were originally parking close to that development – in fact they were parking on the Ha'Penny Hatch footpath to Norman Road. Greenwich Council stopped that, so they started parking in Creekside. You can spot them walking back to their cars in the afternoon.
With the Thames Tunnel site, Lewisham Council are negotiating for money from Thames Water to set up a Controlled Parking Zone around the Laban and Berthon Street. This will no doubt form part of any negotiations with Bellway Homes next to the Laban and fit in with the Creekside Village development behind the Laban. With the Faircharm redevelopment soon to create up to 90 lorry runs a day on Creekside, this will probably prompt the extension of a CPZ to the south of Creekside. If Crossfields does not have a Parking Scheme, construction workers will use our spaces.
Perhaps we should point out that since Crossfields residents will be suffering an intolerable level of noise and pollution from a massive increase in HGV traffic in both Creekside and Deptford Church Street, the developers should actually be paying for us to be immune from any parking charges whatsoever.
The survey needs to be returned using the FREEPOST address supplied by March 24th.
An exhibition of photographs by acclaimed photographer Chris Schwarz which record Lewisham and Deptford in the 1970s and 1980s and the work of The Combination Theatre Company, taken when he was photographer-in-residence at The Albany. They provide a fascinating legacy of the changing faces of Deptford over a 15 year period.
Highlights include images of totters, Millwall Football Club fans, adults at work, performances by the Albany’s resident theatre company The Combination, images of the old Albany in Creek Road and the brand new Albany in Douglas Way and its opening by the late Princess Diana in 1980.
Chris Schwarz was a professional photographer who worked for the Guardian, Time Out and many other publications. His work was exhibited at the Photographers Gallery in London and overseas, and his work was published in several books. He also founded the Galicia Jewish Museum in Krakow, Poland. Chris died in 2007 and bequeathed his vast collection of over 8,000 photographs to The Art of Regeneration, a creative regeneration project that was at one time based at the Albany.
There will be special storytelling performances at each venue by members of The Deptford Stories Theatre Company, who will interpret selected photographs. Their performances will be based on oral history interviews that have been conducted between 2011 and the present.
The exhibition and performances are free of charge.
After the exhibition the photographs, along with the rest of the vast collection of Chris Schwarz Deptford and Lewisham work will be stored by the London Metropolitan Archives and will be available to the public to download.
The Deptford Stories Theatre Company was founded by director, John Turner and Jenny Harris. Jenny was the creative producer and after a lifetime of creative production in theatre, education and community arts development including the Combination at the Albany, The Education department at the National Theatre and the Art of Regeneration, Every Picture Tells a Story was Jenny’s last production for the Art of Regeneration and the Deptford Stories Company. Jenny herself died before she could see Every Picture Tells A Story or hear the stories the Deptford Stories Company will tell; this is a chance for the public to witness her final production.
The Every Picture Tells a Story project has been supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund and includes the exhibition, performances and digitisation of the photographs as a permanent public record.
Crossfields residents receive constant reminders from the government about how big a discount they can get if they buy their flat. The frequent flyer from the Department of Communities and Local Government comes through the door with regularity, whether you're a tenant or already a leaseholder. Bigger discounts than ever before are now available for Right To Buyers as the Tories push through their evil plan to get rid of 'social housing' altogether. What possible incentive can there be to build more social housing when tenants can buy their properties after only five years?
Meanwhile, the Bedroom Tax is forcing some unemployed social housing tenants into private housing since there are no one-bedroom flats available for those single occupants currently living in two-bedroom homes whose housing benefit has been cut. If they can find a landlord who will take DHS claimants, the private rent is likely to be at least twice as much (£250pw) as their council rent (£110pw), a bill which the council tax-payer and local authority will foot and from which private landlords will profit. Continuing low rates on buy-to-let mortgages has landlords increasing their property portfolios and enjoying record yields on higher rents, and profits from rising house prices.
Add to this the total lack of affordable housing being built, whilst Boris Johnson boasts about meeting housing targets. The Financial Times reports that Bozo promised 55,000 new homes between 2011 and 2015 but only 20,684 are being built. The London Assembly reports that he's recently opted to 'clear London's backlog of housing need' over 20 years – instead of the 10 years he initially proposed.
In the news today, we hear that nine London boroughs have joined forces in a legal challenge against the Mayor's plan to relax 'affordable rents' rules, to be heard in the High Court today and tomorrow. Presently, boroughs have been able to cap social housing rents within new developments (what little there is) to around 40% of 'market rent'. Bozo wants to raise that cap to 80%. That is the percentage that has defined 'affordable housing' for a while now, and for most Londoners, this is still unaffordable. Lewisham set its cap at 50%. Lewisham is not one of the boroughs taking Boris to court. When Lewisham sells off its housing stock next year to a reconfigured Lewisham Homes Housing Association, new tenants may well find themselves paying 80% of market rent.
Speaking from a developer's conference in Cannes yesterday, Bozo announced that he'll be selling up the last couple of development sites owned by City Hall, with only a third available for affordable rented housing. And he wants to launch a 'state-backed housing bank' that would offer cheap loans and guarantees to private developers to get homes built more quickly and reduce the risks for his builder mates.
The news today from the same Cannes property conference is that Bozo's team want to allow house bulding to go ahead without planning permission in certain parts of London. Deputy mayor for housing, Richard Blakeway, said the mayor was "particularly interested" in exploring the potential to "build markets" in certain zones by offering tax incentives to both "investors and consumers". The Mayor could use his compulsory purchase powers to acquire land for private residential use, at the expense of any borough's strategies to achieve a balance of uses (such as employment zones and community uses). These changes to the London Plan are said to be designed "to encourage boroughs to support private rented housing".
The London Assembly has also recently questioned the Mayor about his stripping of London boroughs' right to make planning decisions by using his power to 'call-in' large planning applications. He has already 'called-in' five schemes in the past year. In many cases, Bozo has been 'calling-in' applications before the local authority in question has even had a chance to examine them. (See also the Deptford Dame's latest post).
Darren Johnson, Green Party Assembly member, said, "The recent acceleration in the number and speed with which the Mayor is taking over planning decisions from boroughs...puts developers and investors before local democracy". The Assembly's motion (agreed by 16 votes to 5 against) listed 11 applications – including Convoys Wharf in Deptford – and said that on many decisions, the Mayor has ignored legitimate borough concerns about issues such as inappropriate density and very low targets for affordable housing.
This isn't new. In 2009 in Tower Hamlets, when there were 23,000 people on the housing waiting list, the council refused planning consent for the 74-storey Hertsmere Tower in Canary Wharf because it didn't include enough provision for affordable housing. But a few months later, Boris Johnson overturned the council's decision and Hertsmere is set to accommodate over 700 luxury apartments, some marketed in excess of £10m each.
Here's Boris at the Cannes property conference in 2012, announcing his new 'architecture, design and urbanism' panel for architects, which was to hand out £30m worth of work over the following three years. There's Terry Farrell, second from left, one of those appointed to the panel and the architect employed by Convoys Wharf developer Hutchison Whampoa.
As any fool can see, there has been an enormous amount of new housing being built in London, especially locally. Like many of these new developments, Convoys Wharf has a minimal amount of affordable housing (down from 35% to 14%, and social housing from 4% to zilch). As the Deptford Dame pointed out back in November, another site owned by Hutchison Whampoa – Lots Road in Chelsea – is already being marketed via their Hong Kong estate agency. (See also the BBC film "London's Property Gamble").
Darren Johnson says, "London's property market is only serving the super-rich, leaving crumbs for ordinary Londoners, who have to rent overpriced homes on insecure tenancies or move out of the city altogether". A new industry has even built up around helping developers avoid building affordable housing and paying Section 106 to local authorities (the bribe – or money paid by a developer that is supposed to benefit the communities in which the development is sited). (Click to enlarge).
The Evening Standard reported yesterday that the number of skyscrapers in the capital is set to double. Meanwhile, Chinese investment in the UK is forecast to triple this year. Boris is busy signing up business deals with Chinese investment consortiums wanting to turn London into a replica of Hong Kong – with a focus on construction projects of all kinds. Meanwhile, Hutchison Whampoa has been busy selling off its luxury properties in Hong Kong since the Chinese state are bringing in 'cooling measures' – described as 'a tough stance on reining in an overheated market' (in other words a 'bubble') – with new rules on the sale of new homes, and stricter rent controls – the opposite of here, in fact.
Boris Johnson's London is a playground for millionaires. Of course Bozo doesn't want to take over Cameron's job. While Cameron has only a year left to decimate the lives of millions of ordinary people across the country with austerity measures whilst rewarding bankers, Bozo has over two more years to promote and implement their hideous Tory agenda across the capital.
Local shanty group, the Deptford Shanty Crew, have recorded a special Deptford song that tells the story of how the historic Deptford Royal Dockyard is about to be buried under an uncaring developer's plan to build 3500 luxury flats. Click on the YouTube logo to read the lyrics in full.
The decision on the developer's application is now "in the hands of the London Mayor" and Boris has promised to decide very soon (originally by the end of February, now postponed to the end of March). But it's not looking good for Deptford's heritage or Deptford in general.
Thank you for your representations to the Mayor of London with respect to proposed development at the Convoys Wharf site in Deptford. The Mayor has asked me to respond on his behalf. The issues you have raised will be taken into account, and your comments (along with all other representations made on the case), will be made available to the Mayor when he comes to consider the case.
I can confirm that the Mayor is mindful of the historic importance of this site, and is committed to securing a well-designed scheme that would deliver benefits for Deptford, as well as for the rest of London. To this end the Mayor has instructed his GLA officers to work closely with the Council when negotiating on the case - to ensure that local priorities are appropriately considered and addressed as part of the determination of this application.
Planning negotiations associated with this case are currently ongoing, however, the Mayor is currently undertaking public consultation until 20 March 2014 on a number of minor revisions to the scheme. Further information is available on the GLA website here: www.london.gov.uk/priorities/planning/public-hearings/convoys-wharf.
In due course the Mayor will hold a public Representation Hearing, before considering the full details of the case, and deciding whether or not to grant permission. Further information, including the date for the hearing, will be made publically available on the GLA website here: www.london.gov.uk/priorities/planning/public-hearings/convoys-wharf.
But in reality, there is very little of the "historic importance of the site" that is being saved, and the GLA appear to not be listening fully to either Lewisham Council's recommendations or those of English Heritage and the local heritage projects, Build The Lenox and Sayes Court Garden. The projects are still waiting to meet with the developer and are still marginalised in the plans. The GLA still does not recognise the full potential of the archaeological findings on the site and seem quite happy to let the developer build over and bury forever the significant and recoverable 'below ground' remains.
The 'Representation Hearing' referred to in the GLA letter above will allow only 20 minutes of public representation! So it is important for locals to write to the GLA (or sign the petition) as soon as possible. Email mayor@london.gov.uk (or graham.clements@london.gov.uk) and see guidelines from the Deptford Is... campaign here. This needs to be done by 20th March.
The Lenox Project wants to build their ship in the Olympia Shed but the developer still wants the Grade 1 Listed building (the only surviving 'above ground' building) to house boutique shops rather than anything meaningful relating to the building's history (such as shipbuilding!). The project also requires the re-instatement of the old Basin in front of the Olympia building, but this historic body of water is currently re-designed as a small shallow pool incapable of holding boats or ships. The Sayes Court Garden project requires more of the land due to be occupied by giant blocks of flats in order to restore the footprint of John Evelyn's original gardens.
Although both projects have gained the support of the developer, neither is being given the opportunity to properly reflect the archaeology and history appropriate to their design. This failure makes both potentially unviable.
The Lenox has a unique potential to create a tangible link to Deptford's history; to directly connect the Olympia Building to its heritage, and – by recreating a basin in front of the building – to re-establish its historic links to the river.
Hutchison Whampoa announced a record increase in their profits at the end of March. Due to their increased 'investment' in Europe, their net profits had risen 30%, yet they still insist Convoys Wharf cannot be 'viable' (profit making) if they provide more affordable housing, or make space for more of Deptford's heritage.
We love maps! Here is a new facility from Google maps that overlays the Ordinance Survey Town Plan of London 1893-6 onto the present day (well almost present day, Google is always a bit out of date). It shows Crossfields as a warren of little roads and houses, with a chemical works between the estate and Deptford Creek. Toggle the map on and off to see old and new.
Last Friday evening we popped in Deptford High Street's Tesco Express for a bottle of vino – just after the entrance had been attacked with a pot of red paint.
The manager said it had been done by a shoplifter who'd been caught earlier and had gone away and come back with the pot of paint. By Saturday, the same story had spread up the high street.
But it seemed a rather unlikely explanation to us (what seasoned shoplifter would go to so much trouble?), especially when we heard on Saturday evening from a pal who'd just seen a Tesco cash point in the Oval covered with white paint.
Perhaps the work of an activist, then? Yesterday we got an email from Greenpeace, who have begun a campaign (see the petition link below) targeting Tesco for selling a brand of tuna called Oriental and Pacific. Their tuna is fished with destructive methods that kills turtles, sharks and rays alongside the tuna. Last night, Channel 4's "Fish Fight" was going to expose and confront Tesco about selling the dodgy tuna.
We're not suggesting Greenpeace activists are going round throwing paint at Tesco, but it's surely worth linking the two events together!