Development planned near Plumstead railway station

Plans are in for a new block comprising commercial space and seven flats on Griffin Road near Plumstead station.

The site is currently home to Café Deluxe:

Looking towards site

The site is also beside the terminal of the 53 bus. It’s not an area with much natural surveillance, and has seen some serious and violent crimes in recent years.

In keeping with the general area, public realm here is pretty tired:

Welcome to Plumstead:

The application states “Plumstead has suffered from historic under investment and there is no current area-specific policy guiding its future.”

This isn’t correct, though you probably wouldn’t know it. In 2015 Greenwich begun drawing up a plan for the area. Since then little has been heard for some years when it comes to much of the framework, either in public or in council reports.

From area framework

Certain ideas to upgrade the general area in the Plumstead area framework havn’t really gone anywhere since 2016.

Earlier this month Greenwich Council’s Planning Board approved plans for 330 homes not too far away but declined to allocate any money towards improving this area and walking links towards Thamesmead.

In the process they also ignored a number of their own reports and Transport for London guidance.

They did the same when 1,750 homes were approved nearby at a separate development from Peabody and Berkeley Homes at the end of 2020.

Improvements on links to Plumstead station and shops were almost entirely overlooked.

Underpass

They opted not to use millions of income forthcoming from these projects to advance aims in their own report.

No word for years on plans

There has been no update in any council meeting for some years now on the status of any area improvements.

The council continues to produce reports stating walking and cycling is a priority.

Click here to view the planning application.

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J Smith

I've lived in south east London most of my life growing up in Greenwich borough and working in the area for many years. The site has contributors on occasion and we cover many different topics. Living and working in the area offers an insight into what is happening locally.

    4 thoughts on “Development planned near Plumstead railway station

    • Investment to rejuvenate parts of the Royal borough is in dire need, far to long our public Realm has endured neglect. This part of Plumstead and surrounding area is in need of investment. Neglect is an understatement. its about time people wake up and vote differently. Surely you can see Labour has run its course in this Royal Borough.

      Reply
    • The public realm in the Plumstead area is in urgent need of upgrading and is often forgotten like the Abbey Wood Estate. However, many areas and estates around the Borough are in need of public realm improvements to makes these a nice area in which to live.

      Reply
    • @ Ashley you are not wrong. We have some of the worst publlic realm in this Borough and in London. Money meant for public realm improvements always seem to be spent elsewhere.

      There needs to be more stringent rules on how money provided to Local Authorities by developers, the Government and other sources are spent. To ensure the money is used for the purpose it was intended.

      Reply

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