Woolwich town centre work resumes after new contractor appointed

Work which will change the face of Woolwich town centre have resumed after a previous contractor went under last month.

Work ceased in April as Osborne appointed administrators part-way through building on Powis Street and Beresford Square.

Woolwich Arsenal councillor Sam Littlewood confirmed that work has today resumed and credit to @MyWoolwich for spotting it.

It’s excellent news for the town and traders with pedestrian spaces fenced off along parts of Powis Street in recent months.

Before Osborne went under work on a water feature in Beresford Square had been progressing.

The project will also see landscaping, a new pavilion with café plus the centre gates of the gatehouse opened permanently.

Powis Street will see new seating and paving for much of its length.

Market traders have been moved to Green’s End and General Gordon Square while work is underway and are due to return to one side of Beresford Square when work is complete.

They seem to be doing really well in their current temporary location given high footfall so moving may not prove to be too popular.

As for whether any changes will now be made to the square it’s an issue to watch and one I’ll be looking into.

A new contractor may of course levy a higher cost which could see alterations or additional money found.

Town centre upgrades going over budget would hardly be unheard of.

It happened, for example, in Dartford, where a town centre project saw budgets increase which was covered from developer contributions.

Still, that remains to be seen. For now a sigh of relief that a protracted delay appears to have been avoided.

Running a site alone takes time and a fair bit of money. Adverts are far from enough to cover it and my living costs as a private renter.