Myths of Thamesmead: Is there a more misunderstood town in London?

With Thamesmead in the news again after yet another consultation into a DLR extension it’s once again time for another round of misinformation and misunderstanding about Thamesmead.

Every time you’ll inevitably you’ll hear mention of A Clockwork Orange and musings from people who don’t seem to have been there – if ever – since about 1975.

And this doesn’t extend only to the public but politicians from local council levels to those above.

Same mistakes

We’ve seen it again in recent days and much commentary is bafflingly out of date or incorrect including some politicians who really should know better.

Apparently it’s the only town in London without a rail station according to Greenwich Council, which ignores that thousands of Thamesmead homes are in the SE2 and DA18 postcodes with some areas just metres away from Abbey Wood station.

Yep, the station with 20 trains per hour to various parts of London and beyond. There’s many places with worse transport than that.

Que also people saying it’s a transport desert while simultaneously referencing the initial Brutalist estate unaware that firstly, much has of that has all been swept away such as Tavy Bridge and Binsey Walk, and secondly large parts were and remain walkable to Abbey Wood station.

Or one minute on very frequent buses. The “famous” parts of Thamesmead were often never the worst connected.

Google Maps confirms it, showing a walk of nine minutes from the old Tavy Bridge (now Southmere Village) to Abbey Wood station or one minute on a bus.

Wider Thamesmead

The thing about Thamesmead is as towns go, it’s pretty massive and also has very disparate elements which is lost on many commentators and politicians.

This also extends to planning documents and strategies containing basic errors such as the 2020 Opportunity Area Planning Framework (OAPF). Boy, did that have some howlers.

In terms of the town’s differing areas and characteristics, they vary substantially. Firstly there’s south Thamesmead which was mostly brutalist blocks and is now increasingly varied as much of the old 1960s and 1970s buildings were brought down, and is generally not badly connected at all. This is in Bexley borough.

It appears this area is what Mayor Sadiq Khan recently called Abbey Wood. It isn’t.

To the north is central Thamesmead where the money run out when first building the town in the 1970s. It’s more of a mish-mash of housing with the last vestiges of those original plans. Buses here are extremely frequent and take as little as three minutes to reach Abbey Wood station.

East Thamesmead is almost purely low rise suburbia from the 1980s, 1990s and the 21st century, and not what people often think of when picturing Thamesmead.

This is probably the worst in terms of transport links as buses meander but still hardly terrible. This part is in Bexley borough as opposed to Greenwich borough.

Even the “worst” connected part has four frequent bus routes to Abbey Wood station and you’ll be there in a matter of minutes.

West Thamesmead is closer to Woolwich and contains some high rise modern flats alongside low rise homes and blocks.

This area also includes areas around the Broadwater canal including high rises beside the Thames.

Again, buses take passengers from many areas here to Woolwich town centre stations in minutes with numerous onward travel options. Much easier to reach than the proposed DLR station.

Town centre

North Thamesmead was supposed to be the town centre in early plans with a marina and housing. It never happened.

It became a town centre of sorts with a more traditional architectural style than previous development before an adjacent retail park opened in the 1990s and helped kill it off.

I worked here for a while and the area has always had great potential.

North Thamesmead is also where huge swaths of land remain undeveloped to the west of shops.

I think what Greenwich Council were trying to say was the SE28 area north of the raised sewer bank and spine road doesn’t have a railway. Which is true, though it does now have far better bus links to nearby stations including Woolwich and Abbey Wood for the Elizabeth line.

As an example, even travelling from north Thamesmead takes just 6-7 minutes to reach Abbey Wood station on the Superloop. Terrible it ain’t, and far better than the 1970s, 1980s, 1990s and into the millennium.

Almost nowhere in the town is now very far from stations with extremely frequent rail services, whether it be on foot or frequent buses taking a few minutes.

It’s a long way from the 1980s where you’d have one or two buses an hour. It’s a bus every minute from Thamesmead Central at the time of writing with many linking the area to nearby stations.

Things have improved a lot. A decade back half those buses wouldn’t have taken you to Abbey Wood station. Now the 301, 472 and SL3 does.

The 244 is also set to become a double decker.

Combine extremely frequent buses linking to major stations in minutes with very frequent trains via the Elizabeth line, Southeastern Metro and Thameslink and a hypothetical journey from Thamesmead to much of the capital is now pretty quick – and better than what many other Londoners can achieve.

Now obviously all this isn’t good enough for thousands of new homes, but another myth is that the DLR proposal helps existing Thamesmead residents.

It doesn’t. Given it only just about makes it into Thamesmead with a solitary stop in the far north, almost every part of town will still find it easier to reach Abbey Wood or Woolwich stations. A few will benefit but the majority? Absolutely not.

It’ll be little more convenient than what exists now.

Transport choice

The proposed station is as far if not further than Abbey Wood or Woolwich station already is for many in central, east and west Thamesmead, so how many existing residents are going to use it?

Residents in east, west or central Thamesmead can spend five minutes going to Abbey Wood for 20+ trains per hour including the Liz line running every few minutes or go five minutes going to Thamesmead DLR for 6 trains per hour.  It’s Abbey Wood station every time.

For those in the brutalist parts of south Thamesmead and new-builds there, it’s far further than Abbey Wood station.

The DLR plan is not for existing residents but to enable new homes, which in and of itself is fine as new homes are much needed. But it’s also being pitched as helping existing Thamesmead residents and that’s generally a nonsense.

The problem with the DLR is it doesn’t go any further after that single stop to enable development of new homes in other parts of Thamesmead or beyond, such as Belvedere or Erith.

A need for grade separation either via a tunnel or viaduct makes extension a very long shot.

Whilst even for those moving to any future north Thamesmead development, Abbey Wood or Woolwich stations offers far more rail choices. Linking homes in those areas to Abbey Wood will remain crucial.

Cost

I’m not sure a £23m Bus Rapid Transit plan will be enough compared to £1.7bn spent on the DLR including expensive tunnelling for a solitary stop.

And as good as buses now are, they still aren’t as beneficial as a speedy, high capacity high frequency tram network across Thamesmead heading to Abbey Wood station as part of facilitating new homes not only in the north of town but also other areas of Thamesmead and beyond, including designated growth areas in Belvedere (8k homes planned), Erith (6k homes), Plumstead and Woolwich (5k) then Charlton Riverside masterplan area (8k) and Greenwich peninsula (20k).

Which is why the DLR idea – at the given cost – remains an odd prospect and not one that benefits either many existing Thamesmead residents nor future growth areas in the town and nearby towns.

Lose the myths

Ultimately though can we please ditch the lazy old outdated notions of Thamesmead? Please. Pretty please? It’s lazy.

It’s not the 1970s. It’s not just concrete housing with one bus an hour and an hour from the nearest station.

It’s simply not the back of beyond it may have been 30-40 years ago. It’s also the case that the DLR plan won’t help most existing residents.

If we can at least get half an idea about the town, its differing areas, characteristics and needs then maybe the right long term plan will emerge.

Yet when the local council, politicians, much of the media and those who havn’t visited for 40 years seem to lack the basics on how the area now is or even where parts are, that isn’t going to happen.

 

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