Revealed: Minimal sums to improve Greenwich peninsula streets from rising towers

Another week and another example has arrived showing just how little revenue Greenwich Council are allocating for improved streets in the borough from masses of new development.

A planning submission this week covering Section 106 spend from nearly complete Greenwich towers shows just £42,645.05 for pedestrian and cycle improvements.

Taking more of the pie are GLLaB (£294,349) and bus services (£627,218.67).

Whilst bus service improvements will be welcome, isn’t it slanted all a bit too far in that direction and away from walking and cycling? After all this plot, like many in the area, is located within walking distance of shops and amenities in both east Greenwich and Charlton – but routes to both are bleak.

Which in turn forces people onto buses (or other vehicles) when walking should be an ideal option.

However even the suggested bus “improvements” are odd, with one route seeing a possible move ensuring more pupils at St Mary Magdalene school would need to navigate grim streets that lack paving let alone crossings in places.

After 25 years there still appears very little interest in improving areas such as Charlton’s retail parks and threading new homes into the wider urban fabric to the detriment of new residents as well as local business in east Greenwich who would benefit from additional custom.

Bear in mind new towers are car-free which makes it even more likely people would want to walk, but Greenwich continue to do almost all they can to hamper such options.

Various agreements

The low allocation related to forthcoming towers on two plots is due to a previously agreed wider Section 106 agreement made between developer Knight Dragon and Greenwich Council.

However when it suits we’ve seen that altered, with one recent example being the trigger point for improving or rebuilding North Greenwich’s busy bus station being delayed from a previously agreed 3,000 new homes to 6,000.

And this isn’t a legacy issue either, as Greenwich planners in recent weeks agreed a draft S106 for a new warehouse off Bugsby’s Way in Charlton with just £2,000 allocated via the Section 106 agreement for walking and cycling improvements.

Last month it was a student housing plan featuring hundreds of rooms where active travel was all but ignored with a token £40,000. The plan was refused (not due to S106 funds) but indicative of how much interest there is at improving streets and the local environment.

Time and again pitiful amounts of revenue from new developments are allocated for improving the life of not only future residents but existing residents and businesses.

While Greenwich Council continue to blame TfL despite much of the are being borough-controlled, TfL themselves make odd bus change suggestions.

Both are at fault for the poor state of the area but TfL have been willing to work with other boroughs on a much wider basis that Greenwich in recent years, which suggests Greenwich’s reluctance to obtain and then allocate funds is a big factor.

Ultimately few places in the capital have seen as much development as Greenwich over recent years – and yet seen so little invested in improvements on the ground.