Woolwich town centre upgrade a mess a year after completion
A major town centre project along Powis Street in Woolwich designed to rejuvenate the town has fallen into neglect less than a year after completion.
Around £21 million was spent across the town centre with the town’s main shopping street seeing much of that funding. Most money came from the last government’s Future High Streets fund.
There were concerns before work completed that Greenwich Council wouldn’t maintain the work, allowing it to fall into a dilapidated state given the experience across a number of town centre projects since the 1980s.
Sadly that is now becoming apparent. Choosing a high maintenance design has predictably proven a mistake.
Broken
Now, a grim January day may not show any town in its best light, but the state of much of the street transcends that.
We’re not just talking about everyday litter. That can be swept away. This is embedded grime from day one with no routine cleaning. Millions spent on a major capital project yet next to nothing on everyday spend to keep it in good shape.
Street furniture is broken and filthy. New seating covered in bird droppings from pretty much the first week of installation and unusable. Maybe not a good idea to put it under trees?
Patches of tarmac has already appeared on new paving.
Of course no town centre is perfect and broken street furniture is hardly unique to Woolwich, but Powis Street shows almost zero effort from the first day following millions spent. A pattern seen time and again.
It also extends beyond the immediate area of recent changes. The first thing seen when entering Woolwich from the DLR station is broken sign. This was taken back in August.
Five months on has it been replaced? Or even removed.
Don’t be silly. The basics aren’t done in Woolwich.
Getting Things Done?
In a time of restricted funds all town centres and local authorities are having a tough time. However choosing a design that requires high levels of cleaning wasn’t the wisest of decisions.
Bright white paving in areas of high footfall?
That’s aged about as well as expected. Still, the consultants did well.
Greenwich Council launched a new slogan last year about “Getting Things Done” and how they’d look after areas like Woolwich town centre..
They did at the time state they’d be a budget for looking after town centres. It looked good on paper but then you delve into the details and rather less so. Funds are to be split between three towns (Woolwich, Greenwich and Elltham) and cover four years ensuring annual totals in, say, Woolwich was minimal.
The meagre budget could have been higher if Greenwich allocated extra income from the many new developments in the borough including Woolwich. They rarely ever do for town centres. Little interest in allocating substantial amounts of Community Infrastructure Levy or Section 106 revenue.
Another potential source of funding in a time of financial pressure on councils was to adopt a Business Improvement District. Dozens exist all over London and beyond.
This sees business agree to pay a surcharge to look after town centres, put on events, summer planting and promoting town centres. They exist from Bexleyheath to Brixton to Ealing and many more areas. Greenwich are rare in having zero in the borough.
Bromley town centre to give one many examples has a BID recently renewed which will see £3 million in funding. While Greenwich’s big PR drive on “Getting Things Done” means just £108,000 is to be spent in Woolwich next year, Bromley’s BID will ensure £600,000 before any additional funds from Bromley Council.
History
It’s all a case of history repeating with Powis Street alone seeing constant change ever since pedestrianisation in the 1980s. Back then a lot of raised red brick planters were installed along the street.
It didn’t work well so in the 1990s most were removed and trees planted, new seating and paving installed and features such as up-lighting around the base of trees. It wasn’t maintained into the 2000s. A time when council’s saw rising funds but in Greenwich little changed. Cuts or not, they don’t look after town centres very well.
Systemic management failings, ignored by senior politicians in the borough, go on. Some of that 1990s upgrade does still remain. It looks as good as expected.
Then in the 2010s major work begun on the towns two squares: Beresford and General Gordon.
General Gordon Square was brilliant and a big improvement. Beresford Square was a failure and after a decade has again seen more millions spent on yet another major re-working. A new water feature was installed alongside seating and greenery.
But as often seen in the town, as soon as one improvement happens things go downhill elsewhere. General Gordon Square is now looking very tired. Much of the grassed areas has become areas of mud as the authority continue to hold events on it when it wasn’t designed for such use.
The water feature hasn’t been switched back on after it was used as a space for traders. It was turned off when the other square was being improved.
So now we have one improvement complete just as one from a decade ago is being run down.
Given decades of mismanagement and failure what will it take to keep Woolwich looking half decent and a place people want to visit?
Management and leadership has failed time and again. They have’t looked after the place when funds were strong and when they weren’t done little to secure alternative funds to keep the borough’s main centre in good shape.
Now they’re patting themselves on the back about the new leisure centre. And very good it is too. But will it not be maintained? Will the square outside continue to get worse?
If yes, people still won’t want to visit the town. It’ll still struggle. It can be fixed but are “Royal” Greenwich up to it? The town has ample going for it. Let’s hope so.
Continual neglect of the borough, but don’t worry, we’ll still be expected to cough up a 5% increase in council tax in a few months time.
As usual, choose the design because it maximizes profit for their contractor buddies. And also the least durable so they’ll get the next contract again sooner for repairs/replacements.
How about a couple million towards having a few police patrols 24hrs on the streets (work out their annual salaries, could have 5 police for many years at that price). And maybe we can cut down on the antisocial behavior from the wastemans littering and causing damage. It’s like the people in power have never stepped foot for even a minute in these neighborhoods.
There’s bags of rubbish always left out on the new pavement. I think it’s for regular bin collections but who on earth thought white pavements would work in such a spot when rubbish bags are put down on it every day? No attention to detail when signing off plans. Benches under trees? Obvious they will be unusable unless cleaned at a high frequency. With high footfall urban locations the KISS principle should apply: Keep it simple, stupid. That applies when flush with cash. It should apply ten times over in a period of local authority cutbacks but as noted, they havn’t even tried to compensate via other funding streams. Very poor leadership and I’m comparing that to other less than stellar local authorities. Believe me I’ve worked with many.
Oh COME ON now. You cannot possibly expect them to look after their main town centre when there’s GLLAB and political advisors to give money to!?!
Absolutely Anon and what you say has a very valid point. People have been saying tbis for yesrs. With money being diverted away from other major projects to give money to the loss making GLLaB to top up their budgets.
Born and raised in Woolwich in the late 1950/60’s. I used to be proud to say that I came from there. Now. No way do even consider visiting the area for shopping or anything else. You cannot make a silk purse out of a pigs ear. This current council, however, seem to be adding to the situation.
Oh dear, what a waste.
When will the council learn from there mistakes! Wasting tmoney to make woolwich great place to shop NOT! Wjo ever gave the go a head to do powis street up needs sacking!. I mean white paving!! Wooden benches bird poo they never learn! Thank good not in woolwich no more.!!.
The answer to that JJR is never. The Council and Councillors never listen to anyone. They run expensive consultations then do what they want anyway.. Sadly public realm and maintenance has never been a priority for Greenwich Council under the current administration..
Woolwich used to be a thriving Town Centre in the 1950″s 1960″s and early 1970″s but sadly those days have long gone.
Now people tend to keep away from Woolwich and shop elsewhere..
As ig is not clean and peoole do not feel safe in the area.
Although some improvements require a lot more maintenance than others, most of its maintenance could and SHOULD be done by the general public. You can’t give good things to people, it doesn’t matter if you fill up the street with litter bins if the “culture” is to leave rubbish on the floor and litter everywhere. I wonder why there is such a big difference in general appearance between woolwich town centre, and the royal arsenal area. Sure, Berkeley and RAR also work to maintain the area tidy, but is the difference is public you see from one side of the Elizabeth line to the other that makes the difference. There is no point improving if you’re not gonna educate the citizens. As much as this hurts to those who try to believe that we are all the same, (which we are indeed genetically speaking) culture makes us different apart.
Broken street furniture and other issues such as embedded grime require jet washing that the general public cannot undertake. General litter isn’t bad. That isn’t to say selfish idiots that litter don’t serve fines, but everything documented isn’t general litter.
Clueless management. I told them during consultation. They gave an air of we know best. Anyone who has spent more than a year here know they havn’t a clue how to look after their towns. Sure enough LBGs ignorance and contempt for residents is shown up again.
I have been to Woolwich before and it does need a massive clean up. As well as other areas around London that do need a revamp and improvements.
The answer to that JJR is never. The Council and Councillors never listen to anyone. They run expensive consultations then do what they want anyway.. Sadly public realm and maintenance has never been a priority for Greenwich Council under the current administration..
Woolwich used to be a thriving Town Centre in the 1950″s 1960″s and early 1970″s but sadly those days have long gone.
Now people tend to keep away from Woolwich and shop elsewhere..
As ig is not clean and peoole do not feel safe in the area.
Absolutely Anon and what you say has a very valid point. People have been saying tbis for yesrs. With money being diverted away from other major projects to give money to the loss making GLLaB to top up their budgets.
Sack those who wasted £21m of taxpayers money
Woolwich is a nice place and I think it needs more improvements with what it needs and to see the high street thrive. Instead of seeing it struggling and more shops closing down.
I agree. I think part of improving High Streets Town Centres and Shopping Centesc us to relax the Sunday Trading Laws goes larger Supermarkets and stores. So larger shops can ooen for longer in the evenings and on Sundays and Public Holidays. To allow more peiole to shop locally and encourage shoppers to visit local High Street and Town Centres.
This will help people that work and shift workers who cannot shop between 9:00 am and 5:30 pm.
It will also help to improve the local economy and night time economy.
Did anyone really hope that casting pearls before swine would magically change Woolwich’s culture? The only real benefit probably went into the pockets of the firms awarded the renovation contracts.
I agree. I think part of improving High Streets Town Centres and Shopping Centesc us to relax the Sunday Trading Laws goes larger Supermarkets and stores. So larger shops can ooen for longer in the evenings and on Sundays and Public Holidays. To allow more peiole to shop locally and encourage shoppers to visit local High Street and Town Centres.
This will help people that work and shift workers who cannot shop between 9:00 am and 5:30 pm.
It will also help to improve the local economy and night time economy.
Maybe it’s time to stop assuming our votes are guaranteed. When councillors know they have to earn support, they tend to listen more closely to residents’ concerns.
Like how Shooters Hill went for a green party candidate.
The last time I voted in the local elections it was for the Greens, and it looks like it’ll be the same this time. The contempt Labour has for the borough is incredible.