Major Thamesmead Lombard Square development set to see new Tesco open

A major new development in Thamesmead which will see almost 2,000 homes when complete is set to see a Tesco open on site.

Named “Lombard Square”, it sits in a less than appealing location between Belmarsh Prison, a three-lane gyratory and elevated sewer bank.

The new SL11 bus doesn’t stop outside new housing and reaching nearby shops, railway station and most bus routes requires a walk via narrow paving beside lanes of traffic or via a secluded underpass.

That underpass has had a lick of paint but whether that’s enough to see some willing to use it remains to be seen. It’d previously seen similar around 10 years ago and then was left to rot, and we know Greenwich Council are very poor at maintaining public space.

Earlier plans for improved public realm above ground on the one-way system itself went nowhere while TfL’s recent consultation on improvements between north Thamesmead and Woolwich explicitly excluded this area.

Current underpass changes were part of a public realm budget revealed ten years ago. Ten years of inaction inflated away much of what could be achieved with the cash. There’s also no sign of promised changes in front of Plumstead station.

With that in mind the new Tesco is likely to have a captive market.

Tesco currently have another Express shop on Lakedale Road off Plumstead High Street as well as three stores in Woolwich. One being the major superstore and two expresses; one in the Royal Arsenal and another which opened at the former King’s Arms pub beside Woolwich barracks.

There’s also another not too far away in Thamesmead near the former Princess Alice pub.

Location

By the way I’ve put the site as Thamesmead though the boundary with Plumstead is a bit nebulous. To the north is Belmarsh which is clearly Thamesmead. To the south is Plumstead, while Plumstead sits to the west. I’ve always thought of this area as being the boundary between Plumstead and Thamesmead and the Lombard Square triangle as being Thamesmead as is Nathan Way which runs alongside.

Part of the site yet to be built beside Plumstead bus garage could be said to be Plumstead, but what’s built so far to me is Thamesmead. Is that wrong? Tesco don’t seem sure naming the site “TESCO THAMESMEAD PLUMSTEAD”.

It’s not like the boundary of Abbey Wood and Thamesmead along, say, much of Harrow Manorway which has always been obvious and divided by type and age of architecture.

Everything before the 1960s is Abbey Wood as Thamesmead didn’t even exist as a town until then. Then came the GLC’s major new flagship project with distinctive brutalist architecture.

Anyway, back to the new shop and you can click here to view plans.