Supermarket opens at 2,000-home Plumstead development

A Tesco Express has opened at a 2000-home development as the site welcomes its first residents.

The shop situated on a road leading off a one-way system and open from 7am to 10pm each day.

Lombard Square is being constructed on an awkward site surrounded by a prison, a three-lane gyratory and a raised sewer bank which the Ridgeway path sits atop.

The one-way system to the west divides most of the site with its tallest elements near Plumstead bus garage.

That one-way system also widens to includes the approach to the bus garage and a McDonald’s drive-through.

Buildings to the north have limited windows owing to the prison next door, or if windows exist they’re frosted glass.

The raised sewer bank otherwise known as the Southern Outfall sewer aids in severance to nearby areas. While it can and does have access to the path above leading to the other side it’s often pretty quiet and not the most enticing route on foot.

Visit

Recently I went to take a look around the site heading there via Plumstead station and its all quite pleasant within its exterior – though getting there and then out to other areas via nearby bus stops and the station isn’t the best.

Plumstead station and many bus routes alongside is accessed via a relatively narrow path beside three lanes of traffic on a bridge or by heading beneath the road.

Funding was allocated to improve these links a decade ago but still isn’t complete.

Some paint has been applied below but on recent visits it had a large number of street drinkers and litter. A pretty bleak place to be.

Certainly not a place that’ll make some people comfortable when traversing.

Plans for changes to the one-way system were dropped and diverting the 472 to serve the site via Nathan Way (as it once did) rather than axing the route were not taken.

In fact TfL have left up timetable details of the 472 route on Nathan Way bus stops despite the bus not heading this way in years.

It used to head this way before being diverted via Western Way. Then it was completely scrapped earlier this year rather than adjusted to serve major new development such as Lombard Square which the SL11 passes without stopping.

The replacement SL11 route doesn’t stop outside on the one-way system despite ample space to install a bus stop to improve public transport access for thousands of new residents moving here.

The development is on such a large scale – and has failed to embrace improvements with buses and for pedestrians – that it deserves it own post and I’ll get one up soon. I must have taken about 50 photos so there’s plenty to show.