Community Voice Meeting

Posted on May 20, 2014 by Max

I wrote previously about a community voice meeting I attended, and the next one is coming up next week. I’ll be going along again but I’m off on holiday shortly afterwards, and unlikely to be able to do a write up in anything like a timely manner. Alex, from Trust Thamesmead, who emailed me about the meeting wants the word spread, and publishing it wholesale is kind of like forwarding it to interested parties, right?

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Dear All,

The next Community Voice meeting for all Thamesmead residents will be taking place next week on Thursday 29th May, 6.30-8.30pm at the usual venue The Link Thamesmead. The Link, Belvedere Road (off Harrow Manor way), Thamesmead, SE2 9BS.

This will be the third Community Voice meeting and they seem to be growing in support from local residents so I would love to try and get as many people as possible to this one to hear from all of the speakers but also as per standard practise to raise concerns, questions or issues to the Trust or Teresa Pearce MP.

As normal the evening will be hosted by Erith & Thamesmead MP, Teresa Pearce but we will also be having presentations by;

  • Sarah Feleppa – Community Development Volunteering Officer for Trust Thamesmead
  • Ken Baikie – Interim Director Thamesmead Strategy at Peabody
  • Stephanie Turner – Community Sports Activator for Now’s The Time
  • Link Action 4 Youth
  • Open Forum for residents – Activities, points of interest and issues from local groups and individuals

We are very fortunate to have Ken Baikie who is the Interim Director for Thamesmead Strategy at Peabody who will update residents on Peabody’s wider vision and ambitions for Thamesmead over the coming years. We also have presentation’s from local groups and project leads including the Trust’s Volunteering Officer Sarah Feleppa presenting on what the Trust are doing ahead of National Volunteers Week, which is the week after the meeting.

More importantly, the Community Voice meetings are for residents to engage in the work Trust Thamesmead are doing, to have their say about their local area and to hear from other local groups who would like to promote their activities or work they are doing.

Please do forward this email to anyone who might be interested in coming along and spread the word amongst friends, family and neighbours. I look forward to seeing many of you there!

In the mean-time if you have any questions please don’t hesitate in calling or emailing me.

Best wishes,

Alex

Alex Forrester
Community Development Officer

 

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Mario’s Mission – A Pet Foodbank

Posted on May 12, 2014 by Max

The local paper, News Shopper, ran a story recently, covering a new charity that has started in Thamesmead. You can read it at the link below, but to summaries, a couple of locals have set up a pet-food-bank. The idea is to redistribute pet supplies to those who have fallen on hard times, donated by other locals or by businesses. The scheme goes by the name Mario’s Mission, named after one of the cats that the organisers look after.

http://www.newsshopper.co.uk/news/11171118.One_of_the_first_pet_foodbanks__Two_friends_help_animal_lovers_feeling_the_pinch/

Having read the article, I got in touch and offered some cat litter that I had which is surplus to requirements and dropped it round to the house around the corner. It was only after I left that I confirmed that, yes, Barbara looked familiar because I’d met her before at some of the regeneration meetings. I’ve since met Sam, the other organiser, but I was already planning to do a write up on the charity because it’s innovative and could use any extra exposure.

It’s all too common to see people separated from their pets when money becomes an issue. While the PDSA can help with emergencies, the day to day costs of pet ownership can be suddenly overwhelming when people’s circumstances change. Mario’s Mission is looking to help avoid rehoming scenarios by keeping the food supplies available for those who need it. They’re serving only one client so far, but response has been largely positive with buy-in from Jolley’s pet shop in Dartford.

You can contact Barbara and Sam to offer supplies or to request aid for your own pets by email or on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Marios-Mission/233441296860724
mariosmission@hotmail.com

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Streetz

Posted on April 25, 2014 by Max

An enterprising guy with a strong interest in film is working on a piece filmed in Thamesmead, named Streetz. The trailer for the piece is over on Youtube, and also embedded in the fund raising page on Indiegogo, here:

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/streetz#home

As a small independent film it’s going to have a small budget and the hopes of raising money by crowd sourcing are at least modest.

One of the problems, though, is that this is yet another gritty urban piece showing gang culture, violence, drugs and depravity. When the man behind it all posted his trailer on the Thamesmead Facebook group the reception was not the best. The group is full of people (some 2000 signed up now!) who often feel a lot of nostalgia for the area, remember sunshine and parks and messing around on concrete walkways as kids. They’re not best pleased to see it held up as a backdrop for the thuggish impression that areas of Southeast London emanate. Indeed, the fears of gang culture and violence far outweigh the realities that the crime statistics show in Thamesmead, but brutalistic architecture fits well with a brutal tale and so the problem grows. People fear the violence because people believe in the violence, films depict the violence and enforce the belief, thus people avoid the area and fear the crime and the area is then seen as a great place to draw crime on screen in a believable way.

The film’s main proponent, Mark Windham, was disappointed when the Facebook response was negative, largely coming down to “I don’t think it’s good to glorify violence and drugs and gang culture” and seemed almost bewildered that anyone might think it would do damage to Thamesmead’s reputation. He grew up as a local and had no intention to bring the area down. He pointed out that the location isn’t named within the script, it could be anywhere – but how true is that, really? It’s impossible to separate Thamesmead from “A Clockwork Orange” which is not only set in a place that is not Thamesmead, but also in a non-existent future. Misfits is set in fictional Wertham, but the buildings and the walkways and the look of south Thamesmead pervade. We are linked to what is depicted, and while Misfits is a lighthearted look at delinquents with superhero powers struggling through life, it’s full of murders and attacks and it sits alongside Meet the Guvnors, Clockwork Orange and disturbing music videos. You cannot choose Thamesmead for your location and deny that you will paint a picture for anyone who recognises the tower blocks and jutting maisonettes later. What we need is a bit more Flea, a bit more Beautiful Thing, and a bit less Streetz.

I responded to the Facebook comments pointing this out in a measured and calm way. All the comments were deleted minutes later and Mark has taken to Twitter and Indigogo to raise further funding.

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Adam Curtis in Thamesmead

Posted on April 24, 2014 by Max

There’s an article on rationalist.org where the participants wander around Thamesmead musing on the nature of hope and gloom.

http://rationalist.org.uk/articles/4641/fail-better

It’s an interesting piece, but a little odd. They begin at Abbey Wood, sensibly enough, but seem to go north into the woods and then loop round through Lesnes Abbey’s grounds to reach Thamesmead. The article refers to “many” walkways being long gone when really most of them are still standing.

The ubiquitous horses get a mention but not a whole lot more. They wind up sitting in a cafe described as being “near” Thamesmead and in a shopping centre, but giving no clue as to where. Possibly they were in the Thames cafe among the Limestone shops, but that’s hardly a shopping centre and is inside the Thamesmead boundaries. Likewise, if there is a cafe near Gogi’s I’m not sure the description fits, and if they were in central Thamesmead then you can’t really say it’s a nearby shopping centre since that’s what passes for our actual town centre.

By the end, instead of using the train the pair are looking for a bus back towards central London. Unless it was night time I don’t fancy their chances as our daytime routes involved changing at least once if you want to be within central London.

It’s an oddity, but it’s nice to see that the area is still remembered for what it was meant to be, despite the actuality never manifesting.

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Filmed in Thamesmead

Posted on April 18, 2014 by Max

I’ve had an idea for a while that it would be nice to catalogue the ever increasing list of things filmed in Thamesmead. It’s a minor project in itself that requires a reasonable amount of effort which has been off-putting. I’ve decided that rather than just waiting until I have time to create it in full, I might as well put up the work in progress. You’ll see it linked from the top of the blog as a permanent fixture, and contributions and suggestions are strongly encouraged.

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The Link’s Opening Day video

Posted on April 9, 2014 by Max

I just came across this on Youtube, which is worth a look. It showcases The Link on its opening day, showing some of the background to how it came to be.

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Alsike Road parking restrictions

Posted on April 9, 2014 by Max

I was a little surprised this week to see Alsike Road turned into a largely no-parking zone. I would have expected a move like that to involve posting warnings in the same way that closing a road to alter it otherwise does, but the only laminated notices attached to the lamp posts refer to Crossrail work, not to road markings.

Truth be told, it’s not a place I’d want to park my car as there are some pretty active car vandals who regularly smash windows along the entirety of Alsike Road, presumably taking anything of interest from within the vehicles. While crime in Thamesmead is not nearly as high as the perception of crime in Thamesmead, we do see a disproportionate share of car damage and the ground is littered with little crystals of broken glass. That said, when the Abbey Wood station carpark has turned into a no-go zone and the local pay and display is currently a building co-ordination site, a good number of drivers who use the train have been displaced into Alsike Road and it seems like rather poor timing to outlaw parking, especially with no notice. There were a couple of signs put up the night before the paint went down saying there would be work in the area and drivers shouldn’t park there, but not everybody obeyed. I presume some didn’t visit their cars in the time between the notice and the work, and the double yellow lines that now decorate it are punctuated with gaps where cars were in the way at the time.

Gaps that some drivers are taking utmost advantage of, and as one car left, another replaced it, parking in an entirely legal way in a space without lines.

Somebody isn’t happy. They’ve swarmed such cars and surrounded them with orange cones as this picture shows:

car

On the off chance that the reasons were unclear, the windscreens have been decorated with an explanation, telling drivers that the car must be Moved (their capitals, not mine) or it maybe (sic) towed away: roadmarkings

The notice suggests the work has been carried out by a contractor and going by the poor literacy of the notices, probably a reasonably cheap one. But on whose behalf are they working? Greenwich? Bexley? Peabody?

The road will benefit from being clearer – it’s difficult to negotiate when cars are parked along both sides and buses are constantly trying to pass, but I can’t help thinking it could have been better handled.

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Tump 53

Posted on April 3, 2014 by Max

Thamesmead is home to a nature reserve known as Tump 53. This is a long standing feature of the region but had seen a lot of neglect over recent years. Last autumn it was a candidate in The People’s Millions and secured considerable funding for an overhaul and revamp after a successful campaign and public vote. Teresa Pearce, among others, was pleased to see the enthusiasm behind the campaign to get Thamesmead to the top of the list.

Now, things are ramping up and there’s to be an open day (well, afternoon) on 12th April at the site. I’m not in the area that weekend, but if anyone wants to write it up for me I’d be interested to hear how it goes.

 

 

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Garden City (revisited)

Posted on April 1, 2014 by Max

I suspect that Peabody have put out a press release of some kind recently as there has been a spate of news articles of this ilk:

http://www.propertymall.com/property-news/article/35071-Boris-backs-new-100-acre-Thamesmead-garden-suburb

Even the BBC is getting in on the story and lauding the proposals for more houses at Thamesmead. Tilfen Land and Trust Thamesmead have been gushing in their enthusiasm about working together with Peabody and there is a hint of extra money being available to plough into Thamesmead. I’m waiting to see what the new prospectus for the area that Peabody have promised looks like as the original plans for the South Thamesmead Regeneration stretched far into the future and suggested plans that went so far as to give the houses with balconies a replacement front door at normal front-door-level, although quite how they’d realise such plans when half the houses are privately owned remained a mystery. When I quizzed the then-representative, Martyn Montgomery, he hand waved a little and said something about potential grants and loans for home-owners.

If nothing else, the article that I’ve linked to does have a very pretty shot of the lake and tower blocks, but it does nothing to expand on what is meant by a “garden city”. Wikipedia lends some idea, suggesting that Thamesmead could become something more like a functioning town, surrounded by greener “garden” areas, despite being in the bounds of London. That is, a place where the local economy is thriving and jobs and workers can exist in close proximity rather than needing to commute long distances for essentials.  It would be nice for the area to be more self-sufficient though I’m no town planner and have no idea how you’d start in creating that. The entertainment that is lacking is something I’ve mentioned elsewhere, along with the idea of a bank but even a dole office would be a start – in an area of deprivation where many are believed to be surviving on benefits, it’s something of a joke to make the residents take public transport to reach the place where they’re supposed to sign on.

The row of shops that was demolished at Tavy Bridge was looking pretty run down by the time it went. The chippy seemed popular and there was some upset at the chemist going, but once upon a time that area contained the police station and a Natwest Bank. For now it’s just rubble. Plans are all well and good, but it’s a shame regeneration cogs move so slowly.

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Traffic and Travel

Posted on March 27, 2014 by Max

The people have voted and the winning entry for the decorative light sculpture to be installed at the roundabout on Harrow Manor Way is the peace sculpture. You can read about it here:

http://www.bexley.gov.uk/index.aspx?articleid=17401

For some reason you can’t see a picture, though. The company that will be erecting the work have mentioned taking feedback from the public and adjusting the design to fit, so what we get when it goes up is yet to be determined.

I hope it looks good, because if those from outside the area have their way there will be an awful lot of people viewing in in years to come. There’s lots of talk about a bridge coming to Thamesmead, reignited recently after years of plans nearly making it and being cancelled at the last minute. It’s a road bridge that’s planned this time around, and critics say the local infrastructure just can’t cope with it. Darryl from the 853 blog points out that it would make an awful lot more sense to extend the DLR out to Thamesmead across the water. He rightly pointed out that Thamesmead deserves better than “get the bus to Abbey Wood” as a solution to its travel issues.

I do get miffed when people say that Thamesmead isn’t covered at all by train services, though. I had a small conversation over on Twitter with @boriswatch who says that the area within 15 minutes walk of Abbey Wood station is “what, 200m radius? Well south of what I’d call ‘Thamesmead’”. Um, no. That includes pretty much all of the concrete buildings and walkways that spring to mind when people think of Thamesmead – all the filmic backdrops, the infamous Clockwork Orange lake scenes. It’s something like a third of Thamesmead.

This map gives a good overview of the different chunks of Thamesmead:

http://www.trust-thamesmead.co.uk/assets/Thamesmead_Street_Map_1985.pdf

Given that the Abbey Wood region merges into Plumstead which has its own station on the same line, I’d say it’s not unfair to claim that Abbey Wood station actually serves more of Thamesmead than it does Abbey Wood.

And they are some very small roads that somebody wants to send traffic up to cross the river. Will it happen this time around? Will it be worth it if we see air quality decrease hand in hand with unemployment in the area? Time will tell…

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