In the meantime - here are some ideas from one area of the Borough - Creekside -
Unlocking Deptford Creek
An urgent call to all Creekside stakeholders* for the current Thames Tideway
Tunnel Greenwich works to be used to deliver a
legacy of improved public access
and amenity.
Mick Delap, Ashburnham Triangle, West
Greenwich, April 2017
*see
Section 4, below. Plus Appendix 1 - Map;
and Appendix 2 - the 19th Century Creek
1. Introduction: unlocking the Creek.
Deptford
Creek is an area of major historical and environmental interest, that is changing
fast. In the nineteenth century, a variety of Creekside industrial enterprises
made an extraordinary contribution to the emergence of London as a modern mega
city. They showed the rest of London, and the world, what it would take to make
large scale urbanization work [see
Appendix 2]. This former industrial
powerhouse is now being transformed at breathtaking speed into a series of new
high rise domestic communities.
Over the years, successive plans, at London, and Lewisham and
Royal Greenwich Borough level, have highlighted the opportunities for combining
the wave of new housing with improved public access to the Creek's environmental
and historical riches. But little has been done to give established West
Greenwich neighbourhoods, like my own Ashburnham Triangle, and these thousands of
Creekside newcomers the kind of public open space and cultural amenities they
were promised.
Now the Thames Tideway Tunnel works
along the Creek at Thames Water's Greenwich Pumping Station offer a golden
opportunity, at little additional cost, to leave a significantly improved
public legacy for the Creek's new inhabitants.
2. The current situation: no trespassing. At present (and for the foreseeable future, unless post
Tideway Tunnel reconstruction plans can be improved), the Creek's
environmental, cultural and amenity assets and potential are locked away. Apart
from the brief views of the Creek from the Halfpenny Hatch bridge on the east-west
pedestrian and cycle pathway, there is no public access.
The nearby Creekside Discovery Centre,
on the Creek's west (Lewisham) bank is a valiant pioneer in drawing attention
to the Creek's unique environment, but
lacks resources and support. The situation on the east (Greenwich) bank is even
more discouraging. Royal Greenwich
Planning has proposed using Section 106 agreements to provide access to the
Creek on two developments upstream from the Halfpenny Hatch bridge. The Galliard development of the
Skillion/Merryweather site required the developer to provide public access to
the Creek. A pathway has been built, but, in defiance of Section 106
requirements, it remains locked. The new
Booker development, further upstream, will also have Section 106 requirements
for public access to the Creek. But even
if these are honoured, neither the Galliard nor the Booker Creekside paths
offer any significant improvement in public amenity. They go nowhere, and are not long enough to
attract walkers or cyclists.
3. A new Creekside pathway. What would transform meaningful
public access to a significant stretch of the Creek, and at a blow unlock its
historical, heritage and environmental riches, would be if the isolated
Creekside pathway plans for the Galliard and Booker sites were linked to a new section
of Creekside pathway running south from
the Halfpenny Hatch Bridge on the east (Greenwich) bank of the Creek, along the edge of the
Thames Water Pumping Station site. With
careful attention to ensuring the security of the working Pumping Station site,
this new north - south pathway could finally open up the Creek and give the
newly emerging Creekside community the kind of public amenity it has long been
promised. It could also be linked to
Brookmill Park, making the Halfpenny Hatch bridge the northern starting point
of the Ravensbourne Trail.
And what makes all this feasible is
the Thames Tideway Tunnel work along this stretch of the Creek, as the Greenwich element of the project is
built over the next two years. This
exact section of Creekside is being taken apart as we speak by the Tideway
works. After which, the site will be
restored. The planning agreements
already reached between Tideway and
Royal Greenwich do not call for any planning gain. If they go ahead as planned, the Creek will
be returned to its present shut off state.
There will be no improvements to public access, no unlocking of the
Creek's historical and environmental treasures, no significant legacy for the
Creekside community.
The alternative is to use this golden
opportunity to amend the post-construction plans to open up the key section of a
new north-south pathway. And to use the
pathway to provide the public with properly interpreted access to the history
and environment of the Creek (perhaps finally finding a use for at least part
of the Grade 1 listed Coal Sheds, the hidden gems on the Thames Water site). Given the vast scale of the Tideway project,
the additional costs would be minimal.
Planning agreements have been reached, and the opportunity to enforce
Section 106 requirements has passed. But
if all the interested parties could, on a voluntary basis, agree an alternative
legacy plan - not as a planning
requirement, but as a significant public good - then the Tideway Tunnel could
still leave the Creek, and the wider Greenwich and Lewisham communities, with an impressive legacy.
4. Moving forward - but how?. Funding will need to be found. But for once the real challenge is finding a
way to bring the very disparate group of potential stakeholders together. Central to realising the dream of a new
north-south Creekside pathway are Tideway and Thames Tunnel East, as contractors,
and Thames Water, as owners and operators of the Greenwich Pumping Station
site. For Thames Water, safeguarding
security will be a key issue. Royal Greenwich are the planning authority
for the east bank of the Creek, as Lewisham are for much of the west bank. There is potential for the proposed opening up
of the Creek to link productively with existing Greenwich and Lewisham Green
Space and tourism initiatives (especially the Historic Greenwich World Heritage
Site, and the Ravensbourne Trail). The
Creekside Discovery Centre and Creekside Educational Trust already play a key
role in developing public awareness of Creekside environment, history and
amenities. They have approached some existing and new developers of Creekside
sites. The current owners of the Skillion / Merryweather,
and the Booker sites are obviously important here.
Looking further afield, Greenwich
University have ongoing programmes which build on the past, present and future
of their immediate neighbourhood. Local
amenity groups such as the Greenwich Society, the Greenwich Industrial History
Society and the Ashburnham Triangle Association have also regularly engaged
with the Creek's past, present and future. There will be potentially interested
development agencies. And individual elected representatives have roles to
play, from Greenwich and Lewisham MP's to local councillors. In particular, Greenwich Councillor Mehboob
Khan is already involved as chair of the Community Liaison Working Group for
Tideway East's Greenwich and Deptford projects. One local body with a proven record of
unlocking heritage sites is the Royal Greenwich Heritage Trust.
5. Conclusion. The
current Tideway Thames Tunnel works on the Thames Water Pumping Station site
over the next two years represent a golden opportunity for dramatically
improving Creekside amenities. Given the complex web of stakeholders, what is
lacking is an obvious individual or body to take overall responsibility for
seizing this opportunity. Creative Process's 2009 Creekside Charrette
is one model. I hope this paper will re-start
a process that ends by finally unlocking
the Creek to the public.
Mick Delap,
Ashburnham Triangle, Greenwich, April 2017
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