Streets around Ikea Greenwich to see modest improvement from £1.7 million funds – almost 18 months after store opens
Pedestrian signs directions to Ikea from east Greenwich will finally be installed later this month almost 18 months after the store opened in February 2019.
Since the store opened some of the “sustainable” credentials have been dropped such as pedal powered deliveries.
In terms of funds for transport which includes walking and cycling, Ikea gave Greenwich council £1.7 million in Section 106 payments. New pedestrian crossings were installed some months after the store opened – though not on all approaches leaving some dangerous crossings – and signage has taken far longer.
The walk from Westcombe park station is extremely poor.
Many other improvements for the area – which predate Ikea – never happened. Much like recent funding bids to TfL in recent months, previous bids were conducted in secret with little to consultation. Money was awarded with no details revealed to the public of what they would contain.
What did £50,000 on Trafalgar Road in 2017/18 go towards? Work has been mooted and continually delayed in east Greenwich.
The complete lack of detail on what each project would include can again be seen in recent weeks in bids for emergency TfL funding.
The final awards from TfL were revealed this week with no sign any will be spent in Greenwich or Charlton for segregated cycle lanes. I’ll cover that in coming days.
Other pots of money for east Greenwich were never spent. This is 2018/19:
This could have been 2017/18 funds rolled forward. Whatever it was, it was unspent again in 2018/19.
Other sources of funding in the area that Greenwich already have from a multitude of new developments have not improved roads. These include:
- Charlton Sainsbury’s – £1.4 million in Section 106 income
- ParcelForce on Bugsby’s Way: £234,000 in S106
- Greenwich Shopping Park – £650,000 in S106
- Wickes – £360,000 in S106
- Brocklebank Retail Park – £300,000 in Section 106
The Peninsula ward as a whole saw £87,418,841 in Section 106 income between 2013/14 and 2017/18.
Given this track record it’s perhaps of little surprise the authority appear to have neither spent any money they have from S106 and CIL income over recent months to provide improvements in the area.
Still, some signs are going up, but with fundamental work on street improvements lacking I can’t see it attracting many people to ditch the car.
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Though I live in the Burrough of Greenwich, if I were in charge of TfL, especially after reading this article, and realising the vast sums of money Greenwich has received for Public Realms Projects, I would NEVER give Greenwich a sou!
While the public deals with their mismanagement and poor planning, GLLaB has buckets of money, does naught, except pay for patronage jobs!
Unfortunately Greenwich Council are very much complacent, or should i say Labour! unwillingness to upgrade swaths of outdated tired old public Realm for starters. Some action to bring it into the 21st century Is very much needed. Everywhere you look, our pavements and roads are falling into disrepair. No real action on parking enforcement, vehicle abandonment, landscaping of estates, parks and grass verges.
S106 income unused to benefit the Boroughs needs but squandered on Waste like GLLAB, weekly newsletters and other nonstarters.
Things won’t change unless you break the soon to be 50 years of Labour rule.
There’s nothing that will convince the Council to account for the money it receives or spends, and I want to enjoy living in a borough that’s not ankle deep in litter. I suspect that the reason that Greenwich are being handed scraps by TFL is because they are giving only the minimum allowed: Greenwich aren’t playing the game and TFL know this. The sooner these useless people get a rocket up their backsides the better off we’ll be
Ere are I agree on the litter there juss aint enough enforcement, we get fly tippin ahrtside whjere I live n all. Ere are all you anti motorists on ere try cyclin when you’ve ad your bowel ripped ahrt, Thass why some of us ave to drive to go shoppin. We ave right n all but all yourn do is bang the drum for cyclists who I see everyday cyclin over red lights, ridin abreast n then all over pavements. The ighway code applies to cyclists n all but there aint no enforcement n thass all there is to it.
Where is all this money being spent by the Labour Administration in charge of Greenwich Council.?
They plead poverty all the time when they are sitting on millions of pounds of unused cash..
Instead they choose to pick on a very vulnerable group of disabled people in the Borough to pay more in social care charges !! (This was the final staw for me)
Greenwich Local Labour and Business (GLLAB) should be abolished as no longer fit for purpose.
With the vast amounts of money wasted on GLLAB going to fund vital front line services for Children, vulnerable children and adults the elderly and disabled and other essential front line services we pay for in our Council Tax like refuse collection, road sweeping. street lighting. schools etc.
People have being crying out for change in the Royal Boorugh of Greenwich for some time now. It is clear now this needs to happen sooner rather than later.
Totally agree Graham! Not just GLLAB but other failing off starts need to be abolished or sold off.
Vital services need to be prioritised. A much stronger emphasis is needed on enforcement to combat vehicles from parking illegally (Borough Wide) and blocking such cycle ways and pedestrian accessibility. Not just as a deterrence but a revenue maker for the Royal Borough. Funds generated could be plowed back into new schemes to better our Public Realm and community projects.
Change is desperately needed!