New mural appears in Greenwich as housing alongside rejected

A new mural has recently appeared in Greenwich overlooking the site of a car park. The work is part of London Mural Festival and by artist Conor Harrington.

Courtesy Google. Car park site

The car park site saw housing and retail plans in 2016 which were rejected.

2016 plan

An appeal was made to the planning inspector who upheld some of Greenwich’s objections, though an argument by Greenwich Council stating new homes and shops would harm the local shopping area was overturned.

The inspector stated: “There is no firm evidence to show that the amount of floorspace proposed would be out of scale with the Centre.”

Trafalgar Road

“Overall therefore, I find that the proposal would not have a harmful effect on
the vitality and viability of the East Greenwich District Centre and, therefore,
would not conflict with LP Policy 2.15 or CS Policies TC1, TC6 or TC(a).”

A somewhat bizarre argument by Greenwich Council was that there was no outside amenity space, despite it being on the doorstep of Greenwich park.

It was however rejected on other grounds which mainly focused on light and pollution for those in any future home and neighbouring buildings: “I have found that the proposal would lead to adverse impacts in respect of the living conditions of future and neighbouring occupiers and that it has not been adequately shown that it would not pose a flood risk.”

One thing that has harmed the local area is the closure of the former Arches leisure centre directly over the road, and which has now been empty for some time.

Closed for some time

There is still no planning application for the site. It’s probably time to look into this a bit more. One of the last things I discovered in a separate planning application can be seen below, which states one part of Greenwich Council bought it from another :

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J Smith

I've lived in south east London most of my life growing up in Greenwich borough and working in the area for many years. The site has contributors on occasion and we cover many different topics. Living and working in the area offers an insight into what is happening locally.

    9 thoughts on “New mural appears in Greenwich as housing alongside rejected

    • as usual another opportunity to refurbish and provide extensive facilities for the local community in the heart of Greenwich..it was the Swimming Baths…must have been closed 10 years…so its original purpose was for the local community….next to buses and trains and Greenwich Park…we need to keep the building as it is and just convert the inside…nothing wrong with the structure…notice signs,saying Demolition

      Reply
    • I was interested to read about the mural that’s appeared in Greenwich. But writing, “A new mural has recently appeared in Greenwich overlooking the site of a car park”, is hardly news at all. I was looking for further information such as; Who is the artist who done the mural? Why they done the mural? Had the mural got legal permission or Had the mural been done illegally? What’s the story/meaning/message behind the mural? All that was mentioned was one sentence and a whole article about planning permission for shops/housing.

      Reply
      • I think reporting murals is quite uplifting. It’s almost exciting that local artists end up creating them legally or illegally if that’s the case given the usual council spend on arts has not been spent this year due to covid. it would look nice and stupid of the council if they were to declare art illegal and kick up a huff.

        Any other interesting or beautify murals across the borough? I’d love to check them out, on my bike of course.

        Reply
        • I also think that the mural is interesting that is why I was overly excited to see that the mural had been featured here on the website in this article. The point I was trying to get across, clearly got misunderstood, I was disappointed at the fact there was only a picture of the mural and a single sentence regarding the mural, no further information was supplied within the article. Speaking of street art and the council, from a street artist perspective the council have made a ‘huff’ over previous features of street art done in the past irrespective of legality.

          Reply
    • Yeah agree with u Matt W, about time Greenwich was in the spotlight for a good quality mural,and that looks like just the job. I’ll cycle over tonight to take a gander Not quite sure which side of the political spectrum it lies on but that will materialise no doubt, once ownership is claimed. Doubt it’s a Banksy,but u never know. Maybe it’s saying Boris so blinkered by Brexit he’s lost track of governing totally during a pandemic? Hope that’s the idea anyway. Any other ideas? Answers on a postcard haha. Certainly more in tune with Greenwich style than another row of BORING flats! Also developments right up to the road hem in the traffic pollutants badly, open spaces, even a car park lot with a bit of green, help air quality so desperately needed here.

      Reply
    • It’s Boris beginning to wrap himself in the flag.

      Expect Greenwich council to have it eradicated in short order.

      Reply
    • Is that by Conor Harrington?

      Reply

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