They would like as many people as possible to be in this picture, so if you support the campaign, please pop over – they hope it will only take 20 minutes and there will be soup to keep protesters warm!
They will also be celebrating the announcement that the council have granted the newly formed Deptford High Street Garden Association a lease to use the site for 2-3 years. The aim is to set up a community garden on the green for use by all.
The protest on Sunday will also highlight the impending deadline for the Phase Two public consultation on the use of this site which ends on February 10th. Meanwhile Crossfields should have already received a letter from Thames Water about the tests they will be running on the green, which will last for 10 weeks over February and March. They will be boring three holes 70 metres deep on the site to test soil and water conditions, and work will be going on from 7am to 6.30pm Mondays to Fridays.
Don't Dump on Deptford's Heart believe that Thames Water's previously considered alternative site at Borthwick Wharf Foreshore (on the river) should be used instead of the Deptford Church Street site, which is part of St Paul's Conservation Zone, including both St Paul's Church and St Joseph's Primary School, as well as being in close proximity to Crossfields Estate – Farrer, Congers and Browne House in particular.
If you still haven't objected you can download the campaign crib sheet here which lists the arguments and important people to copy your objection to. Here are the arguments against using Deptford Church Street in preference to Borthwick Wharf in brief:
Deptford Church Street will be reduced to a single lane each way with bus stops relocated. Church Street will be the main means of removal and delivery of excavation materials, seriously affecting traffic and pollution in the area. There is no option to use the river at the Deptford Church Street site, unlike at Borthwick Wharf.
Many residential properties will be affected, especially Farrer and Congers House which are single glazed unlike those at Borthwick Wharf. Thames Water has completely missed out Farrer House in its evaluations. Only Congers House is considered a "Residential Receptor" for Noise and Vibration.
St Joseph's School will be severely affected by dust and noise. One of the reasons Thames Water gave for not using Borthwick Wharf was because of its proximity to Charlotte Turner School – which has been closed for years!
St Paul's Church is a Grade 1 listed building and a tranquil place of worship and a burial ground. The many mature trees (about 36) and the historic wall will be lost, as will the archaeological evidence of Thomas Archer's 18th century rectory. The site is also opposite the Sue Godfrey Nature Reserve, which is also a shortlisted site but considered less suitable because works would need to be carried out across both carriageways of Church Street, causing more disruption (not because it is a nature reserve!).
Many local businesses will be affected, but there is only one business at the Borthwick Wharf site that will be affected (the AHOY centre). Road access to businesses in Crossfield St will be compromised and high street businesses backing onto the green will be affected by noise and dust (such as Deptford Deli).
Borthwick Wharf Foreshore was the preferred option in Phase One consultations, but is now considered less suitable "because of the potential effects on residential (the private Millennium Quays development), visitor (?) and business amenity (Ahoy Centre) and due to restricted vehicular access along Glaisher Street (a 'private' road) which is less suitable for heavy goods vehicles. Although the use of barges to transport material could help reduce these potential effects, lorries would still need to be used to transport some materials to and from the site. Furthermore, the use of barges at this site would be complicated by the existing derelict jetty." See "How We Chose This Site" on the Thames Tunnel website. Also see their latest report on the Deptford Church Street site.
