An unspecified contractor working for Thames Water will be cordoning off most of the East side of Crossfields Green from tomorrow for eight days. They will be digging two trial trenches, working 8am to 6pm Monday to Friday and 8am to 1pm on Saturdays. It looks like a couple of the parking bays in Coffey Street will be suspended for good measure.
This is bad news especially for dog walkers and the first taste of how the Supersewer works will affect us on the estate (though the main works are not until 2016-2020).
It's not really clear why these trial holes are necessary though the notification implies it is a follow-on from previous ground investigations work. Nor is it clear precisely where the trenches are being dug, but it seems inevitable that two thirds of the space overlooking Deptford Church Street will be inaccessible while it's going on. 'Sections' of the grass area will be reseeded afterwards. Generous!
A detailed map is available at here.
You may have heard on the news that the government have given the go ahead for the Thames Tideway Tunnel. And if you visit this blog often you'll know there's been a local campaign to stop Thames Water building a 17m wide 48m deep shaft on the Crossfields green space on Deptford Church Street.
The campaign initiated by Don't Dump on Deptford's Heart started in 2011. This year we reported in detail the well attended Open Floor Hearings held by the Planning Inspectorate at Deptford Lounge in February. Also that month, along with a small number of Crossfields residents and others, we took part in some air quality testing to map the pollution levels on Deptford Church Street, surrounding areas and beyond. We announced the shocking results in May. The aim was show to how the partial closure of Deptford Church Street required to build a tunnel shaft at this site would have a severe impact on local residents.
Whilst the final decision on the Thames Tunnel was in the hands of the Secretaries of State, the Deptford High Street Garden Association began to develop a container garden on the Deptford Church Street site.
The campaign by Don't Dump on Deptford's Heart (with assistance this year from Joan Ruddock MP, plus Joe Dromey and Brenda Dacre who have since become New Cross councillors), the opposition
of Lewisham Council, plus the work done by a few folk on Crossfields, all seems to have made an
impression on the Examining Authority. In their view "the use of the Green as a work site would be a serious loss to the local community" and even with the mitigation measures proposed by Thames Water, there will be significant impacts on St Joseph's School and St Paul's Church. But...
The Secretaries of State Decision Letter and Statement of Reasons can be found here. A paragraph on Air Quality mentions the local air quality testing we did in February:
"(para 28) The independent Deptford air quality surveys contained within representations from J.Ruddock MP / S. Lawes agree with the findings of the Applicant that Deptford’s current air quality has pollutants in excess of EU targets. The Report states that the construction phase of the tunnel will add to pollution levels in Deptford. The ExA conclude that this increase will not be substantial and the Secretaries of State agree with this and are content that the impact is acceptable".
The section on Deptford Church Street can be found in paragraphs 113-115:
"113. The Secretaries of State accept that the ExA’s examination revealed limitations with this site, particularly in terms of loss of open space in an area of deprivation and in respect of noise impacts on St Joseph’s Roman Catholic Primary School and on St Paul’s Church, for a period of three and half years during construction."
"114. The Secretaries of State acknowledge that the ExA consider the loss of open space at this site to be a matter weighing against making the Order. They agree with the ExA, that Crossfield Amenity Green is not surplus to requirements and that even the temporary period in which it will be used as a work site will represent a serious loss to the community. However, the Secretaries of State agree with the ExA that the impact will be mitigated and the adverse impact on the landscape will be reversed . They also note that it will be open to the local authority to secure with the Applicant through the consent process under section 61 of the Control of Pollution Act 23 1974, additional mitigation measures in the form of noise enclosures, to help minimise noise impacts predicted on receptors."
"115. The Secretaries of State agree that the alternative sites considered offer no less significant impacts, that the need for, and benefits of, the project overall outweigh the adverse effects and the temporary loss of open space, and are satisfied that impacts are mitigated as far as practicable since some disruption is unavoidable in a project of this scale."
The actual Planning Inspectorate's recommendations on which the Secretaries of State have based their decision can be found here. Skip through the huge report to page 357 to find out what they said about the site at Deptford Church Street.
Because campaigners had focused on the only alternative presented by Thames Water (another 'interceptor site' at Borthwick Wharf) the panel restricted themselves to considering only that alternative. They did not look in detail at previously suggested alternatives. And they did not think Borthwick Wharf was suitable either because it was so close to people's homes. Never mind that one residential home at Millennium Quay was given the same weighting (as a "receptor") as one whole school of a few hundred children at Deptford Church Street!
The panel noted that Thames Water had not presented the alternative "of
avoiding the use of an interception site by redirecting the storm
overflow direct to Greenwich Pumping Station, which is only
approximately 400m from the Deptford Church Street site". Unbeknownst to us, the panel questioned Thames Water on this but they demonstrated that such a proposal was much worse – including the requirement to demolish the Birds Nest pub!
The Planning Inspectorate concluded that "a suitable alternative is not before us" and consequently the government have approved the Deptford Church Street site.
Now, as the news sinks in, there's a bit of fighting talk about judicial reviews on the whole project, or trying to get better mitigation locally. If you want to contribute to the debate, get in touch with our local councillor Joe Dromey.
But the Thames Tideway Tunnel isn't the onlyjuggernaut heading our way. Whilst the development at Convoys Wharf (which, from a Crossfields point of view, will bring hundreds of HGVs thundering down our road) can be partly blamed on the policies of the current Mayor of London, Lewisham Council's own plans for our little area are not that short of a steamroller...
As reported in our previous post last Friday, the community garden which has a lease on the open land next to St Paul's Church planned to begin building their garden last weekend, but Thames Water's proposals to dig exploratory trenches in the area threatened to scupper their schedule.
They decided to go ahead and start building anyway, and on Sunday with eight volunteers in tow, they had managed to complete construction of six of the eight planned wooden containers that will become soil beds for vegetables and herbs that any locals who want to get involved may grow here. Two more containers will be built today, and in celebration...
'Deptford's Open Garden' will hold a Ceremonial Opening this evening at 7pm.
Everyone is welcome to attend. It will be a lovely evening – bring a bottle and refreshments, a friend or two, blankets, musical instruments, outdoor games stuff, and enjoy this bit of open green space before it's gone! Arrive at 7pm sharp for a press photo call, if you can!
Since the news, the gardeners have negotiated with Thames Water to keep the willow circle space accessible during the works. TW's 5-week programme of digging exploratory trenches was postponed from Monday but will start tomorrow, so this is the last chance to see and use the space before it is fenced off and works start.
Locals have been opposed to Thames Tunnel's proposals to build a shaft for the super sewer on this site and wished it to be kept for communal use.The Secretary of State is still to decide on whether Thames Water (aka
Thames Tideway Tunnel) can have permission to use the site.
In the meantime, with TW's full co-operation, the gardeners can start growing stuff alongside the company's trench digging.
Although the Secretary of State has yet to make a final planning decision on the sites chosen by Thames Tideway Tunnel for all the works required to build the super sewer (expected in September), this doesn't stop TTT continuing to investigate the site on Deptford Church Street.
Last week Crossfields residents got a letter from TTT informing us that they intend to carry out "ground investigation works on Deptford Church Green to locate underground utility services and underground obstructions". There will be seven trial trenches dug to a depth of up to 3 metres, the area would be fenced off, and the work will begin this coming Monday and last 4 weeks. They enclosed a plan (see below).
But it seems that Crossfielders may have been the only people to receive this information. The last people to know are Deptford High Street Garden Association, the new leaseholders of a small part of the land, who only found out through their Crossfields friends. The proposed works rather conflict with their plans to start building their container gardens on the site this weekend.
Lewisham planners have agreed to let TTT dig the trenches without either giving the Association any notice. TTT ought to know about the association's intentions since it made several representations during the consultations. Lewisham Planners ought to have known about the Association because Lewisham awarded them the lease to create the garden there.
The Association's lease is only for the 'willow' circle area. The circle was built by Utrophia in the summer of 2012 to demarcate the area where TTT want to build their 17metre wide shaft. It was most recently used as a magical after-show dance space by French theatre company Rar Woulib as part of Greenwich Festival in June.
From the plan, it appears the trenches are narrowly avoiding the willow circle area. The Association were unable to get hold of anyone at TTT this week until today when they failed to get it confirmed that the circle would be protected. In fact they were told the whole area would get pretty messed up and driven over by diggers, and TTT couldn't guarantee that anything would remain.
On Monday 27th January, Baroness Kennedy QCspoke in the House of Lords about Thames Water's plans to site a Thames Tunnel ventilation shaft on Crossfields Green.
She set out the devastating impact it would have on the local area. The site is "one of the only green spaces in that area, being next to a listed church and a residential estate, and being right next to a primary school". The construction – set to last for over three years – would bring"road closures, traffic mayhem and road safety fears. Obviously, there will be an increase in the level of noise and air pollution".
She explained that the decision was "vehemently opposed by local residents", almost 1,000 of whom had signed a petition organised by Don’t Dump on Deptford’s Heart. The consultation had been "inadequate" with the original plans to site the construction tunnel on the riverside being changed with no adequate explanation. One of the justifications given by Thames Water for moving the site from the riverside to the centre of Deptford was that local people there already suffer from noise pollution, so won't notice a bit more. She slammed this as "totally unacceptable".
She called on the Planning Inspectorate to recognise the flaws in their plans and the concerns of local residents.
The full text of Baroness Kennedy's speech can be found in the Hansard records here.
After two phases of consultation, Thames Tunnel has put forward Crossfields Open Space as its preferred site to intercept the Deptford Storm Relief tunnel (which runs under Deptford Church Street on its way to the Thames). The use of this site was not even considered in Phase One, but was added to the list after Phase One had recommended Borthwick Wharf Foreshore then found it to be unsuitable.
The finalised Thames Tideway Tunnel plans were published in July, with a 12-week period for the public to review the updated construction proposals before they are submitted for Planning Consent. This period, known as "Section 48 publicity" runs till 5 October 2012. The plans identify 24 preferred construction sites across London and will be 'submitted for scrutiny by the Planning Inspectorate' early next year, a process which may take up till 2015-2016.
You can read Thames Tunnel's rationale for their decision for the preferred site "Deptford Church Street" or "C32XZ" as they call it (its actual official name is "Crossfields Open Space") in Volume 5 Eastern site appendices, downloadable here. Go to page 83 to read up on Phase One, and page 94 for Phase Two. You'll perhaps notice that the criteria for not doing it in most places apply to the Church Street site as much as anywhere else. They may as well have tossed a coin.
You can also view the information specific to the Church Streetsitehere or see below (P2 Deptford CS SIP) embedded in this post. Alarmingly, Thames Tunnel do not make it easy to download this document – you're requested to sign up for a paid subscription account with Scribd.com. There is a 'print' button (but who wants to print 32 pages?) so we have also made a link to the document here in Google docs.
The first map in the document shows the route the interceptor tunnel will take from Greenwich Pumping Station through (or rather, under) Crossfields Estate, intercepting the big storm relief tunnel under Deptford Church Street, on its way to another 'preferred' site, Earl Pumping Station in Rotherhithe.
It's a little difficult to assess the information contained in the document – this table, for instance, is spread over two different pages (we've joined them here).
There are four main phases, lasting approximately three and a half years.
The impact on Crossfields Estate will be be greater in Phase 3 (P3). Although Farrer and Congers House are closest to the site and will be affected throughout the construction since it is right opposite them (and the intercept tunnel will be built under Farrer Lawn), the entire estate will suffer from the partial closure of Deptford Church Street in Phase 3. On page 14 of the document it says:
While the connection to the existing sewer in Deptford Church Street (A2209) is constructed (construction phase 3) we would need to close the two northbound lanes, as shown on Figure 2D. The two southbound lanes would provide two way access along Deptford Church Street (A2209). The bus lane would be suspended to enable this, and buses would need to use the general traffic lanes.
The northbound bus stop near Coffey Street and the southbound bus stop near the railway bridge may also need to be moved during this phase and the footpath along the western side of Deptford Church Street (A2209) would be diverted around the site. Based on our current design, we do not anticipate that any junction changes would be required.
Here's Figure 2D showing the road closure in Phase 3 (click to enlarge):
At the public meeting chaired by Joan Ruddock that took place on 12th September (see Further Reading below), Phil Stride from Thames Tunnel said they had used Transport For London modelling which showed 640 vehicles
per hour used the north of Deptford Church Street. Thames Tunnel would
only be adding four lorries per hour to this statistic. Someone from the audience immediately pointed out that one side of the
dual carriageway would be closed, so Mr Stride's TFL statistics were irrelevant.
Their document claims Standard Hours would be kept during Phase 3 – that's 10 hours each weekday (8am-6pm) and 5 hours on Saturdays (8am-1pm). So that'll be 40 lorries a day each weekday then? Perhaps Mr Stride was referring to peak times only?
Although the road closure would happen in Phase 3, this table shows 24 lorries a day in Phase 2 – when Extended Hours will apply (8am–10pm):
Some may recall the roadworks which took place a few years ago (whilst Thames Water repaired the Victorian mains), and how Deptford Church Street became gridlocked and Creekside became a continual rat run for a couple of weeks or so. As it is, there only needs to be one accident on either of the main artery roads – the A2 or A202 – or closure
of Blackwall or Rotherhithe tunnels, for Deptford Church Street to
become gridlocked. Or for an accident on Church Street to back up all the way to New Cross Gate etc. With partial closure of Deptford Church Street likely to last for up to a year during Phase 3, pollution levels from stationery traffic on all sides of Crossfields may become unacceptable.
In theory it could be said that Church Street is already just a two way street because of the bus lanes, but traffic will inevitably be slowed down by the partial closure, causing traffic to divert to Creekside. Moving bus stops may not be that inconvenient but there is no mention of pedestrian crossings.
Redevelopment at Faircharm will be taking place soon if not at the same time, and whatever happens there, we understand a decision has already been made not to use Deptford Creek to transport materials in and out, so Creekside will already have its fair share of lorries.
On top of that, the Deptford Church Street lorry route will use Norman Road, where Thames Tunnel work will also be taking place at Greenwich Pumping Station. That will go on for five years and will also use Norman Road and Greenwich High Road to transport materials. So we'll be surrounded on all sides. See the Greenwich Pumping Station document here.
Please watch out for further updates and details of how to oppose these plans.If you would like to go on the Don't Dump on Deptford's Heart campaign mailing list, please email them here.
For those who missed the Thames Tunnel Public Meeting on 12th September, the following observations were noted:
With Dame Joan Ruddock in the Chair, Oliver Seal spoke on behalf of Deptford Heart's campaign, followed by Phil Stride from Thames Tunnel. Ms Ruddock then opened the meeting up to questions from the floor. Site Preference The campaigners wanted to understand the reasons why the Crossfields Open Space site had now been chosen in preference to what had originally been Thames Tunnel's preferred site at Borthwick Wharf Foreshore (next to Millennium Quay). Phil Stride stated the reasons they discarded the originally preferred site at Borthwick Wharf/Millennium Quay and other foreshore sites: there is a disused jetty causing an obstruction, the Ahoy Centre would be detrimentally affected, as would nearby residential housing, there are also 60 high-voltage electric cables passing under the Thames, plus the roads at Millennium Quay would not withstand lorry traffic. (NB: They are also privately owned by the developer, but residents have responsibility for maintenance so would have to be compensated.) Relevant Data and Criteria Stride was asked how many properties would be affected at both the Borthwick site and at Crossfields Open Space – exactly how many residents would be affected at each site? Stride didn't have the figures to hand. Joan Ruddock stated that her assistant would be noting any questions raised that Stride could not answer at the meeting so that they could be put to him in writing afterwards. Stride said the residents at Borthwick Wharf lived much closer to that site, but a member of the audience pointed out that the population density is far greater in the area surrounding the Crossfields site, even if residents/businesses were a little further away (although the school is very close). Another pointed out that construction work would take place during the day, overlapping with school hours at St Joseph's, whilst many Borthwick Wharf residents would be out at work and therefore not exposed to noise and dust. Someone asked why it was so difficult to get hold of any of the raw data Thames Tunnel had used to make their decision, so that the public could draw their own comparisons – persistent enquiries over the past few months had not been answered. Stride said he was surprised. One person stated they had not even been able to obtain a map of the consultation area, whilst another questioned the criteria used: he had been told that a school counts as a "single receptor", equal to a single flat. Closure of Deptford Church Street Why did they have to close half of Deptford Church Street? (One side of the dual carriageway would be closed for up to a year). Stride said this was because the main sewage tunnel already runs under the road (on the west side) where they would need to intercept it. He said they had used Transport For London modelling which showed 640 vehicles per hour used the north of Deptford Church Street. Thames Tunnel would only be adding four lorries per hour to this statistic. Someone from the audience immediately pointed out that one side of the dual carriageway would be closed, so these statistics were irrelevant. Two members of the audience highlighted the problem of both the high street and Creekside being used as rat runs as a result of congestion on Deptford Church Street. Both are also conservation areas, highly populated, and pollution levels are bound to increase with stationery traffic. Crossfields would be surrounded on all sides by polluting gridlocked traffic. But it appears the only strategy was to offer double glazing to the school (which wouldn't help the children when they were in the playground). Needless to say, partial closure of Deptford Church Street will result in hold-ups that will spread out along the A2 and A202, affecting yet more people. Using the river Why are Thames Tideway Tunnel reluctant to use the river instead of roads? Apparently this was because they had to bring in ready mixed concrete as well as remove earth. This didn't convince the audience, one of whom pointed out that construction at Paynes & Borthwick mixed on site (and where there was very little road disruption). Another pointed out that you can mix concrete on barges, and another that there was a concrete mixer at Deptford Bridge (Prior's Aggregates), and waste could be removed by barge. Stride said there were prohibitive costs involved at the Borthwick site since they would need to build an island out on the river before they could begin to drill a hole there. The Cheaper Option? Someone pointed out that wealthy Barnes had fought off proposals and an alternative site was found in a poor part of Battersea – wealthy areas tend to have a stronger voice, with easy access to expertise, lawyers and media. Stride dismissed this analogy and insisted that cost was not a driving factor, but Value For Money was. Someone asked for figures. What were the comparable costs of the two different sites? Come on, give us a ballpark figure! None was forthcoming. Compensation What's the size of the pot, someone asked. Stride said they'd be unable to offer non-statutory compensation (should people be unable to sell their homes), but there could be statutory compensation paid for such things as secondary glazing and loss of business, although it would appear they do not expect too many such claims at the Crossfields site. Construction and Process Stride said they had learned from Crossrail not to award contracts to firms who then subcontracted out, thus the main contractors would be more accountable. Cllr Madeleine Long asked if Stride intended to go the Secretary of State and the government's Infrastructure Committee (the next stage of the process) with only one proposal. Since this part of the process could go on for a couple of years, might they find themselves back at square one if this site was eventually turned down? Might their business plan be a little faulty? The meeting closed late at around 9.30pm.
Also read Joan Ruddock's speech in our previous post.
What's going on in that patch of ground opposite Farrer and Congers House, next to the church? Crossfields Open Space, where they want to drill a big hole to make a tunnel to connect to the proposed Thames Tunnel? May there be beasties there, minding their own business?
If Deptford were to hold an alternative Games, there is now the perfect arena for them – this beautiful mystery willow circle has recently appeared overnight. You'll find it hiding behind the old wall running along Church Street by St Paul's Church...
UPDATE 8 August:
A sign adjacent to the circle reads:This weaved willow circle is 17m wide – the same width as the concrete vent shaft planned for this space by Thames Water. The shaft will be roughly as deep as the church is high. It will take years to construct during which time this green space will be lost. The circle is intended to be an invite to enjoy the space while it is still in its current state. www.twitter.com/deptfordcircle www.facebook.com/TheDeptfordCircle
