Plastic bottle greenhouse for The Wonky Prong

The Crossfields Food Growing Project is hoping to build a greenhouse out of recycled plastic bottles – and needs your help!

A notice went up around the estate before Christmas, and so far around 200 bottles have been collected, but five or six times that many are required to build the greenhouse, so please keep collecting!

The greenhouse will be used to grow seeds for the community garden and also for growing free plants to put in your window boxes.

Please drop off used bottles to Tim at no.8 Castell House – just leave in a bag outside his front door. Only clear or green plastic (large or small) is required, please no opaque white bottles!

The greenhouse might look like this once completed (though Prince Charles may not visit us!). If you'd like to find out more about The Wonky Prong, or get involved, check out the Wonky Prong blog for contact details.

Crossfields Green Spaces update

Last Saturday, members of Greenwich Co-operative Development Agency (GCDA) helped some green-fingered Crossfields residents to build raised beds in the cleared area next to the Sue Godfrey garden. Eventually this little patch will be sheltered from the main road by a hedge and residents will be able to grow and tend plants – without too much bending! 

If you want to get involved in gardening and growing food on the estate, please contact TRA Chair Tim Wilson.

Creekside Urban Park Consultation - your views required

Witherford Watson Mann Architects are looking for your feedback on their plans for Creekside Urban Park. Crosswhatfields promised to post about this for those of you who were unable to get to the consultation held on 27th November. Unfortunately we've been a bit tardy in this task, but there is still a week left for you to register your views.

The plan below shows the extent of the area to be improved, and below that is a close up of the proposed changes on Crossfields itself. Generally, we can't see much at all to object to. Download the plans here for a closer look.

The proposals for Crossfields are as follows (text taken from plans):

Sue Godfrey Gardens and Space around storage sheds:

Existing
Existing Memorial Garden with established herb and wildflower planting and established trees. Garden is not maintained. Existing storage sheds in poor condition. Estate planting pocket adjacent to estate entrance has low quality planting. Garden has no water supply.

Proposed
GCDA (Greenwich Co-operative Development Agency) and CGS (Crossfields Green Spaces) organised for the existing memorial garden to be cleaned out and repaired on 08/11/10. Intention for this garden to be CGS managed space to include new growing beds and managed herb garden.
Extend Sue Godfrey garden into the poor planting pocket to give the garden a public front.
Construct new low wall to form edge to extended space with new gate.
New raised growing beds
Provide 5k budget for new planting
Refurbish storage sheds with new paintwork to woodwork (possible community arts project)
New rain water collection butts on Congers and Farrer House
Replace missing Prunus hedge planting to Deptford Church Street
Remove broken bollards and railings

Mechanics Path (the path alongside the railway opposite Holden House)

Existing
Narrow cycle path and footway along both edges of existing listed railway viaduct. To both edges are estate lawns and estate hedges. The southern arm is overgrown. Existing surfaces are poor quality asphalt with area below viaducts made up in broken rubble.

Proposed
Form new wider Mechanics Path by removing existing estate hedges – move existing railings back by 2m
Plant new fruiting hedge including Blackberry, Blackcurrant, Boysenberry, Gooseberry, Raspberry and Worcesterberry.
Construct 5m width rolled asphalt and granite edges path.
3 new seats
Apple, Pear, Plum and Quince planting to gardens in front of Holden House
Improve existing lighting of pathway
Removal of 5 Robinia / Platanus trees in connection with LBL tree officer and Network Rail support.

(As regards the removal of certain trees, we are assured that they are either identified as unhealthy/dying or causing a hazard to the railway and removal is required by Network Rail. )

If you have any comments, please write them below or email Arthur Smart (WWM Architects) here. 

Arthur from WWM Architects braved the cold to exhibit the plans for Creekside Urban Park at the Bulb Planting Day on 27th November, which was organised by Lewisham Homes' Community Involvement officer Will Sharp. They were joined by Claire and Davey from Greenwich Co-operative Development Agency who provided refreshments and digging power.

Sue Godfrey Garden Clean-up...and 'Creekside Urban Park'

Volunteers from the offices of DEFRA (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) turned up this morning to help clear the Sue Godfrey Community Garden (besides the basketball court) and prepare it for replanting. The garden has been neglected for a while (since no one was sure who was supposed to be maintaining it) and had got rather overgrown. The Defra volunteers came at the invitation of Claire Pritchard of the  Greenwich Co-operative Development Agency who hopes to set up a food growing garden on the site. The project has come about through the co-op's involvement with the Crossfields Green Spaces group – Crossfields gardeners Ruth and John also helped with the clear up.

Meanwhile, Glendales have given Lewisham Homes 1000 bulbs to plant in the grass area on the other side of Church Street opposite the Sue Godfrey Garden. A Bulb Planting Day will take place on Saturday 27th November – volunteers are needed to come and help with this.

On the day, WMM Architects will also be presenting and consulting on their plans for 'Creekside Urban Park', a by-product of their work on the Route One Cycle Path which at one time was threatening to demolish one of our gardens. The idea is that you come along and plant a bulb, have a cup of soup and then comment on the plans – which at present involve widening the footpath alongside the railway, removing some trees and planting some smaller ones. (More details when we have them...and watch out for a leaflet or letter through your door).

Claire Pritchard (left) debates with the volunteers whether to uproot a monster buddleia as they tackled the area adjacent to the garden and next to the bike sheds. Some of the larger shrubs removed today will be replanted in other areas on the estate at a later date...

Meanwhile the volunteers were also working under the Greenwich Development Co-op's direction over at Creekside Centre, building some 'raised beds' that are intended for use by the Crossfields Green Spaces group, as part of a longer term plan to engage the centre with the community.

...And here's an 'artist's impression' of what the Bulb Planting area might look like next year...Apparently, this area is called Coffey Street Green East...(news to me!)

www.greenwich-cda.org.uk
crossfieldsgreenspaces.wordpress.com