Crossfields Green part closure as works get underway

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.

 

Thames Tunnel decision – a blow for Deptford

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 only juggernaut 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...

Deptford Garden Party and Press Call this evening 7pm

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.

Shocking new pollution results for Deptford!

This is a screenshot of the online map that displays the results of a Citizen Science Air Pollution Survey carried out earlier this year by local residents (see our previous post).

The results are now published. View the full results for Deptford here.

The survey measured Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2) levels only (it is too expensive to monitor carbon particulates), and the results show extremely dangerous and illegal levels on Deptford Church Street, Creek Road, Deptford Broadway and New Cross Road. The black dots are readings of over 60µg/m³ (micrograms per cubic metre). The red dots show readings between 40 and 60µg/m³. The EU legal limit is 40µg/m³.

Crossfields Estate itself has readings as high as 46µg/m³ inside the estate. Higher readings were found on the estate near both Deptford Church Street and at Creekside. Opposite Wilshaw and Holden on Creekside the reading was 48µg/m³. At the Birds Nest roundabout it was 62µg/m³ and on the Crossfields side of Church Street at the crossing to Giffin Street it was 63µg/m³.

A tube on Deptford Church Street opposite Giffin Street measured 63µg/m³

Deptford High Street had much higher readings than expected (as high as 54µg/m³), but most of the over 60µg/m³ readings were at both ends of Deptford Church Street (84µg/m³ at Deptford Broadway) and the south end of Deptford High Street (69µg/m³). Levels immediately increase on New Cross Road – the junction at Amersham Vale gave readings of 110µg/m³!

Students at Goldsmiths College are exposed to extremely high levels, whilst our local schools do not fare very well either: 98µg/m³ at Addey & Stanhope, 68µg/m³ at Deptford Park, 62µg/m³ at Deptford Green, 56µg/m³ at St Alfeges, 55µg/m³ at Clyde Early Childhood Centre, and 40µg/m³ at Tidemill and St Joseph's.

Putting up a tube outside Frankham House on Deptford Church St. The tube reading was 57µg/m³, whilst at the Birds Nest it was 62µg/m³

Back in January, four Crossfields residents teamed up with four other local residents and the Don't Dump on Deptford's Heart campaign to conduct the survey in Deptford. They worked with the No to Silvertown campaign and the Network for Clean Air to produce a survey that covers five local boroughs. See the combined boroughs map on the Silvertown website.

It shows that even Lewisham is not safe. A tube placed almost at the entrance to Lewisham market gave a reading of 109µg/m³ !

Diffusion tubes were put up on lamposts in the week commencing January 6th and taken down in the week of February 3rd. Under the direction of the Network for Clean Air, the tubes were then sent to a lab. Unfortunately, the results took two months to process, so were too late to use as evidence in two grass roots Deptford campaigns against Thames Tunnel and Convoys Wharf.

A tube put inside the estate by Browne House and near the main road recorded 45µg/m³

Thames Tunnel

The consultation conducted by the Planning Inspectorate on Thames Water's plans to site a shaft on Deptford Church Street closed on March 12th. However, the Citizen Science Pollution Survey results have been submitted to them and will accompany the Inspectorate's recommendation to the Secretary of State on June 12th.

The Don't Dump on Deptford's Heart campaign are arguing that Thames Water should revert to their original choice for a shaft site on the river at Glashier Street – where the survey measured very low pollution levels of 14µg/m³. At this site, spoil could be transported by river and there would be no need to partially close Deptford Church Street for over a year that would cause gridlocked traffic to divert onto Creekside and Deptford High Street. If Thames Water's plans succeed, there will be 17400 extra HGVs using their site on Church Street for over three years.

A tube put up next to Crossfields ballcourt by the main road recorded 45µg/m³

Creekside and Convoys Wharf

These will be in addition to the 90 HGVs per day that will be using Creekside when the Faircharm redevelopment begins. And now that Convoys Wharf has got the go ahead, there will be hundreds of HGVs pouring into and out of Evelyn Street and heading for the A2 via Deptford Church Street.

At the Creek Road junction readings were as high as 74µg/m³

The results show our area is already highly (and illegally) polluted. These Deptford construction projects have the unique advantage of being able to access the river directly. The Creekside redevelopments could be using Deptford Creek. Lewisham Planners should force the Creekside developers to use the Creek, whilst ongoing discussions between them and GLA Planners over the transport plans for Convoys must make it an absolute condition for the developer to use the river and not our local roads.

In addition, Boris Johnson needs to speed up the conversion of our highly polluting buses to hybrid models, a former pledge he has fallen way behind on.

The Network for Clean Air wants the Mayor of London to bring forward the start date of the proposed Ultra Low Emission Zone, extending it to include Greenwich and Lewisham. That presumably would include taxis as well.

Find more detail and information at the No To Silvertown website.

The Don't Dump on Deptford's Heart study was funded by the residents who took part plus a generous donation from Deptford First via Dame Joan Ruddock MP.

Thames Tunnel update

We gave a digest of the Open Floor Hearing held at Deptford Lounge on 5th February in our previous post, but some of the speakers at the hearing have since submitted written versions of their oral representations. They can be found in the "document" section of the Planning Inspectorate's website (see below for specific links).

Thames Water have replied to some of the points raised at the hearing, with a characteristic dismissive air. Read their response here.

Meanwhile, the Inspectorate are staging another site visit to Deptford Church Street on Thursday 27th February at midday. This is to visit St Paul's Church which they were unable to access on their last site visit on 30th January because filming was taking place.

A resident's analysis of the Transport assessment can be found here, along with photos and video links of recent congestion in Deptford Church Street here.
Letters of objections from Crossfields residents can be read here.
Another Crossfields resident has written here.
A resident living close to St Paul's writes here.
Deptford High Street Community Garden Association's comments can be read here.
Dame Joan Ruddock's speech from that evening can be found here.
Representations from campaigners against the entire Thames Tunnel project (who also spoke at the Deptford Lounge open floor hearing) can be found here, here and here.

LB Lewisham has subsequently submitted a draft Section 106 agreement to Thames Water, but there is very little in it to mitigate the 3-4 years of noise, dust and pollution – mainly because Thames Water consider most of the construction work to be of 'negligible' consequence to local residents (see their analysis here).

Regarding the roadworks Thames Water currently have in operation, it appears the Wavelengths bus stop has not been removed contrary to what some of us were told back in January. Fortunately there have been no accidents or tunnel closures during this period, so congestion has not been worse than usual.

Some Crossfields residents may have also received notification that 'investigative works' will take place on Crossfields between 3rd-7th March, though footpaths will be unaffected.

Deptford Voices: Report on Thames Tunnel Open Floor Hearing at Deptford Lounge

There were two 'Open Floor Hearings' conducted by the Planning Inspectorate about Thames Tunnel's proposed site on Deptford Church Street on Wednesday 5th Feb – one at the Ahoy Centre at 7pm and another at Deptford Lounge at 8pm.

At the Ahoy Centre, the only speaker was David Gittens from Greenwich Council, who said that the Royal Borough are alarmed that the "lobbying and protest" from campaigners in Deptford had caused the Planners to re-examine and ask further questions on Borthwick Wharf (the alternative site situated on the river near the new Paynes & Borthwick Wharf residential development and Millennium Quay which was originally Thames Water's preferred first choice).

The hearing at Deptford Lounge, however, was very well attended and at least 100 people turned out, with twenty registering to speak, the first of whom was Dame Joan Ruddock MP (read her speech here).

You can listen to a recording of the hearing on the Planning Inspectorate's website by going to this page, typing 'Deptford' in the Filter box, clicking on 'Next' under the Filter box, then scrolling down to the microphone sign at the bottom of the page. (1hr 49mins). They don't make it easy! * If you'd prefer a quick read, see the digest under the dotted line below.

Among those attending were three representatives from Thamesbank, a London-wide group made up of environment and engineering experts, who are opposing the entire concept of the tunnel. Thamesbank includes Professor Chris Binnie, who originally led the study group that recommended the tunnel solution to meet EU regulations, but who, horrified at how that proposal had turned into a capitalist "investment opportunity" that shafts the consumer, now advocates more sustainable, affordable and longer lasting alternatives that can be achieved on a local level without totally ruining everyone's lives. (download his latest paper here).

Both Ms Ruddock and Lewisham Council have stated their approval of the Tideway Tunnel in general, despite objecting to the sites in Deptford (and to Greenwich Pumping station too). Perhaps they can be persuaded to change that view when presented with the facts.

Not attending on Wednesday was Patricia Chantrey, the Head Teacher of St Joseph's School, but she has previously voiced her very considerable concerns at a hearing at the Ahoy Centre held on 21st November 2013. She can be heard putting her case here. She explains how the full curriculum cannot be covered by keeping the children indoors sheltering from the dust, fumes and noise; how children will not be able to play outside, how special needs children will be affected, how health & safety procedures are threatened, and how there can be very little done to mitigate the situation.

Other excellent speakers on that day in November outlined exactly the same issues as were heard on Wednesday and can be heard here (1hr 34mins). As well as local residents and businesses, representatives from Lewisham Council also spoke against the proposal. See ** below for notes on that.

It all makes for extremely interesting, if depressing, listening – a variety of Deptford voices desperately trying to defend our community from a corporate monster.

For recent criticism of Thames Water and their dodgy dealings, also listen to File on 4 "Liquid Assets" (Sunday 19 Jan) or read the transcript here. And read this week's Private Eye, p30 (click on the image below to enlarge)

NB: Much of the submitted evidence to the Inspectorate can be found on this page, but you really need to know what your looking for to find it! No wonder we don't know what's going on.

----------------------------------------------------------

* Digest of Wednesday 5th February Open Floor Hearing at Deptford Lounge (figures in brackets indicate time on recording)

(0:04:08) Dame Joan Ruddock MP was the first to speak and gave an eloquent outline of the issues concerning her constituents – how it would affect the school, the church, the green amenity and how the partial closure of Deptford Church Street for three years would adversely impact on the high street and residents. She set the stage for the speakers to come and was warmly applauded.

She was followed by Graham Stevens (0:08:33) from Blue Green UK (and Thamesbank), speaking about the alternative technology and developing new industries that Thames Water and the government have not explored and don't want to understand. (They have spent £100m on researching the super-sewer but only around £200k researching alternatives). He claimed the Tideway Tunnel proposals amounted to fraud on a massive scale. Ray Woolford (0:13:10) from People Before Profit followed and covered all the issues well, pointing out that there has been no thorough air monitoring done in the area.

(0:17:43) Harry Richardson, high street resident and one of the co-founders of Don't Dump on Deptford's Heart, spoke as Chair of Deptford High Street Community Garden Association, which he and a group of local residents have been trying to set up on the green. He announced they going to start gardening this month. The willow circle they intend to garden in is situated next to St Joseph's School, and marks the area where TW want to build their shaft and is the same diameter (17m) that the shaft will be. Read Harry's submission here.

(0:24:55) Joe Dromey and Brenda Dacre spoke on behalf of Don't Dump on Deptford's Heart. Joe said it had been a deeply flawed consultation, TW hadn't met the community since 2012, and there has never been a satisfactory explanation for why the preferred site was suddenly changed from Borthwick Wharf to Deptford Church Street. TW had identified that the Church St site was far less favourable in socio-economic, community and environmental impacts, but more favourable in engineering terms – a proxy for 'cost'. TW had chosen the site because it was already very noisy – "a moronic and perverse logic" he said. DDoDH had also conducted a Citizen Science pollution test that was concluding this week and would show pollution in the area, particularly on Deptford Church Street, was already breaking EU limits.

(0:34:55) Emma Redstone from Crossfields (Castell House) spoke about the noise and pollution impacts of the partial road closure and pointed out that even with double glazing, residents overlooking Church Street could still hear the traffic. She added that TW's Traffic Assessment was out-of-date. An elderly gentleman from Poplar then questioned the rerouting of the Tunnel which he suggested avoided the Isle of Dogs (expensive property at Canary Wharf). He wanted to see more transparency in the costings.

(0:43:55) Sue Lawes spoke on behalf of Crossfields Tenants & Residents Association, and expanded on Emma Redstone's previous statement with reference to TW's Transport Assessment which was based on out-of-date figures from Transport for London compiled in 2011. With confirmation from Lewisham Planners, she said that TW had not listed the new developments taking place (whose construction vehicles would be using the road), they had not accounted for how emergency vehicles would get through, and they had not analysed the most-used pedestrian crossings at Giffin Street and the Birds Nest, but only the crossing by the site.

They had not looked at Creekside as a rat run congested by construction traffic because their own construction vehicles (140 per day) would not be using that road. They had not considered the full impact on residents, especially the elderly, of removing essential bus stops. Their 'traffic flow' assessments were numerically illogical, as well as out-of-date, and the number of HGVs and diesel powered vehicles had been underestimated. There had been no consultation with Crossfields Estate residents or up-to-date information provided to them (such as how concrete mixers will be allowed to operate 24/7 at the site). She concluded that TW hoped to get by on this Transport Assessment and iron out the details after they had got planning permission, but for everyone here and everyone using Deptford Church Street, that would be too late. Read her summary here.

She also reported that the northbound lane of the Blackwall Tunnel had been closed that very afternoon and caused gridlock on all the roads in the area, especially Deptford Church Street. It was nothing to do with the tube strike – the DLR and Overground had been working, and although South Eastern trains were disrupted, they do not serve north/south directions – the traffic was trying to get to Rotherhithe Tunnel. She had video evidence of the resulting gridlocks and asked if it was submittable. (She was later told the Inspectorate's website cannot support video, which means the Planning Inspectors would not view them, even with links to YouTube).

Other local residents spoke in support of previous statements. Vanessa MacNess from Crossfields (Farrer House) (1:09:31) lives opposite the site and was worried about the noise from the construction works – she thought the average predicted noise level of 65decibels might already be the norm – and, as an artist, she felt the beauty and culture of the site would be robbed from us. Andrew Lincoln (1:11:36) is a private resident who echoed Joan Ruddock's use of the phrase "it beggars belief" in relation to siting the shaft construction on the doorstep of a primary school, and observed that this wouldn't happen in a wealthy suburb (Joan had used the phrase to describe the lane closures). Margaret Lincoln (1:13:54) pointed out that it wasn't just primary school children who would be affected, since many local young people used the 47 bus to get to secondary school.

(1:14:42) Roland Gilmore, from Thamesbank, said if the government had consulted environment experts instead of 'drainage' experts they would have come to quite different conclusions about the best solution. He spoke about misrepresentation, falsehoods, lack of meaningful consultation, lack of cost-benefit analysis of other alternatives and lack of baseline studies on noise and pollution. The public have been misinformed by Thames Water, the government (DEFRA) and the Environment Agency. He talked about moral considerations: 620,000 people are already in 'water poverty' unable to afford their water rates with 1.1m close to that margin, but TW want to raise bills by £70-£80 a year to pay for the super sewer. The costs on the health and sanity of those affected by the construction has not been considered at all. 

More local residents endorsed what had already been said: local resident Erica Crockwell (1:27:25) said there would be no benefits to local people, whilst local mum Samantha Hunt (1:28:31) pointed out that Borthwick Wharf was not close to a primary school or a Grade 1 Listed church, is not near a busy high street and market, nor requires the closure of a dual carriageway and is not in the middle of a green breathing space. A lot of money had been spent in building a new school and library two minutes from the site (Tidemill) as part of the regeneration of the centre of Deptford, she said, only to be ruined by this proposal. Thames Water cannot possibly mitigate or compensate our community for the damage they are proposing.

(1:31:08) Rebecca McCrow, a resident from Resolution Way, representing both young and elderly flat owners and renters, said they already cannot open their windows because of noise, and pointed out that because their building was new, it was not even featured on Thames Water's original plans and therefore its residents had not been taken into consideration at all!

(1:32:25) Alex Redmond, another young mum, spoke passionately about how the shortage of primary school places in the area had meant it had taken her six months to get a place for her son at St Joseph's, and now almost his entire primary school education and future were going to be ruined by the construction of a shaft right outside the school. Our area is one of the most deprived in London, and education is a key to getting out of poverty, she said, and called Thames Water a "greedy corporation". "What you're doing to our people is wrong. These children deserve better!" she concluded to loud cheers and applause.

Phil Pirt (1:37:40), another resident from Resolution Studios, supported all that had been said previously, and a resident living besides St Paul's Church, Geraldine Charles (1:38:44), believes the green is previously a burial ground (there used to be rectory on this site). The final speaker was Dido Berkley from Thamesbank (1:39:27) who questioned the application's "lawfulness" (it surely must be unlawful to operate 24/7 as TW intended to do), and the 'cost benefits' versus the 'social impact' were unbalanced. Costs had already risen from £1.7b to £4.8b and were expected to rise to £6b, when cheaper, more localised, less impactful alternatives were available. She pointed out that of the 30 odd subcontractors already appointed, 24 were foreign companies, eg non-UK tax payers.

** Digest of 21st November 2013 Open Floor Hearing at Ahoy Centre

Harry Richardson pointed out that a school of 400 kids in Deptford is given the same weighting as one household at Borthwick Wharf and described plans for the site by the Deptford High Street Community Garden Association. Edward Hill from Greenwich, who considers St Paul's Church part of the Greenwich World Heritage Site, argued for alternative technologies and warned that the carbon emissions from building the super-sewer had not been evaluated. The businesses on Crossfields Street were represented by Rob Wicker, and Crossfields resident Nick Williams put the case exceedingly well for the Don't Dump on Deptford's Heart campaign.

Lewisham Policy Planning Officer Brian Reagan spoke in detail about the myriad potential impacts on the area, describing how it had managed to survive the last twenty years, and stated that Thames Water had refused to engage in discussions in any meaningful way. Alan Smith, Cabinet Member for Regeneration, defended Deptford's 'fragile economy'. Father Butler, rector of St Paul's, spoke on behalf of Deptford's 'voiceless', and also how the church would lose the self-generated revenue that it raises to support the upkeep of the Grade 1 Listed building. He also commented on the average level of noise expected from the development (65 decibels) which, he said, was "the same as being on an aircraft for three years".

Cllr Crada Onuegbu (Evelyn Ward) pleaded for Thames Water "not to take away what we've taken so long to build". Kevin Reid, Senior Stategist at the GLA then stated that the Mayor of London supports the Tideway Tunnel in principle, and approves the selection of Deptford Church Street. Booo!!!! With that sort of endorsement, it was easy for Phil Stride from Thames Water to end that morning's session with the assumption that the plans will go ahead and all that needs discussing now is mitigation and compensation.

Demonstration against Thames Tunnel tonight 7.30pm at Deptford Lounge

The Planning Inspectorate – who are making the decision on the Thames Tunnel – will be holding a public hearing tonight (5th February) from 8pm in the Deptford Lounge. The hearing is one of the final opportunities for local people to speak out against Thames Water’s plans that will have a serious impact on our community.

There will be a friendly demonstration from 7:30pm outside the entrance of the Deptford Lounge. Please come and join in if you can. And then come into the hearing if you want to say something to influence the Inspectorate to turn down Thames Water's proposals.

It's not just about saving the green, it's about the three year partial closure of Deptford Church Street that will cause major traffic congestion and doubly increase pollution and noise for all local residents, especially Crossfields.

See our previous post.
See also the Don't Dump on Deptford's Heart campaign

Also see yesterday's Evening Standard for an overview on the Thames Tunnel project

Temporary lane closures on Deptford Church Street this February + Thames Water demo

On Thursday morning, Crossfields residents received a letter from Thames Water announcing lane closures on Deptford Church Street planned to start on February 10th and go on for two weeks. They want to dig a trench on the western side of the dual carriageway in order "to locate underground services in both the footway and highway."

Only Crossfields residents have received this letter so far. Those who live on or near the high street (many of whom attended the demonstration yesterday) have not been informed yet, if they ever are.

A map accompanied the letter which showed where the road would be dug up. It indicated that the work would happen in two phases over the two week period, but there was no information on how the traffic phasing would work, at what point the lanes would be closed, nor how it would affect the buses and bus stops.

So we called them (0800 0721 086) to find out more. It turns out it is not quite as bad as feared – certainly not as bad as it will be if they get permission for this site. Only one lane on the western side will be closed (rather than the two lane closures proposed for 2017-2020). However, the bus stop next to Wavelengths will be withdrawn. Other bus stops will remain in operation.

We were also told that two weeks was the maximum time the work would take and it may finish sooner. Since the information given has been rather inadequate, we've drawn up a quick map to show the two phases of lane closures as it was explained to us on the phone (click to enlarge).

 

Deptford residents meet the Planning Inspectorate on Crossfields Green

A good turn out of hardy locals yesterday – some with their dogs! – at Crossfields Green. They had come to meet the Planning Inspectors charged with making the decision on all the proposed Thames Tunnel sites in London. The Inspectors, accompanied by two Thames Water representatives and a Lewisham Council planner, had been walking around the area to acquaint themselves with the site's environs before they arrived back at the green to face the angry and very vocal residents.

Leading the Inspectorate's team, a Ms Bessell told the campaigners that they were here to look at the site, and not to 'receive representations'. "People can do that at next Wednesday's Open Floor Hearing at Deptford Lounge", she said. But that didn't stop the complaints. One very upset Crossfields resident cried "You lot want to ruin our old age! You don't give a monkeys about people and kids!" The team took a verbal battering for almost fifteen minutes before moving on to look at the businesses on Crossfields Street, the bus stops on Deptford Church Street, and St Paul's Church.

Thames Tunnel on Deptford Church Street : The Facts!

Planning Inspector's site visit to Crossfields Green – Thursday 28th January at 2pm
Thames Water plan to reduce Deptford Church Street to two lanes for three years on the Crossfields Estate side of the road. Bus stops will be moved, bus journeys slowed down, there’ll be no room for cyclists or emergency vehicles, and 140* Thames Tunnel vehicles a day will be added to traffic – in addition to 100s of construction lorries coming from new developments. Here's a map we drew ourselves showing lorry movements from new developments that will happen at the same time as the Tunnel construction site * (click to enlarge):

ALSO!... 
Open Floor Hearing at Deptford Lounge: Wednesday 5th Feb at 8pm
The Don't Dump on Deptford's Heart campaigners with the help of Crossfields residents have distributed leaflets locally. Unfortunately the wrong day was posted for the Open Floor Hearing – it's Wednesday, not Tuesday. Please come along to the Lounge next Wednesday if you can! There is an alternative site by the river from which spoil and materials can be transported by river – tell Thames Water to use that instead!

Meanwhile, although the campaign against the use of the Crossfields Green site has been waged for some time now, it was only recently that the partial road closure was announced. Although we knew it would be bad, we've had a quick look at their Transport Assessment dated January 2013...(see below) which was prepared before the site was even chosen. As far as we can tell, it hasn't changed much since...

* THE FACTS...(Download the TRANSPORT ASSESSMENT here). 

We were told '32 HGVs per day'. However the Transport Assessment shows "an average peak flow of 140 vehicle movements a day is expected during the months of greatest activity during Site Year 1 of construction of this site (2017). At other times in the construction period, vehicle flows would be lower than this average peak figure." (p.9)

OK, that's:
32 HGVs to and fro = 64
Light-medium or other constuction vehicles to and fro = 36
Workers' vehicles to and fro = 40

These 140 construction vehicles will operate between 8am-6pm on weekdays and up to 1pm on Saturdays. However, "in exceptional circumstances HGV and abnormal load movements could occur up to 10pm on weekdays for large concrete pours and later at night by agreements with the LB of Lewisham and TfL." (p.65) 'Large concrete pours' means that several concrete mixers will line up in a row at the site, churning away loudly with their engines running before they get to 'pour'. Lucky Frankham, Congers and Finch! Lucky Holden and Wilshaw when this happens at Faircharm! Which it will! At Paynes & Borthwick Wharf it happened at 6am in the morning!

In addition, there's the possibility that at least another 10 HGVs per hour may use Deptford Church Street coming from their Chambers Wharf site (and probably from their Earl Pumping Station site too). (p.88) The following image shows the predicted vehicle movements that do not include other development traffic (click to enlarge).

Parking
As with all the other developments, there are also workers/staff vehicles and other related vehicles to take into account regarding parking. No provision is ever made for workers' vehicles (which is why Crossfields and Creekside are packed with parked vehicles owned by workers from the Cathedral construction site on the other side of the Creek). Expect Controlled Parking Zones and Residents Permits very soon!

Pedestrians
Surveys were conducted to assess pedestrian and cyclist flows. The pedestrian survey did not cover the signalled crossing by Wavelengths used by Crossfields residents exiting and entering the estate to access Wavelengths, the high street or the 47 bus stops. Of course it is not just Crossfields residents using this crossing, since members of the public use it to access Creekside and Greenwich.

Statistics – who can disprove them?
The cyclist survey shows up to 142 cyclists using Deptford Church Street during peak hours (see page 35). Their analysis of traffic flows shows approximately 1170 vehicles per hour on Church Street during the evening peak hour (5-6pm), and 905 in the morning (8-9pm). (Of course, any fool knows that evening peak hours are 4-7pm and morning starts at 7am). Their graph shows a rather low percentage of HGVs which locals may find hard to believe.

On Saturdays during the peak hours of 1.30-2.30pm they recorded approximately 1300 vehicles per hour. And on Sundays between 4-5pm, it is apparently 1100 vehicles! How very odd! Almost as much traffic on Sunday as a weekday! What was going on in 2011 when these studies were carried out?

Junctions
Junction surveys indicated there was a total flow of 3,360 and 3,600 in the AM and PM peak hours respectively using the junction at Deptford Broadway, of which 1,375 (AM) and 1,493 (PM) entered or exited Deptford Church St.

They note that this was an increase on TfL's own 2010 survey. (And also conflicts with the above figures!) There are no figures supplied for the junction with Creek Road.

However they note that at the junctions at Giffin Street/Deptford Church St and Church St/Broadway traffic operates "above capacity during the PM peak hours". (p.47)

Accident analysis
This is based on TfL figures which reported a total of 2 serious and 17 slight accidents over five years between 2006-2011, with no fatal accidents. They conclude the accidents were due to poor driving, not 'road geometry' and involved light and medium goods vehicles (not HGVs) and five cyclists. (See p.49). These figures are out of date. Young cyclist TJ was killed by a hit-and-run driver right next to the site in March 2012. Does his death not count? (They promise to give their HGV drivers 'awareness training').

New developments
They have into account new developments that would be complete or under construction within the vicinity of the site by Year 1 (p.52). Faircharm (which already has planning permission) is not listed at all – 180 lorries per day along Creekside and pouring out onto Deptford Church Street and Creek Road! Creekside Village East and Kent Wharf are also not listed (see our previous post).

Delays
In tables we don't fully understand (pp.53 ad nauseum) they estimate delays to buses, traffic, cyclists and pedestrians in seconds – apparently no one will ever be delayed by more than a minute or two. It's worth noting they intend to remove the central barrier where the road narrow to two lanes, to give cyclists more room not to get mown down by HGVs, but how are emergency vehicles going to get through?

Emergency Access
We did a word search on the 312 pages of this document and searched for 'Emergency', 'Ambulance', 'Police', 'Fire'. Apart from a reference to a Fire Assembly Point for St Joseph's School, these words are not mentioned once in the entire document.

What do TfL really think?
We couldn't find any evidence via the public access to the Inspectorate website what negotiations may be going on between public bodies such as TfL. The information may be there, but we've lost the will to live.

Where is Lewisham Council and Lewisham Homes in all this?
The Lewisham Planning Team have been in charge of this operation and have kept everyone in the dark. They have not, as far as we know, even consulted Lewisham Homes who have certainly not consulted their residents. Lewisham Planners are negotiating a Section 106 deal with Thames Water as we speak, with little (or no) communication with those most affected.

Thames Water decision by 12th March 2014?
Thames Water reckon this is enough information to get them through the planning stage. "It is acknowledged that these models may require further refinement as the project moves from planning to detailed design stage..." (p41).

Of course for everyone using Deptford Church Street, Deptford High St, Creek Road, Deptford Broadway, the A2 and A200 and all the roads around, not objecting to this site at this stage will mean it's TOO LATE.

* Map amended Jan 31st

Baroness Kennedy defends Deptford against Thames Water in the House of Lords

On Monday 27th January, Baroness Kennedy QC spoke 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.