The Thames Path and public space

You’ll hopefully have seen the news story we published on Tuesday about the fiasco which is Greenwich’s riverside path, where the developers of Lovell’s Wharf have taken down their hoardings to reveal the destruction of the old walkway, and the construction of just enough new path to get you into their sales office. I was angry when I came across it last week, and it’s no surprise to see a furious post about it from The Greenwich Phantom. Clearly, there’s some issues with land ownership here (like on the north bank of the Thames, where Docklands developers snapped up the riverbanks for themselves and gated them off), but the council’s been caught napping and it’s not good enough to see a great chunk of our path gone.

The photos accompanying the story were taken last Friday by a photographer pal of mine who’d offered to take a few shots of me in campaign garb. I met her outside the Dome, and struck by the stunning design of the new Ravensbourne College building, she took a few pictures with that as a backdrop. Ravensbourne’s move to the Peninsula should hopefully liven up the rather soulless scene around the O2 at the moment, and add a creative spark to the area.

Until we got stopped by a security guard. Because of – you guessed it – “terrorism“. We had to get permission from “the owners of the O2″.

I asked what exactly he’d do when Ravensbourne College opened up and the place would be full of people taking pictures and shooting video and whatever.

“That’ll be alright, because they’ll all be wearing permits.”

I wished him luck with that. And I’m sure Ravensbourne’s students will be delighted they’ll be working under the watchful eyes of “the owners of the O2″. Moving Ravensbourne College to the Dome site should help promote Greenwich as a destination for the creative industries – but if they’re going to be harrassed by security guards, that’s not exactly going to entice them.

The clash involved with private firms being in charge of public space is similar at Lovell’s Wharf, where “regenerating” the Greenwich waterfront has seen us trust a developer not to screw up the riverside path. As you can see, it hasn’t worked. Up at the Dome, we’re constantly told by Greenwich Council how wonderful the place is – indeed, it sometimes obediently flogs tickets for “the owners of the O2″. The council has a box in the O2 arena, too. Nice work if you can get it.

What the row over the Thames Path has shown is how Greenwich Council gets caught unawares by these issues – and suffers from a basic inability to communicate important issues to people (while still spending £600,000 a year on a weekly newspaper to promote its Labour leadership). Current Peninsula councillor Mary Mills has, to her credit, written something on her blog in response to the row – but it really shouldn’t have taken a row for us to discover the Lovell’s Wharf footpath won’t be open until 2012. And the council should have got its act together with diversion signs sooner – even some temporary ones would be better than nothing at all.

This comes down to part of the reason why we’re standing – the current leadership of Greenwich Council simply can’t be bothered to communicate with its residents properly. And it doesn’t approve of Labour councillors speaking openly to residents – for fear that they’ll go off-message, even when it’d be more elegant to say “sorry, we screwed up this time”. Even the good Labour councillors have to keep schtum, and let the leadership they follow speak for them in Greenwich Time.

The closure of the riverside path is a big issue as it is, but the simple courtesy of erecting a few signs might have defused some of the anger. It’s a hoary old cliche – but we actually mean it this time – if elected, the Greens would take the effort to communicate with residents with newsletters. Issues like the closure of the Thames Path should not suddenly come up one day and surprise us.

And most importantly, we’d fight to defend access to the river. There’s difficult issues like ownership to get around, but the Thames Path is one of Greenwich’s best-loved features, and it’s a disgrace that the current council gives the appearance of taking it for granted. Greenwich deserves so much better.

Green Party election broadcast

The Green Party has launched its general election broadcast, with a nifty new website. As well as watching the broadcast, you can personalise it and e-mail it to your friends – so if they’re concerned about unemployment, transport or anti-social behaviour, or trying to get onto the property ladder, they can see a version tailor-made to them.

You can also see key Green policies, and take a Policy Matchmaker test to see how close to the Green Party you are. Take a look – www.onlygreen.org.uk.