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Greenwich news and information

Council’s iPhone app “worth every penny”

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THE DEPUTY Leader of the Council, Peter Brooks, has praised the council’s iPhone app designed to promote Greenwich.

Speaking at last week’s full council meeting, Cllr Brooks said the application, which cost over £5,000 to develop, was “worth every penny”.

Holding his iPhone in his hand, the councillor said he had downloaded the app a day earlier and that it was a “very good app”.

It was revealed in a written answer to Councillor Alex Wilson that the application was downloaded 185 times between 20 August 2010 and 18 November 2010. Since then, the developer has not been able to supply further information, the answer states, but downloads have been estimated at 15 per week.

However, in a previous answer given in response to a Freedom of Information request from 853’s Darryl Chamberlain in December 2010, it was stated that the app had been downloaded 563 times.

Destination Greenwich has been promoted in the council’s Greenwich Time newspaper, which is delivered to every home in the borough.

Destination Greenwich iPhone app

The application contains a countdown to the London 2012 Olympics and a list of “treasures” in the borough.

£2,550 of the development cost was spent on the script, studio time and narration of the application’s list of local treasures. The application contains 35 minutes of narration.

Destination Greenwich’s list of Greenwich Treasures

  • The O2
  • Royal Observatory
  • Greenwich Park
  • Old Royal Naval College
  • Queen’s House
  • National Maritime Museum
  • St Alfege Church
  • Greenwich Market
  • Discover Greenwich Visitor Centre
  • Cutty Sark
  • Royal Artillery Barracks

Which “treasures” do you think the council should add to its list?

Changes agreed to Planning committee system

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More objections will be required for future planning applications before they are referred to council planning committees following a decision taken at last night’s full council meeting.

Currently a planning application that receives two or more objections will be referred to the local Planning Board by council officers, but this threshold is being increased to eight.

The cost saving measure is estimated to cut the number of applications considered by committees from 179 to 75 in a year and result in a saving of £27,000 in 2011/2012.

Council officers say that at least ten London borough have a higher threshold than that which is being introduced in Greenwich, or they leave referral at the discretion of officers and members.

Conservative councillors voted against the plans, with Cllr Alex Wilson suggesting the plans wait til the Government’s Localism Bill has been published – expected to make many changes to local planning rules – and Cllr Geoff Brighty questioning whether applications could be dealt with in a timely manner if the number of meetings were being reduced.

Deputy Leader of the Council, Cllr Peter Brooks, backed the plan and said that the proposals could be reviewed at the council’s AGM in May.

Council proposes four year pay freeze

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Greenwich Council is proposing to freeze the pay of its workers for the next four years.

A statutory consultation with workers must be undertaken before the freeze can be implemented but the council says that he measure would save £2.4 million – the equivalent of “77 front line jobs”.

The council is having to find savings after being warned to expect a 40% cut to its grant from central government.

Councillor Peter Brooks, Deputy Leader of the Council, commented:

“This is a consultation  – not a firm decision.  We are bracing ourselves for the Coalition Government’s spending review on October 20th and must allow ourselves the flexibility to be able to make savings where we can.  We have always indicated that front line services must come first. We have been told to prepare for a 40% reduction in funds and have no choice but to plan for what might lie ahead.

Greenwich Council: July’s full meeting of the Council

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Councillors met on the last Wednesday of July for their monthly full council meeting. Here’s Greenwich.co.uk’s somewhat-delayed report on what happened.

Meridian Music Centre closure

Following on from a previously submitted petition, council offers reported back on the closure of Greenwich Community College’s Meridian Music Centre. The MMC is based at East Greenwich Library and currently has 87 students with 17 employees.

Steve Wreyford from the Safer Neighbourhood Panel in East Greenwich spoke from the public gallery against the closure, praising its role in providing “diversionary activities” for local youth and called upon the council to come up with a “bridging loan” to keep it going until a “big society bank” or social enterprise fund could provide further funding.

All three Labour councillors for the Peninsula ward in which the centre is based joined Mr Wreyford in support of the MMC.

Councillor Dick Quibell called the closure a “tragedy” and warned it was a “foretaste of what is to come”.

Councillor Mary Mills said she was “very sorry to see them pulling out of East Greenwich Library” and Councillor Miranda Williams said she would be making representations about re-using the centre’s audio equipment elsewhere.

Leader of the Conservative Group, Cllr Spencer Drury (Eltham North) said he was “concerned about the lack of clarity” from Greenwich Community College. He said that before attributing the closure to budget cuts, the GCC’s “initial pitch [for closing] was poor exam results”, and then they claimed “the building wasn’t in good enough condition” despite it being “in the best condition it has been for many years”.

Cllr Drury suggested that options be explored to move the facilities to Shooters Hill Over-16 Campus or The John Roan.

Cllr David Grant (Labour, Greenwich West) derided the claim in council officers’ report that the music industry does “not have a skills shortage” and said it was a “misunderstanding of the nature of adult education” which should not be “limited to getting people jobs” , calling it “one of the  less fortunate aspects of policy from the previous government”.

Cllr Dermot Poston (Conservative, Eltham North) described it as a  “tremendous mistake” for the council to have have handed over Greenwich Community College “twelve or so years ago” to what was then Woolwich College and spoke out against the loss of adult educational activities “for fun” which weren’t linked to examinations.

Deputy Leader of the Council, Cllr Peter Brooks (Labour, Thamesmead Moorings) commented that “under normal circumstances I could have stood up here tonight and said ‘I reckon we can sort that out for you'” but with the cuts the council is facing, he didn’t know if he could.

The report by council officers stated that “Lewisham College offers the same provision” to which Cllr Harry Singh (Labour, Woolwich Common) curtly replied: “I don’t think so”. Drawing upon his own experience of the industry, he said he didn’t think any college in the South East had such good facilities, adding that it would be a “sad loss if this goes out of the borough.”

“Cutty Sark continues to make progress”

In a written question, Cllr Alex Wilson (Conservative, Blackheath Westcombe) asked for an update on the renewal of the Cutty Sark.

Cllr John Fahy (Labour, Woolwich Riverside), Cabinet member for Culture and the Olympics, replied:

“The renovation of the Cutty Sark continues to make good progress. Work is ongoing to refix hull planks on both sides of the ship.”

The Cutty Sark is due to be lifted into place in October “with a view to reopening next year”.

Greenwich Park and London 2012

In a written question, Cllr Geoff Brighty (Conservative, Blackheath Westcombe) asked Cllr Ray Walker, Chair of Planning, to confirm that LOCOG had not yet submitted a reinstatement plan or any mention financial guarantees, despite applying for partial approval of a Condition of their London 2012 planning application which required both those to be submitted.

Cllr Walker (Labour, Eltham West) replied that this was a “complex issue” and instead referred Cllr Brighty to the Council’s Planning Officers.

Greenwich Time

Greenwich Conservatives put forward a motion calling for an end to the weekly production of the council’s newspaper, Greenwich Time. The motion was defeated and councillors instead voted for an amendment praising the publication. See Greenwich.co.uk’s report on the debate here and also check out Darryl’s write up at 853.

Housing Delivery Vehicle

The council is proposing the creation of a new “arms length company that can own, manage and let mainly family homes below market rent”.  The proposal, which  would see the council disposing of 28 family sized properties and providing the new “Housing Delivery Vehicle” with £50,000 start up costs, will require permission from the Secretary of State.

A spirit of bipartisanship descended upon the council chamber as the opposition voted in favour of the proposal and the Labour group accepted an amendment from the Conservative Group which would make the Housing Delivery Vehicle’s lettings policy specifically prioritise families for the Company’s homes.

There is no full council meeting in August so the next one will take place on the last Wednesday of September.