Canada Water towers ‘could spoil views of Tower Bridge and St Paul’s’

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Historic England – the Government’s heritage watchdog – says that the tall buildings proposed in the Canada Water masterplan would have “a profound and far-reaching impact on the London skyline” and would harm the setting of two of the capital’s most famous landmarks.

Historic England’s Alasdair Young wrote: “… we have identified the impact of the development in views along the northern half of London Bridge towards the Grade I listed Tower Bridge as being particularly harmful.

“This is because the cluster of tall buildings, as accentuated by the 162m tower in Plot D would block the silhouette of Tower Bridge’s south bastion in kinetic views along London Bridge, visually competing with its monumental character and reducing its landmark status along the Thames.”

Historic England is also concerned about the impact on the protected view of St Paul’s Cathedral from Greenwich Park.

“We consider that the encroachment created by the tall buildings would cause harm to the landmark status of St Paul’s Cathedral,” wrote Mr Young.

He adds that the proposed tall buildings would also spoil the view of the spire of St Mary’s Church in Rotherhithe from Waterside Gardens in Wapping.

The watchdog acknowledges that the proposed tall buildings “largely” [their italics] accord with local planning policy.

Read Historic England’s comments in full here.

The townscape assessment documents referred to in the HE response are available on the planning file for the masterplan application.

 

Canada Water – attempted theft and violent assault on Overground train

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British Transport Police have released a CCTV image after a man was violently assaulted during an attempted robbery.

The incident occurred at 6.45am on Sunday 20 May on board a London Overground train from Canada Water to New Cross Gate.

The victim, a 43-year-old man, was approached by a man at Canada Water and asked if he could use his phone to make a call. They both then boarded the train at Canada Water with the man taking a seat next to the victim where he asked what was in his bag.

Feeling intimidated, the victim stood up in an attempt to move but was grabbed round the neck by the man who then attempted to pull his bag from his shoulder.

Other passengers intervened and the man left the train at New Cross Gate station.

The victim received bruising and was severely shaken by the incident.

Officers would like to speak with the man shown in these CCTV images as they believe he may have information which could help with the investigation.

If you recognise him, or have any information which could help the investigation, please call BTP on 0800 40 50 40 or text 61016 quoting reference number 104 of 20 May.

Bede House project for domestic abuse survivors gets £10k from freemasons

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The London Masons and the Masonic Charitable Foundation has donated £10,000 to Bede House, for those suffering from domestic abuse in South London to receive help from a
nationally recognised programme.

The grant to the Bede House charity’s Starfish Domestic Violence Project in Bermondsey will help to support hundreds of women through advocacy, counselling, legal advice, support with police and court visits and the biannual Freedom Programme peer support group.

The Freedom Programme is a nationally-recognised, 16 week group programme which uses a structured framework to educate women about patterns of male-perpetrated abuse. The course supports women to understand past experiences and identify warning signs of
abusive relationships, empowering them to safeguard themselves and their families in the future. The demand for Bede’s service is ever-increasing: in 2016/17 the Starfish Project supported 229 clients, a huge increase on 156 clients the previous year.

Southwark has one of the highest levels of domestic abuse in London, with an average of 2,200 -2,400 recorded incidents a year.

Bernadette, who has suffered from domestic abuse and has benefitted from working with Bede House (see photograph) said: “Bede gave me the confidence to leave my abusive partner, without their support I wouldn’t have had the strength to leave. I am glad the Masons are supporting Bede. Thank you.”

Bede House Director Nick Dunne said: “We’re very grateful to London Freemasons for their generous grant, which will help us to deliver a future free from fear to women who have suffered domestic abuse. Most of our clients have endured domestic abuse for at least five years, during which time they have suffered in silence.”

Adrian Fox from London Freemasons said: “We’re very pleased to be able to help Bede House with their hugely important work providing practical and emotional support to women who have been abused, often for years. The Bede House team provide life-changing help to some of the most vulnerable people in our community.”

TfL comments on transport implications of Canada Water masterplan

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Transport for London has submitted its initial comments on the implications of British Land’s massive Canada Water masterplan for local roads and railways.

A few key points from the 13-page letter:

  • The Elizabeth line will provide some relief (in the short to medium term) on the Jubilee line.
  • The proposed Bakerloo line extension to Lewisham, proposed to be operational in the late 2020s, is expected to relieve London Overground services north of New Cross Gate, and reduce the interchange demand at Canada Water station.
  • TfL hopes to be able to raise frequencies on the East London line from 16 trains per hour at present to 20 trains per hour.
  • Surrey Quays Station will need upgrading/expanding to cope with extra passengers from the new development – potentially with a new entrance
  • “TfL would support provision of Santander Cycles cycle hire docking stations in the masterplan area, as well as off-site, to help ‘link’ to the current central London zone at London Bridge, acknowledging that further contributions from other developments in Canada Water and Bermondsey will be required to do this.”
  • The design of Redriff Road will need to take into account the proposed Peckham- Rotherhithe cycle route

You can read TfL’s letter here and see all the Canada Water masterplan application documents at 18/AP/1615.

SE16 locals offered paid work experience with architects working on Canada Water masterplan

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GoodPeople are working with architects Allies and Morrison to recruit two paid work placements to join the practice for two weeks starting on 10 September 2018.

These opportunities will provide valuable experience in Business Support functions such as HR, Finance, IT and Facilities. The work placements are available to people between the ages of 18 and 65 who live in the Rotherhithe and Surrey Docks areas and are currently unemployed or economically inactive.

Full details her: Allies and Morrison Sep 18 Work Placements – Rotherhithe and Surrey Docks.

Quietway 14: plans for Canada Water to South Dock section approved

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A £1.3 million section of cycle route between Canada Water and the the Southwark/Lewisham boundary at South Dock has been approved by Southwark’s cabinet member for transport.

The scheme includes £500,000 for a new ‘rollout’ bridge across the lock at South Dock and £115,000 to widen a bridge over the Albion Channel.

This scheme is part of the much larger Quietway 14 route which stretches from Blackfriars Road in the west to the Thames Barrier and beyond in the east.

Further details are available in these documents on the Southwark website.

 

Man jailed for sexual assault at Canada Water Station

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Mahamedally custody image
A violent man who sexually assaulted a woman, before assaulting a member of TfL staff at Canada Water station, has been jailed.

28-year-old Courtney Mahamedally from Islington before City of London Magistrates’ Court on 2 July after pleading guilty to sexual assault and one count of common assault.

Shortly before 2.30am on 6 January this year, the victim, a 19-year-old woman, was on the London Overground platform at Canada Water station, waiting for a train. Mahamedally then approached the victim on the platform, jumping at her and grabbing her around the waist.

The victim and defendant then struggled, with Mahamedally shouting “you’re not going anywhere”.

Meanwhile, staff watching CCTV contacted the police and went to assist the victim. As police responded, staff intervened, during which a member of staff was punched in the face by the defendant.

Mahamedally was arrested at the scene and taken to custody.

He was handed a six month prison sentence for the sexual offence and a 12 week prison sentence for common assault, to run concurrently. He was also ordered to pay £500 compensation, £115 to victim services and costs of £300, he will also be on the sexual offences register for seven years.

DC Helen Parsfield from British Transport Police, said: “Mahamedally initially pleaded not guilty, but when he was presented with the overwhelming evidence, he later admitted the charges. I’m grateful to the members of staff who went to assist the victim during what must have been a frightening experience.

“Unwanted sexual behaviour on the London Underground network will never be tolerated.  I’d like to thank the victim for helping us bring this violent man to justice, he’ll now spend six months behind bars and seven years on the sex offenders register.”

Siwan Hayward, TfL’s Head of Transport Policing, said: “Everyone has the right to travel without fear or intimidation and alongside the police we will eradicate unwanted sexual behaviour from public transport in London. This case sends a clear message to all potential offenders that they will be caught and brought to justice for their disgusting crimes, as well as showing that violence and abuse towards our staff will not be tolerated and offenders will be prosecuted. TfL works closely with the police day and night to ensure the safety of our customers.”

Decathlon opens new Canada Water store

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French sports/camping/outdoors chain Decathlon has been a fixture of SE16 for nearly two decades.

The Canada Water store was the company’s first in the UK (there are now 28), and now the new store as part of the Sellar development has finally opened its doors.

The Mayor of Southwark – Cllr Catherine Rose – declared the new store open at 5pm on Wednesday, whilst staff cheered and applauded customers as they made their way into the new shop.

Decathlon has put on a programme of activities to celebrate the launch of the new store, including free kayaking sessions on Canada Water over the weekend.

Getting to grips with the Canada Water Masterplan

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Hundreds of homes, shops, hotels, offices, a nightclub, a cinema, student accommodation, hotel, health, education … there’s a lot to get to grips with in the new Canada Water Masterplan planning application.

As we’ve previously noted, the paperwork runs to more than 200 documents.

To help local residents take advantage of their opportunity to respond to the planning application, Southwark CAN and Southwark Law Centre have drawn up this useful guide.

British Land themselves are also running drop-in sessions where you can view the documents.

And the next Canada Water Consultative Forum is another opportunity to get up to speed with the project.