Hi All,

If you can help please read this copy of the email released by the Friends of the Greenwich Peninsula Ecology Park.

If you could help us by reading and using the information to help with Objecting to this development it is not just about the 13-storey tower which is still to height and to close but you add the two 11 storey blocks adjacent to it. This will mean that during the winter period both Southern Park and the Eco Park will be covered in shadow for most of the day.

Please help. If you could also check out the petition and retweet if you on twitter or Face Book.

https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/keep-our-park-sunny-save-rare-wildlife-and-endangered-bees

Below is the Friends of the Eco Park email please read and object. The peninsula is losing all it’s interesting Habitat this is the only part of the peninsula with any ecological value the rest is being lost and replanted with non-native plants.

Thank you for your time.

Richard

Dear Friends and Supporters of Greenwich Peninsula Ecology Park,

It’s now crunch time for the Ecology Park – so please take action NOW.

As some of you may already know, the final application from the Developers for the 13 storey Tower on plot 201 has just been lodged with Greenwich Council.

Ironically we have until Friday 13th April to send in our objections – the Council are very clear that any comments received after that date will not be considered.   You can send comments either by email to planning-consultation@royal Greenwich.gov.uk or by post to the Directorate of Regeneration, Enterprise and Skills, The Woolwich Centre, 5th Floor, 35, Wellington Street, London, SE18 6HQ.

We are dealing with officialdom and that means that our protests will only count if we follow Greenwich Council guidelines.  You must include the reference number 18/0825/R.  You should also include the site: Plot 201 (Parcel 2), GMV345, Peartree Way, Greenwich.  At this stage we are limited to the formal grounds we can use to make our objections. They don’t have to be as long as this bulletin!! You can pick and mix from these or include them all in your own words.

So please state clearly – I am objecting on the grounds that::

·        The building will have an adverse impact on the habitats and biodiversity of Greenwich Peninsula Ecology Park.

·        Significant overshadowing of the Ecology Park and the surrounding area will lead to loss of sunlight – including paths extending as far as the Thames walkway. If you are directly in the path of the development you could also include the fact the your apartment will lose sunlight and the benefits of solar gain – pushing up energy costs etc..

·        The injury to trees in the Ecology Park – shading causes significant impact on tree growth.

·        Light pollution from the building at night will harm the birds, moths and local wildlife.

·        Loss of community asset and leisure space.  The Park is the only one of its kind in this densely built up area and is well used by residents, visitors, families, wildlife enthusiasts, the local nurseries and schools.

·        The visual appearance.  The Tower will be higher than any of the surrounding buildings and yet it will be closest to the Park where it can do most damage.

·        Density of building.  The 13 storeys will have 2 blocks sited beside it of up to 11 storeys.  This density of building magnifies the damage that overshadowing will cause to the Ecology Park.  The plans and resulting destruction of the habitat in the Park should be considered by the Council as a whole, not in a piecemeal fashion as presented by the Developers GMVL.

Many of you will have used these arguments in previous letters so please feel free to add in the details that you feel most strongly about. “Mitigations” offered unofficially by GMVL are also just good intentions and should be an imposed condition with similar/complementary habitats to the Ecology Park:

·        The swale area that has been proposed will itself be significantly shaded by another stage of the GMV development and therefore cannot be viewed as an alternative.

·        The swale will be in an open public area and not within the Ecology park zone where access is protected.

·        GMV residents will have to pay for the swale through their service charges – (I think residents might want to say something about that!) there should be a further planning condition or obligation for the developers to pay for the long-term management, monitoring and maintenance of the swale.

The Park

This award-winning Ecology Park is heralded – and studied all over the world – as a superb example of how a small oasis of urban ecology can benefit large, high density developments.

The Park has been an enormous success. Its clever design provides a range of habitats (lake, reed bed, marsh, willow woodland and shingle shoreline). Any damage caused to any part of the Park is significant and will cause major harm to the ecosystem and the wildlife that depend upon it.

Bees & biodiversity

A 2016 survey of bees found over 90 confirmed species at the Park. This is approximately double the number recorded at Kew Gardens, including two species new to the UK.

Regular bird surveys record more than 60 species visiting the Park annually.

This includes important Winter and Summer migrants and Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP) species. Amongst other species, we at risk of losing our Common Terns which currently nest on rafts on the lake but will only do so in full sunlight.

The application and drawings can be inspectedwww.royalgreenwich.gov.uk/planning.

SE18 6PW Tel: 020 8921 5045