In brief ....

2007 will see several key planning applications come forward affecting this area. Berkeley Homes are expected to put forward an application for the redevelopment of the Ferrier estate as a mixed scheme of 4,400 homes, and a rebuilding of Kidbrooke station. Thomas Tallis school will be rebuild on its current site.

A planning application for the redevelopment of the Greenwich District Hospital site is also expected in 2007, following clearance of the site last year.

Work on revamping the Dome – now known as the O2 – as an entertainment and sports venue is well advanced, and it will re-open in June.

Dozens of council-owned Victorian homes in Greenwich are due to be modernised over the next two years. Borough-wide, almost £10m is being spent on these so-called “miscellaneous properties”, which have often been left out of previous investment projects.

Building works on the Vanbrugh Park estate will now include repairs and redecoration to garage doors, following representations from Cllr Alex Grant. “The council originally proposed to give homes on the estate new roofs and windows but leave the garages in their current terrible state,” says Alex. “I’m glad they have changed their mind.” Work at blocks on the edge of the estate are almost complete, and work at the blocks on Combe Avenue starts in March.

Transport for London has now promised to put a flashing 30mph sign on Shooter’s Hill Road to tell speeding vehicles to slow down, in response to an ongoing campaign by Len Duvall and Alex Grant. A safety review of the Stratheden Road junction is also planned, as well as more police speed traps and anti-skid surfacing.

A revised planning application for the refurbishment of Woodlands as a Steiner School and a residential development alongside Mycenae House community centre is due to be considered by the council in February. An earlier application, which would have been turned down by the council because of concerns over loss of trees, was withdrawn last November.