'Eltham Town Centre' Masterplan

Tomorrow you can view the 'Royal Borough' of Greenwich's Masterplan for 'Eltham Town Centre'. Eltham is one of four areas in the borough for which the Borough is setting out it's 'ambitions' and focusing on as 'key growth areas'.

Out with the old? Eltham Arcade, 204-214 Eltham High Street

The four Masterplans are now the subject of a period of consultation, until 9 March, during which time you can express your views. The status of the Masterplans, produced by Allies and Morrison and Urban Practitioners, is that they will be "adopted as Supplementary Planning Documents (SPDs) and will support the planning policies for the borough".

The Masterplan's 'Introduction' for Eltham says:

In with the new?

"Eltham is a town with a long and distinguished history. However, this lies rather hidden, either buried behind modern buildings in the case of the network of historic lanes, or remote from the High Street in the case of Eltham Palace.A key aim of this document is to reveal and reclaim that history, and emulate the structure of the historic urban grain to create a place which is characterful, rich and above all, enjoyable.

The vision for Eltham is to consolidate and prosper. The vision is to help Eltham be an excellent local town centre for people who live and work in the local area. It can achieve this through a combination of a good mix of uses, great public spaces and good access. A mix of town centre living will also help to promote vibrancy."

The document goes on to describe proposed development, in phase 1, of Eltham's car parks, Passey Place, the Orangery (for 'small scale businesses'), shopping arcades, and the town centre's alleyways. It goes on to propose two further phases taking the plan up to 2027.

I haven't had a chance yet to have a proper look at the plans - you can access the full Eltham Town Centre Masterplan here and the other three areas here (ie. Charlton Riverside, Greenwich Peninsula West, Woolwich Town Centre). I haven't noticed too much around yet about Eltham's plan but if you're interested in Charlton, there are posts at Charlton Champion, 853 and Andrew Lainton's blog has an interesting piece.

Details of Eltham's consultative exhibitions are:

Thursday 16 February:
Eltham library foyer, Eltham Centre; focusing on Eltham Town Centre
Exhibition: 3pm to 8pm (including presentations at 4pm and 6.30pm)

Saturday 3 March:
Eltham library foyer, Eltham Centre; focusing on Eltham Town Centre
Exhibition: 1pm to 5pm (including presentation at 2pm)