SSBC's charity entertainment on Saturday March 19th

Live music, comedy, poetry, face painting, arts, crafts, games, food and raffle are all on offer at the South Street Baptist Church's fundraiser on March 19th from 1pm at 66-68 Greenwich South Street, SE10 8UN. After the activities and games for children and adults during the day, the evening entertainment will feature soulful singer/song writer Samm Henshaw, jazz singer Jordan Jackson, comedian Travis Jay and poets Anthony Anaxagorou and LionHeart.

All proceeds from tickets, activities, raffle and refreshments will go towards the South Street building project which will provide disabled access to the church.

Tickets: adults £8, children £5, are available to purchase here or from ticketsource.co.uk/southstreetbaptistchurch

Deptford Cinema screening tonight (February 26th)

A new community cinema is starting up near Deptford Bridge.
Deptford Cinema is fuelling our nightmares by running Full Moon Film Night on the last Friday of every month - so mark your calendars with blood or something similarly permanent. 

This month they are showing the 2015 arthouse horror It Follows!

"For 19-year-­old Jay (Maika Monroe), the fall should be about school, boys and weekends at the lake. Yet after a seemingly innocent sexual encounter she suddenly finds herself plagued by nightmarish visions; she can't shake the sensation that someone, or something, is following her... 

"Premiering at Cannes Critics' Week this low budget indie second film from writer/director David Robert Mitchell (The Myth of the American Sleepover) became a surprise hit, snowballing its initial straight-to-streaming release to a widespread cinema run. Stylishly shot, with a slow building creep, and a synth-tastic soundtrack inspired by the most memorable 80s horror scores, we dare you to judge for yourself what many are calling the scariest film in years."

Doors open at 19:30 with the programme starting at 20:30. Tickets are £5 (£3.50 conc.) 
More details at http://www.deptfordcinema.org/

Closure of Greenwich Magistrates Court

Maureen Romeril, February 25th

The Ministry of Justice has confirmed that it will close 64 courts within the next two years including Greenwich Magistrate Court on Blackheath Road. 
The Court was built in 1909 and is a Grade II listed building situated in a reasonably large site in the Ashburnham Conservation area. It will be interesting to see what happens to this site. The Grade II listing will restrict major redevelopment of the building.

Council consults on draft new guide on the Article 4 direction for the Ashburnham Triangle Conservation Area

Maureen Romeril, February 25th

Many properties in the Ashburnham Conservation Area are subject to additional planning control as a result of an Article 4 Direction being placed. These controls are in addition to Conservation Area controls. The current Article 4 Direction was introduced May 2014 and removed permitted development rights so that planning permission is required for certain works which would otherwise not require permission.  The council has now drafted a new guidance note to the Direction, which identifies the properties covered by the Article 4 Direction and sets out the specific planning controls under the Direction. The document also explains the types of works that will be likely or unlikely to gain planning permission.  The Council is seeking comments on this new guide.  The consultation ends on Monday 14 March 2016. Copies of the draft guide can be found on the Council's website via the link below. The Planning Hub will be responding to the guide on behalf of the ATA. The key changes noted by the Planning Hub compared to the previous 1995 Guide are as follows:

1. Solar panels - the Guide states :  "In the case of unlisted buildings in conservation areas, conventional solar panels may be acceptable, but only on roof sloops that are not visible from the public realm."   The old Guide was silent on solar panels. 

2 .Guttering - the new Guide states :  "Where visible from the street, cast iron or aluminium fittings should be used". Previously the old Guide stated that cast iron and aluminium fitting were generally preferred.  

3. Historic shop fronts  and porches - the new Guide now includes some guidance on these special features.

Read and comment on the draft Ashburnham Triangle Article 4 Direction guidance note

Doorstep Selling / Burglary Alert

Royal Greenwich Trading Standards are warning residents to take care when approached at home by males trying to sell knives, pots and pans on their doorstep. The males are thought to be travellers / Irish 

This activity has been seen to link with burglaries at properties at a later date. 

This information has been circulated by Greenwich Police. 

If you or your neighbours have anyone knocking door to door in your street trying to sell knives and pans, please contact Royal Greenwich Trading Standards Neighbourhood Response Team as soon as it happens on 020 8921 8223 or email tradingstandards@royalgreenwich.gov.uk  

 Remember to SAY NO to Rogue Traders 

• SAY NO to uninvited callers 
• SAY NO to cash payments 
• SAY NO politely but firmly 

 REPORTING to Trading Standards 

Tel. 020 8921 8223 

Police called to 'man armed with gun and knife' at Greenwich Mercure

Reported in Tuesday's Evening Standard:
'Police were sent to a four-star boutique hotel yesterday after a man claimed someone was in his room armed with a gun and knife. Officers arrived at the Mercure Hotel’s reception area in Catherine Grove, Greenwich, after receiving the call. Police tweeted that a man suffering a “mental health crisis” in the lobby was carrying a knife and had to be disarmed by officers.'
Sharp-eyed locals will note that the picture used by the paper isn't of the Mercure. The same picture was used in News Shopper, who also decided that the Mercure is in Deptford rather than Greenwich.

Latest Safer Neighbourhoods Team News & Security Activity

David Scales/Tina Pugh ATA Security Hub

A Greenwich West Safer Neighbourhoods Police meeting was held on Wednesday 3rd February 2015. We attend these meetings on behalf of the ATA along with other Neighbourhood Watch Co-ordinators, Councillors, Council Officers and members of the Safer Neighbourhoods Police team.

Fortunately no major issues for the Ashburnham Triangle were identified during this period, however there has been an increase in thefts from motor vehicles from December – January including damage to cars in Devonshire Drive and Egerton Drive on Boxing Day.  Two residential burglaries were reported in Langdale Road and Ashburnham Grove; still this is very much a decrease on the last available figures and a couple of arrests have also been made of known criminals operating in the area.

The police continue to follow up burglaries by cocooning, a process which involves visiting properties near to where the offence has been committed,  giving reassurance and advice on crime prevention as well as gaining evidence, where possible, to locate those responsible.

In view of the recent spike in house burglaries where sash windows have been forced open to gain entry to houses, the Security Hub Representatives are working on a new crime prevention leaflet which will be distributed to residents at some time in the Spring as well as being posted online.

The leaflet will give residents who do not own/use a PC or are not signed up for news alerts, the opportunity to act on security information relevant to the Ashburnham Triangle and some general tips along with details of who to contact in the case of criminal or fraudulent activity.

You can click here to read the minutes from the 25th November 2015 Greenwich West Safer Neighbourhood Ward Panel meeting.

New ATA website

You may have noticed that we've had a few issues with the ATA website in recent months. As a result we have decided to rebuild the website from scratch and, hopefully, it's now back for good.
The new site doesn't have all of the content of the old site just yet as we've endeavoured to get the show back on the road as soon as possible, but most of the posts from the last twelve months have been restored and more will follow.
There are a few new features you may wish to look at:

• You can now add your own Comments to posts if you have anything informative to add on a matter - please note that these will be moderated whilst we see how useful this feature is
• Popular Posts are now highlighted in the right hand column, so you can see at a glance what your neighbours are most interested in
• We have brought back the popular Useful Local Links listing from yesteryear. If you have any suggestions for additional links to add, please let us know via the Contact Us panel

If you subscribed to receive email updates from the old site these will automatically continue with the new. 

The new site will evolve over the coming months and we may have a few teething problems - if you see anything that looks wrong, please let us know, again via the Contact Us panel.

78 Blackheath Road - alcohol/entertainment licence application for D'Luxx

The ATA has been made aware of an application for an alcohol and entertainment licence at the above premises. If anyone has any concerns and wants to raise an objection that they can do so up to the February 18th by emailing licensing@royalgreenwich.gov.uk and raising objections based on the following;
- protection of children from harm,
- public safety,
- prevention of public nuisance,
- prevention of crime and disorder
If any one needs any further information on the application please contact Simon Barrs.

Six Nations at the Ashburnham Arms

The Ashburnham Arms is showing the Six Nations rugby on its two large screens through February and March. The matches are:

• Sunday 7th Feb, 3pm  Ireland v Wales
• Saturday 13th Feb, 2.25pm France v Ireland 4.50pm Wales v Scotland
• Sunday 14th Feb, 3pm Italy v England
• Friday 26th Feb 8.05pm Wales v France
• Saturday 27th Feb 2.25pm Italy v Scotland 4.50pm England v Ireland
• Saturday 12th March 1.30pm Ireland v Italy 4pm England v Wales
• Sunday 13th March 3pm Scotland v France
• Saturday 19th March 2.30pm Wales v Italy 5pm Ireland v Scotland 8pm France v Scotland