The claim was made by councillor Eileen Glover during a debate at Wednesday night’s full meeting of the council at Woolwich Town Hall.

The councillor for the Eltham South ward told the meeting that she had ensured she was in all the photos taken by Greenwich Time at an event in her ward attended by the Council Leader but by the time it went to print, she had been “airbrushed out”.

She was only able to make an appearance in a later edition by changing her hair so that she was unrecognisable to the Leader of the Council, she said.

The debate over Greenwich Time was prompted after Greenwich Conservatives put forward a motion calling for weekly production of the newspaper to be ended.

Cllr Nigel Fletcher (Conservative, Eltham North) questioned whether the newspaper offered value for money and asked if it could really be considered a “front line service”. He expressed his doubts over the impartiality of the publication before mocking the content in this week’s edition.

“Is it really a core function of this council to provide, for example, a review of Toy Story 3? Do we really have a duty to inform our residents … that Prince’s new album is his most ’soulless yet’?”, he asked. He said ending the weekly printing of Greenwich Time would be an “easy cut”.

Cllr Maureen O’Mara (Labour, Greenwich West) commented that Greenwich Time’s council property pages were “very important” to residents who wanted to move, describing it as providing an “essential service” for those that couldn’t or wouldn’t get the  information online.

Cllr Dermot Poston (Conservative, Eltham North) told colleagues that he regarded it as a “political newspaper” and that he “bitterly resents” it. He said the ruling party have “lost any sense of fairness and democracy”.

Cllr Matt Clare (Conservative, Eltham South) used his maiden speech at a full council meeting to say how he would frequently see “No Greenwich Time” notices whilst going door to door during the election campaign. He asked why only Greenwich and Tower Hamlets were delivering newspapers on a weekly basis if it had “such demonstrable benefits”.

Cllr John Fahy (Labour, Woolwich Riverside) reminded fellow councillors that the Conservatives “fought the election on the arguments of Greenwich Time and lost”. He criticised local freesheet, the News Shopper, for printing “10 pages of stories in Lewisham and beyond, and perhaps 2 or 3 stories about the community in Greenwich”.  He said that in raising the issue, it was “payback time” for the opposition because during the election, the “News Shopper was the extension of Conservative news”.

West Greenwich councillor, David Grant (Labour) also suggested that he had been “airbrushed out” of a Greenwich Time photo but said that because of the cabinet system of the council, it was inevitable most of the coverage would be on the executive although he said would like to see more backbenchers featured.

The Leader of the Council, Cllr Chris Roberts (Labour, Glyndon), said that in strict terms, Greenwich Time is “not a political newspaper” and nor could it be according to the law. In fact, council lawyers check it line by line before it goes to print, he revealed.

Cllr Roberts said the paper was “very close to being self financing” and that the cost of producing it had fallen from 22p per copy to just 3.5p per copy. “We are already making significant savings which run into the hundreds of thousands of pounds”, he added.

He said it was “absolutely right that we should prioritise our spending” but printing Greenwich Time meant the Council was “able to deliver statutory notices almost at no cost”.

The Conservative motion was defeated.

Barbara Windsor in Sing a Rude Song, 1970

Stephen Moreton-Prichard was the Greenwich Theatre’s front-of-house photographer for 15 years. During that time he photographed some true greats – some already well established, some, relative unknowns destined for stardom.

Now, his life is to be celebrated with a special one-off show at Greenwich Theatre. A Celebration for Stephen will bring together artists, professionals, colleagues and friends in a special performance for one night only on 1 August. Stephen died earlier this year after a long struggle with Alzheimer’s, and all the proceeds will go to the Alzheimer’s Society.

Stephen took up professional photography in 1960 after a career in the Army. He spent the next 38 years working in film for numerous clients. Buildings were a speciality, as were product shots for publications like Which?, in the days when magazines contracted professionals, instead of, as now, relying on PR digital handouts.

He worked from a studio on the top floor of a rambling four-story house on the borders of Blackheath and Lewisham, where he and his wife Celia moved to in the late 1960s.

But it was theatre, and in particular Greenwich Theatre, where Stephen’s creativity was allowed to flourish. His natural eye gave him the artistic flair, and his professionalism delivered the shot.

When Greenwich Theatre was reopened in 1969 publicity photos were needed and Stephen was asked to provide them. It was the start of a working relationship that lasted until 1984.

Over those 15 years he photographed many productions, and many rising stars. Barbara Windsor dressed as a pearly queen in 1970 stands out, a dramatic looking Mia Farrow in 1973, Glenda Jackson dressed as a maid in 1974, a young Nicholas Lyndhurst in 1974, Penelope Keith, Felicity Kendal, Kenneth Branagh, and a 21-year-old Rupert Everett – destined for Hollywood – were all captured by his lens.

The show on 1 August is being produced by Stephen’s wife Celia and a night of rare variety is to be expected – founder of the well-regarded Centenary Company, Celia is well known in local theatre circles as a minor impresario.

She has drawn together friends, professionals, colleagues and locals who have something to give by way of tribute. Expect choral music, foot-stomping music hall numbers, calypso, Gilbert and Sullivan, Welsh folk, Purcell, Mahler, William Byrd, Satie, Mozart and spoken tributes. An exhibition of Stephen’s photographs will also be on display.

Tickets are £15, with all proceeds going to the charity – the theatre has donated itself free for the evening, and many of the professional performers have waived their fee.

Many locals who knew Stephen will be there, while others are flying in from as far afield as Australia for the performance.

“Expect much laughter,” Celia told Greenwich.co.uk, “and just one or two tears.”

Show: A Celebration for Stephen
Date and time: Sunday 1 August 2010, 7.30 pm
Box Office: www.greenwichtheatre.org.uk

Rupert Everett in Another Country, 1981

Kenneth Branagh in Francis, 1983

Nicholas Lyndhurst in Harding’s Luck, 1974

Penelope Keith and Felicity Kendal in Norman Conquests, 1974

Glenda Jackson and Susannah York in The Maids, 1974

Joy Parker, Gwen Watford and Mia Farrow in Three Sisters, 1973

Concerned children from a Greenwich primary school have met with the landlord of a neighbouring pub to call for improvements to their local area.

Pupils from St Alfege with St Peter’s Church of England Primary School, along with their headteacher, Hazel Burnie, met with Sean Brogan, manager of the Gate Clock in Creek Road. They were joined by all three Greenwich West ward councillors – Maureen O’Mara, David Grant and Matthew Pennycook.

A plan was agreed which includes the Gate Clock pledging not to sell alcohol off-licence to be consumed outside the premises, a bigger effort to deal with litter and a promise to remind customers that areas near the pub are part of a ‘no drinking zone’.

The children’s work is part of South London Citizens’ CitySafe campaign, a community-led response to crime and the fear of crime in the capital.

Hazel Burnie, Headteacher at St Alfege with St Peter’s Primary School, said:

“As a school, we take citizenship very seriously, and that’s why we are members of South London Citizens. We are keen to work with our neighbours to improve our local area. We are pleased about the relationship that is developing between our school, the landlord of the Pub next door to us, and our local councillors. There’s so much we can achieve together.”

Cllr Maureen O’Mara, Cabinet Member for Community Safety and Environment, said:

“As local councillors we congratulate the school on this initiative. Anti social behaviour blights everyone’s lives and we are pleased to work with the school to tackle it.”

Sean Brogan, Landlord of the Gate Clock Wetherspoon Pub, said:

“I feel the meeting was very beneficial for us to see a different perspective on our business and how it is viewed by the younger generation. I gained valuable information on how they felt about the surrounding community and businesses, and was pleased to learn about their views on litter and minor crime.”

We’ve had some fun “Where in Greenwich is this?” type picture posts before but if you can identify the spot at which the picture above was taken, there’s more than kudos up for grabs. Mike Catterall from Mike Catterall Floral Designs in Trafalgar Road has generously put up a hand tied bouquet to the value of £30 as a prize. It can be picked up from the shop or delivered to any address in the UK.

So, to win the bouquet, all you need to do is work out where I took the picture above in Greenwich SE10, and post your answer as a comment on this post. The winner will be the first person to post the right answer here as a comment.  If nobody has got it right by the end of the afternoon, I will add some “hot and cold” clues to the answers suggested.

UPDATE: Well done to Graham for getting it right in the comments below – the answer was the auction house in Old Woolwich Road, near to the Power Station opposite Stone Interiors. Here’s the bigger picture…

I joined about a dozen other people on a fascinating guided tour around East Greenwich yesterday morning. Our guide was historian and storyteller, Rich Sylvester (pictured above), who was behind the recent East Greenwich History Map.

The fun indoor test of your putting skills has been positioned at various London locations over the last four years, and has now come to the O2 in North Greenwich for the first time.

Younger putters can play the Junior course which consists of just 9 holes.

London Mini Golf is open from noon til 7pm every day until September 5th.

Buy tickets online from Ticketmaster

As you might guess from the somewhat obscure nature of the deadly insult (whatever is a “putzer?” Even the OED can’t tell me) it was another billet-doux from Greenwich’s Favourite Restaurateur, Frank Dowling, showing all the courtesy we have come to expect from his much-loved industrial catering empire.

Frank often reacts badly to criticism. Last year, after I pointed out that some of his most expensive outlets had failed their hygiene inspections, he rang me up to call me a “c***.” My report of this conversation is still the top item when anyone Googles you, Frank!

Let’s wait to see if anyone from Greenwich Hospital sends a rude text after this week’s column. I’ve been looking in detail at the changes submitted to the planning inspector as part of the Hospital’s appeal against the refusal of planning permission last year.

The Hospital – no doubt hoping to head off inconvenient calls for the whole application to be re-run – itself describes its changes as “minor alterations.” They are indeed relatively minor, and therefore change few of the objectionable features of the scheme which led to its unanimous rejection by councillors.

The most significant change is that the existing market roof will be kept, certainly an improvement on the Bluewater/ Stratford Bus Station combo we were promised before. However, the shops at the sides will still be demolished and a large new hotel, rising to four storeys, will still be built. The number of rooms in the hotel has been reduced fractionally (but is still “approximately 100”) and its roofscape profile has been slightly changed by removing louvres from part of the central block.

The overall effect of the changes is to reduce the built footprint of the hotel by just 2.6 per cent – from 5625 square metres to 5477 sq m. The overall built footprint of the scheme will fall by 4 per cent. This still represents a more than doubling of the footprint on the site, an increase in density which lay at the heart of the council’s reasons for rejecting the scheme.
As the council’s decision notice stated, the new build would have “an unbalanced and detrimental relationship with the established urban fabric of the area;” would be “visually obtrusive…to the detriment of the adjacent Grade II listed buildings;” would be “out of keeping with its historic surroundings;” would have “an adverse effect on the Maritime Greenwich World Heritage site in which it is located;” would cause “the overdevelopment of the site and…adversely affect the existing patterns of development;” would “lead to ‘town cramming’;” would “impact on the free flow of traffic;” and would “result in additional congestion and obstruction on the local highway to the detriment of pedestrian and highway safety.”

All these objections are related to the height and density of the hotel, which would poke visibly up above the existing buildings, and none has been significantly changed by the Hospital’s “minor alterations.”

The Hospital continues to make the ridiculous claim that its redevelopment will create only 18 extra person movements per hour, 16 of them by public transport, a proposition rejected by councillors. The proposed hotel alone will accommodate around 200 guests, with the vast majority (since they are carrying luggage) likely to arrive by car, taxi or coach. The hotel’s main entrance is in the middle of the one-way system and will almost certainly cause significant congestion.

Do not for one moment imagine that the retention of the roof should end objections to this scheme. The eviction of traders during the construction period (without enough space in the temporary market for many of them) will drive many out of business. The mix of shops and traders in any new market/ shopping centre is likely to change fundamentally, since higher rents will need to be charged to recoup the cost of the redevelopment. Whatever the Hospital says now, a redeveloped market has a Hays Galleria and Starbucks future.

The law says that the appeal ought to be decided on whether the council properly applied its planning policy, the Unitary Development Plan, and national planning policy guidance. It seems clear that it did. The council said the original market proposals contravened the UDP in ten places, and also breaches national planning policy guidance twice. The amended plans are still in breach of PPG and of at least nine policies of the UDP.

The public inquiry into the proposals will be held on 7 September. You have until 30 July to object to the Planning Inspectorate. The address is: Alan Ridley, Planning Inspectorate, Room 4/02, Temple Quay, Bristol, BS1 6PN.

It was confirmed by TFL today that the new signalling system has been beset by problems and the project will now finish a year later than the revised date. It was originally due to be completed by the end of 2009 before being revised to October 2010.

London Underground are now running the project after their recent acquisition of Tube Lines.

Local MP, Nick Raynsford, has expressed has expressed his “deep disappointment” at the news. He commented:

‘For the past two years, residents and businesses in my constituency have had to put up with serious inconveniences caused by closures. Announcing yet further delays to the programme is a clear indication of bad planning and is only going to cause yet further inconveniences to local residents. It will make businesses, small and large, suffer at a time that they can least afford. I will continue to press London Underground to ensure that the works are fast-tracked and cause as little inconvenience to my constituency as possible’.

Thanks to regular contributor Indigo for this picture of a moth that was seen on a wall at the junction of Woolwich Road and Farmdale Road. We think it’s a Jersey Tiger.

The Independent Planning Inspectorate has given Galliard Homes the go-ahead for the development, which has been marketed for several years as the ‘Constellation’, on land behind Victoria Way.

The application, which had taken Greenwich Council two years and five months to decide, was previously rejected over air quality and noise concerns. A large warehouse, which will be well known to the many drivers who pass it everyday on the A102, will be demolished to make way for the development.

In the Inspectorate’s findings, he acknowledged that “the considerable number and range of objections” suggested the “proposed development would not be welcomed by many existing residents in the local area” but goes on to say that the “planning system works to regulate the development and use of land in the public interest, not to protect private interests.”

The Inspectorate found fault with the Greenwich Council had handled some parts of the planning application and they will have to pay partial costs for the appeal.

See also: 853 – There goes the neighbourhood