Royal Greenwich Wants Your Views On Abbey Wood Improvements

by our correspondent | Greenwich

Cllr Danny Thorpe:
Cabinet Member
for Regeneration
and Transport.
(Credit: RBG)

People who live in and travel via Abbey Wood are being invited to help shape important plans to improve one of the key local streets close to the station, as part of the wider regeneration being spurred on by Crossrail.

The station at Abbey Wood is being rebuilt to a stunning design as part of the Crossrail project, which will see Crossrail services start at Abbey Wood in 2018. The project is bringing big changes to Abbey Wood and as a result, improvements and developments are taking place across the wider area.

These include plans to improve Wilton Road – which are being delivered as part of a joint regeneration project between the Royal Borough of Greenwich and the London Borough of Bexley, after the project was awarded £150,000 from Mayor of London’s High Street Fund and secured £150,000 in match funding from the two boroughs.

Wilton Road is home to a number of local shops and businesses and has great potential to be even more of a hub used by local people and commuters – which will also benefit the Wilton Road businesses.

A number of proposed improvements are being put forward by the consultants who are leading on the Wilton Road scheme – these can be viewed at an exhibition on Wilton Road itself where people are invited to comment on the proposals and to share their views and knowledge of the area.

Councillor Danny Thorpe, Royal Borough of Greenwich Cabinet Member for Regeneration and Transport said: “This is an exciting chance for local people – and people who regularly use Abbey Wood station – to directly shape plans for the Wilton Road area, which has even more potential to become a very popular local destination."

"Overall these are really exciting times for Abbey Wood – it is wonderful to see the changes promised because of Crossrail really starting to come to fruition. As well as the Wilton Road scheme we’re seeing the major new CrossQuarter development deliver new homes, new community facilities, nursery and supermarket and wider improvements to the whole area around the new station.”

London Borough of Bexley’s Cabinet Member for Regeneration and Growth, Cllr Linda Bailey said: “We have secured funding to help businesses on Wilton Road in the short term but we are also keen to form a longer-term vision for the area. It is possible that further funding will become available to improve the public realm and we want anybody who has an interest in the high street to help us shape that vision.”

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The Mayor of London’s £9m High Street Fund aims to make the capital’s high streets even better places to visit, live in and do business in.

Grants awarded in March are now being invested in 42 high streets. The investment has levered around £20m of match funding from local authorities and private sector partners, with £3.42m specifically for culture related activities. The fund is part of the Mayor’s overall £129 million investment in high streets that has already helped 56 high streets across London and attracted £56 million of match funding from public and private sector partners.

The New Abbey Wood Crossrail Station is under construction.

Chairman of the Mayor’s Design Advisory Group, Daniel Moylan, said: “London’s high streets are the beating heart of the capital’s business community and part of what makes our city so special. I am delighted to be supporting projects that seek to diversify and unlock opportunities in our most prized urban assets.”