Filed under: What the locals say
My first visit to Greenwich was for 3 days
During those few days, along with meeting people I also spent many hours wandering around the area, soaking up the atmosphere, orientating myself, looking, experiencing, and formulating ideas based on what I observed, what I’d heard, and what I’d read.
I found myself concentrating more and more on the Peninsula
It is a bizarre and fascinating environment
Diverse habitats
A dichotomy
And rich ground for an inquisitive artist
Under development as it is – it lacks cohesion
Fenced off Brownfield sites with their scrubby vegetation lay next to manicured parkland and multicoloured apartment blocks edged with brushed stainless steel armatures – The Millennium Village
Greenwich Millennium Village is set to become a model for urban living, successfully encompassing the key issues of social cohesiveness, transport and communication and ecology, technology and innovation. As the first phase of plans for development across the whole of Greenwich Peninsula, the Village is part of the largest single regeneration project in London.
http://www.greenwich-village.co.uk/
it’s worth taking a look at the web site as it’s full of images designed to sell the master plan image.
I met with a lady living in one of these blocks – Rachel.
She lives here with her son in a ground floor apartment
Sat in her lounge she talked freely about what it’s like for her and her son living in the Millenium Village
She’s happy to be here – it’s an improvement on her last home
I didn’t ask why she had moved, but she did tell me that she’s one of the social housing tenants – the Village is a split of social and private housing.
We talked about all kinds of things – from the quality of the buildings to personal relationships
But the overwhelming thing I came away with was the amount of worries Rachel has that are linked to the environment, the ground beneath her feet, the Peninsula flora and fauna, and climate change issues.
From the Thames Walk (that circumnavigates the Peninsula) looking down river you can see the Thames Barrier. If Rachel’s apartment were a few floors higher, she would have a great view of it.
But being in sight of the barrier appears to cause Rachel more concern that comfort.
It is a constant reminder that the Thames needs to be controlled – that without the barrier, London could flood
And more alarming for Rachel
The knowledge that her home is built on a flood plane
Land that was once marshes
And being aware – as most of us are these days – of climate change and predicted sea level rises, and the fact that the south east of England is sinking (all be it slowly) serves only to compound Rachel’s worries.
She is fearful that she and her son will may washed away – to the extent that she has even contemplated buying one of those inflatable walk in balls
• A giant inflatable globe so you can literally walk on water.
• Made from heavy gauge PVC.
• Inset cups on the outside surface that enable you to grip the water. Your movements inside the globe propel the globe along the water, much fun!
• A speed safety valve.
• Tie-Down grommets.
• Suitable for ages 8 years + with adult supervision.
• Suitable for those of 12.5 stone or less.
• Size: – Inflated: 183 x 183 x 183cm
• Deflated in box: 59 x 52 x 39cm.
http://www.iwantoneofthose.com/walk-on-water/index.html
And Rachel is not alone in her concern for London’s flood defence barrier
In July 2007, The Independent (Environment Editor) reported that the Thames Barrier is likely to provide sufficient defence from flooding but only until 2030.
The potential of the Peninsula flooding is a nagging niggle, and not on Rachel’s list of immediate concerns
More pressing is her concern that her home, and her child’s outdoor play space, is built on contaminated land – and that all that protects them from toxic contamination is a membrane layer some feet below their feet.
When she moved in, Rachel told me that she was given codes of conduct with regard to planting. Apparently, no resident is allowed to plant trees, or anything with deep roots. This rule could be interpreted as – deep roots may puncture the membrane.
As a consequence, Rachel, who has a patio area, grows vegetables in grow-bags and pots. But it doesn’t end there; she has placed all her grow-bags and pots on plinths of one kind or another – namely tables and benches.
This concern about contamination entering the food chain extends to all planting on the Peninsula.
She told me that last year when it snowed, her son was eager to go out and play in it. Her concern is such that she told him that he must not eat the snow.
In fact, every time her son goes out to play – or visits the Ecology Park – she insists that his hands go nowhere near his mouth until he has washed them.
Before I left, Rachel showed me the inner courtyard area of her apartment block. She told me that each block has a similar courtyard – paved open areas with benches and walkways and herbaceous boarders containing evergreen shrubs. Her son rarely plays in the courtyard; there’s not much for him to do in there, and there’s not many children living in the block so there’s no one really for him to play with. Unlike an adjacent block, where there are many families with young children. I asked if her son ever goes and plays with the children in the other block. I found her reply saddening…
“We have closed courtyards, you can’t get into them unless you live in the block, and because of this, children from other apartment blocks aren’t welcomed.”
As I was leaving through the communal hallway, a poster on the notice board warning residents caught my eye
“Danger – do not touch”
and a picture of a caterpillar – not this one – I took this just outside the main entrance
“Oh yes, and that’s another thing. Each spring the trees are infested with poisonous caterpillars. There’s one just outside the entrance. I run quickly under it each time I go in or out – I don’t want them falling on me.”
We went to investigate and sure enough, the tree whose canopy shades the entrance to the apartments was crawling with hairy brown caterpillars, as were the wooden structures that denote the entrance way.
Some Quick Facts about Browntail Moth
1. The Brown tail moth is a considerable defoliator of forest, hedgerows, orchards and ornamental shrubs.
2. The main reason Brown tail moths are a pest is the allergic reaction caused to people through contact with the hairs on the caterpillars, and to a lesser extent, the adults.
3. The caterpillars aggregate in a communal tent. The tent is made from silk produced by the caterpillars.
4. The fine hairs produced by the caterpillars can be blown around in the wind. Clothes drying on washing lines can become contaminated with hairs causing people to develop reactions when wearing recently washed clothes.
5. A typical reaction to the hairs is a burning rash, although streaming eyes and asthma type symptons are not uncommon.
6. Animals are also affected by the hairs. Dogs and cats frequently suffer skin reactions during outbreaks of Brown tail moth.
7. Cases of exposure to the hairs are reduced during damp weather – the humidity suppresses the airborne dispersal of hairs.
8. The female lays up to 300 eggs.
9. Epidemics usually occur in cycles of approximately 5 years.
www.exosect.com/solutions/pests/brown_tail_moth.asp
Carried by the wind, the hairs become little filaments of toxin floating around on the air currents – so they can be an irritant whether you have a tree over your pathway or not.
“If only we had birds in this space – perhaps they would eat them.”
Having had my attention brought to them – I began seeing them all over the Peninsula – an infestation in Millennium Park, outside Sainsbury’s, along the roadside shrub edged verges.
In fact pretty much everywhere except inside the Ecology Park. Which incidentally is one place on the Peninsula where herbicides and pesticides are not welcome.
Tony, a warden at the Ecology Park told me that the Brown Tail caterpillars are indiscriminate eaters – they’re not fussy, and they no longer have a natural predator on the Peninsula, so they’re thriving. Most likely they would have always been in this area, but before the redevelopment, there one and only predator – the cuckoo, would have been keeping the numbers down
2007 and there’s not a cuckoo in sight
And even if there was, the numbers of caterpillars now out way the apatite of even the greediest of cuckoos.
So why are there non inside the Ecology Park?
Easy – Tony removes them, at the right time of year, using the right technique. He handpicks them off before they pupate…
www.exosect.com/solutions/pests/brown_tail_moth.asp guidelines as follows…
…inspect your trees in the autumn and remove any tents (also known as webs)
that you find by pruning the twigs that they are on. The tents should preferably be burnt on site or place in a plastic bag and disposed of in your dustbins. Avoid disturbing the tents whilst removing them and ensure that you protect yourself by wearing gloves.
And the reason they are so abundant on the rest of the Peninsula is due to uncoordinated management; ground works carried out by different contractors, at different times, with different levels of conservation knowledge. The commonly applied antidote to the problem is pesticide, sprayed at the wrong time of year – consequently having limited impact on the target subject, but effectively killing off other pollinators and good bugs.
Which in turn affects the food supply for insect eating birds like wrens, robins, and reed warblers, and, if certain flowers like teasels don’t’ get pollinated affects seed eating birds too – like finches. All of these birds can be found in and around the Brownfield spaces and the Ecology Park.
The lack of birds within the Millennium village is a concern – but one that could be easily rectified – with the right kind of planting, some bird boxes, and well placed bird feeders.
At the end of my first 3 day visit to the Peninsula I put together an overview – 4 strands of inquiry that I would like to pursue
STRAND 1
100 cauliflowers (because I thought that 1000 would prove to be unwieldy)
As a one-day event to kick start “environment”
This will hopefully introduce me to people and visa versa
A springboard to start conversations and ideas…
I will need a market stall – see
www.nicoll-industries.co.uk/PolyPVC.htm
and
www.nicoll-industries.co.uk/tabletypestalls.htm
For 2 alternatives – and prices
The stall can be used throughout the project – a base/studio for different ‘on site’ activities
100 cauliflowers should happen within the locale of the old allotment sites – most of this area is now the retail park…
However, behind Sainsburys is an area of land – their 106 planning agreement for open space. This could make an ideal site – especially if the agreement was for open public access (and use) for this site.
An alternative could be the grassed area near the Ecology Park – however, from what I have been told – this was the site of the steel works – and not allotments –
100 cauliflowers can happen (if you are able to get permission) in the first week
JULY
|
3 |
TUESDAY |
0.5 |
|
4 |
WEDNESDAY |
1 |
|
5 |
THURSDAY |
1 |
|
6 |
FRIDAY |
1 |
|
7 |
SATURDAY |
1 |
STRAND 2
The Ecology Park
An environmental art project that aims to raise an ecological awareness needs, in my opinion, sustainability built into it. If I am able to interest young people in environmental issues, I want them to be able to develop their interest after I go, and to achieve this, the Ecology Park is a perfect project partner. In the short time I have available, I want to develop a good relationship with the Park wardens, in the hope that at the end of my commission, a few (or even just one) of the young people I converse and create with, will have a sustained relationship with the ecology of the area as a volunteer for the Ecology Park – volunteer activities start in September
www.urbanecology.org.uk/volunteering.html
www.urbanecology.org.uk/gpepvolunteering.htm
To begin physical links with the Ecology Park I want to start with a series of walks
There appears to be 3 community hubs in the Greenwich Ward
- To the north of the Ecology Park – the Millennium Village
- To the south of the Ecology Park - at the base of the Peninsula, the southwest tip of the Ward
- To the west of the A102 – the longstanding Greenwich Community and high street shopping
Walks will be open to anyone living or working in any of the above, mentioned areas (coordination needed…)
Each walk will be to map the most direct route to the park – discussing along the way the route accessibility, aesthetics, safety, and ‘greenness’
We will visit the Ecology Park, experience the environment, and meet the wardens
These walks should happen in the first week
Again – a starting point, to be developed into …
STRAND 3
Bird Patterns
Strand 4
Air quality – signifiers and filters
Writing and collating this website in retrospect – I’m keeping the details of these 2 strands to myself for now
There wasn’t the time to realize them during the 4 week residence
They are ideas that still excite me, and ideas that can be transposed to different locations
So I’m hanging fire for now
STRAND 4 is already manifesting in 3 works for 2008
But STRAND 3 is on standby – awaiting the right place, support, and conditions…
