The Ship notification

I know there have been umpteen postal strikes this Summer, but I am somewhat disappointed that my letter from Greenwich Council informing me of The Ship's planning application took so long to land on my door mat.

1. The letter is dated 28th August
2. The franked post date on the envelope is 8th September
3. The letter arrived at my door on 14th September
4. The deadline for me to respond to this letter is 17th September. TODAY
   

The Ship

Thanks to one lovely listener who has underlined the deadline date for letters of objection to the Ship's proposal (see below). This Friday! Given the limited time, I'd suggest not to use the postal system, so email or wander down to Woolwich and hand your letter in person.

For a sense of balance, I guess supporters of The Ship should also attend the council meeting when a date is in the diary.

Letters to the council regarding The Ship’s licence application need to be received by the Council by
THIS FRIDAY - 18 SEPT 2009.

In order for your representations/objections to be considered valid, you need to address one or more of the following issues:

- protection of children from harm
- public safety
- prevention of public nuisance
- prevention of crime and disorder

The licensing committee are obligated to safeguard these objectives.

Send your letters and petitions to:

Trading Standards & Licensing
Community Safety & Integrated Enforcement
Riverside House
Woolwich High Street
Woolwich
London SE18 6DN

Or Email:
licensing@greenwich.gov.uk

The meeting at which the application and any representations/objections are to be considered is still to be scheduled. Please keep your eyes and ears open for the date and make sure you COME ALONG if you can.

Back in 2006, there was a record turnout of the local community (along with legal counsel!) at the meeting, which accompanied a phenomenal collective response of the local community objecting to the SAME items that the Ship owner is now requesting AGAIN.
Please, let's all make sure we do the same again, otherwise, all the efforts of 2006, and now, will have been in vain.

Let's not let The Ship a scar our beautiful common, and disrupt our quiet neighbourhood and peaceful local community.

Please don’t be complacent, and write your letter now!!

Meeting about The Ship

One of my lovely listeners has informed me of a meeting to talk about The Ship's proposals. This sounds like a very important meeting for members of The Shire who care about our little patch of London. I guess this is open to all, not just PCEG members. Read on....

There is a PCEG meeting this Sunday 13/9. Anyone concerned about this matter that wants to discuss should come to the meeting!!

Meeting details:
Sunday 13 Sept. 3pm
St Marks Church Hall on Old Mill Road.

Agenda on the website:
http://pceg.org.uk/notice.htm

Be there. Together we can protect our Common, our neighbourbood and our community.

The Ship

I have heard that The Ship pub/bar/cheap beer sports TV emporium has plans to extend licensing hours to 1.45AM at the weekend. Worse still, to extend the alcohol license to the external forecourt. And to allow bottles to be taken outside. Also to allow under 18s in!!!!

They also want to build a 1.9metre high screen (electric fence might be more appropriate), around the forecourt and move the entrance round to Wernbrook Street, yes that's the NICE QUIET RESIDENTIAL street which shouldn't have drunken yoofs staggering around at sleep o'clock waving glass bottles around.

Does this sound like a recipe for disaster? Errrr. It sounds like a complete catastrophe of atomic bomb proportions about to hit Plumstead Common in the face.

I urge everyone to write a letter to the council to object to this. Closing date for objections must be in by 18th September. Don't sit back and think, oh I'll do it tomorrow. Do it now. Stop reading this, get off your computer and do it now. Contact your local councillor, MP etc.

Find out more from the address below:-

Trading Standards & Licensing
Community Safety & Integrated Enforcement
Riverside House
Woolwich High Street
Woolwich
London
SE18 6DN

Telephone - 020 8921 8139
email - licensing@greenwich.gov.uk

ref - The Ship, 205 Plumstead Common Road, SE18 2UJ

Share and share alike

When my close personal aides, Margaret and Nick are out of the country, I seek advice from a friend. He is a marketing genius, he is a man who fights fire with fire, he sees lights turn on before the switch has flicked, he wears the same watch as Steve Wozniak, he is The Stig of global branding. He goes by the code name 'Deep Throat'.

Deep Throat read about The Woodman dilemma we have in The Shire. In the dead of night, he phoned me. I pick up the receiver and he says, "www.wooshare.com", then gently puts the phone down. From his SAS training, he knows to get straight to the point.

Maybe this is a way forward for the future of The Woodman?

The Woodman is our big opportunity

One lovely listener has pointed out that The Woodman pub is up for sale. I can confirm this as I sent my aides, Margaret and Nick to take a look. The pub will be sold at auction very soon (this week I think), and has a guide price of around £175,000. I don't know what the sale includes, but a pub overlooking The Common with lacklustre competition sounds a bit of a snip to me. This could be our best chance of a decent gastro-pub. The local demographic is shifting and the demand is definitely here. If I had the resources, I'd be sitting in an auction room with a very twitchy arm.

Scourge of society

Before I mark my return with a review of my latest custard tart tasting, I really need some advice.

Not being a dog owner, I'd just like to know what the acceptable time limit is on leaving your beloved pet to bark. The knuckle-draggers who've moved in next door seem quite happy to leave their Staffs to bark for over 4hours. This evening the poor mutts have been barking away for at least 2hours, but as I only arrived back home two hours ago, it could've been all day. The dog must be hoarse by now.

I thought the neighbours must be out drinking White Lightning at The Ship, but the soap-dodgers are actually in, although choosing to ignore the dogs.

On the subject of the biggest mistake in the history of Plumstead Common AKA The Ship, given that this is a conservation area, are there no rules as to how many adverts you can put up on the building exterior? Cheap beer and satellite sports. Errr, yeh mate I fink I get der message. The Ship is so tasteless it makes me physically sick.

In some ways, this would be so much more preferable.

Deep thinking pub

At first glance, I thought this said "Sky Sport Nowhere", as if The Lord Derby was making an existential statement.

I'm such a snob

Many thanks to one lovely listener for putting me right on my 'It's Safe Innit?' piece.

Anonymous said...

Do I notice a touch of snobbery in the land of Plumsteadshire?

Pangloss, you should try having a light ale in either The Prince Albert or The Wo'd a Thought It. I'm quite confident that you would feel suitably uncomfortable in either of the said establishments.

Go on, try it sometime.

You really neeed to remove those blinkers!

I know there are unsavoury characters in Plumsteadshire and I know there are places to avoid; that can be said of any village, town and city, but I'm a 'glass half full' kind o' person. I like a rant now and again, but why is it snobbish to highlight the positive points of an area? Why is it snobbish to have a positive outlook on life? I'm certainly not blinkered, I know what's going on around me.

As for the pubs you mention, yes I have been for drinks in both establishments. You're right, they're not a picture of CAMRA utopia, but that's real life. These places aren't my first choice, but I don't condemn places like these either. Whether you like it or not, they serve a strata of society.

The Ship

Thanks to Dimps for reporting back on this evening's council meeting. I'm not at all surprised at the outcome. One lovely listener has sung the praises of Mr Patel and we can't bash him about for opening a pub. His latest proposal has changed considerably from the Busta proposal.

Let's give him a chance, then if he The Ship changes its' identity back towards Busta, let's bash him then - legally, not physically.

Enough already.

This blog isn't exclusively about pubs. There are more important things out there you know. Like the fact that we can actually walk on custard and that Apple Computer produce damn fine stuff. Did I mention the iPhone?

By the by, the recommendations of trades-people via Plumsteadshire does make me realise the limitations of this blog. I'm working on a Plumsteadshire website and among the many ideas I have for it, good trades-people sounds like a good page to include.

Pub design

By the by, whoever has redesigned The Woodman has shown that they understand aesthetics. No, nothing to do with East London in 2012.

The exterior of The Woodman looks great. Care and attention to signage, use of colour and type.

On the other hand, The Ship formerly known as The Ship, has failed miserably. The gold 3D lettering does not work at all. Look at the typeface. Look how cramped it looks on the elevation. If you want to take the traditional route, then at least use a serif typeface.

Hi De Hi

Ho De Ho

Hope you all had a jolly Christmas. If you had a miserable one, just think of those immortal words:-

'It's all for the best in this best of all possible worlds.'

And so it is.

I don't really want Plumsteadshire to be focused on pubs in Plumstead, but as this has been the local news hot potato, here's my latest contribution.

I walked over to The Woodman today and took a look through the olde worlde pubbe windows. Looks good. It's got that contemporary look which doesn't say 'old man's pub'. It's got a certain Bromley-post-modern-soft-and-fast-seating-area feel about it. I don't know what The Woodman was like in the past but as long as it's a genteel non-offensive place with good beer and food, I'll be there.

Here's a picture of it taken on a typically tropical Plumstead day.