Fencing Renewed, Well Hall Road West Side

PRESS RELEASE no: 2014/05    

17 March 2015

The Progress Estate Conservation Area Character Appraisal, adopted by Greenwich Council in December 2007, states ‘fences play an important part in giving unity to the Estate’s character’.   In response to some complaints that fences were falling into disrepair, the Progress Residents Association undertook a survey to establish their condition in March, 2011.

The survey identified that the fencing to the communal gardens fronting the west side of Well Hall Road needed to be replaced so the Association set itself a target for this work to be carried out by 2015, when it would celebrate its centenary.   Peoples’ opinion of the Estate was more likely to be set by the appearance of this road more than any other, because it is the major bus and vehicular route traversing it.

For historical legal reasons, The Hyde Group is liable to maintain the communal gardens on the Estate.   We were therefore delighted when they agreed to renew these fences in the 2014/15 financial year.   Their contractors for the work are Axis Europe plc, a £90.6ml annual turnover business with established operations throughout the Midlands, East Anglia, London and Kent.

The new fence is of oak, which will be allowed to weather naturally.   The posts have been bolted to the previously-installed concrete half-posts.   The arris rails are fixed to the new posts with mortise and tenon joints.   The concrete posts are not exactly equi-distant, so the right-hand tenons for the top rails (when viewed from the road) were machined before delivery and those to the left cut on site.    

We would like to thank The Hyde Group, who own about 25% of the homes on the Progress Estate, for undertaking these repairs during a time of financial constraint.    The Residents Association is firmly of the view that the outward appearance of the Estate contributes significantly to social harmony.

Relevant photographs below.

Note for Editors:

Originally named the Well Hall Estate, The Progress Estate was built in 1915 to provide housing for the many additional workers the Woolwich Arsenal needed to manufacture the armaments required by the services during the First World War.   Conservation Area status was granted in 1975, in recognition of its unique architectural character.

For additional information, please contact:

Keith Billinghurst

Progress Residents Association committee member

56 Arsenal Road

Eltham

London  SE9 1JY

tel: 020 8856 5593 or 07962 877389

email:               TheProgressEstate@Gmail.com

Twitter:             @ProgressEstate

Website:           www.progressestate.co.uk