Mast Quay tower block furore – new occupants plea to have demolition order withdrawn – South London News

By Joe Coughlan, Local Democracy Reporter

Woolwich residents have called on the council to scrap plans for their apartment blocks to be demolished after the authority claimed the buildings were ‘substantially different’ to those which were approved.

People living in Mast Quay Phase II, a pair of blocks in Woolwich, have called on Greenwich council to resolve its dispute with the developer of their buildings.

The authority announced last September that it had taken enforcement action against the Comer Homes Group for a pair of tower blocks the developer had built. The notice ordered the company to demolish the two blocks and restore the land to its former condition within 12 months.

The council claimed the buildings, which are up to 23 storeys-tall and include 204 flats, had at least 26 main deviations from the original planning permission which had been granted. These included ‘bulky’ design changes, smaller balconies and windows as well as a lack of accessible apartments and roof gardens.

A residents’ association for the buildings, called the Save Our Sails Action Group, put together a letter earlier this month asking for Comer and Greenwich council to allow tenants to remain in their current homes.

Local residents claimed they felt the buildings were well built and that the proposal to demolish the structures was not appropriate given the current housing crisis.

The letter said: “Whilst we recognise it is wrong that the building was built to different specifications, it is wholly unreasonable that the remedy to this problem is for a perfectly good building to be demolished and for current tenants to be evicted. The thought of being forced out of our homes is absolutely terrifying.”

Edward Smith is a member of the group and has lived in Mast Quay for over a year. He said many residents in the buildings were content and he would like to see a compromise between Comer and the council which acknowledged the shortfalls the authority had identified.

He said: “The proposal to demolish with all its financial, environmental and personal disruption of so many people’s homes is drastic. It’s a move which does nothing to help solve the local housing crisis.”

The two towers in Mast Quay Phase II were created by Comer after the previous developer, Mast Quay Developments, sold the site. Greenwich council approved the original scheme in 2012, but Comer sent changes to the proposals for the shorter of the two towers in December 2022 when the build was nearly completed.

A planning inquiry on the two Woolwich blocks began this week after Comer appealed the decision of the council. The hearing will run for 15 days and conclude on August 30.

A Greenwich council spokesman said: “We have not seen a petition from local residents and are unable to comment further, as the applicant has exercised their right to appeal the enforcement notice. This is now subject to a Public Inquiry Appeal with the Planning Inspectorate which is currently underway this week.”

Comer Homes said that it was ‘heartening’ to hear residents of Mast Quay were happy with their homes. They said the developer sympathised with every tenant on the site and acknowledged the time since the initial enforcement notice had been ‘unsettling’.

They said: “We are disappointed and surprised that it has come to an inquiry. Since Greenwich council issued the enforcement notice last year, we sought to engage constructively with them to agree a sensible resolution – and remain willing to do so.”

The spokesman added: “We would like to assure residents that in the meantime we are committed to robustly correcting the inaccuracies and addressing the council’s concerns at the inquiry. We value the concerns of our residents and hope to come to a resolution that addresses them.”

Pictured top: The tower blocks, developed by the Comer Homes Group (Picture: Facundo Arrizabalaga)

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