Housing block at former Greenwich police station now rising
Work on a new block of housing featuring 59 flats at the former site of Greenwich police station is now rising.
Plans were approved in July 2020. I popped over to see progress, which has been a limited luxury over the past year.
Greenwich police station closed in 2016 after approval from then Mayor Boris Johnson and his Deputy Mayor for Policing Stephen Greenhalgh.
There’s some art deco touches as a nod to neighbouring Greenwich borough halls and the former Greenwich Town Hall.
Modest touches mind, and not a patch on the quality seen at the former Town Hall, completed in 1939 and home to Greenwich borough council before the merger of Greenwich and Woolwich boroughs in 1965 who settled at Woolwich Town Hall.
Backstreets here feature an interesting mix of architectural styles, including this fine post-war council housing block next door:
The block is named after Greenwich’s twin town of Maribor in Slovenia. Much more can be seen about the history of this block and surrounds at the excellent Municipal Dreams here.
There’s also a Maribor Park in Woolwich – which is temporary and will be partly built upon.
That’s a future controversy right there – wait and see.
Affordable
Anyway, back to Greenwich and new homes are from developer St James. The “affordable” housing total is 30%, which falls below Greenwich Council’s target of 35%. Half the “affordable” homes being shared ownership units and half being London affordable rent units. Again that ratio fails Greenwich’s test.
Yet another example of public land being sold – this time by the Met – with a low ratio of “affordable” housing on site.
Work is underway on scruffy Greenwich Housing Department land next door.
Scaffolding surround long neglected buildings. However, Greenwich have a track record of conducting building work when absolutely necessary and still ignoring public space.
As is sadly typical of Greenwich Council, they have not uploaded the Section 106 agreement to their planning portal yet. Before planning was approved their job agency GLLaB was in line for £59,000 but there was no figure on totals for local improvements. Thus the scope of work at next door’s estate is unknown.
I spent a few hours this week heading around the borough to document changes, which will be featured in coming posts. This costs money and takes time, so if you want to help donate to the site please do.
I’m a private renter paying high rents so any help is much appreciated.
More for GLLaB so if you look at their jobs listing webpage there are NO full time, part time or apprenticeships currently advertised or listed and the last reports on their work are for 2019 and give info in % no raw numbers eg how many attendees, how many placed in work. Complete lack of transparency.
It looks as if GLLaB is merely a ‘holding company’ into which money is funnelled and no account given.
GLLaB is no longer fit for purpose and should have be disbanded. As I have said many times before GLLaB should have been given a annual budget like all other Council Departments and made to stay with in budget like other Council Departments.
If GLLaB run courses on behalf of other Organisations it is up to those organistations to provide the neccessary funds to allow the courses to go a head.
Again I agree with both of the above comments from anonymous201481 and Hedley Shaw.
Greenwich Council really does need to pay more attention to improving public realm and improving older council estates and housing in the Borough.