Greenwich Builds’ new homes near Maze Hill station
Work to build council housing in east Greenwich is on the final straight after some delay.
Housing on the former Sam Manners care home site located between Woodland Grove and Tuskar Street was paused for some time after work commenced.
A total of 32 homes are being built on site beside existing council housing.
That council housing is in a dismal state externally without basic upkeep for many, many years. Residents have long complained to seemingly no avail.
Some bodge jobs such as sticking now-warped panels of wood are about the extent of action for years. Residents were told in 2016 work would be carried out within five years. Eights years later and nothing has commenced.
Decades-old problem
Like many Greenwich Council estates this abandonment long predates cuts. I know all too well as I lived in some during the 2000s – and have seen their shoddy practices internally.
Basic maintenance just isn’t conducted by Greenwich Housing Department, who seem to only be able to rustle up money on a dime for ever more street clutter on borough roads and spaces under their control (which is a lot).
Which begs the question of how are they going to keep areas like this around other new council housing in halfway decent condition?
Much like their very poor record on looking after public space around shops and town centres that long predates cuts (how many times has external money been given for Woolwich town centre only to then not be maintained?), it’s hard to see how they’ll do the basics at new council housing even with a change of government or greater funding.
It’s a cultural failure from poor management aided and abetted by senior councillors and and cabinet members. Additional council funding or not, problems go deeper and that needs reform.
UPDATE: As if to prove the point a Greenwich cllr popped up to with a sarcastic, patronising post on Twitter. A Labour cllr no less.
I don’t know if he has ever lived on a Greenwich Council estate. I have – both before and after 2010 – so know all too well how his council treats many estate residents and have for a long time. We don’t need to be patronised by him.
Instead of making excuses – and yes we know local finances have been heavily hit – instead push a department long known for its failings including before 2010 to do the basics? As we know, they do still have funding (where does the budget for all the pointless street clutter on estates come from?) and there’s potential for more revenue from Section 106 and CIL revenue. That’d help residents.
Let’s also not forget this is a council and housing department that outsourced parking enforcement in a deal which saw zero funds from fines come back into council coffers. Even when told the private company could no longer enforce fines and to bring it back in house they still didn’t for some years.
It took them seven years from 2014 until finally doing so in 2021.
All about helping both council estates and residents during cuts?
Something is off and stinks in LBG Housing. No money for what residents request. Always money for what helps certain suppliers. Near to us we had constant flytipping so we enquired “can we have a camera” as it’s always the same people and area? No. No money they told us. Well it’d save the costs of continuing to keep cleaning it up wouldn’t it to find them? But we do clean it up they said. We don’t just want it cleaned up we want it stopped to begin with we replied. Ignored. Any halfwit could see it could save money to find the culprits and stop the never ending cycle. They’ve no interest in that. We also asked for trees before here and a bit of TLC for the green spaces. Same answer: “no money”. Yet what no one asked for was grotty eyesore barriers or as you call it “street clutter” to keep being put up on the estate but they keep doing it around us. Somehow the money is always there for that and the supplier keeps getting money. Always. Ignore what people want. Do what helps their friends. Then state there’s no money. Dodgy
Tell me about it. Trying to get leaking pipes fixed or some paint on the outside of our block to make it look halfway presentable after 30 years and the politicians and managers tell us no.
Then they spend thousands on posts and fences all around the green outside for no reason whatsoever. Literally no point. Why spend thousands doing that when pressing issues are ignored? They never seem to want to improve the place. It shows there IS money but it goes to the councils private roads contractor to spend on what simply isn’t needed. Who is making that call in Greenwich Council? Why? Why aren’t politicians scrutinizing them?
Disgusting comment from Fahy. I’m a Labour voter and the Tories are awful but just trying to bat away the shambolic actions of housing maintenance which I know all too well is a shocker. The estate mentioned were promised action years ago then left in the lurch and ignored. There’s no shortage of expensive new developments nearby in Greenwich and the council never thought to capitalise on section 106 revenue to improve crumbling estates?! WTF! Managers and poor practice will never improve if Labour politicians close ranks which they seem to do. Are councilors working for residents or managers in the town hall? It too often seems the latter.
But of course they rustled up £45m for Woolwich Works no sweat. And some “Royal” branding. You don’t have to stray far from the swanky spots in Greenwich to see how the council are happy to leave residents and often the most deprived.
Tongue in cheek as I like WW but they can find money when it suits. It’s just estates doesn’t seem to interest them which is why they are in a horrid old state all over the borough and have been for yonks. Cuts while a factor don’t explain or excuse it alone.All a matter of preferences. Always found it weird Labour council in Greenwich never bothered really looking after council estates unless they get so bad and shown up. It should be their bread and butter and yep it goes back way before this lot got into office at Westminster.
The cuts line really pisses me off as yes we all know councils are hit very hard BUT as I keep highlighting:
1) This is a cultural problem with odd spending priorities by certain depts that goes way back before now. It was the same when labour were in power and local govt saw funding improvements. Didn’t help my estate getting left to rot. It’s a systemic, chronic failing.
2) Even during cuts they’ve done next to nothing to mitigate. While Greenwich officers were telling us they couldn’t use S106 income – and councillors merely rehashed it – other boroughs were doing so using available powers they had. When told of it – silence. No effort to learn or reform broken practices. Which tells its own story.
Alongside all that is Community Infrastructure Levy failure since 2015 and raising so little. If they had followed their *own* Viability Report in 2015 the sheer number of developments in Greenwich would have gained revenue to help deprived areas. The Woolwich box cost would have been paid off long ago. A decade of failings prevented that. Now they are repeating failings by not even featuring growth areas like student development in their new Viability Report while making statements that it isn’t possible, and in the process contradicting what other London boroughs have managed to achieve in recent years after hearings with the planning examiner.
I agree with all your comments. Housing repairs and maintenance of buildings and estates along with public realm improvements are exceptionally poor.
But as J Smith says it was the same when Labour was in Government. So nothing much will change even if Labour win the next election. We will get more of the same to be honest.
In a couple of years, the shoddy build of these new homes will be revealed and they will soon resemble those opposite.