Plans for derelict estate approved where man had to chase off ‘youths and vandal’

By Joe Coughlan, Local Democracy Reporter

A man who has to chase “youths and vandals” from a derelict estate is happy after plans to build flats on the site were approved.

Greenwich council agreed to convert a former care home in Blackheath into a set of nine flats.

The care home closed in January 2017 and is located in the Blackheath Park Conservation area, which is known for its grand Georgian and Victorian houses according to council documents.

Adrian Chaloner, a resident who lives beside the building, said he was in favour of the plans for the flats given the current state of the care home.

He said at the meeting: “It has been left derelict for the last five years. It has fallen into disuse. We have had a number of vandals and attempts to break in, some more successful than others, and I have myself called the police to deal with this on at least four separate occasions and chased off at least three separate different lots of youths. So I firmly believe that something needs to be done to this property.”

Two previous applications to change the care home into flats were refused by Greenwich council in 2018 and 2021, on the grounds of not enough parking spaces being provided in the plans. In the current plans, six new parking spaces will be included along with space to park 18 bicycles.

Labour councillor Gary Dillon, chair of the planning board, raised concerns at the meeting about the number of parking spaces given the flats were aimed at families.

He said: “It’s going to be extremely difficult for those families to get around, especially if you’ve got kids going to two different schools and not enough sufficient transport in the area.”

Stephen Ayton, representing Vectos transport planning advisors, said at the meeting that 2021 census data showed that 27 per cent of people living in the area didn’t have a car.

Joe Alderman, representing RE Planning on behalf of Purelake New Homes, also said that six spaces were the maximum number that could be built on the site according to the planning inspectorate.

Pictured top: Adrian Chaloner said at the meeting that he has called the police to deal with issues at the care home on four separate occasions (Picture: Greenwich council)