Estate residents blast council for letting them ‘rot away slowly’ while focusing on other homes

An estate has been described as the “ugliest street” in its borough, with residents feeling too embarrassed to have friends and family over due to all the rubbish left outside.

The Woodlands Grove estate sits just a five-minute walk from Greenwich Park and a 10-minute bus ride from the O2 Arena.

But residents on the estate feel the council has allowed the area to “rot away slowly” in recent years.

Rachel Turner, 31, has lived on the Woodlands Grove estate with her partner for three years. She said the estate often has rubbish dumped outside it, and she has given up on reporting the issue to the council after raising it two years ago.

Ms Turner said: “When I come home from work, there’s mattresses and tables here. It’s frustrating because it’s right where I live and I don’t like having friends around.

“The first thing they see is a bunch of rubbish. We’ve had mattresses, chairs, toilets, cupboards, wardrobes.

“It’s really frustrating because you want it to be presentable. When you have people come into your apartment, you make your apartment all nice and tidy, but then on the outside, it’s just rubbish here.

“That doesn’t look nice at all. You want to make it a bit more presentable, you’re paying a fortune to live here.”

She said residents on the estate feel like they’ve been “dumped and left” there by Greenwich council as they focus on other housing projects.

Labour councillor Majid Rahman said at a Greenwich council meeting in December last year that residents of Woodlands Grove were unable to sell their homes and had mortgage applications refused because of the condition of the estate.

He said residents were told by the council in 2016 that the estate would be upgraded and refurbished in the next five years, but are yet to see the work begin.

Abiodun Oliagbe, 69, has lived on the estate with his family for four years. He said that earlier this year, his flat started leaking whenever it rained and has since caused mould to grow in his bedroom.

Mr Oliagbe said: “We have reported it to the council but they have not done anything about it. Water is coming in. We have tried to contact them but nothing has been done, really. It is not good for our own health.”

Labour councillor Pat Slattery said the estate would be surveyed for external repairs in the new year, but could not confirm when work would begin.

She said at the meeting: “I have spoken to officers and as part of our external decorations programme, we are about to survey [Woodlands Grove] to consult with residents on what we find and then package it all together and tender for it early in the new year.”

Greenwich council was approached for comment, but had not responded at the time of publication.

Pictured top: Rachel Turner, 31, has lived on the Woodlands Grove estate with her partner for three years (Picture: Joe Coughlan)