Residents fear new houses will block ‘emergency escape from fires’

By Joe Coughlan, Local Democracy Reporter

Plans to knock down garages in a car park in Greenwich to build nine new homes have been approved after nearby residents were assured they would still be able to escape in a fire.

The two-storey houses will be built in Abbey Wood in place of 21 garages along Godstow Road, with all the homes deemed “affordable”.

Council documents show that 21 objections have been made against the plans, submitted by the council.

One of the concerns raised includes the impact the new buildings would have on fire safety in the case of residents in neighbouring properties needing to escape during an emergency.

The proposals were discussed at a planning board meeting for Greenwich council on Tuesday.

Amanda Parker, who lives beside the site, said there were up to seven people who are disabled or elderly living in the immediate area who may require an ambulance at any given time.

She said she was particularly worried about a pedestrian passageway with locked gates being added to the site, which council documents said would be done to reduce safety concerns and limit access to the gardens of existing flats.

Ms Parker said at the meeting: “If [the walkway is] going to be gated off then how are the upstairs residents meant to get out in an emergency if there is a fire? We’re a two-storey maisonette and you’ve got people that live upstairs.”

Charles Ugbul said he lives in Godstow Road and felt the site wasn’t big enough for any new buildings.

Mr Ugbul said at the meeting: “I will tell you something that happened last year. There was a very big fire that occurred in Godstow Road and I had to use that car park to escape it, between myself and my family.”

Matt Rudgyard, senior project manager at Greenwich council, said at the meeting that the gates had been designed to provide safety and security to the existing rear gardens on the site.

He said there was currently informal access to the gardens and that residents seemed to be already using their own padlocks for their safety.

Andrew Fisher, representing Greenwich Builds, said at the meeting that emergency vehicles would be able to access the new houses readily from Godstow Road.

He said that the properties had been developed to provide affordable new homes to residents at social rent prices.

Pictured top: A computer-generated image of one of the planned houses in Godstow Road (Picture: Pellings/Greenwich council)