Residents fight against council plans to knock down their homes

By Joe Coughlan, Local Democracy Reporter

Residents have opposed plans to have their homes knocked down after the council claimed the completed blocks were ‘substantially different’ to those which were approved.

The tenants of the buildings in Woolwich have claimed they would be ‘devastated’ if asked to leave their homes, fearing thousands of pounds of moving costs.

Greenwich council announced last September that it had taken enforcement action against the Comer Homes Group due to its construction of Mast Quay Phase II, a pair of blocks.

The developer was ordered to demolish the two blocks within a year of the notice, with the authority citing that at least 26 main planning deviations were present on the structures compared to the original approved planning permission.

Gerardas Adalevskis, 28, moved into his flat in the new blocks in May last year with his partner and said he felt the units in the development were of a good quality. 

He said: “I would be spending thousands of pounds to move out, to find another place, to find a place that allows pets, hiring a moving company. It’s just thousands of pounds that we do not have to spend.

“There’s literally a housing crisis in the whole of England and they want to demolish these buildings.”

The authority claimed that the buildings, stretching up to 23 storeys-tall and containing 204 flats, included ‘bulky’ design changes and smaller balconies than were planned. 

Mr Adalevskis said he does not mind the alleged design changes of the completed building as they do not affect living in the blocks themselves.

He said: “Comer is doing a really great job in managing this building. The flats and communal areas are nice, everything’s clean. If the lifts break down, they get it fixed the same day.”

The tenant is a member of the Save Our Sails Action Group, a residents’ association founded to encourage Comer and Greenwich council to allow tenants to remain in their current homes. A planning inquiry on the blocks began at the end of July after Comer appealed the decision of the council, with the inquiry being set to conclude on August 30.

Ed Smith, 75, is another member of Save Our Sails and moved into his flat in July last year. He claimed that he knew the development had been built differently to the approved planning permission, but he did not expect the buildings to be demolished entirely.

He said: “People that don’t know anything about this have said to me that it must be crazy that the answer to a building like this, which has its faults and not complied with this, that, and the other, is to actually pull it down.”

Mr Smith said Comer had done an ‘exemplary’ job at maintaining the buildings, whereas he claimed the response of the authority to his queries on the matter had been ‘appalling’. 

The resident said ward councillors had not replied to his emails about the issue and an email showed a representative for council leader Anthony Okereke stating that he would be unable to comment on the matter given the ongoing inquiry.

He said: “I will have to rethink my life and everything else. I’m not prepared for it.”

A Greenwich council spokesman said that the authority was unable to comment further on the topic given Comer’s decision to appeal the enforcement notice. They noted that the public inquiry for the appeal with the Planning Inspectorate was currently ongoing.

A Comer Homes spokeswoman said: “It is heartening to hear from the residents of Mast Quay that they are happy in their homes. We sympathise with each and every one of our tenants during what must be an unsettling time.”

The developer said it was disappointed and surprised to see its dispute with the council come to an inquiry. The spokesperson claimed the company has sought to engage constructively with the council to agree on a solution.

They added: “Notwithstanding, we would like to assure residents that in the meantime we are committed to robustly correcting the inaccuracies and addressing the council’s concerns at the inquiry.”

Pictured top: Gerardas Adalevski shown in a flat in Mast Quay Phase II (Picture: Facundo Arrizabalaga)