Residents’ fury after council approves 12-storey tower block

By Kiro Evans, Local Democracy Reporter

Residents were left furious after a care home demolition for a controversial tower block was given the go-ahead.

Now, over 300 homes will be built on the site of the vacant Gallions Nursing Home.

The move sparked a backlash with local residents, who attended the council’s planning meeting.

One resident reacted to the decision with anger, saying: “It will be like hell.”

The four residential blocks with one as high as 12 storeys are expected to be built starting from the beginning of 2022.

Fairview Estates, who are behind the project, hope for it to be completed in 2025, and say it produce 335 new homes in the process, with 117 of these classed as affordable homes.

Residents objected to the plans as they wanted to see the care home brough back into use.

A resident who lives near Pier Way, Thamesmead, where the development will be, was completely opposed to it.

Jessy, who did not want to give a second name, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “Providing new homes for people shouldn’t come with the cost of decreasing the quality of life of the current residents.

 “All people from the local community are against building a tower. There was a petition against it from the summer, organised by a local resident.

“It will destruct our lives and not one person I’ve spoken to supports it.”

Jessy’s mother Mariana accompanied her to the meeting, she added: “It will be like hell. [The construction] will destroy the environment and affect the birds and squirrels. The demolition will destroy everything.”

Another resident named Oscar told the Planning Board that the 12 storey tower block did not fit the area.

He said: “It’s a quiet, residential area with two storey family homes. This is a thoughtful proposal – just in the wrong place.”

On the demolition of the nursing home, Labour councillor John Fahy said it was “a nonsense” that Greenwich did not need care home spaces.

Conservative leader Nigel Fletcher praised the “appropriate and commendable” focus on affordable housing the blocks would provide.

Mark Jackson, the director of planning at Fairview Estates, said his company’s proposals provided “genuinely affordable homes” that could attract young families and help whittle down Greenwich’s long list of people needing a place to live.

The vote passed by five to two, with one abstention.