Trinity Park
The plans envisage taller blocks to the north of the site

Developer Lovell has submitted its planning application to redevelop the Morris Walk Estate on the Charlton/Woolwich border, with 766 new homes planned.

The application comes less than two weeks after the final consultation into the scheme ended. Locals will be able to have their say in the coming weeks when Greenwich Council’s planning department publishes full details of the scheme and asks for formal submissions. Lovell already has outline permission to build here, this application fills in the details.

Much of the old estate – built as 562 council homes between 1964 and 1966 – has now been demolished, although some tenants are still living in blocks to the north of the estate, off Woolwich Church Street.

Morris Walk rebuild
Taller blocks are planned near Woolwich Church Street

Of the 766 homes promised, 177 will be for affordable rent (about half market rent) with 76 available for shared ownership. It promises “a high quality inclusive design which is sympathetic to the surrounding area, strengthening the visual connection across the rail line and providing green links to Maryon Park. The scale and form of the new buildings respond to the existing homes in the immediate context and integrate new green squares for people to meet and play.”

The company plans to build a mixture of one, two, three and four-bedroom houses and apartments, with more “affordable” housing and a cluster of taller blocks – of up to 13 storeys – to the north of the site. It plans 304 homes in the north of the site, of which 87 would be for affordable rent and 42 for shared ownership. There would be 144 car parking spaces.

To the south there would be more private housing, including blocks of up to six storeys high with houses closer to Maryon Park. Some 44 per cent of homes south of the railway line would have three bedrooms or more. There would be 462 homes, including 90 for affordable rent and 34 for shared ownership. There would be 281 car parking spaces, many beneath buildings to “to reduce on street car dominance and create a more pedestrian-friendly environment”.

Lovell render
Houses and lower-rise blocks will face Maryon Park

If planning permission is given, Lovell hopes to start work in autumn 2021.

The development is part of a 12-year deal with Greenwich Council signed in 2012 which also includes the crumbling Maryon Road and Maryon Grove estates, which will also be rebuilt by Lovell, with a planning application scheduled for 2023. It has already turned Woolwich’s notorious Connaught estate into a new development called Trinity Walk.

However, there have been a series of hitches along the way: demolition of Morris Walk was due to begin two years ago; but when that date was missed it was claimed the development had been delayed for seven years.

Last summer, Chris Kirby, then the cabinet member for housing, complained that Lovell had “let the council down”, but demolition finally got under way this summer. However, neighbours were annoyed after emergency services were allowed to carry out exercises in the fenced-off estate without warning them.

Mick Laws, the development and precommencement director at Lovell London, said: “This is an exciting regeneration programme for the area and if planning is granted, will not only provide new homes but much needed inward investment and jobs. Lovell is dedicated to building the proposed homes and working closely with Royal Borough of Greenwich throughout the process.”

This story first appeared on The Charlton Champion.

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