Updated story: Proposals to build 1,290 homes in a development surrounding east Greenwich’s Ikea store have been withdrawn by the developer because of “spiralling” construction costs, it said this evening.
The scheme, Peninsula Gardens, would have included the demolition of the adjacent B&Q store and the construction of blocks of up to 16, 17 and 20 storeys. Some blocks would have faced the approach road to the Blackwall and Silvertown tunnels, but London Square, the developer, said the homes would be screened off from the A102.
Ikea’s car park would have been reduced in size as part of the proposals – 821 spaces compared with 1,035 on offer now – and buried beneath the new homes.
Plans first emerged in March 2021 with more detailed proposals consulted on four months later. A complete proposal was submitted to Greenwich Council last spring.
David Gardner, a Greenwich Peninsula councillor, announced the withdrawal on Twitter, saying that he was “delighted” and hoping “they will come back with an enhanced lower-rise scheme with less parking working with local residents”.
But London Square, which has recently built new homes on the site of Greenwich police station, put the future of the project in question after saying that it was being reviewed because of the soaring costs that have hit the construction industry since the pandemic, war in Ukraine and Brexit.
The company told 853 this evening: “We have decided to review our current planning application for Bugsby’s Way, Greenwich, which comprises a mixed use redevelopment of the site, with over 1,000 new homes across a series of apartment blocks, a new public square and new commercial floorspace.
“We are assessing the viability of the development, in the light of spiralling costs in construction and building materials. We may then look at submitting a revised application in the future.”
While there have been far bigger construction projects on the Greenwich Peninsula, the proposal would have transformed the area around the busy Angerstein roundabout – if not the notorious junction itself.
However, London Square had said that cash from the development could have been used to improve the unpleasant environment beneath the flyover.
Locals will now be waiting to see what future plans emerge, if any. A residential development on the car park could provide a template for further schemes along the Charlton Riverside, where land currently occupied by supermarkets, retail barns and car parks is earmarked in the long term for housing.
Story updated at 7.45pm with comment from London Square.
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