Plans to build 1,200 homes on the site of Greenwich Ikea’s car park have been revived – just a year after the proposal was put on hold.
The B&Q/Tradepoint store in the Millennium Retail Park would be demolished, but the Odeon cinema and adjacent restaurants would stay, as would the Sainsbury’s petrol station nearby.
Blocks of up to 16, 17 and 20 storeys would be built, with a series of eight-storey blocks facing the A102 along with glazed screens designed to shield the new development from the approach to the Blackwall and Silvertown tunnels.
A “high street” with shops would face the Ikea store and its bus stops, while the north of the site, facing the final phase of Greenwich Millennium Village and Bugsbys Way, would be designed as “neighbourhood streets”.
Public spaces would be at the centre of the site. A pavilion is included next to one of the open spaces, which is earmarked for arts and cultural events. The landowner says this will create “a stepping-stone of cultural activity and amenity between East Greenwich, North Greenwich and Charlton”.
Ikea’s 1,035-space car park would be replaced by 856 ground-floor spaces beneath the new development. Just 34 blue-badge car parking spaces would be provided for residents in an area that would still be served by eight bus routes.
The Singapore-based owner of the retail park, Weybourne Group, has taken on the scheme after the original developer, London Square, withdrew its application in June last year, citing “spiralling” costs. London Square has now pulled out the project altogether, it has confirmed to The Greenwich Wire.
Weybourne is owned by Sir James Dyson, the inventor of the bagless vacuum cleaner who went on to be a vociferous supporter of Britain’s exit from the EU.
Weybourne has amended the scheme to take into account new fire safety rules brought in after the Grenfell Tower disaster – a change which has held up many other developments – but in the main the scheme is largely the same as before.
Planning documents say that both Greenwich Council and the Greater London Authority – which owns the freehold to the site – had given “positive feedback” on the original scheme before it was withdrawn. Recently-approved planning guidance from Greenwich designates the area as being suitable for tall buildings.
The number of homes has dropped from 1,290 in the original application to 1,251, after second stairwells were introduced into the taller blocks and changes were made to the blocks facing the A102.
Of the 1,251 homes, 304 would be for people on Greenwich Council’s waiting list while 134 would be for shared ownership – hitting the town hall’s targets for “affordable” housing and increasing its chances of being approved.
Much of the application has been carried over from the London Square blueprint, including a mention of spending money on improving the notoriously dingy space beneath the Woolwich Road flyover and the footbridge to Tunnel Avenue – something that conspicuously failed to happen when Ikea was built in the late 2010s.
The land was a British Gas sports ground until the late 1980s before it was taken over as part of the Greenwich Peninsula regeneration scheme. The retail park opened a decade later with a Sainsbury’s at its heart. The supermarket moved to Charlton in 2015, with Ikea replacing it four years after.
The Ikea development’s return comes as work begins on the final phase of Greenwich Millennium Village, which will include a block that has been bought by Greenwich Council for its tenants.
Weybourne is promising a new pedestrian crossing to link the development to GMV.
Full details can be found on the Greenwich Council planning website.
Updated at 11am to clarify that London Square has pulled out of the development.
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