Greenwich Council is poised to sign a deal to allow an estate that sat crumbling for years to finally be redeveloped.
The private developer Lovell will be allowed to build 33 private homes on the site of the Maryon Grove estate in Charlton – partly rolling back a previous deal which kickstarted work on the nearby Morris Walk Estate.
The clock is ticking for the Maryon Grove development, which is nearly two years behind schedule. The outline planning permission is due to expire in April next year.
Greenwich had originally agreed to buy 90 homes at Maryon Grove from Lovell to use as council housing as part of a wider £87 million deal to save the regeneration project.
But the plans have been rejigged again, and it will only buy 53 of the 165 homes. However, there will still be more social-rent homes on the rebuilt estate, to be rebranded Trinity Rise, as the PA Housing association has won a City Hall grant to convert its share of 79 homes from shared ownership to social rent.
Council officers say that allowing Lovell to keep some of the housing to sell will achieve a “mixed and balanced” community – and could save the cash-strapped council £10 million. Greenwich could now also benefit from a share of the profits if property prices rise.
They say that not making the changes “increases the risk that Lovell will stop all design and development” on the project, leaving the council with a hole in the ground and a bill for demolishing the old estate.
The agreement, to go before the council’s cabinet next week, may signal the beginning of the end to a decade-long saga involving the redevelopment of three estates in and close to Woolwich: the Connaught, Morris Walk and Maryon Grove.
Greenwich and Lovell signed a deal in 2013, called One Woolwich, to redevelop three estates – Connaught in Woolwich, Morris Walk, and the Maryon Grove estate in Charlton.
The notorious Connaught Estate, which was built in 1970 as 338 council flats, was rebuilt and rebranded as the 684-home Trinity Walk development – with just a quarter of the homes going to those on housing waiting lists. Booming property prices meant the council shared in some of the profits from the sale.
But when it came to Morris Walk, work came to a halt amid disagreements between the council and Lovell. Construction only began after the council bought 175 flats from the developer to use as council housing. The first homes in what will be called Trinity Park could be handed over by the end of the year.
Maryon Grove was always meant to be last and the crumbling blocks were used as temporary accommodation until last year. They were demolished after the empty were broken into and set alight.
Detailed plans for the new homes, which are running about two years behind schedule, are expected by the end of the year. Neighbours were invited to an exhibition about the plans last month.
Follow The Greenwich Wire on Bluesky, Facebook, LinkedIn or Threads. You can also sign up for WhatsApp alerts – or subscribe to our emails through the blue box above.
Comments are closed.