A little-known World War II air-raid shelter beneath an MOT garage could be destroyed as part of a plan to build 20 flats in Charlton.

The shelter, beneath the Riverside Garage on the corner of Rathmore Road and Victoria Way, would be wiped out to form a basement where a self-storage depot would be based.

All 20 flats would be for private sale, with the developer instead offering the council £200,000 to go towards housing elsewhere. 

Greenwich Council planners are recommending the plans be approved by councillors at a planning board meeting on Tuesday.

If the block is approved, it would mean the end of a wartime relic which had somehow gone unrecorded until an objector to the application raised the issue.

The concrete arched shelter, which is little more than nine metres long, is thought to have been used by workers in the building at the time, and is still accessible from the garage.

Garage building on street corner
The shelter is beneath the Riverside Garage at the corner of Rathmore Road and Victoria Way. Image: The Greenwich Wire

In the lead-up to the outbreak of war, businesses were made to provide shelters for their staff by law.

Records from the time show that just across the railway line from the garage, a V1 rocket destroyed buildings in the old Johnson & Phillips cable works, while a V2 demolished homes at the north end of Victoria Way.

However, because the shelter was a private one and a mass-produced product, heritage experts have not called for it to remain, although the council’s own conservation officer said its loss would be “regrettable”. 

Render of new flats
The 20-flat block would replace the MOT garage. Image: Samson Space

The developer has carried out an assessment of the shelter and taken photos of it for posterity in its heritage impact assessment, which has been submitted with the planning documents.

In a report to councillors, Greenwich’s planning officers said: “Taking into account the current poor visibility within the local area (within a basement of a private business) as well as its poor structural condition, loss of the existing air raid shelter is considered to result in less than substantial harm and is not considered to result in a significantly detrimental impact on the character of the area and is therefore is accepted on balance.”

Councillors are set to have their say on the issue on Tuesday.

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