An industrial estate in Charlton that was at the centre of a battle to build new housing seven years ago could have a new warehouse for online shopping services built there instead. 

The VIP Trading Estate on Anchor & Hope Lane had been earmarked by the developer Rockwell for 771 new homes. 

Greenwich Council’s planners backed the plans for 11 blocks, but they were rejected by councillors in 2018, with the chair of planning at the time, Sarah Merrill, branding the scheme “reminiscent of Stalingrad”. 

London mayor Sir Sadiq Khan called in the project but also rejected it, as did the Westminster government after Rockwell appealed to a planning inspector.

The site has since been sold on and now GLI, which specialises in “innovative urban logistics warehouses”, wants to build on the south-western part of the VIP site. 

GLI, which builds “last mile warehouses” – where HGVs unload packages to be delivered by couriers to shoppers’ homes –  says it will improve a dilapidated site with new trees and greenery as well as opening a new pedestrian entrance from Anchor & Hope Lane. 

Anchor & Hope Lane as it is now. Image: The Greenwich Wire

Greenwich Council and the London mayor’s office has long wanted to build thousands of homes on the Charlton Riverside, but with little success. A number of schemes have stalled, with just a single flat, on top of the former Victoria pub, finished since the current masterplan was published eight years ago. However, 67 housing association flats are approaching completion near the Thames Barrier. 

GLI’s application states that Anthony Okereke, Greenwich Council’s leader, was among those consulted on the proposal. Two years ago, The Greenwich Wire revealed that Okereke met representatives of Patrizia, the German property investor that co-owns GLI, at the Mipim property fair in Cannes. 

The plans have been filed to Greenwich Council just weeks before the opening of the HGV-focused Silvertown Tunnel, which will allow heavier lorries to cross the Thames that are banned from the 19th-century northbound Blackwall Tunnel.

While there is huge demand for warehouse space in London, developers have had mixed results in trying to take advantage of the new tunnel. One of GLI’s rivals, Bloom, has opened up at Tunnel Avenue in east Greenwich after being given permission by councillors. 

Across the Thames, plans for a three-storey warehouse close to the tunnel’s northern entrance  were withdrawn after significant opposition, including from Greenwich Council. The developer, Gazeley, switched tack and last year Newham Council gave permission for the site on North Woolwich Road to be used as a £750 million data centre instead. 

The application can be found on the Greenwich Council planning website.

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