More homes behind Woolwich Waves leisure centre approved

Plans for a bigger housing development behind the new Woolwich Waves leisure centre have been approved by Greenwich councillors – amid worries about the future of the Sikh temple behind the site.

An official from the Ramgarhia Sikh temple feared that residents in the block would object to the noise coming from early morning services.

A proposal for 482 new homes, in blocks of up to 19 storeys,  behind Woolwich Waves was approved along with the centre three years ago, with councillors then voicing concern about the lack of social housing.

But changes to building regulations following the Grenfell Tower fire and increased costs meant the developer, Hill Residential, has now opted to build 557 homes on the site – although 188 homes will now be for social rent, compared with just 51 under the old scheme. 

The blocks will now be up to 21 storeys, and the Bull Tavern – dismissed as a “dump” by one councillor – will now be demolished completely to make way for a new, bulkier block facing Woolwich Arsenal station. While the Bull was never meant to return as a pub, its facade was originally going to be kept and incorporated into the block. 

Two blocks will be for private rent, while the social housing will now be provided by a housing association, rather than Greenwich Council as originally planned. Troy Court, a block of 24 council homes, is being demolished as part of the scheme.

Commercial space has also been cut back in the project, the profits from which will help pay for the leisure centre, which is due to open next month.

But worries about the scheme’s effect on the temple – which were raised when the original project was approved – dominated the meeting. 

Jigs Chana, representing the Ramgarhia Sikh Association, said that while the temple supported the scheme more broadly, it feared “church bell syndrome” would affect its viability.

“Our temple has served the community for 60 years, and we sometimes have 24-hour events. There are balconies in very close proximity to our temple and there could be complaints from new residents and all of a sudden we get enforcement notices,” he said. “We would ask for protection so that doesn’t become an issue.”

Daniel Palman, Hill’s senior development manager, conceded that recordings of the temple in operation had not been made when assessing noise in the area.

But pressed on the issue by Gary Dillon, the chair of planning, he insisted flats close to the temple would be “fit for purpose”. 

“We build flats in much noisier environments and I’m confident that residents would not be disturbed by events from the temple,” Palman said, adding later that residents would be told about the temple’s services in a welcome pack. 

Greenwich Peninsula councillor David Gardner raised concerns about would replace The Bull Tavern, saying: “Normally a development of this size would have some sort of community centre or cafe that brings everyone together.”

Palman said there would be a community square, which could be used for markets, and a community garden, while there would be rooms in Woolwich Waves available for residents.

Gardner said there had been issues in Greenwich Millennium Village in his ward with residents having to pay high rates to use a community centre that was closed at weekends. Palman said that issue was for the council to address.

When it came to a decision, Gardner said he had “sort of held my nose” because of the heights of the buildings when approving the original project, but said not enough had changed to reject the revised version, and he welcomed the extra homes for social rent.

But he said: “I’m also very concerned about the treatment of the Bull Tavern. Not so much that it was a great pub, but the building and the history and the fabric of Woolwich, and also being a place for the community to get together, as a cafe, pub or whatever. 

“I would ask that the developer does look at that space in terms of something that can cement the community and bring it together, just like the Dial Arch and the Guard House [pubs] do for the Royal Arsenal.”

Gardner’s Labour colleague Dave Sullivan teased him about the closed pub, suggesting he “was getting a little bit sentimental in his old age in thinking that the Bull can be the glue in the Woolwich community”.

“I think the glue is places like the leisure centre, which will do more to create community than any dump like the Bull was, or even the Anglesea Arms was, or some of the other dumps around Woolwich town centre,” Sullivan said, adding that this development and others were needed if Woolwich was to grow into a metropolitan centre.

“The leisure centre will be more of a catalyst for community cohesion. One of my constant complaints is about the Arsenal and Woolwich town centre and this great big moat that exists between them called Beresford Street. And this is a major scheme happening on the other side of the road, and we start to create one community in Woolwich where places like the Dial Arch become the glue for the other side of the road too.”

The planning board — Dillon, Gardner, Sullivan, Calum O’Byrne Mulligan (Labour), Olu Babatola (Labour), Pat Greenwell (Conservative) and Tamasin Rhymes (Green) — voted unanimously for the scheme. Dillon said the developer should visit the temple to “continue the dialogue”.

According to documents supplied to the council, work could start in the summer and be completed in early 2031, with the block on the site of the Bull being built first.

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