More than 250 homes could be built on a playing field between Blackheath and Kidbrooke that has been disused for nearly 30 years.

The last matches took place on the Huntsman sports ground, which lies between the private Blackheath Cator Estate and Berkeley Homes’ Kidbrooke Village development, in 1998, and there have been four unsuccessful attempts to build on the land since then.

Now Derreb Ltd, a developer, hopes it will be fifth time lucky with a plan for 238 flats and 20 houses “arranged along landscaped streets” along with 95 car parking spaces.

An application to build on the site in 2009 was withdrawn, while a follow-up scheme was rejected by an inspector in 2014 because residents would be using the private roads in the Cator Estate to access the site.

In 2014 Greenwich councillors backed a scheme to build 130 flats, but Derrib could not agree legal details with the council’s planning officers and appealed to a planning inspector, who threw the scheme out altogether.

Render of houses
Houses would be built at the edge of the site. Image: Hook Mason Architects/Rolfe Judd/Derreb Ltd

In 2016, another attempt was rejected by a planning inspector for not including enough “affordable” housing. The level in this application is yet to be determined.

The site has long been earmarked for development by both Greenwich Council and City Hall, having lost its protected status as open space. The last time the Huntsman was used as a sports ground, the Ferrier Estate was its eastern neighbour. The Ferrier has been replaced by the Kidbrooke Village development, which will not be finished until the 2030s.

But despite the huge new development taking place across Moorhead Way, building on the Huntsman – one of a number of playing fields in the area – has been legally tricky.

A covenant dating from 1956 stated that the ground could only be used for sport or for detached houses. The covenant was partially overturned by the High Court in 2017, and a restriction imposed banning cars entering from the Cator Estate, but the land is still restricted to a maximum of 130 detached houses.

“The council’s local plan, and the wider London Plan, require that a certain number of homes be built on the site, which is not possible to achieve with a scheme comprising only detached housing,” Derreb says in a consultation document for neighbours. 

“To respect the old covenant as much as possible these emerging proposals place detached houses along the northern and western edges of the site, where the land borders the Blackheath Conservation Area. This ensures that the new development protects the character of the conservation area. 

Render of flats
Most of the housing would be flats Image: Hook Mason Architects/Rolfe Judd/Derreb Ltd

“Furthermore, the two apartment buildings located closest to the western boundary will be designed to look like large, detached houses, rather than obvious blocks of flats. This will reduce their visual impact and help the buildings to fit in with the surrounding historic context.”

While no formal planning application has been submitted, the Blackheath Society has already submitted an objection in its response to Greenwich Council’s draft Local Plan, which identifies the site as suitable for development. The plan is out to consultation until Sunday.

It said the blocks would be too tall and the area lacked the level of public transport to justify so many homes.

Derreb has launched a consultation into its plans before submitting an application to Greenwich Council, at mooreheadway.communityuk.site.

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