Plans for nearly 600 student rooms on Deptford Creek would cause serious harm to views from Greenwich’s historic town centre, a planning inspector has ruled.
Greenwich Council’s planning board threw out Your Tribe’s plans for 13 and 17-storey blocks off Creek Road last year, but the developer appealed against the decision.
After a four-day public inquiry, the inspector upheld the councillors’ rejection of the scheme – and the developer will have to go back to the drawing board.
Much of Greenwich town centre is a world heritage site, and there have been increasing worries about the effects that new towers will have on that status after Unesco revoked Liverpool’s designation in 2021.
The inspector’s decision was published on Thursday, less than 48 hours after another Your Tribe scheme on the creek – for a 20-storey student block at Sun Wharf – was approved by Lewisham councillors.
Your Tribe already has permission to build on a third site by the creek. A 27-storey, 414-room block at Ravensbourne Wharf on Norman Road is due to be completed by summer 2028.
Creek Road scheme rejected again
The Creek Road plans had been revised down from 15 and 20 storeys after objections were raised from Historic England about views from both Greenwich and Deptford town centres, but Royal Parks still maintained an objection because of the effect on views from Greenwich Park.
Neighbours criticised the plans while Majella Anning, an independent councillor for Creekside ward, told the planning board the scheme was a “cash cow”.
A decision was initially postponed so councillors could take a look at the site, currently occupied by low-rise blocks branded Greenwich Quay but historically known as Crown Wharf.
Greenwich’s planning officers had recommended that the blocks be approved. But when councillors met again the following month, they rejected the scheme on the grounds of height and massing, it being outside an area designated for tall buildings, and its impact on strategic views and the character and appearance of the local area.
Hannah Porter, the planning inspector, said that while she did agree with all the council’s concerns, the taller block “ would appear uncomfortably out of place” and the development as a whole would “cause harm to the Deptford Creek and east Creek Road townscape context and dominate local views”.
She also said the development would damage views from the National Maritime Museum and Greenwich Park. “Moreover, something of the low-rise character of the surrounding Greenwich townscape would be eroded, undermining the sense of it being within a well-defined enclave,” she added.
While there was a public benefit in providing student housing, Porter said that “heritage assets are an irreplaceable resource and should be conserved in a manner appropriate to their significance” and dismissed Your Tribe’s appeal.
Sun Wharf blocks approved
But Your Tribe had more luck with another scheme just 400 metres away on Creekside, where the company plans to build 605 student rooms and 50 “affordable” flats – 32 for social rent and 18 for shared ownership – at Sun Wharf, next to the Greenwich railway line and Cockpit Arts.
Previous plans for 220 flats on the site were backed by councillors in July 2022, but were scrapped after the developer said the scheme was no longer viable.
Phoebe Juggins, from Your Tribe, said the blocks would make “efficient use of a prominently located and underutilised brownfield site”.
But two residents spoke against the scheme, saying it would block out the natural light in their homes.
Dawn Atkinson, a Labour councillor for Deptford and vice-chair of Lewisham’s housing select committee, said: “I am fully aware of the housing crisis, however, I do not feel building specific student accommodation would address the local housing need.
“What is needed very much in Deptford are family homes. Student accommodation and student flats are not equal to family homes, which is in dire need in Deptford.”
But Lewisham’s planning officers said that the benefits of providing student housing outweighed the harm caused to neighbours, and councillors on the strategic development committee backed the scheme.
The area between Deptford and Greenwich town centres has long been a hotspot for student housing, and schemes have now spread further south along the creek.
In June 2024 plans for 231 rooms on the Art Hub site at the south end of Creekside were approved by Lewisham councillors. There have also been concerns about student housing plans in other parts of Deptford.
Other plans for tall buildings are also on their way at either end of the creek.
Last month Lewisham Council agreed plans to sell land to Legal & General so 550 homes can be built at Copperas Street. Last year plans to build more than 900 homes on the cross-boundary Lewisham College site at Deptford Bridge were submitted. They have now been redesigned to feature about 800 homes: both Lewisham and Greenwich councils are expected to make a decision in the coming months.
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