Plans for a 20-storey tower behind Greenwich’s Ikea store have been approved by councillors, despite complaints from neighbours that the development would replace what was previously planned to be green space.

The tower, which would be part of the final phase of Greenwich Millennium Village, replaces a plan for a six-storey commercial building that was approved in February 2021.  There would also be a large block of up to nine storeys with a central courtyard.

However, the scheme approved four years ago had green space there, including a formal grove of trees and a woodland garden, and there were 537 objections to the loss of this space, along with more than 302 objections to the new development.

Residents told The Greenwich Wire in October that the scheme made a mockery of GMV’s “village life in the city” slogan, while Greenwich Millennium Village Ltd insisted that a tower was in the original plans for the site from 2012 and that the green space was only meant to be temporary.

The new plan could mean Ikea is surrounded by towers on both sides, with 1,251 flats approved for the store’s car park in June last year. 

Render of commercial building
Scrapped: The commercial unit approved in 2021. Image: Jestico & Whiles/ Greenwich Millennium Village Ltd
Roundabout with building site behind
The site as it is now, with other GMV plots under construction behind it. Image: The Greenwich Wire

Councillors had examined the plans at a planning board meeting last month, and deferred the application so they could visit the site. They met again last week to make a decision.

The two new blocks, which would be opposite Ikea,  would have 258 homes, of which 56 would be for social rent and 24 for shared ownership – hitting the council’s target for 35 per cent “affordable” housing when counted by room. The rest would be sold privately. There would also be three commercial units.

Councillors were told that most of the “affordable” homes would be built in the first phase, and work was due to begin this year, while under planning rules, because Greenwich was not meeting its housing targets, they would have to find a very strong reason not to approve the scheme.

Hoarding and paved part of housing development
The site as it is now. Residents had hoped the land behind the hoarding would become green space. Image: The Greenwich Wire
Hoarding with slogan "village life in the city"
GMV’s slogan is “village life in the city”. Image: The Greenwich Wire

Dave Sullivan, a Kidbrooke Village Labour councillor, said: “I think that we’ve bent over backwards to listen and hear the many objections that I have around this development, and the very fact there were so many objections made us think much harder about this than we would have maybe done on other applications.

“I don’t think it’s going to get any better by continued further scrutiny. I feel that the benefits that we’re getting from the progression of this development are too good, too much and too urgent to keep foregoing.”

The scheme passed, with three councillors voting for, one against and one abstaining.

Pat Greenwell, a Conservative councillor for Eltham Town, abstained after saying she “hopefully understood residents’ concerns about the loss of the green land, and I cannot understand why that 20-storey building is… no way”.

📺 For transparency: The Greenwich Wire usually tries to attend meetings like this in person. Unfortunately, we could only cover both meetings via webcast, and the recording of the initial meeting failed so we have only been able to present a summary of the second meeting.

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