The Poundstretcher store in Woolwich is set to be knocked down and replaced with a six-storey block containing 156 co-living homes – and work could start this year.
Greenwich Council’s planning board approved the scheme, which councillors were told would improve the look of Beresford Square, at its meeting last week.
The block, which would have a commercial unit on the ground floor, would replace the supermarket and a shop next door as well as disused office space above.
Co-living homes provide small ensuite rooms with shared facilities and are aimed at young professionals priced out of traditional flats, who pay a rent that covers all their bills. Residents would be pay between £1,500 and £2,000 per month at current rates, a sum which would include utility bills and other facilities.
They have become popular with investors in recent years, and in Greenwich co-living developers only have to pay 60 per cent of the community infrastructure levy they would have to pay for traditional flats.
Other co-living developments have been approved at nearby Macbean Street as well as on the old Thames Polytechnic Island Site near the town hall, which received formal sign-off just before Christmas.
The Beresford Square scheme would include a co-working space, gym and roof terrace as well as a community kitchen. There would be just two accessible car parking spaces.
Councillors accepted the scheme despite it providing no “affordable” housing, which the developer said it could not afford – instead they accepted £2.2 million to go towards homes elsewhere.
Sophie Gunn of Packaged Living, which will operate the development, said that because the site was lower than 18 metres, it did not need approval from the Building Safety Regulator, a hurdle which is holding up many developments, and work could start this year.
“The existing building is of really poor quality with long, blank frontages at the ground floor,” she said. “Our proposals will look to completely transform this with a fully vibrant and active frontage at ground floor. We would like a restaurant that actually opens up onto Beresford Square and really animates the square during the evening and supports Woolwich’s night-time economy.”
Residents would have their own kitchen and bathroom, Gunn said, “but they will have access to a whole host of amenities in the building, things like a gym, a wellness studio, co-working space, but also social resident lounge and kitchen space at the top of the building.
“So residents are renting the whole building, and not just their studio. Co-living offers a sustainable, affordable and long term option, and it’s also meeting a growing demand for those that are living in really poor quality rental accommodation at the moment.”
The proposal was backed unanimously.
Pat Greenwell, a Conservative councillor for Eltham Town, supported the scheme. She said: “Knowing that HMOs come to local planning all the time, and if we have something like this, it’s a way of getting properties back onto the market for families and releasing those properties.”
Sandra Bauer, a Labour councillor for Kidbrooke Village, said she really hoped “the glory days of Woolwich are coming again”.
“It’s really good for a sort-of meanwhile use,” she said. “If somebody’s got a contract that they’re working, they can come for six months and go, or if there’s been a recent romantic disappointment they could come for a little while until they sort themselves out. You can think of thousands of situations where you might, you know there, by the grace of God, you might need something like this. So I’m really, really excited.”
Earlier in the meeting, West Thamesmead Labour councillor ‘Lade Hephzibah Olugbemi said she was “very concerned about the character of our town centre” in light of the developments being approved, which include hundreds of student rooms.
Gary Dillon, the planning chair, responded: “I remember when 250,000 people worked on the Arsenal, and I remember how brilliant Woolwich town centre was when it was probably one of the best shopping areas in southeast London, probably south London, we had big department stores down Powis Street and Hare Street.
“When we look at the Arsenal and we look at the people moving back into Woolwich, it’s only going to enhance the town centre, you know, and it will encourage back more of those businesses that emigrated out to these shopping centres in Charlton and Bluewater, and it will bring back a bit of vibrancy into the town centre.
“Woolwich has the capacity to deal with a lot more people because that’s what it was built on.”
The current block sits on what was once known as the High Pavement, facing Woolwich’s traditional street market. It was built in 1970 and replaced an old cinema and slum housing.
Next door is a Victorian shop – a survivor of three built in the 1890s along with a long-gone pub, and currently a takeaway – which is not part of the demolition plans.
Beresford Square itself has recently been refurbished, with the market moved to the old High Pavement. Opposite, the old Ordnance Arms pub is being turned into a hotel, while plans to redevelop the area around the covered market into Woolwich Exchange continue to be delayed amid issues with fire safety in the planned blocks, increased costs and disputes with the existing businesses on the site.
📺 For transparency: The Greenwich Wire usually tries to attend meetings like this in person. Unfortunately, we could only cover this meeting via the webcast.
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