Businesses waiting to find out if they will lose their premises for a major development in Woolwich say they have been “thrown under the bus” as uncertainty over the project goes on, some 12 years after it was first announced.
Both Greenwich Council and the housing association Notting Hill Genesis say they are still committed to the Woolwich Exchange project, which includes 801 homes in five tall blocks of up to 23 storeys, a new cinema – the first in the area since 1999 – and new shops around the town’s disused covered market.
The project involves demolition of buildings predominantly used by scores of black and ethnic minority businesses. They say they remain in the dark about what is happening, nearly three years after the council won a compulsory purchase order on the properties.
Woolwich Exchange has suffered repeated delays since it was approved by Greenwich councillors five years ago, and will need substantial revision because of changes to building regulations since then.
One of the partners in the project, the developer St Modwen, pulled out of the scheme three years ago, while a council webpage about the project, with information for businesses, appears to have been last updated in 2024.
In November last year documents filed with Companies House revealed that Notting Hill Genesis was attempting to bring in new investment, while at a meeting of the council’s planning board the same month, a town hall planning officer referred to Woolwich Exchange “if it ever comes forward”.
At the same meeting, one councillor, Labour’s Dave Sullivan – a former Lewisham Council leader with long experience in development schemes – discussed projects in the town that had been approved but had gone nowhere, highlighting Woolwich Exchange “if it ever happens”.
Once one of Woolwich’s most prominent civic buildings, the Grade II-listed Public Market – due to house a cinema, bars and restaurants under the current plans – has been defaced with graffiti and is now home only to some building equipment, an old Christmas tree and signage from a Covid test centre.
The market space was last used for the immersive art show Dreamachine four years ago, as well as the ill-fated Public street-food market which was meant to occupy the space until development work began, but closed in February 2019 after less than a year open.
Business owners around the Public Market have been left wondering what is happening.
“We’re just hanging on, waiting and waiting,” said Sibel Suleyman, whose family has run the Arsenal Gate Café since the 1980s, and has had to live with the uncertainty since the plans first emerged 12 years ago.
“It’s just dragging us down, just not knowing what’s going on and then being postponed and postponed. Either way, we’re just all on standstill. We just want to know where we stand so we can try to plan our future.”
Suleyman said she had not been made an offer for her premises. “They’re not ready to negotiate,” she said. “That was what we’ve been told.”
She added: “It’s quite worrying and concerning, because you see everywhere else developments are coming up, you see all of the progress in Woolwich, but us around here, it’s just how many years? It’s been a very long time. And you think, why is everywhere else succeeding?”
Christy Atumba told The Greenwich Wire she had spent £100,000 converting an old cash-and-carry into the All Tribe Nigerian restaurant, which opened four years ago.
“I’m proud of this, and seeing them break this down is going to hurt my feelings,” she said.
“I haven’t really heard anything from the council, so I don’t know. I don’t know their plan. I wish I knew.”
The council website contains a list of premises where businesses could move to, although it was last updated in December 2023. Locations range from Erith to Lewisham. In July last year, the council said that it was assisting just two out of 160 businesses – a church and a healthcare provider – with relocation.
Atumba said she would be happy to take new premises – so long as she could stay in Woolwich. “This is my area,” she said. “I’ve been in Woolwich for 22 or 23 years. So moving to another place is going to be difficult. All my customers live here.”
Ghulam Mustafa, has been at the Continental Supermarket since 1971, when the Royal Arsenal opposite was still a thriving hub for the military. He said a planned meeting with the council in February had been cancelled and an offer for his premises had been verbally withdrawn.
He said of a meeting with one representative: “I said to him, ‘How much are you going to give me for this?’ He quoted me a figure. I said, ‘OK, there’s a title deed. Let’s draw a contract and you can give me the money. He said, ‘It doesn’t work like that.’”
Mustafa said he and other traders had been treated “very badly” by the council.
“They could have given us a fixed date [for purchase] instead of renewing it every three months or every six months, and we would know what to do,” he said. “Everybody’s in the same situation.”
He said he had heard from one senior figure in the local Labour Party that Notting Hill Genesis had pulled out of the scheme, and from another that the housing association was being sued by the council. Notting Hill Genesis and Greenwich Council have denied each allegation.
Cyril Emuh, who runs CTC Skills Training in Parry Place – a street which would be entirely redeveloped – said: “They’ve pushed us under the bus and they’ve gone quiet. They’re not talking to us. They’re not engaging with us.” He said the delays meant he was not sure whether it was worth fixing a leaky roof in his building.
When councillors approved the scheme in 2021, some voiced reservations because just 19.7 per cent of the homes would be “affordable” – for London Affordable Rent (about half market rates) or shared ownership. The level was originally 35 per cent, but was cut after the Public Market was listed because of its distinctive curved roof.
Two years later, the council said in its corporate plan, Our Greenwich, that one of its challenges was “ensuring that development and change benefits local people and not gentrification”.
“This is totally gentrification,” Emuh said. “Do they ever involve the people? All the businesses have been here for a long time, and the diversity of the businesses, this is what Woolwich needs. We don’t want it to be similar to what is happening over there in the Arsenal. Woolwich is a multi-ethnic area and we should keep it so.”
Emuh accused the council’s representatives of acting in a bullying manner by not allowing businesses to bring advisors with them for talks, and said he had been given a “take it or leave it” offer for his property that was “ridiculous” – adding that a private developer had offered better money for the site 20 years ago.
Visitors to CTC Skills Training are greeted with photographs of Emuh with Nick Raynsford, the area’s former Labour MP, when the centre opened in 2001, along with more recent photos of the owner with senior Labour councillors.
“It’s a Labour council, and Labour should be co-operating with the people,” Emuh said.
It is possible that work has already officially started on Woolwich Exchange, which would make it easier for the council and Notting Hill Genesis to force changes through.
Land Registry data shows that the council bought a plot of land between Parry Place and Burrage Road – the site of a long-demolished day-care centre and the former Co-op Club – for £3.25 million in January 2024. The site has been fenced off, which could be enough to avoid the planning permission expiring this December.
Greenwich Council would not directly confirm if work had officially begun, nor would it confirm if its compulsory purchase powers had been used.
A council spokesperson said: “Construction has been delayed due to a number of external factors common across developments all over the UK, including inflation and changes to building safety rules, which are outside the control of both Notting Hill Genesis and the council.
“We recognise that the delays have caused uncertainty to the businesses and landowners affected by the compulsory purchase order. We have been in regular correspondence with those affected to provide support and advice on their options for relocation. Most recently, in December 2025 we advised that vacant possession of properties would not be needed before July 31, 2026 at the earliest. The amount of compensation each landowner or business will be entitled to is set by the CPO compensation code.
“The council is working to progress Woolwich Exchange, alongside Notting Hill Genesis, and we look forward to making further announcements as soon as possible.”
Notting Hill Genesis declined to comment further, other than to emphasise that it was still committed to the project and that there was no legal dispute between it and the council.
⏰ Reporting like this takes time. If you’d like to see more of this, become a supporter of The Greenwich Wire.
📩 Follow The Greenwich Wire on Bluesky, Facebook, LinkedIn or Threads. You can also sign up for WhatsApp alerts – or subscribe to our emails through the blue box above.
You must be logged in to post a comment.