Breathe in – plans for over 1000 homes in Greenwich to be approved this week
It’s a busy planning meeting for Greenwich Council this week with plans for over a thousand homes due to be approved alongside a business office space building in Charlton covered at the weekend.
In terms of housing, there’s four homes on Greenwich Police Station’s car park, 284 flats at Greenwich Square’s next phase, 400 flats at Plot 19.04 on the Peninsula and another 242 homes at Plot 18.02 nearby.
I’ve previously covered plans for the final stage of Greenwich Square which stands on the former site of Greenwich hospital, as well as other plans in the immediate vicinity. These plans are a revision to previously agreed levels and results in an increase of 41 homes across the site, which will now total 686 instead of 645.
Peninsula
A short hop over on the Peninsula and we see two plots up for planning approval. These are named Plots 18.02 (242 homes) and 19.04 (400 homes).
The design is handsome with good proportions, massing and materials which include coloured reconstituted concrete. Developers HUB of the awful proposed tower at Abbey Wood would do well to look at such a design and materials used. It’s far, far better than this:
Even if the massing, detailing and windows aren’t altered, substitute the dark grey panels for brick or colour and material similar to that seen in plots on the Peninsular to reduce the dreary and oppressive nature this block is likely to bring without revisions.
Now onto the other plot at the Peninsular, 19.04, which has 400 homes. Again, a good design with a bit of Mies van der Rohe going on with form and colour. I’m liking the use of black which is rarely used in recent years for residential buildings. It may work less well in isolation but combined with others, as seen at this site, will vary and offer interest in the townscape and vistas:
No car parking is included in these blocks which are beside the forthcoming St Mary Magdalene school for 1600 students. I recently covered proposed bus cuts to the 472 bus route from 12 to 7.5 an hour on average during peak periods. With walking and cycling links so poor to “old” Greenwich, something will need to be introduced in place of the 472 to increase provision, as it’s already very busy.
Once again I do not see mention of any plans to improve walking and cycling links from the Peninsular to east Greenwich. And I’ve now seen documents which finally confirm those roads and routes are almost entirely under Greenwich Council’s control and not TfL so the ball is in their court.
Cycle Superhighway 4, which will start at Tower Bridge, is now to end at the Greenwich and Deptford border. It will not reach east Greenwich any time soon (no consultation at least until 2020) and links between the Peninsular and east Greenwich and Charlton will not be part of it anyway even when, or if, it does arrive 5-10 years from now.
Dear God ! Has anyone given any thought as to where all these newcomers are going to find work ?
Canary Wharf on the whole…if they can get there
With HSBC moving some of their people to Birmingham and others to Paris, I am sure others will follow, so maybe not Canary Wharf