Revised plans for Woolwich tower block
When covering plans for a new cycle lane between Woolwich and Greenwich recently I was reminded of a tower block proposal a few years ago at the former Albion pub in Woolwich.
Little has been heard of the scheme, which I first covered in 2016, since approval was given in June 2017. That is until today when a new proposal popped up on the Greenwich Council website. Lakeview Estates have submitted an application which bumps up flat numbers to 51.
The developer claimed it was “not viable” to build that scheme and so pushed for 26 floors.
That was knocked back and the new application is the same height as the 2017 approval.
Planning documents for the scheme are severely outdated stating nearby Charlton Riverside will see 3,500 – 5,000 new homes. It was actually 5,000 to 7,500 when the masterplan approved and the London Plan now puts the number at 8,000.
The site is also directly beside the Morris Walk estate in Woolwich. Hoardings are now appearing around that site for demolition as part of the “One Woolwich” scheme to demolish three estates. I’m hoping to pop over and take some pics soon.
Morris Walk will see blocks up to 18-floors under outline plans already approved.
Given the large number of projects in the area it would be interesting to look into the viability of rebuilding the existing Woolwich Dockyard station, or even moving it, to accommodate 12-car trains. Currently 10 carriages is the maximum. It’s the only station on the line with such a restriction.
Moving the station west would place it in the middle of the rebuilt Morris Walk estate – where the uplift in new homes will be substantial – and close to the eastern half of the Charlton Riverside masterplan area for 8,000 homes.
Click here to view details of the Albion Road plan.
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Do we know how long it will take for the Morris Walk Estate to be fully completed once redevelopment starts,
12 carriage trains on the Woolwich Line would be very much welcomed if Woolwich Dockyard Station could accommodate them. Along with improvements to the Thameslink Services to make them more frequent at every 20 minutes from Kent to Central London to make them more reliable over this section.
With so many developments already under construction many more hundreds of homes planned in Woolwich, Charlton, Greenwich, Kidbrooke, Abbey Wood and at other sites around the Borough.
There is an urgent need for the public infrastructure to be further improved to meet demand.
The estimated cost of extending Woolwich Dockyard is minimum £20million, and potentially as much as £50million. That is terrible value for money, so it’s not going to happen.
Also, 12-car trains cannot use platforms 4, 5 or 6 at Charing Cross so there is a limitation at one of the terminal stations, which means you could spend that money and still only have 10 car trains going through Woolwich Dockyard via Lewisham! Which makes it even less of a sensible idea.
Selective Door Operation on new stock would solve the Charing Cross issue. It would also solve the Woolwich Dockyard issue, but moving Woolwich Dockyard station would also benefit 10,000+ new homes in the vicinity and up to 30k residents. Possibly more as that number doesn’t cover a fair amount of industrial land not in the masterplan or Morris Walk/One Woolwich estate areas.
What are the three estates that are being demolished?
Thank you for the update on the cost for improving Woolwich Dockyard Station Chris Smith.
In that case Greenwich Council and TFL need to get together urgently to come up with other options on how to improve the public transport infrastructure in the Borough of Greenwich, Using money already provided by developers and TFL. So the improvements to public transport can be implemented quickly.
Neighbouring Boroughs of Lewisham and Bexley are also seeing massive redevelopment with little money being invested in their public transport infrastructures either, So public transport that is already over crowded and will soon be unable to meet the growing demand in these three London Boroughs as the population continues to grow considerably,
I have to agree as with any large developments the local public transport infrastructure needs to be improved to meet demand as part of providing more amenities for residents.
Like the Borough of Greenwich and neighbouring Borough of Bexley. Lewisham Borough as seen massive redevelopment around Lewisham Town Centre and around the Borough of Lewisham as a whole.
However,that said they have seen no real improvements to the public infrastructure as Lewisham Borough’s population continues to grow year on year just like Lewisham’s neighbouring Boroughs.
In real terms Lewisham as seen cuts to local public transport and in particular bus services.
Bus route 436 withdrawn from Victoria and Paddington and re-routed to Battersea Park Station.
Route 171 as been withdrawn from Waterloo and Holborn and cut back to Elephant & Castle.
Route 172 was also cut back from Clerkenwell to Aldwych.
So less bus routes from Lewisham getting in to the heart of Central London.
So the public transport infrastructure in all three London Boroughs Greenwich. Bexley and Lewisham does need to be looked at again urgently taking in to account the amount of new homes built, under construction or planned in these three Boroughs to meet the population growth. As services tend to cross Boroughs on their journeys.
The Woolwich Tower Block planned on the site of the Old Albion Pub will provide much needed homes for the area.
Once the development is completed it will hopefully improve the look of this area for local residents living nearby. The area is looking a little tired where the old Albion Pub as been left empty,