Crumbling Plumstead High Street building renovated
A long-neglected building on Plumstead High Street has been restored after a fight by local people.
The building at 64 Plumstead High Street has emerged from behind scaffolding showing off restoration and extension work.
However, ground floor level still appears in stark contrast to upper floors.
The history of this building is pretty notorious and offers lessons to many other areas.
As the building fell further and further into neglect it became infested and a health hazard. Local people asked for the council to use legal powers to take action.
A local councillor asked council staff who stated nothing could be done. The councillor didn’t question it. The council were wrong.
It took residents to clearly point out that legal powers existed and this site fitted criteria for action to happen.
Legal powers exist in the form of a Section 215 notice – which can be levied to land and/or buildings which are an eyesore or hazard to its environs.
The council either orders the owner to take action or the authority can carry out work and place a charge on the property.
After over a decade of planning applications for improvements but no action taken as infestation continued, work swiftly began once the notice was issued.
It seems odd that ground floor levels has been untouched. Perhaps that’s coming, and who knows, maybe as part of Plumstead High Street shopfront improvement work.
If so, why taxpayers should pay for it given the history of this site raises more questions.
The building overhaul looks much better however, sadly the ground floor still remains an eyesore and being next door to fast food outlet KFC does not look good.
I suspect there is no prospect of commercial use on the ground floor and that the upper floors are residential.
The ground floor could possibly be converted in to residential accomodation too if no one wants the ground floor for commercial space. The build is certainly starting to look better now improvments have started.
The upper floors are, indeed, for residential use as outlined by Murky back in 2017 – https://www.fromthemurkydepths.co.uk/2017/05/16/planning-application-submitted-for-run-down-plumstead-eyesore/
Either the property owner will wait until there is any interest in the ground floor as commercial premises OR it will be up to any interested party to do it themselves. 🤔