Next stage of Woolwich estate rebuild now rising
Work on hundreds of homes is well underway at the former Morris Walk estate to the south of the railway line in Woolwich.
Over the past year work has been seen at a number of blocks north of the tracks rise which will see a doubling on homes compared to the previous 1960s estate.
The railway dissected both the former estate and will also act as a severance point on the future estate too with Greenwich Council refusing to help fund accessibility improvements across the tracks.
The now-demolished Morris Walk was built between 1963 and 1966 by the London County Council before passing into Greenwich Council control.
Blocks and roads had a Danish theme due to the Danish Larsen-Nielsen method of construction. It was similar in appearance to the Ledbury estate, to give one example, on the Old Kent Road which is also coming down with work on replacement housing commencing in February 2024.
One Woolwich
With work now underway on hundreds more homes as part of the “One Woolwich” project at Morris Walk, two of three former council estates earmarked for demolition and rebuilding can be ticked off.
The first at the former Connaught estate completed some years ago.
Morris Walk north and south are the second of three while the last is Maryon Grove which was left in a pretty dismal state last year after residents evicted.
There’s still no detailed plans for the site.
Transport
The site of the former Morris Walk is almost equal distance between Woolwich Dockyard station and Charlton station. Woolwich Dockyard is easier to reach for future residents.
One key question is whether Thameslink trains will begin calling at Woolwich Dockyard. They can given Thameslink only run eight-car and the platform can take ten.
If not, combined with Southeastern cutting two trains per hour in 2022, that ensures the station is seeing far fewer services than a decade ago despite various developments in the area. Whether the Department for Transport, Southeastenrn and Thameslink wake up and realise the potential custom on their doorstep is another matter.
If nothing changes most will head to the Elizabeth line adding further pressure to a station already seeing the impacts of strong demand shortly after opening.
In total 462 homes are to be built in the southern half of the new Morris Walk estate with taller blocks beside the railway tapering down towards terraced housing.
How many of these new homes under construction will be made available for social housing at affordable rents?
Greenwich Council should be improving public realm in the area and making it brighter and safer through the walkway by the railway track. Health and safety is not high on the Councils priority list when it comes to matters of improving public realm and improving walkways and pavements round new developments.
The same could be said for the new homes being built in Plumstead by the one way system near Plumstead Bus Garage. Which is seeing no improvements to public realm.