Faraday Works development revised with changes at 359-home plan in Charlton
Plans to build hundreds of homes at a Siemens factory near the Thames barrier have been revised by developer Landsec U&I.
Altered proposals submitted to Greenwich Council this month now see 359 new homes with revisions since buildings on site were listed. The first application for the site was made on 12th February 2020 then revised in June 2021.
Plans in 2020 were covered on this site when 492 homes were proposed.
The structure at 37 Bowater Road was to be demolished. Now it will remain.
Housing totals have gone up and down a number of times, from 370 homes years back which was then revised up to 520. This went down to 492 in 2020.
Revisions have seen new plans for rooftop extensions above buildings. The below render shows the view from Thames Barrier park.
Note the new build in between on what is currently a car park.
The application contains a fascinating heritage document including images of the areas including this one from the late 1930s.
London has only recently reached those pre-World War II population totals with the capital losing millions of people by the 1980s before a mass increase since the 1990s.
Note how many areas were residential in 1938 which will again become so under the Charlton Riverside masterplan.
Affordable housing
Affordable housing is extremely low. The plan states “The Applicant is proposing an affordable housing provision at 5% by habitable room in line with the previous June 2021 planning submission.
“The Scheme provides 16 Total Affordable Units, with the tenure split 75/25 between Affordable Rent and Intermediate.”
Given the number of households in temporary accommodation in Greenwich has risen from less than 500 in 2016 to above 1,900 now, that will meet strict resistance.
However Greenwich may be restricted in what they can do if the associated Viability Report – introduced by the coalition government – states no more are possible.
In terms of jobs and revenue the application claims it “will support 839 full time equivalent (FTE) direct jobs, and a further 378 FTE indirect and induced jobs, generating £125.3 million of direct Gross Value Added (GVA) per annum”.
In addition there would be “£613,000 of additional Council tax receipts annually and £573,000 of additional estimated business rate revenues annually”.
Cycle route
In recent years a dedicated cycle lane through the site linking to a new shared path beside the Thames opened. It is however hampered by closures.
The applicant states that the “Thames Path and Cycleway (Q14) will be enhanced as it passes through the site, which will include a focus around public art within this space.”
Yours truly took a look at the site and cycle path some years ago, which can be seen here.
A cycle lane beside the river heads into the site here near the Thames Barrier.
The building seen to the right in the above image is one previously in line for demolition and now set to remain.
Many buildings on site are in poor shape. The area is dripping in character.
If work does proceed this will be another Charlton site slowly grinding into gear a decade after grand plans were revealed for up to 7,500 homes – which was later bumped up to a potential 8,000.
Nearby housing in Woolwich
That excludes hundreds more in the surrounding area including 762 at a rebuilt Morris Walk estate.
The first development of any note is currently rising behind the former Victoria pub – which itself has a small number of homes included as part of renovation and extension work.
A far bigger development at Herringham Road appears to be swinging into gear. Phase one includes more than 700 homes with phase two taking the total well above 1,000.
The revised application for Faraday Works can be viewed by clicking here.
