Council orders 204-home development to be torn down over significant deviations from planning permission
The Royal Borough of Greenwich has issued a planning enforcement notice ordering a developer to tear down a 204-home high-rise development after the build included "significant deviations" from the original planning permission.
Under the enforcement notice, Comer Homes Group will have to demolish its Mast Quay Phase II development, which includes two residential towers, one of which is stepped, with 23, 11, nine and six storeys, located in Woolwich, London.
In a statement on the decision, the council said it carried out an extensive investigation over the last year and concluded the completed development had been built without planning permission and is unlawful because it is "so substantially" different from the original permission given in 2012.
Comer group has vowed to appeal the enforcement notice.
The council found 26 main deviations, which include:
- Visible design changes to the external appearance of the towers – the final towers look more solid and bulky because of the removal of the stepped back top floor and the glazed curtain wall façade to Block E that would have given the appearance of a sail.
- Visible changes to the materials and windows – different cladding, less glazing, smaller balconies, smaller windows and no wraparound balconies resulting in a reduction of daylight and sunlight, and to a reduced outlook.
- Increasing the approved size of the footprint of both towers.
- Not providing the roof gardens for residents and the public, children's play areas, green roofs or landscaped gardens.
- Lower quality residential accommodation.
- Non accessible 'accessible' apartments that have steps to the balconies so that wheelchair users cannot use their outdoor space.
- Provision of a residents' gym in place of the approved commercial floorspace, which is also not accessible to anyone who uses a wheelchair
The council said it has written to current residents to provide them with support.
Cllr Anthony Okereke, Leader of the Royal Borough of Greenwich, said: “Mast Quay Phase II represents two prominent high-rise buildings on Woolwich's riverside that just are not good enough, and the reason that they are not good enough is because the development that was given planning permission is not the one that we can all see before us today.”
He later added: "The right thing to do is not usually the easy thing to do. That is why we will not standby and allow poor quality and unlawful development anywhere in our borough and we are not afraid of taking difficult decisions when we believe it's the right thing to do."
A spokesperson for Comer Homes Group said: “We have over many months sought to engage constructively with the Council, and not withstanding these disproportionate actions, remain willing to do so.”
It added: “In our view, the Council’s concerns regarding Mast Quay Phase II can be addressed through following normal process and engaging with us in a retrospective planning application.
“We encourage the Council to meet with us and agree a way forward which will avoid wasting significant sums of taxpayers’ money on litigation when sensible solutions to their concerns are available.”
Adam Carey
