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London council orders developer to tear down ‘mutant’ tower blocks
A London council has ordered a developer to demolish two blocks of flats in Woolwich after it made 26 changes to its approved plans without permission.
Greenwich Council, which described the development as “mutant”, said that its “extensive investigation” over the last year concluded that Comer Homes Group’s Mast Quay Phase II built-to rent scheme “has been built without planning permission”.
The council believes the scheme “is therefore unlawful because it is so substantially different” to the one it approved in 2012.
Unapproved changes include “substandard” wheelchair units, a gym that has no disabled access, and alterations to the internal layout for a large number of flats, “with quality of accommodation materially worse in several instances”.
There are also visible design changes to the exterior of the towers, including different cladding, less glazing, smaller balconies, smaller windows and no wraparound balconies, resulting in a reduction of daylight and sunlight.
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In a statement, Comer Homes Group said it was “surprised and extremely disappointed by the decision” and will appeal it.
According to the council, it told Comer Homes Group not to rent out the apartments in Phase II while it completed its investigation, but “unfortunately” the developer “ignored its request”.
The council said it has written to the residents in the blocks to provide them with support, assistance and advice.
Anthony Okereke, leader of Greenwich Council, said the decision was not “taken lightly”, but he believes it is “reasonable and proportionate to the scale and seriousness of the situation”.
“The right thing to do is not usually the easy thing to do. That is why we will not stand by 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,” he added.
Aidan Smith, cabinet member for regeneration at the council, said the development “had the potential to deliver hundreds of beautiful riverside apartments”.
“Instead, what we have is a mutant development that is a blight on the landscape, local conservation zone and heritage assets and views,” he said.
He added that if a scheme matching what has been built was submitted for planning permission today, it “would be refused, and we cannot let what has been delivered at Mast Quay Phase II go unchallenged”.
Ann-Marie Cousins, cabinet member for community safety and enforcement, said: “Why should children have no place to play because it was cheaper not to include it?
“Why should disabled tenants be prisoners in their own homes because step-free access to the balconies wasn’t included?”
A statement from Comer Homes Group said: “Comer Homes Group is surprised and extremely disappointed by the decision of the Royal Borough of Greenwich to issue an enforcement notice in respect of our Mast Quay development.
“We are particularly surprised to see the accompanying public statements which are inaccurate and misrepresent the position and our actions.
“We will be appealing against the enforcement notice and look forward to robustly correcting the inaccuracies and addressing the council’s concerns.
“We have over many months sought to engage constructively with the council and notwithstanding these disproportionate actions, remain willing to do so.”
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