Plans to add 75 more homes and increase the amount of affordable housing within a large residential development in Woolwich town centre have been approved.
However, a Sikh temple next to the development site has raised concerns about noise and fire safety.
On Wednesday November 18, Greenwich Council’s Planning Board approved plans to increase the amount of homes that will be built behind the borough’s new flagship leisure centre, Woolwich Waves, which opens next month.
Developer Hill Residential, in partnership with Greenwich Council, received planning permission to build Woolwich Waves and several tower blocks on land next to General Gordon Square in 2022. The leisure centre is nearing completion, but Hill proposed changes to the project’s housing offering earlier this year.
The number of flats has increased from 482 to 557, build to rent units have been introduced into the scheme and the height of some tower blocks has increased, the highest going from 18 to 20 storeys.
The affordable housing provision within the scheme has also increased from 35 per cent to 38 per cent, and all of it will be socially rented.
One of these tower blocks will be located a mere two metres from Ramgarhia Sikh Association Woolwich, a Sikh temple on Masons Hill that has been serving the local community since 1967.
Temple has ‘served the local community for over 60 years’
A representative of the temple and the local Sikh community spoke at yesterday’s meeting saying they were “not objecting to the development per se” but did have concerns about the proximity of the new building to the temple, specifically in relation to fire safety.
He said: “Our first concern is fire. Our building is a heritage building from the 1800s. Anything falling from that height onto the Sikh temple is going to cause a massive risk to the building itself.”
Another issue raised was the possibility of residents within the new tower block complaining about noise coming from the temple during times of prayer and religious events. He continued: “Our temple has been here and we have served the local community for over 60 years and we have church and prayer events that are sometimes 24-hour events.
“Our concern relating to the noise is that there are balconies in very close proximity to our temple and there could be concerns from new residents who start complaining about noise levels and all of a sudden we get enforcement notices and so on.
“We don’t want this church bell syndrome to impact the viability and the ongoing enjoyment of the temple.”
A Greenwich planning officer explained that the new tower blocks would be fire safe and its façade would be designed “not to catch fire and fall off the building”. He added: “The building itself shouldn’t present a fire risk to either the occupiers or the neighbouring buildings.”
He also said the additions of homes in the new proposal “doesn’t really present any greater risk in terms of noise disturbance” and that there was “unlikely” to be a problem between residents and the temple in terms of noise due to the flats passing acoustic thresholds carried out by the developer.
A representative for Hill Residential said the developer was “very aware of the important role the temple plays in the community” and was “confident” that residents living nearby would not be disturbed by temple activities.
He also said that Hill “will continue to liaise with the temple” over any noise or other concerns raised. He concluded: “We intend to be good neighbours and I’m sure they do too.”
Listed pub that will be demolished
Another issue raised by councillors at the Planning Board meeting was the fact that a locally listed pub—The Bull Tavern on Vincent Road—would be demolished to make way for the extra homes.
In the original plans, the pub was to be retained with the hopes of it re-opening once construction was completed.
Cllr David Gardner said that demolishing the locally listed building “set a poor precedent” going forward and added: “I fear that we have lost the glue that will bring this community together as a community rather than it just being another block of flats in Woolwich.”
Cllr Dave Sullivan accused Cllr Gardner of being “sentimental” and called the vacant pub a “dump”.
Cllr Sullivan called the proposal a “great opportunity and catalyst in transforming Woolwich town centre” and proposed that Woolwich Waves could be the “glue” and space that brings the new community together.
The proposal was unanimously approved by the Planning Board, with several councillors requesting that Hill keep an open dialogue with the Sikh temple in order to alleviate any of their concerns going forward.
