Comer Homes has been ordered by Greenwich Council to tear down two apartment blocks in Woolwich over breaches of planning conditions.
Phase II of the Mast Quay development, which consists of two towers comprising 204 apartments, has been described as “substantially different” to the approved plans by the council, which continued to say that there were at least 26 deviations from what was agreed.
Most notable are missing roof gardens for residents as well as children’s play areas, while “accessible apartments” have been found to contain steps balconies, meaning wheelchair users would not be able to access the outdoor space.
The council also said that the towers provided “poorer quality accommodation” than promised, while the towers’ footprint was also larger than planned.
Councillor Anthony Okereke, the leader of Greenwich Council, said: “The development that was given planning permission is not the one that we can all see before us today.”
Councillor Aiden Smith, Greenwich Council’s cabinet member for regeneration, described phase II of Mast Quay as a “mutant development” before saying: “We cannot let what has been delivered at Mast Quay Phase II go unchallenged.”
The decision follows an investigation over the past year after the phase was completed in 2022, and it is the first time that Greenwich Council has issued a response of this scale, which it described as “reasonable and proportionate”.
Comer Homes has stated that it will appeal the decision reached by the council and has until 30 October to do so. It will then be up to a planning inspector to determine if the enforcement notice is valid.
A statement from Comer Homes said that it was “surprised and extremely disappointed” by the council’s decision, adding:
“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.”
A retrospective planning application had been submitted for alterations to one of the towers, but this was rejected earlier in 2023.
The developer added: “In our view, the council’s concerns regarding Mast Quay Phase Il can be addressed through following normal process and engaging with us on 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.”
