Local pressure group says the revisions 'are grudging and tokenistic'


Artist's impression

The Council has announced a revised planning proposal for the redevelopment of the Alton estate which they say will accelerate the delivery of new homes and provide a greater mix of social and private housing.

The proposed changes to the revised proposal could see homes completed as early as 2022.

The initial planning application for the Alton estate was submitted in June 2019 by Redrow Homes. Following a statutory planning consultation, both the council and Redrow Homes carefully reflected on comments made by the public and the GLA. A comprehensive proposal is now in place that addresses the issues raised and accelerates the delivery of affordable housing. Central to the revised proposal is a 30% increase in affordable units for Phase 1 of the scheme.

The Council states that additional key amendments include:

• Greater provision of private and shared ownership units
• Block A (delivery 2022) will now provide more council homes
• Block O (delivery 2022) will now be a mixture of new homes for council tenants and resident leaseholders
• Block Q2 (delivery 2026) will now be completely shared ownership
• Revisions to landscape drawings to retain trees

Updates on the scheme will be shared with residents within the intervention area of the Alton estate through a series of engagement sessions carried out by Wandsworth Council from 3 January 2020. During this period residents will also have an opportunity to view the revised proposals and submit comments to the local planning authority.

Every secure council tenant and resident leaseholder in the intervention area will have a brochure hand delivered to their home with a detailed covering letter outlining the new proposals and how they will be affected.

In addition to new homes, the estate’s regeneration master plan will see new shops, a health centre, a nursery, children’s centre, playgrounds and other early years provision for young families. There will also be high-quality open space and a bigger and fully modernised local library, which will cater to a wider range of community-led activities.

Council leader Ravi Govindia said: “This hugely ambitious regeneration scheme will deliver more than just new homes. It will re-energise Roehampton and provide state-of-the-art community facilities that will benefit everyone who lives in this part of the borough.

“It will offer our residents vastly improved living conditions while the overall scheme demonstrates our commitment to ensuring that family housing is closely aligned with play space and other really important neighbourhood amenities.”

A spokesman for the local pressure group Alton Regeneration Watch has responded to the proposals saying, "The revisions to the plans are grudging and tokenistic, and fail to address the worst faults of the original plans".

He continued, "There is talk of dubiously defined “affordable homes”, but no increase in the most genuinely affordable housing - namely, council flats. The original plans increased the net number of council homes by a paltry 30. Whether the new plans equal or reduce that is unclear, but either way this is a missed opportunity to help hundreds of people on the waiting list for social housing. 20th century architectural icon Allbrook House is still due to be demolished, despite protests from experts.

Perhaps most shocking is Wandsworth Council arrogantly going ahead with the first steps, despite planning permission not yet being granted. Markings have been painted on the pavement, and flats above the Co-op have been boarded up. If the Council won’t play by the rules, can we trust them at all?".

Over 400 full time jobs, training and apprenticeships for local residents a condition of the appointment of Redrow for the regeneraton program.

For more information about the regeneration visit the council website or email planning@wandsworth.gov.uk.

January 6, 2020