Anger at Green Light for West Putney Development

Residents of Ashburton Estate overwhelmingly opposed plans

A visualisation from planning documents of the building proposed at Innes Gardens

December 13, 2024

There has been an angry response on the Ashburton Estate to approval being granted to new buildings in the area.

This Thursday evening (12 December), the borough planning committee improved schemes that would see extra housing added at three sites in the development in West Putney.

The council is planning to demolish garages and storage space to help it meet is target of 1,000 extra homes in the borough.

However, right from the time the proposals were originally revealed, there has been significant opposition with residents saying the density of housing on the estate is too already high.

They believe the plans ignore existing parking problems, will eat up most of their green space, lead to the cutting down of mature trees and block light and views for existing residents.

At one of the sites, Innes Gardens, it is estimated an additional 87 residents would move into two separate buildings while at the same time existing residents will lose 16 parking spaces, 10 garages and 27 storage areas.

The proposal is for 29 affordable flats in blocks up to six storeys high and also includes an upgrade to the central estate playground.

There were 161 responses to the plans for Innes Gardens all of which were objections and the local ward councillors also opposed the scheme. The council’s own internal consultation recommended that one of the two proposed buildings be relocated elsewhere.

At nearby Hayward Gardens, there were 227 responses from residents once again all opposed including the principal of the nearby Ark Putney Academy who is worried about a rise in disruptive behaviour because of the loss of facilities to make way for the new buildings.

Similar issues were raised in connection with this site as with Innes Gardens including parking, access, obstructed sunlight, loss of green space and trees.

At Cortis Road, 47 of 47 responses objected.

Blocks on the estate are arranged around green spaces in ‘U’ shapes which residents say give them a feeling of openness but with the additional blocks some now say it would feel ‘like a prison compound’.

Innes Gardens residents put up posters opposing plans

Residents have consistently claimed that the council has failed to keep them properly informed about the plans with an engagement session held just before the Christmas holidays in 2022 about the developing proposals. It is also claimed that advance warning should have been given of the presentation of the plans to committee.

Kieren McCarthy, who stood for the Liberal Democrats at the recent general election said, “This is the worst sort of council behaviour: imposing plans on people in order to hit an arbitrary target. There are real and genuine concerns about these plans and the impact they will have
and they have been completely ignored. If these buildings do get built, it will not just be residents but the whole of Putney that will have to live with the after effects for decades. It’s a shameful, short-term, frankly immature way of running things.”

Labour councillor Aydin Dikerdem, cabinet member for housing, said last year, “While we are seeking to deliver much-needed new council homes, we are conscious that these would be close to people’s existing homes and that the proposals we bring forward must be sensitive to residents’ concerns and ensure that the sense of community felt here remains.

“We are aiming to deliver new council homes across the borough to tackle the council’s waiting lists. These homes will be prioritised for local people and will give families a strong foundation in the communities they have grown up in. In the projects we have delivered so far, and those still in development, we have been successful in building good relationships with neighbours and contributing to the existing communities.”