The council’s Planning Board is meeting on December 2 to discuss five sizable planning applications, all of which have been recommended by council officers for approval.
The first application on the agenda is a proposal to upgrade and renovate some outdated sports facilities at Footscray Playing Fields which are owned by GB10 Sports Ltd.
GB10 wants to completely transform the former Co-op sports ground site which only contains some unmaintained football fields and out of use tennis courts.
It wants to build two 11-a-side floodlit astroturf pitches, five grass pitches of various sizes, six floodlit padel courts, a children’s play area, a car park and a brand new clubhouse to replace the former one that burned down in 2004.
GB10 wants the new Footscray facility to be an asset for the local community as well as the new academy base for AFC Greenwich Borough.
Following an initial round of public consultation in February, 109 neighbours registered their support of the project, believing it to be an investment in the future of the community and an effective redevelopment of the sports facility.
However, 52 residents objected to the plans, raising concerns over building on Metropolitan Open Land and noise and light coming from the new padel courts having a negative impact on nearby homes.
The second planning application up for debate is a plan to build six tower blocks on an empty patch of land in Woolwich next to Lidl on the south side of the junction between Macbean Street and Beresford Street.
The ‘Electric Works’ project will deliver 930 rooms of student accommodation, a 425-room shared living development, 93 affordable homes, a children’s nursery and various commercial and community units.
The tallest of these blocks will be 23 storeys high and the vacant 1930s Electric Works building on the site will be partly retained and redeveloped into one of the new buildings.
The plans didn’t receive much feedback from locals, but some did support the redevelopment of the “eyesore” brownfield site.
The next plan to be discussed by the Planning Board will be a proposal to add 51 more dwellings to three tower blocks within the Lombard Square development in Plumstead.
Most of the new-build development which will deliver nearly 2,000 homes is under construction and nearly complete, but there’s one plot of land on the west side of Pettman Crescent next to the retail trade park that is yet to be built on.
Developer Berkeley wants to increase the number of homes available as a result of introducing a built to rent scheme into its housing offering.
This will involve slight changes to building heights, layouts and other parts of the development, which Berkeley is seeking planning permission for on December 2.
The fourth planning application on the agenda is a bid to redevelop a vacant three-storey commercial building at 48 to 50 Artillery Place in Woolwich into 17 affordable homes.
The site is owned by Greenwich Council with the authority wanting to increase the provision of affordable housing within the borough.
The final proposal to be considered by the Planning Board next week is a plan to build a five-storey 28-home development on land next to Penmon Road in Abbey Wood.
Just like the previous application, the Penmon Road project has also been brought forward by Greenwich Council’s affordable housing arm.
