| Topic: | Re:Re:Friary Park Estate regeneration | |
| Posted by: | Helen Lloyd | |
| Date/Time: | 15/11/14 00:06:00 |
| I am also shocked to see the 20 storey block and intensive building that has now been proposed. I attended the meeting in September and spoke to Catalyst staff and the architect and have been told that our houses at the end of Emanuel Ave and also Antilles House will almost certainly not be demolished, although they did point out that things may change. We were told the buildings would not be high rise and that there would be a distance between the new buildings and our homes and gardens that will be overlooked, also that the buildings would be positioned in such a manner that there would not be windows on the sides facing the back of our homes. Looking at the drawings in the latest update newsletter it seems that will not be the case, in fact the new flats look very close at our end of the road in the Catalyst owned houses, but a little further back from the private properties, probably because the gardens are larger. So now they are trying to convince us that high rise is the way to go! Maybe penthouse living in wealthy areas, not social housing on estates - have no lessons been learned? Apparently the flats that back on to Emanuel will be four to six storey buildings and the tower block will be closer to the station, but of course that could all change again. The plans are due for submission in April. I agree completely that Crossrail is Catalyst's catalyst! At the meeting the Catalyst representative and the architect both spoke enthusiatically about the great advantages of Crossrail to us! When you look at aerial pictures of the estate you can see how small it is really, and the new design has buildings crammed in, most of the green areas removed and what appears to be roof gardens, I presume these will be on the properties for sale and the Catalyst tenants will have a balcony. We are told that everyone will have an outdoor space, but the architect has said there will be no gardens, just balconies. Some residents at the meeting were distressed at being told they will be unlikely to be rehoused on the new development as their needs have changed in that their families have grown up and they are deemed to no longer need more than one bedroom, there won't be many one bedroom flats in the new plans. Sorry to rant on for so long but I feel strongly about this, it's a big money maker for Catalyst, though when I put this to their staff I was told that in order to finance the new homes for tenants they would have to build many new homes to sell. It appears that the estate is spreading out onto local land, so I would advise local residents to keep up to date with the scheme, it may impact on you too! |