Greenwich Council has published a summary of the responses received in the brief 4 day consultation which was held online for their Orangery Lane proposals at the end of October.
58 responses were received, which highlighted some of the following issues (the Council’s responses are underneath the point which is being made):-
- Good mix of homes
o The proposal has been developed in conjunction with the Royal Borough of Greenwich to provide an appropriate mix of dwellings to satisfy the requirements of the housing waiting list
- Not enough parking
o The scheme has been developed with the guidance and approval of the planning department and determination of quantity of parking spaces has been carefully considered. 1:1 parking has been provided to all wheelchair accommodation and the site benefits from good existing transport links along Eltham High Street and proximity to Eltham train station.
- Overlooking of Eltham CofE Primary School
o The scheme sits over 150 metres away from the nearest classroom position with new planting of trees across that eyeline. This has been discussed with the school itself and deemed satisfactory
- Too dense
o In order to satisfy the quantity required in conjunction with the social rental housing requirements of the borough, the quantum of dwellings has been optimised to suit what is seen as reasonable on the site and its surroundings
- Environmentally friendly
o The modular construction and use of sustainable technologies has been a key driver of the scheme to create highly efficient, carbon neutral exemplar homes that will benefit their occupiers across their lifetime
- Not tall enough – more floors could be added
o There are significant heritage assets in the locality which the scheme does not want to compete with. The current massing reduces in height at the south and north to provide appropriate setting to the Stables and Orangery buildings respectively, this has been undertaken in consultation with Historic England and the local planning and heritage officers, as well as the Eltham Society.
- Not enough family homes
o The mix of dwellings has been developed with the Royal Borough of Greenwich to suit the needs of their housing waiting list
- Too high
o The proposal has been developed in consultation with the local authority planning department, the local heritage officer, Historic England, the Eltham Society, the South Greenwich Forum and Eltham CofE Primary School to ensure that the surrounding heritage assets are not affected by the development
- Retail space not desired given empty shops on high street
o The retail / commercial unit is designed to be flexible enough to accommodate a number of different uses, not necessarily retail, the final use will be developed as the scheme moves forward.
The points being made about the lack of parking and family homes seem to be reflective of the concerns raised about most Greenwich Council schemes. Both Cllr Charlie Davis and I have repeated the concerns of local residents about the height of the scheme (based on the comments about the hotel scheme which had been proposed) and the lack of parking (which is an obvious fault with almost all new schemes).
As an additional point, it appears that the development of the hotel on the neighboring site might be under threat after the pandemic, so we shall see how that situation develops and whether the Council absorbs that site into this proposal too.
