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A protest last October against a previous plan for the home |
Demolition job? Pensioners face upheaval over plans to rebuild home
PENSIONERS living at a retirement home face more than two years of upheaval if plans to demolish and rebuild it are given the green light.
The last 24 residents at Olive and Douglas Waite Houses in Priory Road, West Hampstead, have been moved into one side of the property in anticipation of council planners approving the proposals.
The scheme by housing group Octavia involves building a new £10million four-storey block, and replacing 70 bedsits and one-bedroom homes with 55 single and larger family sized flats.
The home was opened by the Queen Mother in 1970 when she planted a tree in the garden, and is one of only two celebrated hexagonal designs by architect and university Professor Noel Moffett, who died in 1994.
Grahame Hindes, Octavia’s chief executive, said there were no grants available to fund a refurbishment of the block and instead the most cost-effective way is a rebuild.
While dampness has been a big problem for years, there are mixed opinions over whether it is the result of disrepair, or a flaw in its design.
Sue Estermann, chairman of the Combined Residents’ Associations of South Hampstead, said some of the conservation group’s members are unhappy with Octavia’s new plans.
She added: “They haven’t come up with a design of any distinction. To my mind it doesn’t fit in a Victorian conservation area, and it certainly doesn’t enhance it.”
Mr Hindes said: “There are planning limitations and funding limitations and tenants’ aspirations. We have come up with a proposal and listened to what people said, but there does have to come a point when you have to take proposals forward and that’s what we’re doing.”
Previous schemes were refused by planners last year and in 2006 after officials ruled designs were too bulky.
Octavia has argued there is a need in the borough for more affordable family homes and pointed to the long waiting list in Camden as evidence.
“There is very strong support, I don’t think a lot of people are saying no,” said Mr Hindes.
Objections to the plans must be submitted to the council by May 6. |
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