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Douglas and Olive Waite Houses |
Home set to be replaced
A THREE-YEAR battle over an old people’s home in West Hampstead has come to an end after a demolition order for it was rubber-stamped.
In the face of opposition from a conservation group and the objections of two out of three ward councillors, the council’s planning executive gave the green light to an application from the Octavia housing group to demolish the Douglas and Olive Waite Houses in Priory Road and replace it with a design that has been shunned by neighbours.
While the Combined Residents Association of South Hampstead (CRASH) and politicians wanted to see a better design brought to the table, the elderly tenants of the block described living through an “unsettled and difficult time” ever since Octavia unveiled plans to rebuild their homes three years ago.
Resident Malcolm Powney said: “Twenty-four residents are looking forward to moving. It replaces 70 very poor standard homes.”
Speaking after Thursday’s meeting Carolyn Parsons, chairwoman of the Waite Houses Tenants’ Association, said: “We are delighted and relieved as it has been such an unsettling and difficult time.”
Octavia insist refurbishing the site would be too expensive, and instead proposed to develop one side of the building and then the other, moving the 24 remaining tenants from side to side as they progress. |
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