Fury at ‘Monopoly’ approach to redevelopment - Paddington Green Estate tenants “extremely anxious”

Published: 24 September 2010
by JOSH LOEB

CITY Hall have been warned they face “one hell of a fight” over plans to bulldoze homes in Edgware Road.

Brian Eves, chairman of the Hall Park Residents Association, said leaseholders and tenants on the Paddington Green Estate are “extremely anxious” about Westminster Council’s Futures Plan, which is aimed at massively redeveloping the area around Church Street Market.

Members of the association have accused planning bosses of insensit­ivity, citing an incident in which representatives of from the council invited them to play a Monopoly-style board game that involved bulldozing rows of plastic houses.

The bizarre board game approach, which took place at a meeting about the plans held on the estate three weeks ago, prompted a mass walkout by residents.

Mr Eves said: “They had a printout of a map with little houses on it. They even had two piles of cards, one ‘Chance’ and one ‘Community Chest’. It was like Monopoly except that they were giving us options about which houses they should knock down. These are our homes. One woman was in tears.”

The council is currently consulting on its “masterplan” for Church Street and Paddington Green, which is expected to involve refurbishing some flats with funds raised from the sale of new luxury homes.

As many as 700 homes could be built, along with a pier that would allow tourists to travel by waterbus from Camden Market to Church Street Market.

Residents say the council has left them “in the dark and in limbo” about the details of the development, adding that some of the housing that will be built as part of the scheme will be beyond their means. Mr Eves, 69, who has been living in Paddington Green for 40 years, has started a ­petition against the plans and has posted “No to demolishing” posters around the estate.

He said: “The council says it will compulsory purchase my flat and give me first choice of the new homes, but that would be of no use to me – I would not be able to afford them.”

Ricky Lorrio, who also lives in Paddington Green, said: “We are being kept in the dark about the details but our suspicion is that they are planning to sell off a bit of prime real estate at the expense of people who have lived here for years.”

The consultation is expected to end in December.

Councillor Philippa Roe, Westminster’s cabinet member for housing, said: “Although this neighbourhood already has many good qualities, we know there are many further opportunities to make it a better place to live. Over the coming weeks, we want residents to tell us what they think about the options for their neighbourhood as we want the final plan for the area to really reflect what local people want. 

“We believe this regeneration will hold the area in good stead for decades to come.”