'WHAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN TO OUR HOMES?' - Paddington Green residents facing bulldozer, question Futures Plan regeneration
Published: 15 October 2010
by JOSH LOEB
RESIDENTS whose homes could be bulldozed to make way for affordable properties have described the Westminster Council project as “horrifying”.
At a meeting held at the Little Venice Sports Centre in Crompton Street off Edgware Road on Wednesday night – the last in a series of consultations about the so-called Futures Plan – Paddington Green tenants and homeowners also branded the proposals “illogical”, saying they did not trust the council to deliver on rehousing promises.
The council’s plans involve redeveloping a massive area of prime real estate. As many as 700 new homes could be built, with 40 per cent earmarked as affordable and proceeds from other sales going towards refurbishing older council-owned buildings.
At the meeting, attended by around 40 people, residents listened to a presentation by Marco Torquati of Church Street Neighbourhood Management, and Hugo Nowell from Urban Initiatives, the architects firm who have drawn up plans for the development.
Mr Torquati said: “This isn’t a plan to cause pain to people, this is a plan to make the area better for people.”
But Maureen Mulvey, of the Parson’s House Residents’ Association, said: “When I saw the plans I was horrified.”
There was a lively exchange between Mr Torquati and Janet Price, chairwoman of Hall and Braithwaite Residents’ Association, who asked why no one from the council’s housing office was present and demanded a further meeting with planners.
She said: “No one from the council is here, there’s no one hearing this first-hand. I requested the council some time ago that we had a meeting that included all the groups in Paddington Green.”
Mr Torquati replied: “If you want that, keep asking.”
Ms Price replied: “We are asking. Why haven’t we got it?”
A member of Westminster’s housing department who had been due to attend the meeting pulled out at the last minute due to illness and it had been impossible to find a replacement, Mr Torquati added.
Paddington Green resident Zaltan Mir said the plans would not solve the problem of overcrowding in the area.
He said: “This whole project defies logic – basically you are trying to solve overcrowding by building more flats. In 20 or 30 years you will have the same problem again.”
Another resident, who did not want to be named, said: “The whole point is that people are unsettled and it’s prompted by these plans.
“The stress of that is something you can’t get away from. There has been a dismissive attitude on the part of the council, an attitude of, ‘we’re going to go ahead and do it anyway’.”
Last month City Hall was accused of insensitivity after inviting residents to play a Monopoly-style board game that involved bulldozing rows of small plastic houses during a consultation – an approach that resulted in a mass walkout from that meeting.
The city council’s consultation is expected to end in December.
Councillor Philippa Roe, Westminster Council’s cabinet member for housing, said: “This project is very much at the early stages and it is vital to stress that no final decisions have been made.
“If anybody does have to be relocated, they would be rehoused close by and moved back to new and larger properties. We have used professional masterplanners to look at the infrastructure, to ensure there will be enough services for the community.
“We are working with residents to find out what improvements they want and will be adapting our proposals based on their feedback. I am personally going to meet residents at Paddington Green very shortly and look forward to hearing their views.”