‘Twas the weekend before the Christmas holiday… so, naturally, it’s time for another consultation into another redevelopment on the Charlton Riverside.
The developer Montreaux, which bought the Stone Foundries site earlier this year, is to reveal its plans at an exhibition at The Valley from 2pm to 7.30pm on Friday 13 December, and noon to 4pm on Sunday 14 December. Awkwardly, not only has the developer picked the weekend before many people head away for Christmas, the Friday session is also on the same evening as Charlton’s match against Hull City, which kicks off at 7.45pm. Wine and beer will be available on the Friday for a small donation to St Peter’s boxing club and the Charlton Athletic Community Trust.
Montreaux has previously said it plans 1,500 houses on the site. This will be the fifth plan to come forward for the riverfront. The spiel will be familiar by now. “The brownfield site in Charlton known as Stone Foundries is being regenerated to create a new community, whilst still preserving the area’s rich industrial heritage. The scheme will provide much-needed new homes along with community, business and green space – generating jobs, boosting the local economy and providing new public services and amenities.”
Not sure where Stone Foundries is? It was a major employer which made parts for ships and aeroplanes, but dwindled over the years and the factory was finally sold in August. Some of the company’s land was sold off in the 1990s to create the Stone Lake retail park – the redevelopment site is down an odd-looking private road near that.
The other four schemes, from west to east, are:
- The infamous Rockwell development off Anchor and Hope Lane, promising 771 homes but hated by its neighbours and refused by both Greenwich Council and, surprisingly, London mayor Sadiq Khan, who said he did not want “growth at any cost”. Rather than negotiate with the neighbours, Rockwell has gone to the planning inspectors – leading to a public inquiry which ended last week.
- Herringham Quarter: 1,300 homes from Hyde Housing on two sites between Stone Foundries and the river. A planning application was submitted in October
- 500 homes are planned by developer Komoto at what it calls Flint Glass Wharf, the former Johnsen and Jorgensen glassworks which closed in 1981, between the Tarmac works and the Thames Barrier. A planning application was submitted last summer
- U+I plans 500 homes on the old Siemens glassworks site on the Charlton/Woolwich border, along with a co-working hub for local businesses and space for light industry. A planning application for Faraday Works had been expected in the autumn.
The public inquiry into the Rockwell development, which is next door to the Stone site, ended last week.
The closing statement from the community group Charlton Together said: “The high percentage of studios and one-bedroom homes in this proposal is likely to drive a rental market and create properties for sale, not as homes but as investments. This is not going to kick-start a sustainable community.” A decision will come next year on Rockwell – the same group will be hoping for better from Montreaux.
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