Helping promote and improve the social, economic and environmental well-being of the residents of East Greenwich
Planning Approved
Greenwich Square
Hadley Mace
Formerly known as the Heart of East Greenwich, this development is on the site of the old Greenwich District Hospital at the junction of Woolwich Road, Blackwall Lane and Vanbrugh Hill. According to local historians the land was used by market gardeners 200 years ago to grow fruit and veg and was known as “Catts Brains”. There has also been a workhouse and an infirmary at the location.
The developers are Hadley Mace and planning approval allowed for 645 new homes, a community centre, retail outlets and public and private open spaces. Construction started at the end of March 2012. The homes are a mixture of one, two and three bedroom flats, three bedroom maisonettes and four bedroom townhouses. As you’ll all have seen, building is well underway. The original planning application proposed a 50% split between affordable housing (split again between social housing and joint ownership) and privately owned accommodation.
The development is divided in to four areas and there will be five blocks within those areas. According to Hadley Mace’s newsletter from earlier this summer, 72 flats in area 2 (on the Woolwich Road end of the site) have been handed over to the social housing renting market and are now lived in. This is not reflected on the company’s website under the latest news section which doesn’t appear to have been updated since “Open Doors Weekend” in 2013.
Area 1 which fronts on to Woolwich Road is where the community and retail facilities will be. A Sainsbury’s Local has already opened and all eyes will now be peeled for the completion of the Greenwich Centre. This will be home to a library, adult and learner swimming pools (on the lower ground floor), a gym, a café, a crèche and a council drop-in centre.
Look for more information on Hadley Mace’s website or follow the debate about whether the leisure facilities will be an adequate successor to the Arches on local blogs 853 and the Greenwich Phantom.