A new tower block in South London may have to be torn down, with locals calling it an “eyesore” after developers ignored original designs approved by the local council.
Greenwich Council have rejected plans sent by the Comer Group to change a previously approved design to a new tower block at Mast Quay in Woolwich.
In their decision notice, Greenwich Council said the revised plans are not consistent with those that were approved previously by the council.
Plans for the wider project were sent by Comer in 2010, and included two tower blocks containing 218 flats.
The towers were planned to be 14 and 22 storeys respectively, with the plans approved by Greenwich Council in 2012.
However, the developer sent revisions to plans for the 14 storey tower in December 2022, when the build was nearly finished.
New additions to the building include extra metal features and grey cladding, according to planning documents from Plus Architecture, on behalf of Comer.
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An anonymous neighbour to the building told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “It looks a lot cheaper than the other older buildings and sticks out on the riverside.
"When compared to the other new high-rises further down at Royal Arsenal, it’s an eyesore.”
The revised documents sent by Comer said the tower was redesigned to comply with new government requirements since the Grenfell Tower fire on the use of combustible materials in buildings.
They said: “The regulations around thermal performance in buildings have changed dramatically in the intervening years since this planning application was granted, to such an extent that providing a glazed facade to a residential building would present difficulties both from a heat-loss perspective in colder months, and an overheating perspective in warmer months.”
Another resident, who wished to remain anonymoous, told the LDRS that they thought the “really ugly” orange colour of the building ruined the view of the area, and made the tower stick out “like a sore thumb”.
They said: “It feels like they didn’t put any thought into it at all. I’m not a fan of the orange on the older buildings either but at least it’s a bit more muted and all the buildings match with each other.
"I hope the council makes the developers change it because I don’t want them setting a precedent of developers just being able to do what they want without caring what residents think.”
A Greenwich Council spokesperson said: “The submission from Comer Homes was refused by the council due to inconsistencies with the approved scheme.
"A Breach of Condition Notice and a Planning Contravention Notice has been served in respect of unauthorised facing materials and fenestration.
"The council will engage with the developer on next steps.”
The Comer Group was approached for comment, but had not responded at the time of publication.
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