Flats 1, 3-5 Carnwath Road are to be demolished to make way for the approved London Newcastle and Royal London Asset Management’s Hurlingham Retail Park redevelopment.
The scheme, on the site of the current Curry’s PC World, will include new homes along with 3,045 square metres for shops, restaurants and bars as well as two new public open spaces and will upgrade the Thames Path for pedestrians and cyclists.
The 1.4 hectare piece of land is also the proposed location for a major riverside construction site for the Thames Tunnel.
Resident Ernie Henry said: "I'm 77 and I've lived in these flats since they were built 18 years ago. I do not want to move. I do not feel like I have been spoken to or consulted on this decision at all."
Rasha Al Hbib, 30, a single mum of three young boys who lives in the flats said: "No one here is happy about the demolition so I don't know who the council and the Co-op is talking to. I moved here two years ago and I've spent too much money on decorating this flat for it to be bulldozed. I'm on my own with three young boys and this little community is the best I have ever lived in. My first language is Arabic so I can speak English really well but I struggle with reading and writing. No information has been sent to me in my language."
Resident David McGinty said: "The disruption to our community will be massive. The council and Co-op homes say they have consulted all of the residents but they categorically haven't. There are Muslim families here who do not know anything about the demolition. They also say we will have river views from the new flats but only if you've got a neck like a giraffe! We have been kept in the dark. The council is guilty of outrageous hypocrisy with the leader on one hand saying they want to protect the community from the Super Sewer but on the other hand facilitating the destruction of another community by allowing the demolition of our flats."
Council leader Councillor Nicholas Botterill, said: “Co-op Homes, who are the landlords of this property, are concerned about the severe negative impact that Thames Water’s misguided super sewer will have on their tenants who are currently just yards away from the proposed 24/7 drilling site. Given the terrible noise, dust and disruption that is inevitable if Thames Water’s dig goes ahead, Co-op Homes saw the Curry's redevelopment as an opportunity to relocate their tenants into new and improved accommodation further away from Thames Water’s works. All of the Co-op's tenants were consulted twice as part of the planning application process with three positive, and no negative, responses received from the 16 households affected.”
Sue Philpott from Co-op Homes said: "The vast majority of our residents are supportive of this redevelopment. They will be moving metres from their existing homes into new homes that will be larger, higher quality thermal and acoustic insulation, fittings and fixtures, with guaranteed secure parking. They will have river views and views over landscaped gardens. Their relocation costs will be covered by us and they have a rent guarantee."
