Obsidian Consultation at Durning Hall 16/11/11

Obsidian's final (?) public consultation seemed to be quite well attended today. Some of us spent some time handing out 'Save Forest Gate' flyers and asking people to sign a petition opposing the regeneration plans. Most people passing by on Woodgrange Road seemed, predictably perhaps, uninterested. However a substantial minority were definitely interested, some in favour, some opposed, and some strong opinions were expressed.

I was surprised at the amount of misinformation I heard, for example:

One woman asking people to fill in a Local Consultation firm firmly told me and others that there was no Conservation Area in Woodgrange Road, and refused to believe me when I explained that there is. See 'Forest Gate Town Centre Conservation Area' on this page on the Council website for a map of the Conservation Area that contains a large portion of the regeneration area.

Someone else told us that the Methodist Church is to be demolished. It isn't, but the church hall is under threat see FAQ number 10.

A man who lives in the regeneration area assured me that Obsidian cannot obtain Compulsory Purchase Orders as it would not be in the public interest. The truth is that the Council has already given itself Compulsory Purchase powers conditional on acceptance of the Obsidian plan. The meeting where this decision was made is recorded here.

There seem to be several local groups either gathering information about local attitudes to the regeneration scheme or asking people to sign petitions. I hope we can unify our forces, assuming we can find enough common ground.

Here's the flyer we were handing out today:

A satirical look at Obsidian's plans

Here are Obsidian's real artist's impressions of the proposed development.

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Here are the approximate relative sizes of the proposed new buildings compared to the existing ones on the west side of Woodgrange Road. It's as close as I can get given the information available.

Regenerating Forest Gate Town Centre
All Forest Gate residents should have received a copy of this leaflet about the proposed regeneration.There will be a public exhibition at Durning Hall (down Earlham Grove, behind the Co-op) on 29th September between 2pm and 9pm. Please go along, take a look at the plans and make your views known.

Plans for Forest Gate

Are you concerned about the plans to "regenerate" Forest Gate?

We are running out of time.

Please sign our petition and get your friends and family to sign it too!

Go to the petition now

Is this what Forest Gate will look like in 2017?

Recently, at the Forest Gate Festival, my wife and I browsed a stall run by Obsidian, a property developer working in partnership with Newham Council. Their stall was about the regeneration plans for Forest Gate over the next 30 years.They included some plans and some drawings of what Forest Gate may look like in the future.

We were aware that there were plans to "regenerate" Forest Gate, and looked at some ideas at The Gate a couple of years ago. There were a number of aims that sounded very positive for the area, which included:

• create a relaxed ‘urban village’ feel away from the hubbub of Stratford and Ilford;

• ensure all development increases the quality of life for the whole of the local community;

• encourage a lively evening atmosphere with cafés, bars and restaurants in an attractive, safe neighbourhood;

• increase quality, size and quantity of shops, with a new supermarket and a mix of smaller shops including both independent and high street retailers;

• require high quality design, which enhances the unique nature of Forest Gate and fits well with its Victorian heritage;

• improve the mix of housing in the area, increasing the quality and quantity of housing and providing a range of sizes, including homes for families;

• improve employment opportunities by attracting new business and retaining existing local businesses;

• discourage hot food takeaway outlets and betting shops;

• reduce anti-social behaviour; enhance the public spaces and improve community facilities;

• encouraging more people to walk, cycle and use public transport, including Crossrail; 

• ensure all development is as sustainable as possible; and

• ensure good provision of key services including education and healthcare provision and community facilities.

This all sounds great, so we were surprised that Obsidian's plans included building high-rise residential buildings that would not be social housing, but accommodation for people who would presumably not be working in the area, but would live here, commuting into central London using the new Cross Rail link at Forest Gate station, which will allow travel to central London in 20 minutes.

It looks as though this regeneration plan is not intended to benefit current residents of Forest Gate, but is an attempt to 'gentrify' the area. This will drive up rents and property prices in the area, making it more difficult for people working in the area to afford accommodation here. With the new government plans to cap housing benefit it could force the unemployed and those on low incomes to move out of the area to somewhere rents are cheaper.

We also don't see how 20 storey high rise buildings "enhance the unique nature of Forest Gate and fit well with its Victorian heritage".

We recently met with two representatives of Obsidian, who explained more about their plans. They explained that all the shops on the west side of Woodgrange Road, from the Co-op down to Greggs, will be demolished, as will Durning Hall and the houses on the north side of Earlham Grove as far as Sprowston Road. The Methodist Church hall on the east side of Woodgrange Road will also be demolished. All these buildings will be replaced by new buildings, one of them 20 storeys in height, mostly residential, but with shops at street level. Some of the current shops on Woodgrange Road will be temporarily moved to other premises and then moved back when work on new premises is complete.

Here are the other sketches and plans I photographed (with their permission) at the Obsidian stall at Forest Gate Festival:

This shows where the following drawings are looking from.

Looking north up Woodgrange Road.

Looking west up Osbourne Road.

Looking east up Earlham Grove.

Looking north up Sprowston Road.

Scheme 1

Scheme 2

The final consultation, before the first phase of these plans goes to the council for planning permission, with the Strategic Planning Development Committee will be held later this month. If Forest Gate residents want to change what is going to happen to our community, we need to act fast.

Further information and useful links:

Newham Council's web-page on the Supplementary Planning Document


Let Newham Council know what you think of their plans here: ldf@newham.gov.uk

Sign our on-line petition against these plans