Builders on the Canada Water Masterplan have celebrated an important milestone after ‘topping out’ K1 – meaning the site’s first homes are nearing completion.
‘Topping out’ means K1 on Roberts Close, which will provide 79 affordable homes including 60 council flats, has reached its full height.
While Southwark’s housing boss Cllr Darren Merrill praised the achievement, local campaigner Steve Cornish has reminded people of the building’s controversial history.
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Mr Cornish said: “Rotherhithe & Surrey Docks residents were surprised to see so many ‘dignitaries’ attending the highly controversial topping out ceremony this week. In 2020, Rotherhithe residents of all ages crowdfunded over £30,000 to legally challenge the K1 Roberts Close development in the high courts but were unsuccessful.”
Back then, campaigners argued that by being set away from the main site, developers British Land had deliberately separated council tenants from private tenants.
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They also said the building was an “overdevelopment” given the site had been earmarked for just 28 units in the council’s unitary development plan.
Thirdly, there was widespread anger that the block would overshadow an adjoining butterfly sanctuary and the Russia Dock Woodland.
But Cllr Darren Merrill, Cabinet Member for Council Homes and Homelessness, praised the news, saying: “I’m so proud that we have reached this important milestone in providing 79 high-quality homes for the council.
“These new homes are going up in a wonderful area, surrounded by parks and green spaces, in a place with a rich heritage and history.”
All new homes will be fully electric, have efficient water usage and be net-zero once they’re completed.
Thirty-nine flats will be three-beds, with 26 two-beds and fourteen one-beds – all with access to a communal ground floor garden.
The construction, which began in November 2021, has employed six people from SE16 and three more local workers are expected to join by the end of the year.
Mr Cornish added: ”Surrey Docks and Rotherhithe Residents lost their legal challenge on K1 Roberts Close, but will always take on any future development that they feel is harmful and detrimental to their environment
“However we move on and look forward to welcoming our new K1 residents to our fantastic area in Surrey Docks.”
K1 is just one part of the Canada Water Master Plan, a 53-acre mixed-use development site that includes the Surrey Quays Leisure Park, which currently has an Odeon cinema, bingo and Hollywood Bowl on site.
While British Land says it is searching for a new company to operate the cinema, the other amenities will be replaced with 419 new flats, as well as a new Tesco Extra.
Of those 419 flats, 115 will be for social rent, 140 will be ‘intermediate’ rent – 80 per cent of market rates, and 164 will be up for outright sale.
It’s a 15-year project, which developers say will provide 3,000 new homes, of which 35 per cent are expected to be affordable.
A spokesperson for British land said: “The proposals we produced for Plot K1 came about as a result of extensive consultation with local residents and stakeholders.
“We had almost 5,000 people engage with us to help shape the wider masterplan, and we have worked to take on board feedback wherever possible.”
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