I have been exchanging emails with V22 for a month or so about the ugly hoardings that Willmott Dixon left at Louise House and are still there. Their latest email stated

"I raised your query as promised to our Build Manager who states that since we plan to conduct works on the front and back gardens which will require hoardings we have chosen to keep the hoardings up. Unfortunately it is a slow process, as we need to consult the Conservation office, ensure the appropriate planning and research has been conducted and then gain planning permission from the Council.

Although a long process, we really look forward to the days in which Louise House will look great and contribute to the already lovely street."

I fail to understand what possible work they can plan to do in the gardens that "will require hoardings", why they need to "consult the Conservation Office" etc. before removing them and as for them remaining there for "security reasons", as they claimed in a previous email, that makes no sense either as they don't even extend to the Pools side of the building.
Anyway it would seem for whatever reason that they intend to inflict this eyesore on their neighbours for the foreseeable future.

If I recall correctly, they're intending to dig up the tarmac-ed over front yard and return it back into a garden. That would involve a lot of mess and the hoardings would help stop it spreading all over Dartmouth Rd.

Wouldn't the sensible solution be to get the artists inside the building to paint something nice on the hoardings until they can be removed?
JohnH, Have you proposed this to V22 or would you like me to?

Thanks Michael, I hadn't thought of that but it sounds like an acceptable compromise so I've asked V22 (with appropriate credit to you) whether it can be done and I'll post their reply on here.

Hello everyone,

We wanted to just post our comprehensive answer to the rest of the forum concerning the status of build at Louise House.

Dear John

We will definitely consider a temporary solution for making the hoardings more attractive - a favourite suggestion that has been raised internally is to use the children's drawing designs of the garden that they have been proposing for the back space at Louise House.

Regarding the hoardings staying put, we have been hoping to start works on Louise House for some time now. As you know we were advised that we won the tender in March 2013, as yet we have still not entered into our formal lease with the Council. In fact, we are still waiting for a reply to comments made by our solicitors to the lease at the beginning of this year.

We have tried to chase this with the Council, but obviously they are very busy. What this has meant is that we cannot start making any real progress, we cannot apply to the Conservation Officer for permission to dig up the tarmac in the front and back gardens (the tarmac itself is listed), let alone start works, and we cannot actively pursue funding opportunities to fully accomplish this work.
It has been a frustrating time for us as well, but we are cheered by many instances of slow progress.

I do have further information from my colleagues to report, as raised in your previous email.

For building works: removing the tarmac from the front and rear gardens is going to require quite extensive and intrusive works involving heavy machinery, diggers, rubble removal etc . We are also planning to drill piles at stepped levels into the front garden to stop subsidence, evidence of which is in the front cracked wall abutting the pavement. Hoarding will be required for these works. As we have not known when these works could start, we believed it to be wasteful to take down the existing hoardings, only to have to replace them. We did not think it would drag on this long.

Regarding security: I understand your point about the pool side having no hoardings, but the spiked fence on that side is a reasonable security measure.
What made us particularly nervous was that in the spring of this year the Council cleared a number of buildings in the area of squatters. They were then looking around the area for new buildings to squat; we had to call the police three times in spring and summer this year.
Although they have not been seen recently, many artists have remained slightly nervous about security since there are no bars on the windows (and we cannot put any on a listed building without consent).

We did paint the hoarding gates a while ago in an effort to make them look better, we will look into more ways to make them more attractive, and will continue to work towards a future Louise House which no longer requires the hoardings.

Very best
V22

A very reasonable and detailed response. Personally, i wish V22 all the best and i'm sure it'll be worth the long and undeniably frustrating wait. It is a superb addition to the area, and i have no doubt that'll be even more the case once the planned works can finally start and be completed.

Thank you Reshma for your comprehensive response and please accept my apologies for this tardy post. I very much look forward to seeing LH at its unhidden best as soon as possible and any progress reports you can give us along the way would be most appreciated.

Hi V22

Thanks for this reply please do not hesitate to get in touch if I can be of any assistance with regards to getting answers from the council - email - cllr_paul.upex@lewisham.gov.uk

thanks

Paul

Has any progress been made towards ending this unsightliness?

Certainly nothing has been done since the previous posts to improve its almost derelict appearance.