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36 Honor Oak Road (ex Hamilton Lodge Care Home)
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michael


Posts: 3,255
Joined: Mar 2005
Post: #1
24-10-2014 08:09 AM

I went along and was not impressed with the designs shown. Apparently they had already revised a few aspects and these might be available in the version presented on Saturday.

There was nobody on hand to discuss the other potential uses of the building and the housing officer said that housing was the most important issue for the council to address (well she would, wouldn't she). When pressed why the Catford site was not being used for housing she claimed it would be difficult to convert, but surely nothing that £3.3million (the cost of the purchase of the two sites surrounding the Honor Oak reservoir site) couldn't sort out for temporary accommodation. In this case the offices will be used as offices, a slightly lower priority than housing or education.

It was clear that if this application were to be turned down by the council that other options for using the building, including as a primary school extension, could be considered.

Included in the scheme presented were rooms for single individuals who would be placed in the accommodation at short notice, with toilet facilities shared with families. Not a situation I would be happy about if needing to take a child to the toilet during the night. But it is quite likely that the next iteration of the draft might not include such safety problems for residents.

Also included in the scheme was one studio apartment which would be expected to include 4-6 beds, all in a single bedroom/living room. I have specifically asked the council to provide a better layout than this.

In total the two buildings are likely to have just over 100 beds, although not all would be occupied as the units would need to be used flexibly.

Families would stay in the buildings for an average of 6 months and during that time they would not have the opportunity to transfer to local schools (as their 'permanent' address would not be at the location). So everyday some of the children would need to travel around the borough to the schools that their children attend. I'm sure some of these homeless people would be from Forest Hill, and it is good that these families would be close to their schools, but I don't think these facilities would be exclusively for families from the Forest Hill area.

There are no plans to share any facilities between the two sites or to join them together, although it is quite possible that the council would be interested in the empty plot at 116 Canonbie to expand their housing provision or possibly to maximise the value of the two plots together when they are sold on.

The driver for this conversion is not primarily about quality of accommodation for homeless families (and that is very clear from the plans I saw yesterday), it is about saving the council money - paying for B&B accommodation for homeless families.

There is an opportunity to look at the plans this Saturday and after that there will be a formal planning application, which they expect to have done and dusted in 13 weeks (faster than the planning department normally manage to process the least controversial residential extensions). The planning process will include the opportunity for a local meeting to discuss the plans if more than 10 people object. And the final decision will be made by councillors at a planning committee meeting (for this reason we are unlikely to hear opinions on this development from our local councillors as it could be prejudicial).

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RE: 36 Honor Oak Road (ex Hamilton Lodge Care Home) - michael - 24-10-2014 08:09 AM
Hamilton Lodge & 118 Canonbie Rd - Antony - 27-10-2014, 10:07 AM

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