Applications to temporarily house dozens of homeless families in two Hainault parks have prompted hundreds of objection letters from concerned residents.
Redbridge Council and construction firm Elliot Group have jointly submitted planning applications to erect 90 container homes in Brocket Way Park and Woodman Road, near Manford Way, for a period of 10 years.
The latter site, proposed to house 60 of the “prefabricated modular units”, will also see the demolition and revamping of the park’s “multi-use games area and outdoor gym equipment”.
The applications come following a series of heated Redbridge Council consultation meetings with neighbours held over the last two months.
“A review of the design took place in response to the pre-application meeting and consultation meetings, and revisions to the scheme took place” according to planning documents.
Included among these revisions is a proposal to swap the building’s grey facade with multi-coloured weatherboard cladding deemed to be in keeping with the look of the surrounding area.
The amendments also include the addition of 64 cycle spaces in Woodman Road and 32 in Brocket Way – enough for one space per apartment.
To allay fears over car parking issues, the application assures that homeless households which have cars will be allocated housing elsewhere in the borough.
The application also confirms that the children’s play area in Woodman Road “has been retained and is not impacted by the development”.
Around 220 representations have been submitted at the time of writing– the majority of which object to the application.
Among the main reasons cited is the importance of the green spaces for area’s community spirit.
“As a family we use this area with many other families as a safe area for our young children to socialise and play, as well as places where we cement good relations in our community,” one objector writes.
Another objector, who lives in neighbouring Tynley Close, wrote: “My little girl suffers with asthma and this was one of the reasons we moved to Chigwell, to get her away from the pollutants that make it difficult for her to breathe.”
View planning applications 0134/19 and 133/19 at the council’s planning portal.
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