2 March (Part 2) - Another fiftieth anniversary
I may not have gone to Peabody’s Thamesmead Regeneration exhibition if my arm
had not been twisted by Bonkers’ readers but I am very glad that I did. It was
the biggest Peabody exhibition I have been to and it covered everything they are
doing in South Thamesmead.
We
have just passed the 50th anniversary of the houses on Thamesmead first being
occupied but it apparently acquired a dubious reputation very quickly.
In 1979 I was a Hampshire resident working in London and knew
nothing of Thamesmead. A newly married young lady in the office announced she
had found accommodation in Thamesmead and met with a chorus of groans from her
friends. Ten years later when I moved to Belvedere I began to realise why.
The Peabody Housing Association is undertaking the massive job of bringing Thamesmead up
to standard which means some refurbishment and a great deal of demolition.
Progress has been painfully slow but things are rapidly picking up now.
Today’s event was a serious attempt to update residents on what Peabody has in
mind. They had loads of staff at The Hub in Yarnton Way and lots of explanatory posters.
Whilst I am affected only in the sense that the skyline will change for the
better I am aware that regeneration can badly inconvenience those who are compelled to live adjacent to
a building site. Many have lost access to car parking, the disabled have been
effectively imprisoned in their own homes and some have lost them altogether.
The terms offered to owner occupiers whose houses are to be demolished is the standard
valuation plus 10% which bearing in mind the value of concrete houses might not
be very much, certainly not enough to buy a decent replacement house locally.
To bridge the gap Peabody is helping displaced home owners with a joint equity
deal with no interest payable on their investment or rent on the portion of
the house not owned outright. It sounds like a decent deal to me but maybe it is easy for
unaffected me to say that. It feels good to own one’s own home, maybe it doesn’t
feel so good to have Peabody taking a share of it even though they will never
be able to get the occupants out of it. If I have not misunderstood it is like a free mortgage with fewer strings attached.
In time inflation may reduce Peabody’s interest in the property.
Residents that might be affected are sure to have been contacted by Peabody
already but a trip to the Hub in Yarnton Way is highly recommended. The
exhibition will be repeated next Thursday (14:00 to 20:00) and Saturday (10:00 - 15:00).
The explanatory posters were photographed
and may be seen here.
Probably best to look on a decent size computer monitor.
Can anyone answer a question about Thamesmead that has intrigued me for some
while? If you tour around within a few miles of Oxford you will stumble upon the
villages of Yarnton, Eynsham, Wolvercote, Binsey, Hinksey and Godstow. There may
be more. All of them have lent their names to roads in Thamesmead.
Why?
