‘Ecstatic’ homes safe
DEMOLITION THREAT LIFTED AFTER 11 YEARS OF UNCERTAINTY
Someone must be held to account for lives put on hold and public money wasted
THOUSANDS of residents on two Fulham estates are celebrating after the long-planned demolition of their homes was officially cancelled.
Families on the West Kensington and Gibbs Green estates had waited for more than a decade for the amazing news that came on Tuesday, November 18.
Sally Taylor, 58, said she was “in shellshock” and “beyond ecstatic”.
The former nurse, who co-chairs the West Ken Gibbs Green Residents Association, said: “People were absolutely cheering last night, it felt like New Year’s Eve.
“Even the kids were going ‘is it true that we’re really safe?’ You don’t appreciate that the children are really affected by this even if they don’t say it. And some of them are 11 years old, so have experienced this their whole lives.
“We’re all in complete shellshock and are beyond ecstatic. It hasn’t really sunk in yet.”
Mrs Taylor, a leaseholder who has lived in Fulham for 30 years, added: “Everyone’s life has been held up for 11 years. Basically we had one council that sold us, and this one has saved us. And I think it’s because there’s been a real change of conscience around social housing, especially after Grenfell.”
The breakthrough came after the estates along North End Road — home to more than 2,000 people in 760 flats and terraced homes — were bought by Delancey from Capital and Counties (Capco) on November 15.
Delancey has agreed to then sell the land back to Hammersmith and Fulham Council by the end of the month.
The landmark decision ends one of London’s most controversial and longrunning regeneration disputes in recent history.
Council leader Stephen Cowan said: “On Friday we exchanged contracts with Delancey, the first step to bringing about the safe return of all the land sold to Capco, which includes the two estates... residents homes will be safe.”
Andy Slaughter, the Labour parliamentary candidate for Hammersmith, said on Twitter: “Today a wrong has been righted. Residents can decide their futures and repairs can start. But someone must be held to account for lives put on hold and public money wasted.”
The estates formed part of the socalled Earl’s Court Masterplan, a 77-acre piece of land that was sold to (Capco) by the then Conservative-led council in 2012, for £105 million.
Stretching from North End Road to Earl’s Court station, and the sincedemolished Earl’s Court Exhibition Centre, Capco originally planned to build 7,500 homes across the Masterplan area.
But since then Capco has announced it is selling all its interests in the Earl’s Court scheme to Delancey.
Before this was announced the council was engaged in a separate battle to acquire this land, including sections that sit inside the borough of Kensington and Chelsea, and was preparing a compulsory purchase order (CPO).
A council report published last month estimated the CPO action would have cost the council £650 million. It then planned to develop its own housing scheme, to a potential cost of £1.5 billion.