Westminster Council to transform 1950s estates

Westminster Council has agreed the 'blueprint' to transform unsustainable 1950s estates in central London into 21st century housing.

The council plans to work with residents, national experts and architects to re-examine the existing buildings, street patterns, open spaces and local facilities to see how they can be improved.

Housing chiefs want to increase the amount of quality affordable homes, particularly to help families in overcrowded properties, and to end the physical divide between Westminster’s estates and surrounding local streets.

On February 22nd, Westminster's cabinet approved the council's housing renewal strategy, which has been subject to extensive public consultation over the last few months.

As a result of more than 100 response from residents and key organisations, seven major changes were made to the original strategy.

Cllr Philippa Roe, Westminster Council's cabinet member for housing, said: "This strategy is the first key step in establishing what the council and residents want to achieve from this ambitious programme of renewal that will benefit generations to come.

"Over the coming months, we will be holding further consultation events in the five specific areas and I would like to encourage all residents to contribute and tell us their views on the proposals for their neighbourhood and what they would like to see improved."

The five areas that have been earmarked for change are the Church Street neighbourhood, just off Edgware Road, Westbourne Green, off the Harrow Road and the Brunel, Tollgate and Ebury Bridge estates in Westbourne Park, Maida Vale and Pimlico respectively.

In these areas, homes are not meeting the needs of modern households - many families live in overcrowded conditions and there are strong perceptions of fear of crime while these neighbourhoods also suffer from high unemployment.

Many of these estates were created in the 1950s through large scale redevelopment programmes and suffer from design problems associated with similar aged housing estates across the UK.

The buildings tend to be of poor quality construction, requiring significant levels of investment to be improved, and the design and layout of open spaces isolates the estates from their surrounding neighbourhood.

By improving and opening out communal areas, the council aims to eradicate anti-social behaviour hotspots. It also plans help people in these area into training and employment while also encouraging enterprise to generate jobs in these local areas.