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Queen Caroline and Ashcroft Square estates to be redeveloped?
March 3, 2009 10:00 AM
Picture by Grant Humphreys, published in the Chronicle 26 Feb 2009
Reports that Hammersmith and Fulham Council are planning to demolish two council estates and redevelop them with private partners have been denied by the Council. Nevertheless tenants' representatives were summoned to a meeting at the end of February where they were told that the Council had discussed with developers the idea of "renewing" their estates.
The estates in question are the Queen Caroline Estate, by the riverfront near Hammersmith Bridge, and the Ashcroft Square Estate above/around the Kings Mall. Tenants fear that in a Borough which already features among the worst for housing deprivation in London, the Tory council is looking for ways to move them out of the borough.
Replacing hundreds of units of affordable housing with market-priced housing will have a significant impact on the demographics of this part of the borough. The estates are located in Hammersmith Broadway, a Labour-controlled ward. The whole scheme, if true, is reminiscent of Westminster's 'building stable communities' policies. That project led eventually to Westminster's leader, the notorious Dame Shirley Porter, being found guilty by the courts of gerrymandering.
The current Tory Council has a stated policy to reduce the proportion of social housing in the borough. Another meeting has now been scheduled to be held at the Town Hall on 19 March (4-7pm) to consult on how residents view life on their estate.
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