Demolition of old tower blocks heralds progress at Waterloo Estate
Demolition of old tower blocks heralds progress at Waterloo Estate
William Pike House and Thomas England House, Romford’s first tower blocks, are being demolished to make way for a new development at Waterloo and Queen Street to build 1,380 new homes for local people.
Standing tall in the area since 1961, the two eleven storey (120 feet) buildings are no longer fit for purpose, and the area is being transformed into an exciting new community.
Waterloo Estate in Romford is the largest of the ‘12 Estates’ projects with Joint Venture partner Wates Residential, creating over 550 1, 2, 3 and 4 bedroom affordable homes for local people. The homes will be built from high-quality and traditional building materials, and will provide commercial workspace, play space, a raingarden and a community village green.
Yesterday on-site, Councillor Damian White, Leader of Havering Council and Neil Stubbings, Director of Regeneration, were joined by Tim Wates and Hugh Jeffery from Wates Residential, to see the towers coming down.
This is the largest estate regeneration scheme on Council-owned land in London and is representative of Havering Council’s plans to create modern, energy efficient homes for local people.
It is great to be here today to see the old tower blocks coming down, soon to be replaced with homes fit for future generations of Havering residents to live in and enjoy.”
Councillor White
We believe everyone deserves a great place to live, and the demolition of these concrete blocks are a necessary physical change to the Romford landscape that will lead to the creation of new comfortable homes for families to thrive in.
The new homes that will replace them have been designed specifically with local people in mind and will form a community which is surrounded by open green space for playing and relaxing”.
Hugh Jeffery
Regional Development Director for Wates Residential
The £1.5 billion joint venture programme between Havering Council and Wates will see at least 3,500 high-quality new homes delivered in Havering over the next 12 to 15 years. Other sites in the programme include Napier and New Plymouth House in Rainham and Solar, Serena and Sunrise Courts in Hornchurch, where work has recently started on a new retirement village.
Wates and alongside Havering Council has made a commitment to buy British wherever possible, with 20 per cent of all spend going to local Small and Medium Enterprises, valued at £100m.
