Masterplan for 1,600 new homes hopes for council green light
Deciding which way for Aberfeldy rejuvenation - Credit: Jonathan Goldberg
Teenagers have decided which direction their Poplar neighbourhood should take in the future.
They have helped produce a master planning application to regenerate the huge Aberfeldy neighbourhood, which has been pulled together after two years of public consultations.
The Aberfeldy Village masterplan will now go to Tower Hamlets Council for approval.
Landon Park pupils join residents in the People Speak event at Aberfeldy Street - Credit: Jonathan Goldberg
The consultations took the views of pupils from Langdon Park Secondary, who made their own manifesto on the changes they want.
“It’s nice to have our voices heard,” 14-year-old Shakila Begum said. “It’s something that we’ve not experienced before.”
They took the lead in a People Speak event in Aberfeldy Street as part of the summer London Festival of Architecture.
The People Speak... public consultations for Aberfeldy regeneration - Credit: Jonathan Goldberg
The masterplan is a joint venture by Poplar Harca housing with EcoWorld developers for 1,600 new homes, a third being allocated for those on the council's waiting list.
Families already living in the isolated neighbourhood — notoriously cut off by the A12 and A13 trunk roads — have been promised a new subway to reach other neighbourhoods safely.
"We're creating connections to improve links to the rest of Poplar," the housing organisation's chief executive Steve Stride assured.
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“This is a once-in-a-generation chance for new homes and community facilities that this area needs."
Those already living in the Aberfeldy neighbourhood who want to stay put are being given the option of like-for-like properties on the same tenancy terms and rents.
Tenants at Jura House protest at being "left out" of Aberfeldy regeneration - Credit: Mike Brooke
But it hasn't all been plain sailing. The remaining tenants at Jura House in Aberfeldy Street put banners out in protest earlier this year at being “pushed to the back of the queue” to get their new homes.
The four-storey 1950s block of flats was originally set to be pulled down in 2011, but now isn't due for demolition till 2030, they are told.
30 children growing up at Dura House ready to move out - Credit: Mike Brooke
So the tenants put their anger onto banners on the side of the run-down block and sent a petition to Poplar Harca about the state of the building.
Some 30 children live in Jura House, most of them having grown up all their lives with their families on “decamp status” ready to move out.
Poplar Harca agreed the building was in a poor condition and promised it was "looking seriously at all options" for relocating their tenants.
The families just don’t want to live in the middle of "a massive building site" for the next decade before getting their new homes.
Waiting 10 years to be rehoused... now another 10 likely - Credit: Mike Brooke
