The upcoming vote by residents on the future of the Carpenters estate will be the latest phase in a history of renewal and destruction dating back more than 250 years.

The estate gets its name from Carpenters Company, a City of London livery company, which in 1767, bought a 63-acre farm estate in the parish of West Ham near Stratford, as a revenue investment.

In the decades that followed factories were built around the site and the Carpenters Company built terraced housing on Carpenters Road as well as setting up a school and a social club.

The area was badly damaged during wartime air raids and the present estate was built in 1967, combining low rise housing, maisonettes and three tower blocks: Lund Point in 1967, Dennison Point in 1967 and James Riley Point in 1969. Altogether there are 710 homes – 435 in high rise blocks.

Since 2003 residents on the Carpenters Estate have faced uncertainty about their homes with repeated plans to regenerate the estate falling through and it is estimated that two thirds of the residents have been relocated.

Eight years ago a row erupted that made national news headlines when estate residents contested plans by the council under the leadership of Sir Robin Wales to sell the site to University College London.

UCL are currently developing their new campus in the nearby Olympic Park, but the original plan was to build on the Carpenters estate.

Furious residents refused to accept the plan and demanded that the estate remain intact. ”People wanted to stay because it was a beautiful estate,” said former Tenants Management Organisation leader Tee Fabikun. “People wanted to stay together. It had been a very friendly area with zero-crime – a wonderful community.”

Today around 25 flats out of a total of 430 across the three tower blocks on the estate are currently occupied. Some of those who left have the right to return and will take part in the ballot planned for September 2021 along with existing tenants and leaseholders.

For more information from the Newham Heritage Month 2021 visit the website.

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