The resident ballot at the Carpenters Estate is finally underway after a delayed start. The ballot opened on November 19 and will close on December 14.

The Council delayed the vote after it became aware of additional eligible voters.

As the vote gets underway, many people hope the extensive master plan for regeneration of the area will end almost 20 years of uncertainty over the future of the estate.

But opponents warn that plans to demolish and rebuild homes on the estate, which was built in the 1970s and originally consisted of only council housing, will not provide the numbers of low-cost homes needed to ease the housing crisis.

They say that plans for the area focus on its value as prime London real estate, sitting in the shadow of the London Stadium and neighbouring Westfield shopping centre and Stratford International train station.

They warn it does not meet the challenges of Newham’s housing crisis, with more than 5,500 families with children living in temporary accommodation and in excess of 27,000 people on the waiting list for council housing.

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