People invited to witness demolition of Horton Tower in St Mary Cray
8:25am Tuesday 17th July 2012 in News By Robert Fisk
Alkham Tower is being reduced to rubble. Picture by Grant Falvey/ dimensionphotos.com
AFTER years of waiting the demolition of two derelict tower blocks is finally underway.
The 15-storey Alkham Tower in St Mary Cray is gradually being reduced to rubble as it gets picked apart floor by floor.
And at noon on Thursday (July 19) residents are invited to Bapchild Place, off Okemore Gardens, to watch as Horton Tower is destroyed.
Both towers had been empty since 2007 when the last tenants were moved out because the buildings were deemed to be structurally unsafe.
The future of the tower blocks had been uncertain since then and at one point there was talk of site owner Affinity Sutton repairing the buildings.
But the housing association is knocking them down after getting planning permission to develop the site.
In place of the towers there will be three apartment blocks which are three and four storeys in height, and two blocks which will be six and seven storeys in height.
The development will comprise of 19 one bedroom, 57 two bedroom and 14 three bedroom dwellings with 94 car parking spaces, bicycle parking, a children’s play area and bin and recycling storage.
Building is expected to start by the end of the year.
Constituency MP Jo Johnson will be at the demolition event and said: “It’s fantastic and I cannot wait.
“It is going to be a massive psychological boost for St Mary Cray and building the new homes will enhance the local environment for the whole community.
“It is a really important turning point and a catalyst for the regeneration of St Mary Cray which has been something Bromley Council has been pushing for ages and I support 100 per cent.”
Comments(11)
the wall
says...
9:36am Tue 17 Jul 12
Jeeepsie Joe
says...
11:36am Tue 17 Jul 12
Come along and mingle with the low lives, you just may end up stinking of weed, beer, BO or all three. If ya get real lucky you may just pull a single chav muvver.
Eagles_Man
says...
3:31pm Tue 17 Jul 12
How disappointing.
the wall
says...
3:44pm Tue 17 Jul 12
What has happened to this country, free speech, debate and comedy?
voxvox
says...
4:33pm Tue 17 Jul 12
I assume you are perhaps too young to grasp the concept of wanting to regenerate an area? St Mary Cray has a whole host of problems - I can admit that. However it needs to change, and chance needs to start somewhere.
My wife and I live in St Pauls Cray - attracted to the area because of the low prices and good transport links in to Central London - where I hold down a decent job (my wife works locally). Our next door neighbours are the nicest, friendliest neighbours you could ever wish for.
The eyesore that are these buildings will be removed from our 'view' so we will see nothing but fields in the distance now. I welcome that. If this is Bromley Council's first step to trying to make this area better then it has my full support - hopefully people aren't put off by moronic snobs such as some of the 'trolls' on this comment feed. If you had a child that behaved badly, would you ignore it and let it get worse, or would you try to help it become a better person? Bromley Council deserve recognition for this step - whether proven successful or not.
the wall
says...
5:09pm Tue 17 Jul 12
voxvox wrote:If you lose one sense, your other senses are enhanced.
So because there are a number of problems with the area, that makes your comments ok? I assume you are perhaps too young to grasp the concept of wanting to regenerate an area? St Mary Cray has a whole host of problems - I can admit that. However it needs to change, and chance needs to start somewhere. My wife and I live in St Pauls Cray - attracted to the area because of the low prices and good transport links in to Central London - where I hold down a decent job (my wife works locally). Our next door neighbours are the nicest, friendliest neighbours you could ever wish for. The eyesore that are these buildings will be removed from our 'view' so we will see nothing but fields in the distance now. I welcome that. If this is Bromley Council's first step to trying to make this area better then it has my full support - hopefully people aren't put off by moronic snobs such as some of the 'trolls' on this comment feed. If you had a child that behaved badly, would you ignore it and let it get worse, or would you try to help it become a better person? Bromley Council deserve recognition for this step - whether proven successful or not.
That's why people with no sense of humour have an increased sense of self-importance.
Jeepsie Joe
says...
8:11pm Tue 17 Jul 12
It also don't matter how much you polish a turd, guess what ? At the end of the day it will still be....a turd.
Here endeth the lesson for today. ;)
PS, why does Miss keep picking on moi...is it something I said ?
Flowergirl76
says...
10:07am Wed 18 Jul 12
Flowergirl76
says...
10:07am Wed 18 Jul 12
crayzee
says...
12:01am Sun 22 Jul 12
cookster says...
8:41am Tue 17 Jul 12