READER’S RANT ON DAEDALUS WATERFRONT
Draft proposals for the Daedalus Waterfront development:
The northern area including the grassed area adjacent to the control tower and Coastguard base is down as industrial units. Swann & Esmonde Hangars to be removed and replaced with industrial units. The current open area to the west of Swan and Esmonde is housing. The old Coastguard building on the front to be removed and the area there to be housing. The southeast area will be residential including the listed Wardroom, Dining Rooms and Cookhouse which will be converted into dwellings / apartments, there will also be a number of new dwellings built here. The Hovercraft Museum to remain and the hangars opposite to be used for leisure and visitor economy. The triangle area in the middle has not been fixed yet but may include a hotel. Westcliffe house to the left of the wardroom could become a pub. 350 residential units are planned with 90 of them being refurbished.
Local concerns:
“Just what we need, more houses that no one can afford, more people, more parking, more schools needed, more Drs, more of everything. People can’t afford anything at the moment.”
“And there are more houses planned for Newgate area as well, Stubbington bypass wasn’t done to bypass it was to accommodate the new housing estate they think we are daft, why not do the houses that are run down first without building anymore.”
“Developers are not interested in the infrastructure just building houses and making money.”
“350 residential units mean approximately 1,000 more people coming to live in Lee. We do not have enough GPs to cope atm. Add in school places, veterinarians etc. I am not a nimby but feel this is not suitable for this area.”
On the other side of the coin:
“We attended the ‘Public Consultation’ and were pretty impressed with the work and proposals so far. These developers are to be commended. There are some good ideas being floated and the small number of additional homes looked a fair trade off for the overall development.”
“I’ve lived in the area all my life and think it’s great that it’s being developed. I’m hoping that young families move into the area to bring much needed change to the area.”
“I personally feel it’s the knocking down of pubs and houses to build retirement flats and the massive increase of an elderly population that has added stress to the doctors not new developments aimed at younger working families.”