Council extends Carshalton CPO as developers say houses are not enough (From Sutton Guardian)

Controversial Carshalton CPO gets green light to extend by councillors

12:00am Sunday 21st October 2012 in News By James Pepper

Council officials discuss CPO's with homeowners group set up to fight the plans

Sutton Council is to extend the scope of a controversial Compulsory Purchase Order (CPO) in Carshalton after it emerged the sites were not big enough, meaning further homeowners could be forced to sell-up.

At this weeks' strategy and resource committee, councillors were told the land on which 20 privately owned homes site is too small for its proposed new development.

Fifty four homes, which are deemed defective, will be knocked down and replaced with 87 houses if the council forces through its CPOs on the homeowners who purchased their homes from the council under the Right to Buy Scheme in the 1980s.

At Monday's meeting, it was outlined that the developers need additional land on Nightingale Close and Green Wrythe Crescent in order to build the houses.

On Green Wrythe Crescent, the piece of land includes part of homeowner David Gumble's garden.

Council documents outline: "The non inclusion of the three additional areas would result in the loss of up to seven new houses in aggregate across the entirety of the Orlit regeneration project. This would effect the viability of the project by reducing the amount of grant funding provided by central government bu around £300k."

A council spokesman said: "The legal title confirms where the boundary lines should lie on Green Wrythe Crescent and aerial shots clearly show that the fence line has moved beyond the boundary denoted on the registered title for the land.

"The Borough’s Valuer will be visiting the properties later this week and while he is there he will take the opportunity to check the boundary lines himself."