A source who has seen the report, which was compiled by QS Gardiner & Theobald, said: “The developer is not following the innovative construction techniques, such as supply-chain management and prefabrication, to the extent originally planned.”
The inquiry was launched in July after HTA Architects resigned from the project, claiming that Countryside/Taywood had abandoned the scheme’s social and environmental principles.
The report was presented last Friday to representatives of English Partnerships, inquiry chairman and government architecture champion Stuart Lipton, and other members of the advisory panel that picked the winning bid in 1997.
A source who attended the meeting said the developer’s failure to deliver promised construction innovations was “one of several areas of concern which required further clarification”.
The source said there were also worries over the design integrity of the village. “The report found that the design had been modified slightly compared with the original, but that was seen to be solvable.” A second concern was with the environmental performance of the houses themselves. “It was not totally clear how sustainable or energy-efficient the proposed housing types are,” the source said.
The source said the panel agreed that English Partnerships should provide more detail on these points before any conclusions were drawn.
Alan Cherry, chairman of the Greenwich Millennium Village project, said: “We have not had a full report of Friday’s meeting yet. We are not expecting that any major changes will result from it. Our masterplan and our detailed planning applications for the first two phases of housing have been approved by Greenwich council.”
A spokesperson for English Partnerships declined to comment on G&T’s findings, saying only that the review process was confidential.
The final report, including English Partnerships’ comments, is due to be submitted to Prescott in the next fortnight. The spokesperson said he would decide whether to make it public.
The scheme was championed by Prescott as a model for sustainable, mixed-use development in the 21st century.
G&T based its report on interviews with lead consultants on the project in the past six weeks. Representatives of concept architect Ralph Erskine and project architect Proctor Matthews also made presentations at Friday’s meeting.
