It is a real failure of our planning and listing system that a basically sound and indeed ground-breaking building, splendidly designed for the site by two of our leading architects and good for at least another hundred years with proper maintenance can be pulled down and replaced by poor quality mass buildings just to satisfy the developers thirst for profit.

Robin Hood Gardens was designed by Alison and Peter Smithson for the Greater London Council and completed in 1972, with 213 flats surrounding an enclosed large garden area. Next to the busy Blackwall Tunnel Approach Road it largely cut off residents from the noise. It had its faults but many were endemic to mass housing at the time, and it attracted much criticism, often undeserved. With proper maintenance and management it like other blocks from the same era such as Trellick Tower could have been made highly desirable places to live, with any privately owned properties fetching premium prices.