Berry Brow demolition project

The whole project runs from January to September 2026. Here's a rough guide to the stages:

Timeline for the Berry Brow demolition project

When	Stage	What happens
Jan - Feb 2026	Site setup and hoarding	Fencing goes up, welfare facilities installed, site secured.
Mar - May 2026	Asbestos surveys and removal	Specialist licensed contractors will identify and safely remove all asbestos-containing materials from both blocks, with independent air monitoring throughout.
Mar - Jul 2026	Soft strip	All internal fixtures and fittings are carefully removed. Around 95% of the materials will be recycled.
May - Aug 2026	Demolition	The buildings come down, starting with Holme Park Court, then Bishops Court. A specialist high-reach excavator takes each floor down piece by piece.
Jul - Sep 2026	Foundations, crushing and site clearance	Slabs and foundations removed. Concrete is crushed on site for reuse, then the site is cleared and made good.

The blocks are being done one at a time. Holme Park Court goes first, then Bishops Court. Some stages overlap on the timeline above. We will work to the timeline above as best we can, but some elements aren't within our control, so we'll update these pages if anything changes.

A water leak in one of the buildings is currently affecting access and the order of works. Metropolitan are reviewing the programme to keep any knock-on effects to a minimum, and we'll update this page as soon as a confirmed asbestos removal start date is available.

We know a big demolition project near your home is going to have some impact, so here's an honest rundown of what to expect and what we're doing about it.

What you will notice from the Berry Brow demolition project

Topic	Details
Working hours	Monday to Friday, 7:30am - 6pm. No work at weekends.
Hoarding	2.4-metre timber fencing around the whole site. Designed to last the full demolition project (and until the site is secured by a developer).
Site vehicles	All works vehicles will be parked on site, not on surrounding streets. Typically, fewer than 25 workers on site at any time.
Lighting	Extra lighting may be needed during the demolition phase but will be switched off at the end of each working day. Lighting is designed for safety and security and managed to keep impact on neighbouring homes to a minimum, particularly at night.
Site staff	Everyone working on site is employed through a formal procurement process and is identifiable by branded clothing, ID and supervision. Access to site is controlled at a single entry and exit point.

Large vehicles will use main roads and Woodhead Road to access the site. They'll avoid residential streets like Armitage Road, Stockwell Hill, Stockwell Vale, Carriage Drive, Waingate, and other minor roads as far as possible.

Deliveries and material movements will be timed to avoid busy periods, including school run times. There's a pull-in area at the site entrance off Parkgate/Woodhead Road so vehicles can get off the road before reaching the gates - no blocking the road.

Trained traffic marshals will be on hand whenever vehicles enter or leave the site to keep pedestrians safe.

The contractor inspects and cleans the surrounding roads as required, depending on what's happening on site that day and the weather. Fixed cleaning schedules aren't appropriate on an active demolition site because needs change with conditions, but the standard expected is one suitable for a busy construction site adjoining a residential area. If you notice a particular issue, please let us know using the contact details at the bottom of this page.

The demolition excavator has a built-in dust suppression system that sprays a fine mist directly at the point where concrete is being broken. On top of that, two ground-based dust cannons spray atomised water over the wider work area to catch airborne particles before they can drift off site. Technical specifications for the cannon and the secondary mobile fogger have already been shared with the resident representatives and copies will be available to view at the engagement event.

Dust levels will be monitored throughout at the site boundary, at locations agreed by us. The limit is 50 micrograms per cubic metre over any one-hour period, and alert thresholds are set well below that so the contractor can respond before any limit is approached.

We don't currently expect to need more than two cannons on site, but the contractor can deploy additional dust suppression if monitoring shows levels rising in a way that can't be controlled by adjusting working practices, or if site-specific weather conditions call for extra mitigation.

Noise monitoring equipment will be set up at the site boundary. The limit is 75dB(A) - roughly the volume of a vacuum cleaner from a few metres away. Background noise levels will be measured before demolition starts, so any changes can be tracked.

Working methods are chosen to keep noise as low as practically possible, and all work is confined to weekday hours with no evenings or weekends.

Vibration will be monitored at the site boundary throughout the demolition works. The limit is 7mm/s - well within safe levels for nearby buildings. If needed, trenches can be dug on site to absorb vibration before it reaches the boundary.

Four things are being monitored throughout the demolition: dust, noise, vibration and asbestos in the air.

Dust, noise and vibration monitoring equipment is installed at the site boundary, in the locations closest to residential properties. Asbestos air monitoring is undertaken inside the buildings during removal works, and the monitors are moved as the work moves so that the readings always reflect the area being worked in. Monitoring locations are agreed between the council and the contractor, with input from the equipment provider where appropriate.

During active demolition, monitoring is continuous, with alert thresholds set below the agreed limits so that any rising trend triggers an immediate response.

Results are reviewed by the contractor and the council and discussed at our regular project meetings. Summaries of monitoring results will be shared through this webpage, the resident newsletter and the engagement meetings.

Demolition works will be carried out with appropriate controls in place to protect all surrounding properties.

As an extra precaution for properties to the north of Bishops Court, a physical demolition screen will be placed between the building being demolished and the site boundary. This additional precaution provides an extra layer of containment in this area and helps make sure demolition activities are safely managed within the site.

The buildings themselves are not being fully wrapped. Some residents have asked about wrapping, and we want to be clear that the approved plan doesn't include it. Demolition is controlled through top-down sequencing, dust suppression, exclusion zones and the targeted screen to the north.

Properties on Stockwell Vale sit at a significantly greater distance from the demolition works than the properties to the north. The combination of the demolition methodology, the hoarded site and that distance means an additional screen on that side hasn't been specified. The technical assessment underpinning that decision has been shared with resident representatives.

Risks of debris travelling beyond the site are managed through top-down sequencing (the buildings come down floor by floor, never collapsed), exclusion zones for both workers and the public, continuous on-site supervision, and an instruction to stop works if conditions on site or in the surrounding area become unsuitable. Measures are in place to prevent debris leaving the site boundary, and the river corridor has been considered as part of the demolition approach, with controls in place to prevent material entering the watercourse.

An arboricultural (tree) impact assessment has already been carried out. The hoarding has been designed to minimise impact on trees, particularly around areas with Tree Preservation Orders (TPOs). No trees are being chopped down as part of this project.

It's completely normal for buildings of this age to contain some asbestos materials, and both blocks have been thoroughly surveyed. The most recent being detailed Demolition and Refurbishment Surveys carried out earlier this year.

The key facts:

• All asbestos removal will be carried out by a licensed specialist contractor
• Air monitoring will take place throughout the asbestos removal phases
• An independent analyst will issue clearance certificates confirming asbestos has been safely removed from each work area before that area moves into the next stage
• Clearance certificates apply to defined work areas rather than the whole site, which means demolition or processing can safely proceed in one part of the site while licensed asbestos removal continues in another, where segregation and controls are in place
• No material known or identified to contain asbestos will be intentionally crushed, graded or reused on site
• All asbestos waste is tracked with consignment notes and taken to licensed disposal facilities

Most of the asbestos identified falls into the non-licensed (lower risk) category, but regardless, all of it will be handled by competent, qualified professionals following strict health and safety regulations.

A precise start date for the asbestos removal work cannot currently be confirmed. A water leak within one of the buildings has affected access and sequencing, and the demolition contractor is reviewing the programme to mitigate any impact. Once that review is complete, we'll publish the confirmed start date here.

Bishops Court: Asbestos surveys

• Bishops Bishops Court asbestos survey ground floor
• Bishops Court asbestos survey floors 1 to 4
• Bishops Court asbestos survey floors 5 to 8
• Bishops Court asbestos survey floors 9 to 12
• Bishops Court asbestos survey floors 13 to 17

Holme Park Court: Asbestos surveys

• Holme Park Court asbestos survey ground floor
• Holme Park Court asbestos survey floors 1 to 4
• Holme Park Court asbestos survey floors 5 to 8
• Holme Park Court asbestos survey floors 9 to 12
• Holme Park Court asbestos survey floors 13 to 17

Detailed, site-specific risk assessments and method statements (RAMS) for the demolition have been produced by Metropolitan Demolition and reviewed by the project team in line with the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015. They include consideration of worst-case scenarios and the controls that go with them.

RAMS are live working documents, used by the contractor to manage day-to-day operations, and they aren't published online. This is standard practice on demolition projects.

The principles, sequencing and mitigation measures that the RAMS are built on are already public. They're set out in the demolition methodology submitted to planning, and summarised on this webpage. Metropolitan have also confirmed they will bring printed copies of the RAMS to the next engagement meeting for residents to read in the room.

During the soft strip phase, all remaining fixtures and fittings are removed and separated for reuse or recycling wherever possible. Metropolitan Demolition currently achieves a recycling rate of around 95% on similar projects.

All waste is transported by licensed carriers to licensed facilities, with full documentation tracked and provided to us.

Concrete from the buildings is crushed on site for reuse. In practical terms, demolished concrete is fed into a mobile crushing machine to achieve the required grading, with on-board dust suppression operating throughout. Crushed material is either reused on site to support site clearance and ground profiling, or removed under environmental controls. Crushing on site reduces the number of lorry trips needed and the volume of new material that has to be brought in. To be clear, no material known or identified to contain asbestos is crushed, graded or reused. Asbestos removal and independent air clearance are completed in the relevant work areas before any crushing happens there.

We haven't commissioned a standalone wind model for the site. Demolition works are managed through the contractor's day-to-day judgement, ongoing dust, noise and vibration monitoring, and dynamic adjustment of the works when weather conditions change.

In practice, this means works can be slowed, modified or paused when wind, rain or other conditions make it inappropriate to continue. This is consistent with industry practice and with the published demolition methodology.

After demolition, the site will be left in a safe and stable condition, ready for the next stage of the Capital Investment Programme.

Some material from the buildings will be retained and regraded on site to help with site clearance and to prepare the ground for future redevelopment. This was captured in the demolition methodology submitted to planning, and uses material that would otherwise be removed by lorry, which reduces vehicle movements through the area.

The regraded ground level after demolition is not the final development level. Final levels will be set by the future housing scheme, and we'll share those plans separately when the next stage moves forward. For that reason, we aren't publishing a "before and after" plan at this stage.

When buildings are vacated and disturbed, there can be temporary changes in rodent activity locally. The site is managed through routine housekeeping and waste controls to keep this to a minimum. If you notice an issue you think is connected to the site, please contact us using the details at the bottom of this page so we can investigate.

Living next to a demolition site can be unsettling, particularly during warmer months when people want to use gardens and let fresh air into their homes.

The dust, noise, vibration and asbestos controls described above are designed to allow you to safely remain in your home throughout the works. There's no requirement for you to make permanent alterations to your property because of the demolition, and we aren't expecting to provide equipment such as dehumidifiers, dryers or vent coverings, or financial support towards household repairs or routine costs.

There's no general provision for temporary relocation or compensation linked to the works. If your individual circumstances change significantly during the project, please get in touch using the contact details below so we can talk it through.

A few residents have asked about footpaths around the site. If you're asking about a specific route, please send us a map or a description using the contact details below, and we'll check it with our Public Rights of Way team and come back to you.

Once the demolition and site clearance is complete, the site will form part of our Capital Investment Programme new build scheme, which was submitted to cabinet in December 2025. The aim is to create new, high-quality homes - we'll share more details as plans develop.