21 July (Part 2) - Time runs out for the Harrow Inn Car Wash
Ever since the Harrow Inn was
demolished in 2009 the site has been an eyesore and bone of contention for
Abbey Wood residents. Peabody Housing bought the site four or five years ago and
since then the southern corner has been occupied by a car wash. Earlier this week it closed.
Chatterers on Facebook often claimed that the car wash was illegal but I have
been present at meetings where Peabody managers said they were collecting rent
from the car wash owner. In early 2016 the car wash used to send a representative named
Nick to the local traders’ association meetings, on one occasion both he and a
Peabody director attended the same meeting; it was reasonable to assume that the
Knee Hill car wash was an entirely legitimate enterprise.
However it would appear that those who claimed the business occupied the site
illegally were not entirely wrong. Peabody’s lease ran for one year only from
5th June 2015 and Mr. Gkonis, the leaseholder, was not immediately offered renewal and not unnaturally he never paid any rent after July 2016.
It was early 2017 before agreement to renew was reached and only in July last
year was Mr. Gkonis asked to sign it. The lease stipulated a rent of £17,000 per annum
and precluded subletting. Mr. Gkonis never got around to signing the lease and
appears to have disappeared from the scene shortly afterwards. Some reports say
he became unwell and went abroad. However the car wash continued to operate.
When challenged at the beginning of this year the new principals
(trading as Danson Prestige Carwash Limited) at the car wash
claimed to have a lease despite nobody at Peabody admitting to entering a signed
agreement. Difficulties were placed in the way of getting a copy of the claimed
lease to Peabody and when they were overcome it proved to be unsigned. Some
reports said that it showed signs of being a forgery, at least in part.
There is no doubt whatever that Peabody owns the site and it was leased to the
car wash owner, Mr. Gkonis until July 2016. The car wash
has definitely been operating without permission for the past two years but not everything is
quite as certain. It is not impossible that the recent owner was deceived by the
original lessee but he would have to have been very naive to have believed that
the lease he possessed was legitimate.
The whole thing came to a head in Dartford County Court last week when the
recent occupiers were accused of trespass and inevitably thrown out.
Peabody Housing proposes to build on the site and is currently working on new plans after
their original drawings were not well received locally. Further demolition
and site redevelopment is making slow progress.