#AyleshamCommunityAction

[ivanhoeresidents]

Ward Meeting 16/5/24 to include Aylesham Peckham Redevelopment discussion

A public meeting to include discussion about the large #AyleshamPeckham development, will be hosted by Southwark Council this Thursday 16 May (7:15pm for a 7:30pm start) at the Harris Academy Peckham. Part of the East Central area joint ward meeting with Community Updates as main topic. Other area developments, such as Peckham Square will also be discussed.

Plans are to be submitted by Berkeley Homes in association with Southwark, for the redevelopment referred to as "The Aylesham Peckham".

Locals are encouraged to attend this Thursday as public awareness remains low.

The Aylesham Centre has been primed for redevelopment ever since Tiger Developments and hedge fund Blackrock revealed their plans to build flats and shops on the site in 2016. In July 2021, Blackrock sold the site to Berkeley and their 2022 version included 3 build phases over a decade for 1050 homes, 14 buildings ranging from 6-27 storeys, a central courtyard and a linear park.

Scaled-down plans were released this February but have yet to win campaigner support. Aylesham Community Action quoted by Southwark News: "The ACA continues to question if this is the right type of development for Peckham ... The new proposals are essentially the same as those rejected by thousands of local people over the last 10 years: the insertion of very large buildings into low-rise, historic Peckham, to create flats that will be unaffordable to most local people, with minimal green or open space.”

An ACA graphic published yesterday in Southwark News shows the buildings will still tower over “historic low-rise Peckham”, with the iconic Jones & Higgins building being dwarfed by huge towers. See https://southwarknews.co.uk/.../graphic-shows-how.../

A petition launched by the group making several demands of Berkeley and Southwark Council has gathered over 3,000 signatures: https://www.change.org/.../we-demand-a-development-that-s...

Campaigners ask if Peckham is set to become the next hi-rise Lewisham.

3 posts in From The Murky Depths worth examining: https://www.fromthemurkydepths.co.uk/.../lewisham.../ & https://www.fromthemurkydepths.co.uk/.../lesser-known.../ & https://www.fromthemurkydepths.co.uk/.../lewisham.../?

See the Berkeley exhibition boards at https://theayleshamcentre.community/the-aylesham.../.

More on ACA: https://www.ayleshamcommunityaction.co.uk/

[ayleshamcommunityaction]

CALL TO ACTION - WRITE TO YOUR WARD COUNCILLORS

View Berkeley's plans here

May 10th: Full proposals including building designs announced by Berkeley Homes

The first public meeting on the Aylesham development hosted by the council, is this Thursday 16 May at 19:15pm at the Harris Academy Peckham, (112 Peckham Rd, London SE15 5DZ).  

It is very important as many Peckham locals as possible attend this meeting.  Please come and bring friends and family with you.  The council have to see locals turn up en masse, and express their views on the current plans for this vital development in Peckham town centre.  The developer will also be there to give a presentation. 

In tandem with this, we also strongly encourage everyone to write to their local councillor about this development.   Attached is a template letter to use as a base, which also includes a link to find your local councillor's email, and recommendations for who to cc into the letter. 

TEMPLATE LETTER TO WARD COUNCILLORS

How to use this template:

1 Use the Council’s website https://moderngov.southwark.gov.uk/mgFindMember.aspx

to find your ward councillor(s)’ name and email

2 Use the template below to email / write to your ward councillor. You can make changes or additions to personalize the text. This is likely to increase its impact.

3     Send your email, cc’ing the following:

·       Rye Lane ward councillors: 

jasmine.ali@southwark.gov.uk

esme.dobson@southwark.gov.uk

chloe.tomlinson@southwark.gov.uk

·      Cabinet member for New Homes and Sustainable Development:

helen.dennis@southwark.gov.uk

·      ayleshamcommunityaction@gmail.com

Subject: Urgent need for meaningful community engagement on proposed Peckham redevelopment

Dear [name of ward councillor]

I want to express my concern about the plans for the Aylesham Centre and the lack of meaningful public consultation that has taken place. 

The site is a big opportunity for Peckham but the plans need to bring substantial benefits to local people and the negative effects need to be properly addressed.

Before any plans are submitted, I would like you to ensure well-advertised and structured public meetings take place. Views should be shared on what the right development is for Peckham. The impacts of the scheme should be discussed in detail and plans altered to reflect this feedback. This has not happened so far. These issues include:

·      The sustainability of high-rise housing in Peckham town centre, whether these homes will last and create communities not just housing units

·      The loss of local traders servicing disadvantaged communities because of rent hikes and reduced carparking

·      Increases in already high residential rents nearby

·      Pressure on health services and transport links

·      Impacts on health and wellbeing from overheating, air pollution, wind

I have material concerns about the proposals and how they will help Peckham. I see no evidence that the results of any research into the points above have been acted upon. I believe no scheme should be approved unless it provides:

·      A minimum of 50% truly affordable housing and buildings that are sustainable and affordable to live in

·      An integrated town centre and neighbourhood, that enhances what already makes Peckham special, attracts visitors and jobs, not an island of luxury homes and shops

·      Real improvements in transport, health, youth and social services

·      Meaningful green space for recreation and biodiversity

Yours sincerely,

 [Your name, address and postcode]

DOWNLOAD TEMPLATE HERE

[ayleshamcommunityaction]

Aylesham what’s happening!!!

Aylesham Community Action Statement on publication of masterplan by Berkeley Homes 25.11.2022

The masterplan for the Aylesham site released by Berkeley Homes on 21 November has attracted immediate and widespread opposition – it is unacceptable to Peckham’s communities. People do not believe it will create the “thriving community quarter” intended for the site and feel it is being imposed on Peckham. In particular:

 It represents massive overdevelopment with enormous buildings – both tall and bulky. It will be a citadel out of keeping with an historic, low-rise area of South London.

 It does not meet the needs of local people – at least 65% of the homes will be unaffordable to most local people, and few improvements are being made to community services.

 It is not environmentally sustainable and is not fit for the future.

 It takes Peckham back to a failed type of housing, unsuitable for families, and which the GLA have concluded is not the answer to London’s housing crisis1.

 It does not consider the impact on well-loved local businesses, many of which are owned, run and used by Peckham’s diverse communities, and on the town centre as a whole. 

Berkeley Homes have not engaged with the community in a meaningful way and seem to be approaching any consultation as a tick-box exercise. 

For instance:

 Input has been sought only on cosmetic elements of the scheme, with discussion on the overall plan for the site avoided, and critical feedback downplayed.

 Requests to see and comment on the brief for the site have been ignored.

 Suggestions made to deliver better community engagement have not been acted on. No public meetings have been held that allow the community to hear each other’s views or hold the developer or architects to account.

 The consultation website is hard to find, difficult to navigate, and questions seem designed to prevent substantive input.

 The consultation period on the masterplan lasts only 8-weeks, over Christmas. With the next version of the proposals due to be released in a matter of weeks after that, it is hard to see how any feedback will lead to substantive changes. Aylesham Community Action believe Berkeley Homes and Southwark Council need to go back to the drawing board. 

Peckham’s communities wish to see:

 The creation of a new brief for the site, co-produced with all of Peckham’s communities, that will have their consent.

 Genuine dialogue so the community can see how its views are being incorporated into the plans – including substantive discussion on housing types, transport, the vision for the town centre, the environment, and building size.

 A development that meets local needs, is connected with the rest of the town centre and fits with the character of Peckham.

The Aylesham site represents a once in a generation opportunity for Peckham to deliver improvements for its communities. The scheme just released will change the character of Peckham forever, without the consent of the people who live, visit and work there.

1 The Greater London Authority Planning and Regeneration Committee “does not believe that tall buildings are the answer to London’s housing needs and should not be encouraged outside of a few designated and carefully managed areas”.

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AYLESHAM COMMUNITY ACTION ARE CAMPAIGNING FOR :

1. Local people to be properly consulted

2. A development that meets local needs

3. A plan that fits well with the character of Peckham

JOIN THE CAMPAIGN OR MAILING LIST | ayleshamcommunityaction@gmail.com

FOLLOW US ON TWITTER | @ACAPeckham

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‘Our Campaign So Far’

The ACA will continue to campaign for local people to be properly consulted, and for the new development to meet local need and to respond to the character of Peckham town centre.  for more...

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