Lambeth's plans to demolish Cressingham Gardens and other estates without the consent of residents

[ViolentPanda]

The weasel-featured shitbirds at Lambeth appearing to be enjoying being cunts.
Today we've been flyered with a missive inviting residents to a:

"Drop In session" on the "Cressingham Gardens Estate Regeneration Proposals"

"Thursday 9th July 2015 at 4pm to 8pm
Venue: Rotunda Community Hall, Cressingham Gardens Estate

Come in and find out what is being proposed for your estate"

So, a whole day of notice. Fortunately, it won't take me very long to dig out my digital voice recorders, and my dslr and a tripod. I'm going to record the lot - because of my medically-documented memory problem, obviously!

 

[Greebo]

BTW some of the flyer paper (for Monday etc, but obv not the demolition meeting) is courtesy of Puddy_Tat

 

[equationgirl]

How was the meeting? ViolentPanda did you manage to make the recording in the end?

 

[ViolentPanda]

How was the meeting? ViolentPanda did you manage to make the recording in the end?

Yep. For the hour and a half we were there, anyway. Got it on video and audio. Basically they were doubly-screwed, as I had the Equalities Act on my side, as well as last year's "Right to Report" legislation.

 

[equationgirl]

Yep. For the hour and a half we were there, anyway. Got it on video and audio. Basically they were doubly-screwed, as I had the Equalities Act on my side, as well as last year's "Right to Report" legislation.

Nice one

 

[Greebo]

Nice one

Now the slightly bad news - the accoustics made audiosoup of anything not said at close range. So we didn't catch a word said at the other table (two tables quite a way apart). Still, at least our having a legitimate reason to record wiped any smile off Lucia Deere's face.

 

[ViolentPanda]

Now the slightly bad news - the accoustics made audiosoup of anything not said at close range. So we didn't catch a word said at the other table (two tables quite a way apart). Still, at least our having a legitimate reason to record wiped any smile off Lucia Deere's face.

She did look a bit like someone had put a ferret up her skirt, didn't she?

 

[organicpanda]

She did look a bit like someone had put a ferret up her skirt, didn't she? [/Q

 

[Robert Langtry]

Promises Promises Promises. Profit, Power, and self-intrest will always rise to the top. The British sense of 'Fair Play' is an ideal, not a total reality.
In Councillor Bennetts article published by Lambeth Labour-nationbuilder.con etc., Bennett reassures that "every resident and homeowner will have the opportunity to stay on the Estate as part of the Cressingham Community." O.K. you can take that at face value, accept his word as an honourable young English Gentleman. Or Bennett could be gone in a year or two. Or maybe like some persuasive salesman / politicians we all know there is a self-delusional aspect to their character, who after destroying peoples lives say 'it's behind us, we must move on' 'learn the lessons' which of course they never do. And Bennett is not the only Lambeth Council person involved in this. Those left living on Cressingham could be piled up in a block hidden away in some dark corner cut off from the Park. What kind of Contract could be drawn up to safeguard against this?
Cressingham Gardens is an absolute prime piece of Real Estate with its own entrance to a beautiful Park overlooking Westminster and the City of London. The Park has a swimming pool with gym, BMX track, Tennis courts, and fantastic transport, especially the Railway but also Tube and Bus. There are private schools like Dulwich College an JAGS nearby. Then there's Dulwich Village, and Herne Hill with its Velodrome. Westminster Boating Base near Vauxhall Bridge is just up the road on a No 2 Bus if you fancy sending the kids Sailing and Kayaking. You can enjoy all this living on the Tulse Hill Estate or Brixton but as a potential 'High Class' development Cressingham is something special; probably the best piece of land in South London. Devolopers with big bucks would almost kill to get hold of it. I think I've read that Lambeth say they will be doing the rebuilding developement themselves. Would I accept their word? Not in a million years!
I can hear the excuses now as figures are fudged and deals done when trying to clear out as many Residents as they can. "We have to act in the best intrest of the Council Tax payers" "Central Government cuts" "Money desperately needed for essential services." And all their other backdoor miserable excuses.
Rule Britannia, Britannia weaves the rules. . . . Forty creamcrackers up your bum, bang, bang, bang.

 

[ViolentPanda]

Que?

 

[ViolentPanda]

Promises Promises Promises. Profit, Power, and self-intrest will always rise to the top. The British sense of 'Fair Play' is an ideal, not a total reality.
In Councillor Bennetts article published by Lambeth Labour-nationbuilder.con etc., Bennett reassures that "every resident and homeowner will have the opportunity to stay on the Estate as part of the Cressingham Community." O.K. you can take that at face value, accept his word as an honourable young English Gentleman. Or Bennett could be gone in a year or two. Or maybe like some persuasive salesman / politicians we all know there is a self-delusional aspect to their character, who after destroying peoples lives say 'it's behind us, we must move on' 'learn the lessons' which of course they never do. And Bennett is not the only Lambeth Council person involved in this. Those left living on Cressingham could be piled up in a block hidden away in some dark corner cut off from the Park. What kind of Contract could be drawn up to safeguard against this?

Given the intended construction modality - phased development - then it's a near certainty that some sort of divide between social/"affordable" housing and the housing for sale will be attempted, possibly along the same lines as used at Brockwell Gate, just down the road.
As for Bennett possibly being gone (he's ambitious about standing for Val Shawcross's GLA seat), as you say, it's not Bennett as an individual driving this, it's the ruling Labour clique of the last 10 years or so - the neoliberal careerists who aspire to become MPs and members of Progress - that are responsible for formulating these plans. They come and go, with some like Pete "fibber" Robbins leaving a big legacy, mostly of pain and despair to the borough's housing co--ops and Short Life tenants,and others leaving little legacy at all.

Cressingham Gardens is an absolute prime piece of Real Estate with its own entrance to a beautiful Park overlooking Westminster and the City of London. The Park has a swimming pool with gym, BMX track, Tennis courts, and fantastic transport, especially the Railway but also Tube and Bus. There are private schools like Dulwich College an JAGS nearby. Then there's Dulwich Village, and Herne Hill with its Velodrome. Westminster Boating Base near Vauxhall Bridge is just up the road on a No 2 Bus if you fancy sending the kids Sailing and Kayaking.

The excellent transport infrastructure is somewhat of a cuckoo in the nest though, as a lot of it is already loaded or overloaded passenger-wise. Although there's some possibility of expanded capacity on rail (if/when other projects are completed on those lines), there's much less possibility of extra tube capacity, and buses running on the main drags through the borough are already stuffed during and either side of the rush hours, and are blocked into those same main drags by the volume of traffic.
More people (because on Cressingham alone they're looking at 150+ extra dwellings) means greater demand on public transport or on public roads, and there's not much room to satisfy that demand.

You can enjoy all this living on the Tulse Hill Estate or Brixton but as a potential 'High Class' development Cressingham is something special; probably the best piece of land in South London. Devolopers with big bucks would almost kill to get hold of it. I think I've read that Lambeth say they will be doing the rebuilding developement themselves. Would I accept their word? Not in a million years!

Lambeth's "idea" of them doing the development is a rhetorical reality, but not an actual one. The plan appears to be that Lambeth will form a "Special Purpose Vehicle" - a company that will allow them to tout for funding outside or alongside of the usual sources such as the Public Works Loans Board. Potentially they will be getting into bed with the likes of hedge-funds as their "development partner", and paying through the nose for the privilege - IIRC from the fun "information session" I attended yesterday, the cost of borrowing could be akin to PFI levels.

I can hear the excuses now as figures are fudged and deals done when trying to clear out as many Residents as they can.

Well, the council already have a history of figure-fudging with regard to Cressingham, for instance their estimate for refurbishment of £14-16 million, which an independent surveyor priced as £7-9 million at maximum.
And yeah, we expect them to try and pick as many of us off as possible. One "advisor" was telling a tenant how if he didn't want to give up his secure tenancy - all council tenants on the estate will have to, to be replaced by an "assured lifetime tenancy" (which, it is claimed with no proof, is "exactly the same) - another council property elsewhere could be found.
That's right, they could find him somewhere else, even though there are 21,000 people on the housing list, and more than a 7th of them are in temp/emergency accommodation. Flannel, plain and simple.

 

[leanderman]

... on Cressingham alone they're looking at 150+ extra dwellings...

I was under the impression this figure was much lower.

Would that be a 50 per cent increase in dwellings?

 

[ViolentPanda]

I was under the impression this figure was much lower.

Then your impression was very much mistaken.

Would that be a 50 per cent increase in dwellings?

Allow me to quote a circular stuffed through the door yesterday:

"A Cabinet report was published on the Council's website last Friday. This Report recommends redevelopment of the whole of the Cressingham Gardens Estate; that is demolition of all existing homes* and replacement with a minimum** of 464 new homes."
*That's 306 "existing homes".
** My emphasis.

So, a minimum 51% increase in dwellings.

 

[299 old timer]

50% is easily achieved if built higher, and surely that is the plan - £1.5 mil pad on xxx floor with views over London.

 

[FridgeMagnet]

50% is easily achieved if built higher, and surely that is the plan - £1.5 mil pad on xxx floor with views over London.

Or they just build smaller flats but sell them for the same "per bedroom" price. That's the easiest thing.

 

[Gramsci]

Excellent letter which the Brockwell Park Community Partners have just sent to Lambeth Council setting out their concern about the impact the Cressingham Gardens scheme could have on Brockwell Park. Hard to see how Lambeth could come up with a scheme for Cressingham which would be acceptable to the Community Partners.
http://brockwellparkcommunitypartne...ngham-gardens-estate-vista-must-be-preserved/

I know that you have done a lot to inform local groups about affect on Brockwell park. All credit to you for organizing this.

 

[Gramsci]

- IIRC from the fun "information session" I attended yesterday, the cost of borrowing could be akin to PFI levels

Thats interesting admission from the Council.

As going on what was said about the Somerlyton road scheme ( The model of which it looks like may be used on other Council led developments) was that the Council could borrow cheaply to build.

 

[Greebo]

Reminders about Monday:

1) If you've got a Save Cressingham Gardens T shirt, please wear it. If you haven't got one, please get one. This isn't about fashion, this about being visible. If you don't know where to get one, please ask. If you've got a Brixton Fightback T shirt (available from A&C Continental or message me), that's another option. If you've got both, please just this once, wear the Save Cressingham one (available from A&C Continental or message me) .

2) Please bring a banner, placard, or other thing to hold up and show what we want and why we're protesting. Bear in mind that whatever you bring, you will be responsible for getting rid of or taking home afterwards. Don't expect somebody else to carry it home. Please keep your T shirts, banners etc handy. They can be used again around the Cressingham Gate on the Saturday of the Lambeth Country Show, around the Herne Hill market on that Sunday, or while just getting on with your normal life.

3) If you haven't got a flag, banner, or placard yet, you've got the weekend and maybe an hour or so on Monday to make it. If you show up outside the Rotunda an hour or so before we set up, somebody might be able to give you a hand putting your banner together, but I can't afford to provide materials. The pound shops are open, so are the supermarkets and DIY places. Think big and bold where possible - you want it visible in the SLP's photos! There are some premade, but not many, and the We Love Cressingham postcard might also make an appearance. Disposable tablecloths are roughly £3, a sheet of A2 card is about £3, a can of spray paint, bamboo poles or thin bits of wood to hold it with, duck tape and/or staples to fix it together are also needed. If it's too expensive for you to buy the lot, find somebody to split the cost with.

4) Please use whistles and horns only in the gaps between words - or you'll drown out your brothers and sisters in arms. Let's enjoy ourselves, get heard, get seen, make democracy (if it still exists) work, and let people know that we're saving our homes. If we win this, the chances of saving other estates also under threat are better.

5) If you're going to speak at the cabinet meeting, good luck, speak from the heart, and let's get listened to.

 

[ViolentPanda]

Thats interesting admission from the Council.

As going on what was said about the Somerlyton road scheme ( The model of which it looks like may be used on other Council led developments) was that the Council could borrow cheaply to build.

They can borrow cheaply from some sources (Public Works Loans Board, for example) but are unlikely to be able to borrow all that they'll need to keep Somerleyton, Cressingham, Westbury, Central Hill etc all in the air, so they're going to have to "mortgage" their future income from the redevelopment. It's unavoidable given that they can't borrow normally due to the restrictions on the HRA etc. The big question is "how well can a council that's provably inept with regard to any sort of contracting of goods and services, ensure that they get a good deal when they mortgage that future income?", and the likely answer is "not very well".

 

[Tricky Skills]

Reminders about Monday:

1) If you've got a Save Cressingham Gardens T shirt, please wear it. If you haven't got one, please get one. This isn't about fashion, this about being visible. If you don't know where to get one, please ask. If you've got a Brixton Fightback T shirt (available from A&C Continental or message me), that's another option. If you've got both, please just this once, wear the Save Cressingham one (available from A&C Continental or message me) .

2) Please bring a banner, placard, or other thing to hold up and show what we want and why we're protesting. Bear in mind that whatever you bring, you will be responsible for getting rid of or taking home afterwards. Don't expect somebody else to carry it home. Please keep your T shirts, banners etc handy. They can be used again around the Cressingham Gate on the Saturday of the Lambeth Country Show, around the Herne Hill market on that Sunday, or while just getting on with your normal life.

3) If you haven't got a flag, banner, or placard yet, you've got the weekend and maybe an hour or so on Monday to make it. If you show up outside the Rotunda an hour or so before we set up, somebody might be able to give you a hand putting your banner together, but I can't afford to provide materials. The pound shops are open, so are the supermarkets and DIY places. Think big and bold where possible - you want it visible in the SLP's photos! There are some premade, but not many, and the We Love Cressingham postcard might also make an appearance. Disposable tablecloths are roughly £3, a sheet of A2 card is about £3, a can of spray paint, bamboo poles or thin bits of wood to hold it with, duck tape and/or staples to fix it together are also needed. If it's too expensive for you to buy the lot, find somebody to split the cost with.

4) Please use whistles and horns only in the gaps between words - or you'll drown out your brothers and sisters in arms. Let's enjoy ourselves, get heard, get seen, make democracy (if it still exists) work, and let people know that we're saving our homes. If we win this, the chances of saving other estates also under threat are better.

5) If you're going to speak at the cabinet meeting, good luck, speak from the heart, and let's get listened to.

Good stuff.

Plus to add - if you are in the Cabinet meeting then it is vital to stay respectful to the occasion, if not the individuals or the decision. The authoritarian Nu Labour lot are just gagging to stereotype the whole campaign as one of troublemakers, rather than a community.

Don't let them win by acting out the mob rule inside Cabinet. Take them on via their own terms. And win

You can have respect for civic democracy, but still not hold it up to any deference.

 

[299 old timer]

Just spoke to Gniewosz who was canvassing locally for support. I can't find the bit on the link you mentioned, probably being a bit thick - can you point me to it please? Many thanks!

 

[Gniewosz]

http://moderngov.lambeth.gov.uk/mgAi.aspx?ID=29000#mgDocuments

 

[ViolentPanda]

Good stuff.

Plus to add - if you are in the Cabinet meeting then it is vital to stay respectful to the occasion, if not the individuals or the decision. The authoritarian Nu Labour lot are just gagging to stereotype the whole campaign as one of troublemakers, rather than a community.

Don't let them win by acting out the mob rule inside Cabinet. Take them on via their own terms. And win

You can have respect for civic democracy, but still not hold it up to any deference.

Given the amount of hoo-hah that Lambeth Left Unity made at the last cabinet meeting (with the public gallery being cleared), let's hope they keep their gobs shut.

 

[299 old timer]

http://moderngov.lambeth.gov.uk/mgAi.aspx?ID=29000#mgDocuments

Cheers! Hope the canvassing went well, there's a lot of support for the cause.

 

[ViolentPanda]

50% is easily achieved if built higher, and surely that is the plan - £1.5 mil pad on xxx floor with views over London.

Which spits in the eye of both the Brockwell Park Conservation Area (which covers part of the green space on the estate) and the expressed interests of Brockwell Park Community Partnership and various other public bodies.
One of the "features" of the current estate is that it doesn't dominate the skyline in the park. Hollamby deliberately designed it to blend into the horizon at the top of the park. 4-5 storey blocks (as featured on the "artist's impressions" of several council brochures) running parallel to (and within a couple of meters of) the park fence will entirely dominate the skyline from most of the park. Why should the pleasure of hundreds of thousands of people per year who enjoy the park be ruined so that Lambeth Council can milk the tit of capitalism for a few million?

 

[ViolentPanda]

Thats interesting admission from the Council.

As going on what was said about the Somerlyton road scheme ( The model of which it looks like may be used on other Council led developments) was that the Council could borrow cheaply to build.

Just looking at the viability document the council have put out regarding options 4 and 5. The various finance costs for different iterations of the basic "demolish and rebuild" scheme are wince-inducing, varying between £100 million and five-and-a-half times that.

 

[equationgirl]

Just looking at the viability document the council have put out regarding options 4 and 5. The various finance costs for different iterations of the basic "demolish and rebuild" scheme are wince-inducing, varying between £100 million and five-and-a-half times that.

I'd love to see the calculations and assumptions supporting those figures, because I bet there's a ton of errors.

 

[Gramsci]

Just looking at the viability document the council have put out regarding options 4 and 5. The various finance costs for different iterations of the basic "demolish and rebuild" scheme are wince-inducing, varying between £100 million and five-and-a-half times that.

Got any links for that that will go up here?

This is interesting.

 

[Gramsci]

Reminders about Monday:

I will be there.

 

[Greebo]

Got any links for that that will go up here?

This is interesting.

http://moderngov.lambeth.gov.uk/documents/s75754/Annex E - Viability Report.pdf