‘It’s a big fight’: Community prepares for legal battle with Lendlease over office tower block plans
A David and Goliath-style fight lies ahead as a collective of residents are fundraising to legally challenge a property developer’s plans to build an office block in the middle of a housing development.
Housing activists and members of the community around the former Heygate estate in Elephant and Castle, which was fully knocked down by 2014 to make way for the 2,500 home Elephant Park development, have said it is an “insult to injury” for developers Lendlease to push ahead with plans to build an 18-storey office block there.
“It’s outrageous,” said one of the campaign leaders Jerry Flynn. “It was bad enough that they knocked down all those homes and only 100 social homes were built out of 2,500, and that most of the residents who were on the original Heygate estate haven’t been able to come back or got far too little compensation.
“But it’s even worse to see that instead of more homes, Lendlease want to build an office block.”
Lendlease submitted plans to build the tower block in July 2021 but received more than 450 objections from the public and Southwark council rejected the proposals at a planning committee.
Councillors said the block was too big for the area, that it was “out of character” and would have a bad impact on local resident’s privacy and light.
But the developers want to push on and have appealed for a Government inspector to decide whether the council’s decision can be overturned at a public inquiry in September.
The community is now fundraising to be part of this inquiry and have their voices heard, but they are concerned about matching the deep pockets of the multi-billion pound house-building corporation.
“We don’t want to just stand on the side-lines while Lendlease uses big money to overturn a local decision, taken by the councillors we elected,” Mr Flynn said.
“It’s a big fight. We have forged a bond in this fight. Young and old have come together and we’re confident the inspector will uphold the council’s decision. But we need everyone to help in that.”
The group have 30 days to raise £5,000 in order to gain status to be heard at the inquiry. At time of publishing they had reached £2,000.
You can donate to the fundraiser here.
A spokesperson for Lendlease said: “We’ve been working in partnership with Southwark to deliver a thoughtful and community-led regeneration at Elephant Park for over a decade and have submitted an appeal regarding our application for a new office building.
“When complete it would have the potential to provide work for around 4,000 people, include a new community health hub, support the growing economy of independent retailers, first rate leisure amenities and world class education already in the surrounding area; and build upon the sustainability commitments already made across Elephant Park.”
Pictured top: Left, Jerry Flynn, right CGI of the proposed tower block from Walworth Road (Picture: Jerry Flynn, Southwark council planning documents)