New homes please – and make them snappy: Controversial plan could see alligator park in the Old Kent Road

A recent survey of alligators on the Old Kent Road found they wouldn’t hurt a fly.

All the humans would probably say they are safe, too – at least the ones who come back alive.

That may be why developer Avanton – eager to get their snappers into some free publicity – has suggested on a novel use for the old gas holders on the Old Kent Road: alligator pens.

One of its options is to create London’s first alligator park within the listed gas holder, which is 20m deep.

The reptiles would be kept in a series of deep ponds within the gasholder, with a special visitors’ centre and learning centre.

If you want to know whether they are alligators or crocs, ask if you can see after a while – or later? Just don’t take your handbag, as it might be their cousin.

The firm’s bumph says: “An alligator park – the first of its kind in London – could be highly popular with local schools and colleges in the London Borough of Southwark and further afield.

“The facility has the potential to inspire schools and deliver an ‘adventure facility’ within the new development.”

The developer has promised the project will not go ahead before it consults reptile and environmental experts.

But it adds: “Alligators can survive in freezing temperatures but need warm weather to thrive, between 82 and 92 degrees Fahrenheit. This gives them the right temperatures to survive, but also breed, lay eggs and feel they are in their natural, Florida-like, habitat.

“The park would be able to operate throughout the year as a tourist attraction, educational centre and unique ecological habitat for South London.”

The 50-metre high gasholder frame would be faced with special shielded glass, to create a conservatory. Sliding panels would enable the temperature of the alligator park to be raised or lowered to keep the reptiles at the “optimum temperature for their health and wellbeing”.

Other options have less bite: a sculpture, a pavilion, water features and gardens. A cuddly kitten park does not seem to have been suggested. They are not going to make a snappy decision.

Marc Pennick, co-founding director of Avanton, said: “We want to turn the gasholder into something really special for London, so alongside the Alligator Park we are also looking at the option of turning it into a large lido and leisure deck complex, and are also thinking about an artistic garden with waterfeatures.

“The Alligator Park and farm concept came to us after we were approached by an out-of-town specialist looking for a location for one in the capital.”

But World Animal Protection wildlife campaigns manager Katheryn Wise said: “We are extremely concerned about plans for an alligator park.

“Alligators are wild animals that should be in their natural environment and not as part of an attraction at a property development. Not only is the busy and noisy environment of a property on the Old Kent Road no place for a wild animal, the transportation and handling of these alligators is likely to cause them unnecessary stress, fear and anxiety.

“Wild animal exploitation to boost the profits of a property developer is the wrong message to be sending and we are urging the company to rethink their decision.”

Avanton, created by former directors at Barratt and Berkeley Homes, has £230m plans for hundreds of new homes including affordable housing, open space and 50,000 sq.ft of light industrial commercial use.

Avanton owns three sites on the Old Kent Road, together providing up to 2,100 new homes on developments worth up to £800 million.

Avanton already has planning permission for 1,152 new homes, 40 per cent of them affordable, and a sports centre on the three-acre Ruby Triangle site.

Avanton also wants to build 262 flats, 40 per cent affordable,  at Carpetright at 651 Old Kent Road.

The firm also bought a former Homebase in York Road, Battersea, for £70m in 2016 and is building 300 flats and a new home for the Royal Academy of Dance.

The 160ft-high frame of gasholder number 13 — once the biggest in the world — is one of the last remnants of the Old Kent Road gasworks which supplied Southwark, Croydon, Lambeth and Streatham from the 1830s onwards.