Blueprint for 20k new homes in Old Kent Road has some troubled residents asking: Who benefits?
By Robert Firth, Local Democracy Reporter
Some Londoners living on Monopoly’s cheapest street have greeted the local council’s plan for tens of thousands more homes in the area over the next 18 years with trepidation – fearing gentrification and saying they would prefer more youth centres.
Under Southwark council’s vision for the Old Kent Road, 20,000 homes would be constructed in the neighbourhood over the next couple of decades, as well as two London Underground stations, offices and new parks and cycle lanes.
In the future, drivers would need permits to park in the area and low traffic neighbourhoods restricting access to vehicles would be introduced on side roads, according to the council’s Old Kent Road area action plan.
Labour-led Southwark has branded the proposals, which are set to go before secretary of state for local government Angela Rayner soon, an ‘ambitious growth strategy for the area’.
But when residents were asked about the plans last week, they were less keen – expressing fears the regeneration plans were for wealthy outsiders, rather than locals.
Melissa Caramba-Coker, 38, said: “They are developing it for who? They are not developing it for the community and they are trying to get the rich to come to London.
“I would like to see a community centre, somewhere children can go. There’s lots of county lines and child sexual exploitation. If we had a local youth centre, it [would be] a safe space for them.”
Nicole Martins, 40, added: “It’s great to see regeneration but who is it for? And who has access to it? If we can get a nice facelift, that’s nice. The nervousness is how much it is going to be when it’s done up?
“We need everything that Richmond has got and we need accessible places for people to get support and necessary help like youth clubs.”
According to the council’s action plan, the vision for the Old Kent Road will include a ‘new network of youth facilities’, at locations including 231 Old Kent Road, Leyton Square, Frensham Street Park and the Tustin estate. The council has promised that of the 20,000 new homes, 7,000 would be ‘affordable’, including at least 5,000 properties at the cheapest social rents.
Other proposals include the creation of four parks: one at Mandela Way, another at the old gasworks, a third along the old Grand Surrey Canal route and a final park at Frensham Street. Southwark also aims to turn the area into a hub for life sciences firms and create 10,000 jobs around the Old Kent Road in the next two decades.
According to council documents, adoption of the plan would ‘enhance the case for the funding of the BLE [Bakerloo Line extension]’. The £8 billion pound project would see the Underground line extended southwards to Lewisham and new stations built at Burgess Park, the Old Kent Road, New Cross Gate and Lewisham town centre. Construction is expected to begin in 2030, but remains dependent on government funding.
Giles Law-Ye, 34, said he thought the area was already well connected with buses, but accepted that the Bakerloo line extension would attract more visitors to the area.
He added: “I think it’s a good development. I think we also need more housing, like [there is already] near Burgess Park. There is lots of very good housing around there. It would make the area more attractive.”
Pictured top: The Old Kent Road (Picture: Facundo Arrizabalaga)