Community cafe fights developer’s plans to demolish it to make way for 1,000 homes

By Kiro Evans, Local Democracy Reporter

A community cafe is fighting plans to bulldoze it to make way for more than 1,000 homes.

One Space staff are refusing to give up without a battle and said the venue was crucial to the community.

Greenwich council and Berkeley Homes are attempting to relocate the community centre and cafe in Kidbrooke Village as part of wider redevelopment in the area that could mean 1,238 homes being built on the site.

But their proposals have angered and disappointed One Space manager Kathryn Gosden.

She claims the new space would be in a nearby doctor’s surgery waiting room in Peglar Square and there wouldn’t be enough room for a cafe.

One Space currently has a cafe, a large hall, social area, play area for toddlers and an astroturf football pitch used by youth teams.

The venue has proven to be an important place in the community.

Residents and workers from the area recently signed a book of condolences in the centre after the death of primary school teacher Sabina Nessa nearby.

Ms Gosden, who has worked at One Space for four years, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “I’m sad and gutted for the community. I eat, breathe and sleep this place.

“I will be the last one out of here. I will hand the keys over to the developers. And I will probably go home and cry.”

She fears the cafe could be demolished as early as May this year.

Ms Gosden regularly chats to parents while their children play football or go to dance classes, or to builders who pop in for the cafe’s popular toasties.

One Space survived a previous attempt to relocate in 2020 but their new proposed location was “not fit for purpose”, according to Kathryn.

The One Space manager is now appealing to Berkeley Homes and Greenwich council to move them somewhere better – or abandon their planning proposals completely.

She said: “It’s the fact that because this is our building, we can do as we like. It’s dependent on what the community wants.

“Maybe the miracle we are all praying for will happen and even if it isn’t in this building, we’re going somewhere else.

“We fought to stop it shutting originally, and now we fight again.”

An online petition to save the cafe has over 750 signatures.

Councillor Denise Scott-McDonald, cabinet member for regeneration and good growth said: “We know how valuable community spaces are to residents and understand local concern.

“We are already under way with delivering a high-quality permanent community and health facility that will serve the needs of the community.

“We have ambitious housing plans in Royal Greenwich and appreciate the need for good infrastructure and local provisions to support this growth, and we will soon be launching a procurement process to select an operator to manage the facility.

A Berkeley Homes spokesperson said the new community centre would include “a high quality community hall, smaller rooms to be used for various activities and 1:1 spaces for meetings.”

Pictured top: Kathryn Gosden