Peckham’s multi-storey car park safe for another five years after residents’ campaign

A former multi-storey car park turned community hub is safe for another five years after a residents’ campaign.

Southwark council agreed to re-list Peckham’s former multi-storey car park in Rye Lane as an Asset of Community Value (ACV) on August 3.

The listed building is home to popular Peckhamplex cinema, Franks Cafe, Bold Tendencies art project and Peckham Levels, the home for many small businesses and public spaces.

An ACV means that the building is protected from development because of its importance to the community.

This follows 11 years of campaigning by citizens association, Peckham Vision, and residents of the area to save the building and have it re-listed every five years.

Eileen Conn from Peckham Vision said: “We are very pleased that the council has agreed to re-list the building, as it confirms officially how valuable an asset it is to the community.” 

The campaign achieved the first listing in 2017 after five years of campaigning for the council to reconsider their plan at the time to sell the site for demolition and redevelopment.

Ms Conn said: “ACV listing lasts for five years, so to continue to get this protection, we had to nominate it all over again.”

Originally designed as a supermarket and car park, the Peckham multi-storey provides a base for community cultural activities.

At the time, town hall officials had highlighted the building as ripe for development, in a planning blueprint for the area, the New Southwark Plan (NSP).

But a sustained campaign by residents led council leaders to agree to hand it over to its current users for the foreseeable future.

Planning blueprints tend to be revised once every 20 years – so the building looks to be safe from demolition for some time.

Southwark council has been approached for comment.

Pictured top: People at Frank’s Cafe, a bar located on top of the former Peckham car park (Picture: PA)