Squire and Partners, architects to luxury residential and high end business developments around the globe, will soon be moving into their new Brixton offices, taking over the former Edwardian furniture annex of the now-defunct Bon Marche store in Ferndale Road.

Formerly based in Kings Cross, the 250-strong practice are relocating to Brixton after ‘outgrowing’ their north London premises.

Crafted by Squire and Partners in collaboration with specialist manufacturer Tuchschmid, the dome was created from a hand welded steel frame made in five sections, with a slump cast emerald glazing designed “to resonate with the characteristics of surrounding copper domes.”

Tim Gledstone, partner at Squire and Partners commented:

When we first came to the building it was clear that the existing dome and tower had lost their way over the last century, with many original features and details being lost.

The new dome, highly crafted using technologies and possibilities of a new generation, offers an exciting and eccentric layer to the skyline whilst celebrating the rich history of decorative rooftop architecture in Brixton.

We are extremely happy to be receiving positive comments from the local community already, and hope everyone is able to enjoy our contemporary contribution to Brixton’s characteristic skyline for years to come.

He added:

We wanted to create a hub where we could all feed off each other. We’ve worked with these old buildings before and have seen how they can hold creative companies together, making a sort of club.

A hub club, if you will.

The development – called The Department Store – includes a refurbishment of the former Fire Station and Stables to provide a new location for the much-reduced Brixton Post Office and three units for “local creative businesses.”

Their new offices are huge, comprising 4,767sq m of design studio which includes what they’re describing as “a new social rooftop space expressed as a series of pavilions.”

We assume that this sociability will only extend to their staff and not to members of the public.

There will also be a staff café, gallery/seminar space, modelshop and facilities for staff including cycle storage, showers and a landscaped garden courtyard.

Their website also states that the development will house an “independent bar/restaurant,” but then adds in brackets, “owned by Squire and Partners.”  So it’s not really independent at all, then.

Describing their Department Store as a “concept,” the development is intended to “showcase the different elements of Squire and Partners’ work including installations, interior design, product design, illustration, modelmaking and CGI as well as architecture.”

Squire and Partners has designed many of London’s “prime presidential” developments  including Chelsea Barracks, One Tower Bridge, Clarges Mayfair, Ebury Square, Netherhall Gardens and The Knightsbridge Apartments, with hotel projects including the five star Bulgari Hotel & Residences in London, the boutique Rockwell Hotel, and the Hilton Liverpool.

More recently, they teamed up with a private UAE-based fund on a £150 million luxury flats redevelopment in Chelsea, and also created the ‘most expensive luxury apartment to ever come on sale in London’s Marylebone.

Alongside the property interests, Squire and Partners also wholly own Urban Golf, a state-of-the-art indoor golf simulation facility that allows a golfer to play in conjunction with a “highly sophisticated machine simulating any golf course in the world” for around £50/hour.

Vibrancy

Partner Henry Squire, son of founder Michael Squire, told the Standard that “Brixton has a unique creative community and vibrancy which we are looking forward to being part of.”

Yes. They used the ‘vibrancy’ word. Because multi-multi million agencies with private social rooftop spaces are exactly what Brixton’s extra-vibrant and super edgy ‘creative communities’ are all about.

Still, the dome is pretty anyway.

Chat about Squire and Partners in Lambeth on the forum.

Residents of the Cressingham Gardens council estate on Brockwell Park are facing the loss of their homes after a lengthy ‘consultation’ exercise with Lambeth Council turned out to be a sham.

The council are hell bent on demolishing the well designed, low crime estate that is home to a tightly-knit community – many of whom are old and infirm – and flogging it off to private developers who will bulldoze the gardens, tear down the trees and build a gated development of multi-storey apartment blocks.

The Save Cressingham Gardens Facebook page explains what is at stake:

Cressingham Gardens is located on the edge of the wonderful Brockwell Park in London. It is a low rise estate that snuggles beneath the trees at the south west end of Brockwell Park.

The politicians and Lambeth Council are threatening to sell the estate to private developers for a profit, in order to demolish the properties and to build multi-storey modern complex. This will not only have the travesty of destroying a community, but will blight the landscape of Brockwell Park.

The meadows in the south west corner of Brockwell Park is one of the few places where people can enjoy and relax with no road or train traffic noise together with a tree lined horizon. It is truly like being in the countryside, a rare and precious pleasure in London.

On a pleasant late summer afternoon, we took a walk around the estate:

The Twentieth Century Society praised the estate, describing it as being, “impressive for the quality of the accommodation and layout, and for its striking landscape setting.”

In its recent review of Cressingham Gardens, the Society expressed disappointment that the estate has not been listed.

The Twentieth Century Society has visited the buildings on several occasions and we supported an application for the listing of the estate in 2013.

In their listing assessment, Historic England praised the way the design responds to its setting, with skill and sensitivity, “both in the scale and massing of the built elements, as well as through the integration of these elements with informal open spaces which bring a park-like character into the estate.”

However, to our surprise and disappointment, the listing application was turned down. The estate is much loved by residents and the campaign against the proposed demolition continues.

Photographer and resident Mark Aitken photographed a series of portraits of residents over two years, with the collection going under the name, “Sanctum Ephemeral.”

Large scale portraits are exhibited on house exteriors around the estate, transforming the area into a gallery offering intimate access to homes and residents in a unique way.

On his website, Mark adds the background to the work;

These pictures are about seeking sanctuary in the ephemeral.

The context is also ephemeral. Property developers have cast a shadow over the homes in these photographs.

I have pressing conversations with neighbours. We shed frustration. The impositions are beyond our control. Proposals beyond comprehension.

There’s nothing wrong with my house. Why do they want to knock it down? 

Words fail us. We feel impotent and angry.

People let me into their homes. I hear stories; gather evidence. Some of it makes sense. Some of it troubling. The rooms, the memories and the inhabitants reflect each other. Empty rooms as full as those overflowing. We talk about making pictures. We shape inanimate tableaus. An ephemeral trust develops.

An old Jamaican man tells me…

When you wake you should knock three times on your pillow to remember your dreams.

I ask people about their dreams…

I speak with children. The world is their dream.

I speak with adults. Some want to know what happened.

Others know their dreams are behind them and are more concerned about being awake.

I learn that everything is ephemeral and that if there is such a thing as sanctuary, it lies within this understanding.

There is a strong sense of community across the estate.

The Municipal Dreams blog wrote a detailed article about the estate, and commented:

Overwhelmingly, residents talk of their friendly neighbours and the estate’s strong sense of community – they look out for each other, keep an eye on each other’s children.

It’s what planners call ‘natural surveillance’ nowadays.  It’s really just part of that ‘village-like’ feel that Hollamby hearkened to all those years ago.

In another in-depth article on Cressingham Gardens, the Single Aspect website concluded:

There is no doubt that the team of architects led by Ted Hollamby in the late 1960s and 1970s succeeded magnificently in creating an oasis on the edge of a park here at Tulse Hill and forty years on the continued success of the estate vindicates both their design skills and foresight in catering for the varying needs of residents of all ages with thoughtfulness and consideration for the lives of the people who chose to make Cressingham Gardens their home.

At the heart of the estate is the Rotunda, which is used for community activities.

Designed by Edward Hollamby as a children’s nursery, the 1979 Architectural Review described it as built with “fairground overtones of merry-go-rounds and bandstands”, and particularly admired its circular roof: “a shining silver umbrella of seamed aluminium capped by a conical rooflight.” [—]

Playground in the gardens of the Rotunda.

This is what has got the developers so keen to get their hands on Cressingham Gardens: the wonderful views over Brockwell Park.

Lambeth thinks that these views should only be for the rich.

The low rise estate is neat and orderly and well looked after by residents.

Already some houses are bricked up, although Lambeth scandalously helped itself to a two bedroom house on the estate recently.

Plaques put up by the community celebrate the estate’s past.

The award winning estate was designed at the end of the 1960s by the Lambeth Borough Council Architect Edward Hollamby.

[A plan of the estate © Karthaus Design Ltd, Cressingham Gardens Outline Redevelopment Options Study]

Background and more info:

• See more articles on Cressingham Gardens here.
• Campaign Facebook page: www.facebook.com/SaveCressinghamGardens
• Twitter: twitter.com/SaveCressingham
• Save Cressingham Gardens petition
• Wikipedia page
• Save Cressingham Gardens crowdfunding
• Social Life, Living on Cressingham Gardens: Social Life’s conversations with residents 20.10.13

Read more and join in with the in-depth discussion on the urban75 forums (over 1,000 posts).

Help the Save Cressingham Gardens campaign!
Donate to their GoFundMe page

Cressingham Gardens video piece:

A new video shows off the sumptuous luxury of the new Squire & Partners headquarters in Brixton, which is located in the former offices of the Bon Marche store in Ferndale Road.

Architecture website The Spaces has posted up a short video revealing the opulence of Squire & Partners new offices, with the development topped off with ‘rooftop pavilions.’

The firm has yet to reveal how much the work cost.

The article comments:

Graffiti and chipped brickwork still line the walls of the 1906 building thanks to its days as a squat den. But that’s all part of the ‘poetry of decay’ inside this raw beauty, which the studio has spent two years bringing back from the brink.

Architects to the rich

Squire and Partners have designed many of London’s “prime presidential” developments, including Chelsea Barracks, One Tower Bridge, Clarges Mayfair, Ebury Square, Netherhall Gardens and The Knightsbridge Apartments, with hotel projects including the five star Bulgari Hotel & Residences in London, the boutique Rockwell Hotel, and the Hilton Liverpool.

More recently, they teamed up with a private UAE-based fund on a £150 million luxury flats redevelopment in Chelsea, and also created the ‘most expensive luxury apartment to ever come on sale in London’s Marylebone.

Our first article on the building sparked something of a mixed reaction amongst locals – read it here.

Here’s the full video below:

Chat about Squire and Partners in Lambeth on the forum.

As part of this year’s Brixton Design Trail, locals were invited up to enjoy a rare glimpse of the roof pavilions in the new upmarket headquarters of high-end architects, Squire & Partners.

Brixton Buzz photographer Martha Love was lucky enough to make it to the top of the exquisitely transformed building, and sent in these photos:

Chat about Squire and Partners in Lambeth on the forum.

All photos © Martha Loves, @akamarthaloves

This Saturday, 2^nd December, residents from Cressingham Gardens Estate in South London will march to Lambeth Town Hall to demand a ballot on their estate which faces a regeneration which would mean the demolition of 300 homes.

At the Labour Party conference in September this year a motion was passed calling for “full binding ballot rights for estate residents in any ongoing and future regeneration projects”. Jeremy Corbyn, the party leader, referred to this in his closing speech which introduced a raft of new housing proposals.

Yet Labour councils in Lambeth, Southwark, Haringay and elsewhere are resisting this call from their party conference.

Haringey Labour councillor Alan Strickland, head of Housing and Regeneration, was quoted in the Guardian. “We will continue to put comprehensive and meaningful engagement with residents at the heart of our regeneration plans, but we do not expect to start using yes/no ballots.”

Residents on Cressingham Gardens have been campaigning for five years against the regeneration.

The prospects for residents and the local area, if it goes ahead, are bleak.  It would mean the break up of communities.

Under the councils key guarantees leaseholders are only offered a new property as shared ownership or shared equity, many can’t afford a second mortgage or are two old to qualify and will be homeless or forced out of London. Tenants, many of them elderly and with disabilities, face rent rises of 25% over five years.

Lambeth council claim the regeneration project will ease pressure on the waiting list of 21,000 but only 16 properties or 10% of the additional new builds are ear marked for rent at council rates.

The effect of remaining new builds priced at £610,000 for a two bed flat (roughly twice the current market rate) and with rents ranging from £345 per week for a one-bed flat, to £757 per week for a four-bed flat will push up market rents and prices making it impossible for anyone on the minimum wage, the living wage or even the borough average wage of £26,000 pa to live in the area.  While everyone in the local area would face living with the dirt and disruption of construction for many years.

In addition, the councils newsletter early this year stated the demolition was to start in the winter of 2019.

However, they did not include in their timetable space for the Compulsory Purchase Orders of approx 100 homes, this alone could take 18 months to 2 years.

Residents do not have confidence that the council are equipped to carry through this scheme. It also appears that for people leaving the estate now they will have no automatic right of return,  they will have to bid against each other for the new properties.

Residents were appalled to discover that the first action by Homes for Lambeth, the company that will supposedly carry out the regeneration, was to take over a property on the estate and are now based at number 8 Longford Walk, as one twitter user commented. “The first action of ‘Homes for Lambeth’ is to remove a much needed home on @SaveCressingham and convert it into headquarters #IronyIsDead”

 About Cressingham Gardens

Cressingham Gardens is a high density, low rise estate built in the 1970’s by the renowned Ted Hollamby, a leading architect of the period. Cressingham Gardens was designed with community in mind and today it is a role model estate with low crime. Catherine Croft, director of the Twentieth Century society described the design as “Human centred, gentle and beautifully detailed” adding, the result is, “Good sensible housing in the way housing should be built…it would be an enormous pity to lose Cressingham Gardens as it stands.”

What makes Cressingham Gardens special is the great sense of community. This will be lost if the regeneration goes ahead. The design with spacious light filled properties and generous green spaces means residents enjoy privacy and yet it is possible to get to know neighbours with the village like lay out of the buildings.

It is a great location with wonderful views of the park and limited vehicle access, which lends an almost rural feel. It is popular with people in the local area. For all these reasons Cressingham residents believe they deserve a ballot and local people on the whole support them.

A long term resident of the estate, Sue Miller, commented, “I have been a tenant for 50 years, a good tenant, this is my home, my life. We deserve a ballot here, we deserve to be heard.”

More:Cressingham Gardens – a photographic walk around the threatened estate, south London

March details

Saturday 2^nd December: Assemble at The Rotunda, Cressingham Gardens, off Tulse Hill Road, 1.15am.
March at 1.30am along Tulse Hill and Effra Road assemble 2.00-4.00pm at Lambeth Town Hall.

Facebook event page

Background and more info:

• See more articles on Cressingham Gardens here.
• Campaign Facebook page: www.facebook.com/SaveCressinghamGardens
• Twitter: twitter.com/SaveCressingham
• Save Cressingham Gardens petition
• Wikipedia page
• Save Cressingham Gardens crowdfunding
• Social Life, Living on Cressingham Gardens: Social Life’s conversations with residents 20.10.13

Read more and join in with the in-depth discussion on the urban75 forums (over 1,000 posts).

Help the Save Cressingham Gardens campaign!
Donate to their GoFundMe page

Cressingham Gardens video piece:

A stunning portrait of a resident living in the threatened Cressingham Gardens estate in south London has won first prize in the Photography section of this year’s National Open Art Competition.

The photograph (above) formed part of a series of intimate photo portraits of residents living on the Cressingham Gardens housing estate near Brixton, which Lambeth are controversially proposing to demolish and redevelop.

This Saturday, 2nd December, residents will be marching to the Town Hall from the estate to demand a ballot on Lambeth’s plans.

Collectively entitled, “Sanctum Ephemeral,” large scale prints of the portraits were hung from the outside of houses around the estate, transforming the area into a outdoor gallery offering insights into homes and residents in a unique way.

The images were created by photographer and resident Mark Aitken over a period of two years. On his website, Mark adds the background to the work;

These pictures are about seeking sanctuary in the ephemeral. The context is also ephemeral. Property developers have cast a shadow over the homes in these photographs.

I have pressing conversations with neighbours. We shed frustration. The impositions are beyond our control. Proposals beyond comprehension.

There’s nothing wrong with my house. Why do they want to knock it down? 

Words fail us. We feel impotent and angry.

People let me into their homes. I hear stories; gather evidence. Some of it makes sense. Some of it troubling. The rooms, the memories and the inhabitants reflect each other. Empty rooms as full as those overflowing. We talk about making pictures. We shape inanimate tableaus. An ephemeral trust develops.

An old Jamaican man tells me…

When you wake you should knock three times on your pillow to remember your dreams.

I ask people about their dreams…

I speak with children. The world is their dream.

I speak with adults. Some want to know what happened.

Others know their dreams are behind them and are more concerned about being awake.

I learn that everything is ephemeral and that if there is such a thing as sanctuary, it lies within this understanding.

Background and more info:

• See more articles on Cressingham Gardens here
• Cressingham Gardens – a photographic walk around the threatened estate, south London
• Campaign Facebook page: www.facebook.com/SaveCressinghamGardens
• Twitter: twitter.com/SaveCressingham
• Save Cressingham Gardens petition
• Wikipedia page
• Save Cressingham Gardens crowdfunding
• Social Life, Living on Cressingham Gardens: Social Life’s conversations with residents 20.10.13

Read more and join in with the in-depth discussion on the urban75 forums (over 1,000 posts).

Help the Save Cressingham Gardens campaign!
Donate to their GoFundMe page

Cressingham Gardens video piece:

Earlier today, residents from Cressingham Gardens Estate in Tulse Hill marched to Lambeth Town Hall to demand a ballot over Lambeth council’s unpopular regeneration plans which would lead to the demolition of 300 homes.

The marchers assembled by the threatened estate and then marched into the centre of Brixton.

Here’s some more photos from the today’s action – scroll to the bottom of the page down for more information about the background to the protest.

Background and more info:

• See more articles on Cressingham Gardens here.
• Campaign Facebook page: www.facebook.com/SaveCressinghamGardens
• Twitter: twitter.com/SaveCressingham
• Save Cressingham Gardens petition
• Wikipedia page
• Save Cressingham Gardens crowdfunding
• Social Life, Living on Cressingham Gardens: Social Life’s conversations with residents 20.10.13

Read more and join in with the in-depth discussion on the urban75 forums (over 1,000 posts).

Help the Save Cressingham Gardens campaign!
Donate to their GoFundMe page

Cressingham Gardens video piece:

At the beginning of the month, Cressingham Gardens residents and campaigners marched to Lambeth Town Hall demanding that they should be adequately consulted on the future of their estate, which Lambeth is threatening to demolish against their wishes.

We posted a full photo feature the same day, and below is a seven minute video of the march produced by our friends at Reel News, which includes footage of the speakers outside the Town Hall.

The YouTube page carries a short report:

Residents of the Cressingham Gardens estate in Lambeth, South London have fought an inspiring battle for five years now, delaying attempts by the right-wing Labour council to demolish and renovate their estate against the wishes of 86% of the residents.

Now that official Labour party policy is to ballot residents on any demolition plans, the residents are demanding that their ferociously anti-Corbyn councillors follow their own party policy and give the residents a binding ballot.

In this demonstration in Brixton they are joined by housing campaigners from Southwark and Haringey facing similar social cleansing projects.

Background and more info:

• See more articles on Cressingham Gardens here.
• Campaign Facebook page: www.facebook.com/SaveCressinghamGardens
• Twitter: twitter.com/SaveCressingham
• Save Cressingham Gardens petition
• Wikipedia page
• Save Cressingham Gardens crowdfunding
• Social Life, Living on Cressingham Gardens: Social Life’s conversations with residents 20.10.13

Read more and join in with the in-depth discussion on the urban75 forums (over 1,000 posts).

Help the Save Cressingham Gardens campaign!
Donate to their GoFundMe page

Cressingham Gardens video piece:

This splendid building once stood at number 372 Coldharbour Lane, Brixton, close to where Brixton Village is now situated.

Formerly known as Halnaker Lodge, it dated from the Georgian period, but was demolished in 1933 as the site was cleared to make way for a large unemployment office.

In the 1956 Survey of London, originally published by London County Council, the details of the house are documented:

This charming Regency house stood on the north side of the road opposite Somerleyton Road.

It was a two-storey stucco-fronted house with overhanging eaves, and flanked by single-storey wings. In the centre was a semi-circular projecting porch with unfluted Greek Doric columns, which supported the delicate ironwork of the verandah above.

The house is illustrated by a photograph in Small Houses of the Late Georgian Period 1750–1820 by Stanley C. Ramsey, and by photographs and measured drawings in a supplement to The Architect and Building News for July 1, 1932.

We’ve been unable to work out a Brixton connection, but Halnaker is a hamlet in the Chichester district of West Sussex which lies on the A285 road 3.5 miles northeast of Chichester, where it follows the line of the Roman road to London called Stane Street. [—]

The Regency house was demolished in 1933, with the site then housing an unemployment office which closed around 1992 (above).

The building was then squatted by the Cooltan Arts collective and known locally as ‘The Dolehouse.’

The squat became the beating heart of Brixton’s arts and activist scene, with the buildings providing accommodation for campaign groups such as Reclaim The Streets, Freedom Network, Earth First!, the Green Party, Lambeth Green Party and London Friends and Families of Travellers.

[Graffiti and old posters celebrate 20th anniversary of Brixton’s legendary Cooltan squat, Sept 2011]

The squatted unemployment office also housed rehearsal rooms, cinema screenings, yoga classes, galleries, studios and a cafe.

The venue put on some incredible all night benefit parties – some attracted up to 1,500 people – where you might find a hardcore rave in one room, pastoral folk and jazz in another and bizarre performance art in another. It was a wonderfully eclectic and inclusive place.

The squatters were evicted in September 1995, but returned briefly in February 1997 and again a year later to put on fundraisers and parties as well as providing a shelter to some of Brixton’s homeless.

After the building was evicted and all the interior fittings destroyed by bailiffs, it remained boarded up for over ten years, before finally being demolished in May 2007.

It would be five years before work finally started on the site, with Barratt Homes constructing a large, multi-block private gated development called Brixton Square in 2012.

Disgracefully, Barratts successfully managed to weasel out of all their social housing commitments, with just 13 units from the vast development being offered at ‘affordable rent.’

Now renamed Milles Square and Carney Place, one bed apartments retail for around half a million pounds, with its well heeled residents kept safe and secure behind a set of imposing gates.

See more Brixton history

Brixton Buzz’s features on Brixton’s history
Brixton History discussed on the Brixton forums
View the comprehensive urban75 Brixton history archives
Lost pubs of Brixton

Earlier this month we reported that the Lambeth Council has decided that it doesn’t need to ballot residents on the five estates that it wants to ‘regenerate,’ despite the Mayor of London now recommending this policy.

On the 2nd Feb, the BBC reported:

City Hall funding for major estate regeneration in London will only be provided if residents vote in favour of the changes, the mayor has proposed.

Under the scheme, ballots for residents on projects where demolition is planned would become a condition for mayoral funding, Sadiq Khan suggested.

Mr Khan said he wanted to make sure those living on social housing estates “are at the heart of any decisions”.

Residents on the threatened Cressingham Gardens estate in Tulse Hill have long been demanding  a ballot over Lambeth council’s unpopular and undemocratic regeneration plans which would lead to the demolition of 300 homes.

Campaigners from the Save Cressingham Gardens group have posted a full response to Lambeth’s decision, which we have reproduced below:

Cressingham Gardens demands after Mayor’s U-turn: “Pause regeneration plans and ballot us!”

Cressingham Gardens residents are calling for Lambeth council’s regeneration proposals to be paused following the Mayor of London’s U-turn on mandatory ballots.

Residents believe the council should halt the scheme while the Mayor’s consultation is ongoing.

The local authority is consolidating its plan to spend tens of millions of pounds of public money on the demolition scheme, despite these new uncertainties.

“Given the increasing political debate around privatisation of public housing, compounded by the mayor’s announcement, our Labour council should exercise some caution and put a hold on further spending on this £110 million scheme,” said Cressingham Gardens resident Andy Plant.

In his Good Practice Guide to Estate Regeneration published last week, Sadiq Khan said he was: “requiring resident support through a ballot for new plans involving demolition where City Hall funding is involved”.

Shortly after the news, Lambeth council leader Lib Peck published a statement that ruled out a “retrospective ballot” of Cressingham residents.

The carefully-worded statement, claimed that the council has already complied with the principles in the guide, despite a ballot having not been taken. It also claims that residents continue to be ‘at the heart of decision-making’, and that Cressingham Gardens is already “in receipt of GLA funding”.

Residents strongly dispute Peck’s claims and highlight that details of the policy – and which estates qualify for a ballot – will not be finalised until after the conclusion of the consultation on  April 3.

The Greens’ London Assembly member Sian Berry, who has been supporting council estate campaigns, is pushing for this to include all estate regeneration schemes that have not yet received planning permission, such as Cressingham Gardens.

Design work has not yet commenced with the masterplanning team Mott MacDonald, contrary to the claim by Peck that the scheme is at an advanced stage.

With the devil in the detail, Peck could yet be forced to ballot Cressingham residents.

In the meantime, Mott MacDonald are about to host a ‘Pancake Day Launch Event’ tomorrow (Feb 13), which will initiate discussions with residents on designs for the proposed replacement housing development.

Mr Plant said: “This is flippin’ nonsense”

The designers are hoping that “free pancakes and children’s activities” will sweeten the chat with residents about demolition of their homes.

Lambeth council has signed a £6.7m contract with the company, with an agreement to pay out in phases.

Off their own backs, Cressingham residents put together an alternative People’s Plan which details a sympathetic resident-led upgrade of the estate, as well as offering up to 37 extra homes for council rent, which entails no unnecessary demolition.  This is more than double the number of extra council rent homes that Lambeth promises by demolishing all 300 homes.

Speaking more generally about the council’s ambitions to demolish swathes of the borough’s council homes and rebuild under a private company Homes for Lambeth, resident Tom Keene said: “The council says it has to demolish estates to make way for more housing, and that it cannot ‘do nothing’ in the face of a housing crisis.

“This presents a false dichotomy – residents are not suggesting doing nothing.

“On the contrary, they are doing a great deal to try and help.

“Their option may not be as grand, but it is far less risky than exposing genuinely affordable public housing to the unpredictable market.

“This risk-taking and over-promising around what could be achieved through privatisation, and the turning of a blind eye to opposition, is exactly what made Haringey’s HDV proposal so unpopular.

“As Lambeth council begins to face the financial reality of their plucked-from-the air political target, we are already seeing the numbers of genuinely affordable homes dwindling.

“On Cressingham, the regeneration proposes little more than a dozen extra such homes, which is likely to ebb away as the project develops, and it promises to evict many more than it helps.”

In planning applications for three other Lambeth estates earmarked for the bulldozer – South Lambeth, Westbury and Knights Walk – just 34 extra such homes are proposed in total, compared to the previously stated 275, on which the cabinet decisions to demolish were based.

Mr Plant said of Peck’s statement: “This refusal to ballot us is fairly predictable, given Cllr Peck and her Labour cabinet’s consistent track-record of side-lining residents’ wishes.

“Our own survey showed that 86 percent of residents wanted refurbishment not demolition, with a 72 percent response-rate, so it is understandable that the leader of the council doesn’t want this formalised in an official vote.

“However, the mayor’s guide gives her an opportunity to right her wrongs and finally begin to put the community at the heart of this process.”

Mr Plant continued: “It would be morally reprehensible to continue whilst the consultation on ballots is ongoing.

“Only mandatory ballots will ensure regenerations that deliver benefits to the community.”

Notes

• Residents have been requesting independently-run ballots since demolition of the estate’s 306 homes was first mooted five years ago.
• Since then, there have been some changes to the estate’s demographic, with Lambeth replacing outgoing secure tenants with those on temporary accommodation licenses. Residents are calling for those tenants to be included in any ballot.
• The design and management contract for Cressingham Gardens was only signed in November 2017, and is only at a preliminary ‘resident engagement’ stage.
• Cressingham People’s Plan, which proposes optional resident management of estate repairs and maintenance, as well as up to 37 extra homes for council rent, has been fully costed at £7m, compared to Lambeth’s £110m+ scheme. The People’s Plan also proposes full green and sustainable refurbishment of homes.
• Cabinet members made their decision with the expectation that Lambeth’s scheme could deliver around 27 extra council homes, however recent documents reveal that this has dwindled to 16, with mounting financial pressures likely to force that figure down further.
• In November 2015, an earlier demolition decision was quashed at the high court. Cressingham residents won a judicial review which found that Lambeth council’s earlier decision to demolish the estate had been unlawful, after the council removed refurbishment options from the consultation before it had concluded and on a spurious basis. Officers ran the consultation again, but cabinet made the same decision to demolish. While residents lost a further judicial review challenging the second decision in December 2016, they still contend that the scheme is financially unviable. One of the key grounds of the second challenge was that the council opted for a financially unviable option, namely demolition, despite carrying out the consultation on the basis that the chosen option must be viable. During court proceedings, Lambeth did not deny that the Homes for Lambeth scheme would be kept out of the red by a £7m grant / loan from the council. Lambeth admitted that it had not formally accounted for paying back the loan in its viability calculations, but simply asserted in court that there would be plenty of money available to service the loan.
• Lambeth Council’s proposal removes secure tenancies and replaces them with assured tenancies; homeowners (both leasehold and freeholders) will be forced into shared ownership (effectively an assured tenancy) unless they can afford an extra £200k extra to buy one of the new flats; will bulldoze the entire estate, displacing the existing community, of which many residents have lived in for decades; and make getting on the buses even more of a challenge for local commuters. There have been numerous accounts from residents on other regenerated estates suggesting that hasty construction and corner-cutting could produce poor-quality buildings:

https://www.southwarknews.co.uk/news/peckham-residents-fear-eviction-blocks-demolished-5-years-built/

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/jul/21/the-real-cost-of-regeneration-social-housing-private-developers-pfi

https://www.architectsjournal.co.uk/news/orchard-village-what-went-wrong-with-prps-flagship-housing-scheme/10017416.article

Background and more info:

• See more articles on Cressingham Gardens here.
• Campaign Facebook page: www.facebook.com/SaveCressinghamGardens
• Twitter: twitter.com/SaveCressingham
• Save Cressingham Gardens petition
• Wikipedia page
• Save Cressingham Gardens crowdfunding
• Social Life, Living on Cressingham Gardens: Social Life’s conversations with residents 20.10.13

Read more and join in with the in-depth discussion on the urban75 forums (over 1,000 posts).

Help the Save Cressingham Gardens campaign!
Donate to their GoFundMe page

Cressingham Gardens video piece:

Lambeth Council is to debate a motion on ballots for estate regeneration, as residents and campaigner continue to push to have a say in the future of their homes

Green Party councillors will be forwarding a motion to Lambeth Council on 18th July demanding that three housing estates must be balloted about the council’s plans to demolish and rebuild them.

The Green Party, which became the main opposition group on Lambeth Council in local elections in May, is seeking cross-party support for its motion, which, if passed, would lead to ballots on Central Hill estate in Crystal Palace, Fenwick estate in Clapham and Cressingham Gardens estate near Brixton.

The three estates are among six earmarked for demolition and replacement by a mixture of privately owned housing and more expensive ‘homes at social rent’ as part of Labour-led Lambeth council’s 2012 and 2014 strategies for bringing its housing up to decent standards and increasing the overall supply of housing in the borough.

Since then, concern over the impact of demolition on residents and their neighbours has spread and figures for the number of promised social rent homes to be built have changed several times, leading to mistrust of consultation processes. Dispute over the initial consultation on Cressingham Gardens reached the High Court, which ruled it ‘unlawful’

In February the Mayor of London set out guidelines for estate regeneration, making mandatory ballots of residents a condition of City Hall funding.

The Green Party motion notes the mayor’s requirement on ballots, and support elsewhere in the Labour Party, including the September 2017 Labour Party Conference, November 2018 London Labour Party conference [5] and from the local Vauxhall Constituency Labour Party [6], which all passed motions in support of estate ballots within the last year.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn also gave his support to ballots in a speech at the September 2017 Labour Conference.

Green Party councillor, Pete Elliott (Gipsy Hill ward) said:

“We know that many people of all parties are uneasy at the prospect of regeneration being forced on communities without their full participation and agreement. In Lambeth, a flawed process has led to trust being lost.

“People’s homes, security, and health is at stake – and I’m sure my fellow councillors agree their wellbeing should be treated with the utmost care and respect.

“Independently-run ballots, with equal resourcing and fact-checking for all sides would go a long way to providing the transparency required to restore confidence and allowing Lambeth Council to develop proper plans to increase the availability of genuinely affordable housing without dividing communities and fuelling conflict.”

Background and more info:

• See more articles on Cressingham Gardens here.
• Campaign Facebook page: www.facebook.com/SaveCressinghamGardens
• Twitter: twitter.com/SaveCressingham
• Save Cressingham Gardens petition
• Wikipedia page
• Save Cressingham Gardens crowdfunding
• Social Life, Living on Cressingham Gardens: Social Life’s conversations with residents 20.10.13
• Brixton Buzz huge fundraising concert for Cressingham

Read more and join in with the in-depth discussion on the urban75 forums (over 1,000 posts).

Help the Save Cressingham Gardens campaign!
Donate to their GoFundMe page

Cressingham Gardens video piece:

An online petition has been launched demanding a vote on Lambeth’s Council undemocratic and controversial plans to flatten three south London estates against the wishes of the majority of its residents.

Lambeth Council wants to demolish homes in Lambeth, including Central Hill, Fenwick Estate and Cressingham Gardens, without properly considering alternatives and without the support of most residents.

The petition demands that the residents of these estates facing demolition to be allowed a democratic and independent ballot on the future of their homes – a position Brixton Buzz wholly supports.

You can sign the petition here.  (there’s currently 350 votes).

Please share widely to ensure that residents are rightly and properly consulted over the future of their own homes.

Background and more info:

• See more articles on Cressingham Gardens here.
• Campaign Facebook page: www.facebook.com/SaveCressinghamGardens
• Twitter: twitter.com/SaveCressingham
• Save Cressingham Gardens petition
• Wikipedia page
• Save Cressingham Gardens crowdfunding
• Social Life, Living on Cressingham Gardens: Social Life’s conversations with residents 20.10.13
• Brixton Buzz huge fundraising concert for Cressingham

Read more and join in with the in-depth discussion on the urban75 forums (over 1,000 posts).

Help the Save Cressingham Gardens campaign!
Donate to their GoFundMe page

Cressingham Gardens video piece:

Squire and Partners, architects to luxury residential and high end business developments around the globe, were keen to big up their desire to become part of Brixton’s “unique creative community” when they moved into the former Bon Marche building last year.

Lavishing untold amounts of cash on their new sumptuous showcase headquarters named The Department Store, the company stuck a hugely expensive bespoke glass dome on top of the building and opened up what they described as a “new social rooftop space expressed as a series of pavilions.”

Keen to ingratiate themselves into the community, memberships were dished out to the lucky few who were then able to sip cocktails from their lofty perch overlooking Ferndale Road in an area suffering child poverty in excess of 40%.

Here’s how they described their opulent space:

The roof design is based on a series of copper clad roof lanterns supported by a solid oak frame which aligns with the existing building structure. An external terrace, accessed through full height Crittall glazed doors, runs the length of the building and is landscaped with steel planters containing a variety of plants and trees.

Inside, the bar is a continuous run of untreated pewter with a copper skirting. High solid oak tables provide a relaxed area for eating and drinking, while the lounge area is marked by a full height copper clad wall housing a wood burner, with silk and wool rugs and leather sofas.

But the party has come to an end for the poorer folks, with locals now expected to shell out between £240 and £276 a year just to gain access to the palatial bar.

Here’s the message they’ve sent out to current members, inviting them to pay up or be barred:

Thank you for supporting Upstairs during our first year, we hope you have enjoyed your time on the roof thus far!

As founder members you are important to us, and we want to ensure we always provide you with the best service possible. Due to increased demand on the space and the subsequent expansion to service and amenities, we will be introducing a yearly membership fee.

The membership fee is £240 a year and must be paid by Direct Debit before 1st November 2018. We also have a monthly installment option of £23 available if you wish.

Our current free Guest Cards will be expiring 1st November 2018, after which you will not be able to gain access unless you decide to obtain a membership card.

For this fee you will see an increase in our events programme and membership offerings, a continuation of our sophisticated service and an assurance that we are always able to provide the relaxed and uncrowded atmosphere you are accustomed to Upstairs.

As our founding members you are first to have this opportunity and are guaranteed a card providing your payment is received prior to 1st November. Obtaining a membership card is simple, just choose one of the following options below.

About Squire & Partners

Squire and Partners have designed many of London’s “prime presidential” developments, including Chelsea Barracks, One Tower Bridge, Clarges Mayfair, Ebury Square, Netherhall Gardens and The Knightsbridge Apartments, with hotel projects including the five star Bulgari Hotel & Residences in London, the boutique Rockwell Hotel, and the Hilton Liverpool.

More recently, they teamed up with a private UAE-based fund on a £150 million luxury flats redevelopment in Chelsea, and also created the ‘most expensive luxury apartment to ever come on sale in London’s Marylebone.

Our first article on the building sparked something of a mixed reaction amongst locals – read it here.

Here’s the full video below:

Your opinions

What do you think about Brixton’s new elitist private bar? Join in with the hugely busy discussion about Squire and Partners in Lambeth on the forum, or leave a comment below.

Residents of the Cressingham Gardens estate in south London have been fighting Lambeth’s undemocratic demolition plans for many years, and this Saturday they’ll be teaming up with residents from other threatened estates and marching on City Hall.

Cresssingham resident Andy Plant spoke to Brixton Buzz:

This started with a group of Cressingham residents at a community meeting wanting to do something a bit more audacious and visible than
our annual march to the Town Hall. We thought that as Sadiq Khan denied a ballot to so many London estates threatened with regen, that we’d take the fight to his door, so to speak.

We’ve co-ordinated with residents of other threatened estates, and with Lambeth Housing Activists, Demolition Watch, Defend Council Housing, Homes for All and others to get the word out as London-wide as possible.

Several trade unions have endorsed the rally, and will have members in attendance. One resident, Ms Gerlinde Gniewosz, had the further idea that residents of the affected estates co-ordinate to have a vigil at City Hall – a person or people making a presence there to illustrate Mayor Khan’s fudge, and to emphasise that although for over 6 months attempts have been made to secure an appt with him to talk over the issues, he’s constantly avoided doing so.

We also want to put across the message that there should be “no demolition without permission”. While the Mayor has stated this, he
hasn’t been forthcoming that “transitional arrangements” between now and reaching “no demolition without permission” could rule further estates out of having a say in their future, and that this isn’t just an issue for residents of those estates – it can and will affect home-owners and
tenants nearby as councils seek “Compulsory Purchase Opportunities” to expand the footprint of their development. Here at Cressingham, that
means a nearby private block of flats and 8 semis being targeted.

As ever, the usual arguments against regeneration apply: Too little housing for social rent, too much unaffordable “affordable” housing, and
social cleansing through economic means.

We’ll have speakers at the rally, ranging from Sian Berry (Green Party co-leader and London Assembly member), to various spokespeople from
threatened estates, plus Potent Whisper will be speaking, as well as performing his Spoken Word piece “Estate of War”.

Background and more info:

• See more articles on Cressingham Gardens here.
• Campaign Facebook page: www.facebook.com/SaveCressinghamGardens
• Twitter: twitter.com/SaveCressingham
• Save Cressingham Gardens petition
• Wikipedia page
• Save Cressingham Gardens crowdfunding
• Social Life, Living on Cressingham Gardens: Social Life’s conversations with residents 20.10.13

Read more and join in with the in-depth discussion on the urban75 forums (over 1,000 posts).

Help the Save Cressingham Gardens campaign!
Donate to their GoFundMe page

Cressingham Gardens video piece:

Stuck in a small traffic island on a short strip of dual carriageway in Akerman Road, SW9, this structure is known locally as the ‘Camberwell Submarine’ on account of its nautical lines.

Despite some fanciful theories as to its purpose, the concrete building houses heating plants for the nearby council properties.

The towers were extended upwards in 2013.

Take a look inside!

A trip inside the Camberwell Submarine, 2007.

Discuss the Camberwell Submarine on the Brixton forum.

Lambeth Council has shown itself to be awfully keen on proposing demolition of council estates without the consent of its residents, and two groups are getting together for a series of regular meetings to oppose these plans.

Here’s the full details that were sent in to Buzz:

Demolition – is your estate next? You can’t be sure…

With this stark warning, two local groups are joining forces to highlight the social housing crisis – calling it “currently the biggest democratic and humanitarian issue within Lambeth… and beyond”.

The plan is to hold regular meetings to keep the public informed, and maintain round-the-clock pressure on councils to change tack before further damage devastates communities.

The first meeting is on Sunday 24 March. Hurst & Meath Residents Association is co-organising the event with Stand Up To Lambeth, the multi-organisation group set up in 2016 to hold the council to account.

It is your chance to catch up on the latest developments in the destruction of social housing – and to discuss possible responses and actions.

On hand will be a high-level panel representing all four main political parties, with local councillors, housing activists, researchers and
journalists. The debate will then be covered – and expanded – via social media and youtube.

The session on March 24 starts at 3pm with a free screening of Dispossession: the great social housing swindle.

This acclaimed documentary covers a nationwide scandal that goes back 30 years (and features some Lambeth stories).

An exhibition of political art by Herne Hill artist Andrew Cooper, also featured in the film, will be on display.

The facts are grim. Social cleansing is spreading all over London – and further afield. People are losing their homes to ‘regeneration’ schemes that overwhelmingly favour the wealthy.

Shamefully, Labour councils are at the forefront. The six estates due for demolition in Lambeth, at vast expense and to the detriment of residents,
are just one example.

Over 200 estates are being destroyed by Labour councils, 40 by Tories and five by Lib Dems. More such schemes are in the pipeline.

Latest developments affecting Lambeth communities include

• Cabinet has rubber-stamped the controversial “Homes for Lambeth” demolition scheme, against estate residents’ wishes, with a “business plan” widely criticised as naive, recklessly expensive, vague about identified risks, optimistic about possible benefits and false in its claims to have consulted and fully informed residents.
• The council is widely accused of closing down Tenants & Residents Associations that criticise it, replacing them with its own chosen “representatives”.
• Council “Residents Participation Officers” are accused of bullying residents and being “rolled in to cause division between residents”.
• The council has failed to deal with the botched refurbishment at Macintosh Court, Streatham, where elderly residents suffer water penetration, unsafe electrics and ugly changes to the listed building that should never been permitted.
• Unchecked deterioration at condemned estates Cressingham Gardens and Central Hill includes broken sewers, rats, water penetration, dangerous pathways and collapsed ceilings.
• London Mayor Sadiq Knhan has been caught doing secret deals that have removed his promised right to a residents’ ballot from 39 London estates (including five in Lambeth).
• Lambeth Labour MP Helen Hayes is introducing a Bill to curb developers’ mega-profits and oblige councils to provide “affordable” housing that people can actually afford.

Meeting details

Sunday 24th March from 3pm
Upstairs at the Prince Regent pub, 69 Dulwich Road, SE24.
Opposite Brockwell Park Lido entrance.

Background and more info:

• See articles on Cressingham Gardens here.
• Campaign Facebook page: www.facebook.com/SaveCressinghamGardens
• Twitter: twitter.com/SaveCressingham
• Save Cressingham Gardens petition
• Wikipedia page
• Save Cressingham Gardens crowdfunding
• Social Life, Living on Cressingham Gardens: Social Life’s conversations with residents 20.10.13

Read more and join in with the in-depth discussion on the urban75 forums (over 1,000 posts).

Help the Save Cressingham Gardens campaign!
Donate to their GoFundMe page

Cressingham Gardens video piece:

A few years ago, we penned an unusual feature on the now-vanished cast-iron men’s urinal in Pope’s Road, and we’ve since found another fascinating archive photograph of the men’s loo – and discovered that it made the news in 1932.

Behind the ornate urinal (above) can be seen the coal staithes that used to supply Brixton with coal by rail. The row of coal merchants offices in the background have now been replaced by Sports Direct.

A search on the National Archives revealed that the urinal was the scene of a gay scandal in the 1930s, with a Mr Charles Pearson and Mr Ralph Byrne being charged for “gross indecency.”

The National Archives tells the story:

Before partial decriminalisation in 1967 the most accessible place for men to meet other men was often in outdoor and public spaces like urinals, known as cottages, and public parks.

In 1932 Charles Pearson and Ralph Byrne were prosecuted for gross indecency when police observed them meeting in Pope’s Lane public urinals, Brixton, 1932.

Gay Brixton

Some forty years later, Brixton would become the focus of the gay activism, as we detailed in this feature: The Brixton Fairies and the South London Gay Community Centre.

Brixton continued to be welcoming to the gay community, with a multitude of bars and clubs opening up in the 1980s and Brockwell Park hosting Gay Pride in 1993 and 1994.

More info

The Brixton Fairies and the South London Gay Community Centre, Brixton 1974-6.

Queering in London – a history of gay persecution

Now buried under the site of the Brixton Rec, the first reference to The Volunteer pub at 6 Beehive Place, SW9 was registered in 1919, with the corner building being stylishly rebuilt around 1934.

The pub redesign got into the swing of the prevalent Art Deco movement, with a monochromatic frontage, geometric lines, and on-trend light fittings. The shutters on the first floor windows were also an unusual addition.

It must have looked startlingly modern when built.

Charrington’s Brewery

Above the main entrance is the name of the owners, Charrington’s. Founded in Bethnal Green, London in the early 18th century by Robert Westfield, Charrington Brewery merged with United Breweries of London in 1964 to become Charrington United Breweries.

After acquiring a number of other breweries, Charrington merged with Bass and Mitchell & Butlers and formed Bass Charrington Limited in 1967.

Thirty years later, Bass Charrington sold off its public houses with the buyer creating Punch Taverns. In 2000, the company sold off its brands to Interbrew and remaining properties to Six Continents. [—]

Art Deco lamp fittings and advert for ‘Toby Stout.’

The fall of stout

As this site explains, stout fell out of popularity in the 60s and 70s:

Mild was the working man’s drink for the first half of the twentieth century. The only choice was between mild and stout; bitter was a luxury. In 1900 best bitter was almost unknown and in 1929 it was still only a tiny fraction total beer sales.

At the start of the sixties, mild was the dominant beer. Around 40% of the output of Bass Charrington, Britain’s largest brewer, was mild. By 1967 this had fallen to 30%. Mild was losing favour, though it was the cheapest beer. It did have strongholds in the Midlands (notably M & B Mild), but the majority chose best bitter.

Best bitter on draught and its bottled equivalent, best pale ale, were the favourite beers of the 60s. Pale ale was sold as a premium beer; it was a popular luxury.

Brewers Messrs Charrington & Co created this elevation of The Volunteer public house as part of their plans to rebuild the pub in 1934.

Note the beehive incorporated in the decorative crest above the first floor.

Pub location

OS 1944-1967 map showing the pub on the corner of Beehive Place and Industry Terrace (which would disappear under the Brixton Recreation Centre, which was constructed between 1974 and 1985.

Brixton has lost no less than three pubs from this small area. As well as the Volunteer, there was the Black Horse pub on Brixton Road (top left hand corner) and the recently demolished Canterbury Arms (top right).

In this OS London 1893-1895 map, there is no sign of the Volunteer, although it’s worth noting that Beehive Place was then called ‘Cumberland Place.’

Chat about the Volunteer

Join the discussion on our forum

See more Brixton history

Brixton Buzz’s features on Brixton’s history
Brixton History discussed on the Brixton forums
View the comprehensive urban75 Brixton history archives
Lost pubs of Brixton

Cressingham Gardens Estate campaigners have had their application approved for the Right To Transfer (RTT) ownership of the estate into a community-owned company outside of council control.

The Minister of State for Housing, Kit Malthouse MP, approved the residents application and rejected Lambeth’s argument that RTT will have a detrimental effect on Lambeth’s programme of urban regeneration to find in favour of a community-led approach.

Campaigners had applied to the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government back in 2016 for the RTT. It is now up to the Cressingham campaigners to undertake feasibility work, a ballot of resident approval, develop a business plan, and work towards the vision outlined in the Cressingham “Peoples Plan”.

The vision outlined in the People’s Plan includes a green refurbishment of all buildings and the addition of new homes at social rents. This vision has particular resonance in light of the council’s recent declaration of a climate emergency.

A demolition-approach to regeneration seems untenable if the council genuinely stands by its environmental concerns.

The RTT news comes after residents also had a Right to Manage application approved by central government. Residents are currently taking over some council services on Cressingham.

These include repairs and anti-social behaviour which campaigners hope will stem Lambeth’s ‘managed decline’ of the estate ahead of any potential RTT agreement.

Links

Peoples Plan: www.cressinghampeoplesplan.org.uk
Right to transfer determination letter and report:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/right-to-transfer-determination-cressingham-gardens-estate

Background and more info:

• See more articles on Cressingham Gardens here.
• Campaign Facebook page: www.facebook.com/SaveCressinghamGardens
• Twitter: twitter.com/SaveCressingham
• Save Cressingham Gardens petition
• Wikipedia page
• Save Cressingham Gardens crowdfunding
• Social Life, Living on Cressingham Gardens: Social Life’s conversations with residents 20.10.13

Read more and join in with the in-depth discussion on the urban75 forums (over 1,000 posts).

Help the Save Cressingham Gardens campaign!
Donate to their GoFundMe page

Cressingham Gardens video piece:

[Article by Cressingham campaigners]

Back in 2014 six of Lambeth’s estates were publicly earmarked for demolition. Since then residents on those estates have seen their communities broken up and the estates run down. There are large numbers of empty properties on the estates and there has been an increase in cases of anti-social behaviour.

A significant number of families in temporary accommodation have been moved in alongside some private renters where the council have handed over homes to private estate agents for them to manage. There are concerns for residents’ mental and physical health as the homes on the estate fall into disrepair.

At the same time the council has set up a private company (Homes for Lambeth) to oversee the demolition and rebuilding of the estates. It has spent over £40million on buying back homes from leaseholders and another £20million on ‘regeneration’ programme costs with little to show for the money, time and effort.

Residents of the six estates are invited to Cressingham Gardens Rotunda for a mini conference to discuss what has happened so far, what the current ‘plans’ are and to give them a chance to express how the process has made them feel.

Most importantly we will give residents some space to ask questions and meet with some of their neighbours and supporters to help repair some of the damage done to the communities.

Programme of events:
2:30 – 3:30 Talks by local and external experts on:
– The Health Impact
– Finances
– Repairs and Maintenance
– The environmental Impact
– The bigger picture (the London context)
3:30 – 4:00 Question and answer session
4:00 – 4:30 Community Event Planning
4:30 – 5:00 Wash up and next steps

There will be breaks in between where people will have a chance to meet and greet their neighbours.

Event details

Sat 27th July 2019
2.30pm-5pm
Free tickets – register here
The Rotunda, Cressingham Gardens, Tulse Hill, SW2 2QG

Facebook event

Background and more info:

• See more articles on Cressingham Gardens here
• Peoples Plan: www.cressinghampeoplesplan.org.uk
• Campaign Facebook page: www.facebook.com/SaveCressinghamGardens
• Twitter: twitter.com/SaveCressingham
• Save Cressingham Gardens petition
• Wikipedia page
• Save Cressingham Gardens crowdfunding
• Social Life, Living on Cressingham Gardens: Social Life’s conversations with residents 20.10.13

Read more and join in with the in-depth discussion on the urban75 forums (over 1,000 posts).

Help the Save Cressingham Gardens campaign!
Donate to their GoFundMe page

Cressingham Gardens video piece: