Housing protestors will gather outside the council’s offices next week to protest what they describe as the ‘full-scale gentrification’ of the Old Kent Road.
Activists from Save Old Kent Road and Southwark Housing and Planning Emergency (SHAPE) will meet outside Southwark’s Tooley Street offices before a meeting of the full council next Wednesday (18 March) at 6.30 pm.
A second protest is planned for Saturday 25 April, when crowds will meet at the Michael Faraday monument in Elephant and Castle opposite the Northern line entrance of the tube station at 12pm before marching down the Old Kent Road.
They will criticise the amount of affordable housing planned along the Old Kent Road, claiming that of 20,000 new homes in the pipeline just 5,000 will be set at the cheapest social rents.
There are also fears that music venues such as Ormside Projects in the Penarth Centre off Ilderton Road, as well as Venue MOT and Avalon Café, could be lost – although the Penarth Centre is a listed building meaning it will be protected.
However Southwark’s Cabinet Member for New Homes Helen Dennis said she was “incredibly proud” of the council’s work regenerating the Old Kent Road and said currently 63% of the new homes being built there are affordable, with 42% at social rent.
Plans to redevelop the Old Kent Road date back to 2015 when the Old Kent Road was designated as an ‘opportunity area’ by the Mayor of London – a status given to areas seen as having potential for new homes and jobs.
The area plan, which has been in the pipeline since 2016 and will go to the Planning Inspectorate for approval in June, contains proposals for 20,000 new homes, 7,000 of which the council says will be affordable.
It also involves the creation of 10,000 new jobs and upgrading parks and community facilities like Bramcote Park in South Bermondsey and refurbishing the BMX track next to the Ledbury Estate.
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It also includes the long-delayed Bakerloo line extension from Elephant and Castle towards Lewisham, with new stations along the Old Kent Road.
Save Old Kent Road, a local campaign group, said: “In 2021, Southwark Council found that 93% of people in Southwark require either social or affordable housing. Since then, things have only got worse. There are now over 22,000 households on Southwark Council’s social housing waiting list and over 10,000 people in Southwark Council temporary accommodation.
“The need for genuinely affordable council housing around the Old Kent Road is extreme, but all Southwark Council have done is hand over a cheque to developers and asked them to fill in the number.”
Jerry Flynn of the 35% Campaign, which advocates for more affordable housing in new developments, said: “Opportunity areas like the Old Kent Road should be the opportunity to solve our housing crisis, not for big developers to make big profits. The promised 5,000 social rented homes are not enough and even this number is under threat from the so-called emergency measures proposed by the Mayor and government, which will cut the affordable housing requirements on new private housing.
“Southwark Council must take a stand against this and insist on at least 35% affordable housing on private developments and it must fight for the money to build council housing.”
Cllr Helen Dennis, Cabinet Member for New Homes and Sustainable Development said: “I’m incredibly proud of what the council is delivering along the Old Kent Road, and especially the levels of genuinely affordable housing being achieved, alongside the delivery of community projects. Currently 63% of the new homes being built here are affordable, with 42% being social rent.
“In the last week, I have been at events celebrating the completion of 162 new council homes on the Tustin Estate, the start of 200 social rent homes at Devonshire place, and a further 215 council homes on the Ledbury Estate. These new homes will make a huge difference for people on Southwark’s housing waiting list. Last year, Southwark built more council homes than any other local authority in England, and the Old Kent Road is a big part of that story.
“Overall the plan will deliver 20,000 new homes, help create much-needed jobs, and create new parks and green spaces for residents to enjoy. And money from development is already making a difference – last week we celebrated work starting on the renewal of Bramcote Park, £700,000 of investment from S106 money. This sits alongside other projects like the community centre, LEX 2, and the refurbishment of the BMX track next to the Ledbury Estate.
“We will continue to invest in and campaign for the local infrastructure to support development. Our plans include the extension of the low-carbon Heat Network, new cycle lanes, and a new Health Centre, and the recently introduced Bakerloop bus is helping make the case for the Bakerloo Line Extension which is so desperately needed in South-East London.”
