New homes

We would like to hear what you think about the new homes.

Southwark Council will soon be submitting their plans for new homes on The Bells Gardens Estate for planning permission. You should have recently received a newsletter from the council about it. If not, you can view the newsletter and more information about it here.

As part of the process there has been a consultation process with local residents since 2018. In that time a group of residents has met with the New Homes team, local councillors and the architects appointed to plan the local site. The process has been long, time-consuming and at times frustrating for the residents who have taken part. We have tried very hard to get the most out of it for the estate including fighting for green space and trees, play-space and reducing the number of units being proposed. However, we still have concerns:

We feel that the proposed block heights are too high

The council are proposing to build three separate blocks on the estate. One is 9 stories high, one is 7 stories high and the third is 5 stories high. Both the 7-storey block and 9-story block were strongly opposed by the residents - unfortunately Southwark did not include that in their “You said, We did” part of the newsletter. During the first drop-in event the council highlighted how the proposals would need to respect current building heights - the tallest block on the estate is currently 6 stories high. These proposals do not do that.

The site boundary was extended without consulting residents

When the site on Bells Garden was first suggested as a location for a New Homes development, the original boundary line only went as far as Banbury House. The extension for the site to include the grass by Edwin House was done by Southwark in project group meeting number five (out of seven) and was imposed without a formal consultation with residents.

The size of the site informs the size of development so by extending the boundary line, it makes it easier for Southwark to justify the size/height of building development and loss of green space elsewhere.

Play Space - new vs existing residents

The council have guidelines to follow which dictates how much play space is required depending on the size of a new development. When they do these calculations they do not include the current residents who live on the estate. We believe Southwark should also include existing residents in their calculations, as this is a shared space for our children as well as children from the new development.

More than 30% of the homes will be private sale

At all meetings with residents Southwark have promised to build at least 70% social rent homes on the site. They have not put forward a plan which does this. By changing this, Southwark are able to put forward a 9 storey building which will be solely for private sale.

Impact studies

The project group has asked for impact reports to ensure that local amenities like GP practices, nurseries and schools can accommodate the new homes being built on Bells Garden, and neighbouring Lindley Estate. Southwark council has not provided these to date.

Please let us know what you think about the new homes project here

More information

Southwark Council have a consultation website up at: southwark.gov.uk/bells-gardens

On that site you will see a copy of the newsletter which should have been mailed to you.

You will also see a download from the architect with more details about their plans.

There is also a download from the landscape architects which shows what they plan to do around green space, trees and play areas.

Southwark have a Bells Gardens Estate Pre-Planning questionnaire with specific questions about their plans for the MUGA (The football pitch)

In addition you will find information about the Lindley estate New Homes development