Dear Friends and supporters

We have just received a decision from the Elephant Park Plot H1 planning inquiry.

I'm sorry to say that the Inspector has upheld developer Lendlease's appeal and approved their application to build an office block on the site.

We are naturally disappointed with this decision, which overturns Southwark Council's rejection of the application.  We shall read the Inspector's report very carefully and discuss it with our legal representatives (the Public Interest Law Centre, Southwark Law Centre and barrister Charles Bishop, of Landmark Chambers).  We will then let everyone know our thoughts on the situation.

Meantime, a very big thanks to everyone for their continued support!

You can read the full Inspector's report here.

This is a Southwark News story on the decision.

Regards

Jerry

COH1 objectors

Dear Friend

After eight days the planning inquiry for PlotH1, Elephant Park ended on 22 September. The objectors' legal team has been tying up loose ends since then and PILC (Public Interest Law Centre) has written a blogpost, laying out the arguments heard, the notable moments and what happens next - https://www.pilc.org.uk/blog/.

The Planning Inspector will now consider all the evidence and then return a decision. We cannot say how long this will take, but as soon as we hear we will be sure to let you know.

We are pleased that we were able to make the case for housing, particularly affordable housing. The community objectors were united by our anger at developer Lendlease reversing their decision to build housing on H1, proposing to build a huge office block instead.

With the support of PILC and the Southwark Law Centre we were able to hold Lendlease to account for this reversal; many thanks to Charles Bishop, our fantastic barrister from Landmark Chambers; Saskia and Alexandra from PILC's ‘Gentrification Project’ and Jed, Ariane and Gabhan of the Southwark Law Centre's Planning Voice.

But none of this could have happened without your generous donations and support - so many thanks to you too!

Regards

Jerry

COH1 (Community Objectors H1)

Dear all

We have finished the first week of the Inquiry, with one week to go!

We have now presented the evidence for our argument that the Elephant Park H1 site should  be used for housing, not an office block.  Southwark Council have also presented their evidence that Lendlease's giant office block  will harm the local area. Both Southwark and ourselves say that Lendlease's appeal against the Council's refusal to approve their plans should be turned down. 

Lendlease now will present their evidence and case next week.  

We have had terrific support all week from Saskia and Alexandra of the Public Interest Law Centre, as well as Jed, Gabhan and Ariane from the Southwark Law Centre. We have all been very ably led by Charles Bishop, our barrister from Landmark Chambers.

But we would not even be at the Inquiry, making the case for homes, not office blocks without your generous help and support.  

We have raised over £2,000 since the Inquiry began taking our total to a fantastic £8,300!

We still have a little way to go to reach our target of £10,00 so please keep sharing our CrowdJustice link - https://www.crowdjustice.com/case/no-to-the-elephant-h1-office-b/email/

Many thanks!

Regards

COH1 Objectors

Dear Friend

The public inquiry that will decide whether or not Lendlease's giant office block gets planning approval starts tomorrow! 

The venue is Southwark Council offices, 160 Tooley St SE1 2QH and the hearing is scheduled for eight days.

Thanks to your generosity we are able to make sure that the community's voice will be heard, giving us the best chance of defeating Lendlease's proposal.  The community objectors group, COH1, will be represented by barrister Charles Bishop, of Landmark Chambers, ably supported by the Public Interest Law Unit (PILC) and Southwark Law Centre.

This is only possible because of your kind donation.  We have raised over £6,300, well on our way to our target of £10,000.  All the donations go towards our legal representation.

Can you help us a little bit more?   We want homes, not offices at the Elephant!

Please donate, if you can, through our CrowdJustice link -https://www.crowdjustice.com/case/no-to-the-elephant-h1-office-b/

Please share our link with all your friends and contacts!  The more shares we make, the more donations we get!

Many thanks again for your help!

Regards

Jerry

We have smashed through our £5000 target in just one week!   We now have £5089, which will help to support our great legal team, from the Public Interest Law Centre (PILC)  and the Southwark Law Cntre.  

But we are pushing on!  £10,000 is our new, stretch target.  This will allow us full participation for the whole inquiry and the best possible chance of success.

We have only got this far because of the generous support of all the people who oppose Lendlease's outrageous proposal to build a huge office block on what was once the Heygate estate.

Please help us by donating and sharing - https://www.crowdjustice.com/case/no-to-the-elephant-h1-office-b/ 

Your donation will help in the fight against developers doing just as they please, regardless of any damage that might mean to local communities.  

Many thanks for anything you can give!

Regards

Jerry

Community Objectors H1