Results of Bassano Street Committee Meeting 1st October 6.30pm

[gerry]

Why bother to set policies and standards which everyone else has to abide by, but not the council? They can override whenever or wherever they like, without any consequences except to the local neighbours. There was never a need for consultations or objections. It seems we all wasted time and effort when the council had clearly decided on their own what they would do.

[Cora]

But James McAsh you're missing the point - This isn't about housing or not housing - It's about genuine consultation, compromise, engagement of community, effective planning rules and investing in good design. When people engage but feel they are just part of a PR exercise then they dis-engage, along with all those with views but not access, and democratic engagement is lost.....

[LadyDeliah]

This looks great. It's about time the council started building real council housing again.

I hope you manage to build many more.

Amanda

Jamesmcash Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Hi all,

>

> Throughout the design process I have been keen to

> hear the views of residents and I have ensured

> that the housing team have listened too. As a

> result of feedback the designs were altered to

> respond to concerns about privacy and light.

>

> Let's be clear what density means: it refers to

> the number of people housed in a given footprint.

> Higher density can mean very tall buildings,

> inappropriate for a suburban setting, but it does

> not need to. In this case, the new council homes

> are going to be roughly the same height as the

> existing buildings.

>

> The higher density is a response to the dire need

> for council homes. The council does not own much

> land that it can build on, particularly not in

> this part of the borough. So when we have some we

> want to make the best use of it! We wanted to

> focus on family homes, the lower density option

> would have been to go for flats for couples or

> single people.

>

> I cannot wait to welcome four families into their

> new council homes. Decent council housing has the

> potential to transform lives.

>

> Best wishes

> James

[alice]

Totally agree there Southwarks record is abysmal on council house building compared with other London boroughs but this is something.

[rch]

Hi James... can you find out if this development is subject to CIL charges and, if so, how much?

Gerry... you may be interested in some intriguing background to this development, which I'll try to type out when I have more time...

[gerry]

Thanks. I am very interested. I see you are an ex-counsellor. May I ask which ward you acted for?

Also what is the significance of council charges applied to this development? Thanks for getting in touch.

[James Barber]

When my lot ran the council we ensured such contentious planning application were heard in the local area by local councillor.

I can honestly say the scheme proposed and approved by a the current Labour council and it appears supported by local Labour councillors would never have been approved y Lib Dem local councillors. ON so many levels it is the wrong design for the wrong location.

We used to have local democracy for making such decision. This was stopped early on when Labour re took control of Southwark Council.