Heygate Viability Assessment Finally Revealed.
After three years of appeals by Southwark Council and its development partner Lend Lease, Adrian Glasspool has finally received the viability assessment for the Heygate outline masterplan in response to his May 2012 FOI/EIR request.
Southwark had initially rejected the request and appealed after his subsequent complaint was upheld by the Information Commissioner. A long battle through the Tribunal system then culminated in a 6 day hearing in February last year, followed by a decision notice directing Southwark to release the assessment minus some of its financial modelling figures1.
Following a further dispute about exactly which figures could be withheld, the Tribunal resumed and issued a final decision in March this year. The viability assessment was then received in April and after examination by sympathetic industry experts we can now disclose our findings.
The Heygate tribunal case has since triggered decisions to disclose viability information for other large regeneration schemes including Earls Court regeneration and Greenwich Peninsula.
As well as a copy of the disclosed viability assessment, the 35% campaign has also obtained via FOI a (heavily redacted) copy of the District Valuer Service(DVS) appraisal of the viability assessment, commissioned by Southwark council.
First impressions:
This is a profitability assessment- not a viability assessment.
25% is deemed the acceptable level of profit.
Residential sales prices were grossly underestimated.
Why no review mechanism?
‘Something Sinister’ or ‘crap journalism’?
More information here.
2nd Elephant & Walworth Neighbourhood Forum Conference.
Saturday, 4th July 2015 from 10:00 to 16:00
Inspire – The Crypt at Saint Peter’s Church
Liverpool Grove
SE17 2HH
The Elephant & Walworth Neighbourhood Forum has been busy since its first conference. At our second conference on 4 July we will be making important decisions on the boundary of our proposed neighbourhood plan area.
We will be also be discussing the work we have done on Green infrastructure, Community Assets, Small/ethnic businesses in preparation for a Neighbourhood Plan**. We need everyone’s views!’
* Detailed maps of the proposed boundaries can be found on our website
* Reports on the project work on these themes can be found on our website and will be displayed at the conference
The event will be facilitated by our consultant, Tony Burton, who is a leading authority nationally on neighbourhood planning.
Free lunch will be provided!
Elephant Amenity Network Meetings.
Elephant Amenity Network holds open meetings on the third Tuesday of every month in Walworth
All welcome!
David’s Peace Day, Saturday 11th July @ Tabard Gardens
For the last six years the David Idowu Foundation has organised a ‘peace day’ event with stalls, music and speeches on the Saturday closest to the anniversary of David’s tragic death. This year the peace day will take place on Saturday 11th July, 12.00pm-6.00pm. More information on the peace days and the work of the David Foundation can be found here:
Volunteer forms – Southwark Eid Festival
If your looking for something exciting and colourful to do, how about Volunteering at this years Eid festival. Where you will be joined by over 10,000 visitors from all over Southwark and beyond. This years Eid festival will take place at Burgess park on Eid Day. The 17th or 18th of July depending on the sighting of the Moon.
Please also forward onto your contacts and the poster will follow shortly. Have also enclosed stall holders form should they wish to have a stall on the day:
Rahala Khalida
Community Development Worker
Correspondence Address:
Southwark Council
Housing and Community Services Department
Community Engagement Division
2nd Floor, Hub 4
PO Box 64529
London, SE1 5LX
Tel – 020 7525 0866 Mobile – 07415227999
Email: rahala.khalida@southwark.gov.uk
My Working Hours are Monday -Tuesday 10.00am – 6.00pm, Wednesday – Friday 10.00am – 2.00pm
Rotherhithe Festival, Saturday 11 July, 11am to 9pm
The Rotherhithe Festival, which is organised by a committee of local residents, will include live music on stage, children’s rides, face painters, information stalls from Southwark based charities, church/religious groups and organisations, community groups, craft stalls, and food stalls.
The charity that we will be fundraising for this year will be cancer research and the stoma association because we have all lost some one dear to us through this dreaded disease.
The worshipful mayor of Southwark, Councillor Dora -Dixon Fyle MBE, will open the festival at 11am
Bermondsey Carnival, Saturday 4 July, 12pm to 8pm
Email from OBVNF: Next meeting 24th June 6.00pm.
Neighbourhood Forum agreement
Next meeting 24th June 6.00pm at Tabard community hall, Hankey Place SE1 4LR
“We are pleased to report that following Monday’s mediation Council officers have agreed to reverse their recommendation to the decision maker, Mark Williams, to refuse our application on behalf of OBVNF.
The mediation was attended by a representative from DCLG as well as the independent mediator. In this company and with the declared objective of both sides being to come to an agreement to permit Council recognition of OBVNF the process was very straight-forward: The Council set out their demands and – as we have in the past – we simply agreed to meet each and every one. The difference this time was that in a mediation each side is expected to put its cards on the table and to be bound by any agreement.
A copy of the mediation agreement is attached below. The key elements were focused on meeting the Council’s demands that OBVNF is genuinely open to all who wish to participate in the Neighbourhood planning process and that BVAG doesn’t have some kind of strangle-hold on the group. Of course, we say this has never been the case and meetings have always been open and welcoming to all. But as any reasonable demands in satisfaction of such a requirement are so easy to accommodate that is of course exactly what we did.
One key issue for the council officers was that our meetings are held at a ‘neutral venue’ so as not to deter those who are uncomfortable in Globe House. Although we are aware of no such category of would-be participants, to respect this demand we will be holding a meeting this Wednesday at Tabard community hall, Hankey Place SE1 4LR. The meeting will need to be half an hour earlier than usual because it has to be sandwiched between a martial arts class ending at 6.00pm and a Borough & Bankside Forum meeting that starts at 7.00pm. However, as the purpose of the meeting is to ratify the mediation agreement, following a briefing on its implications, and elect a new Chairman (another of the Council demands we were quite ready to accommodate) an hour should be enough. If it is not we will simply need to adjourn to another venue for whatever business remains.
Amy has put herself forward as a candidate to chair future meetings. If anyone else wishes to stand against her for election to the role please let us know as soon as possible so that we can take steps to publicise the election.
Apologies for the late (and short) notice but before it was possible to call a meeting we had to find and book a new venue.”
Tabard Gardens North T&RA 