Bampton Estate, the possibility of a new building next to Standlake Point

Streetscape
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#43

Hi all who is following this thread.

The update on the Bampton estate building plans:

We have managed to collect signatures in support of our objection from 101 households from 3 Points plus neighbouring houses and streets on the top of that. The target was 80+1 from the Points to have the majority (that is why it took longer than anticipated). We have already been in touch with our local MP - Ellie Reeves and have a case opened. We will be arranging an appointment to show the evidence - our signed objection to the building plans plus few more complants with evidence about Lewisham Homes failures in other areas (finances, management, contract obligations compliance ) so it can be dealt all at once. I will keep you updated as we progress.

Kat

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#44

You’re a formidable campaigner Kat - good luck to you!

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#45

MP as in member of parliament

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#46

Yes, sorry, it is MP, not counillor. The plan was to get in touch with local councillors in the beginning, but one of the residents got in touch with Ellie and was accepted and offered an appointment to bring all information/evidence we have. So we are going to MP and I am glad we sre as the problem with building and how the managing agent on behalf of Council handling it and doing it plus what kind of managing agent it is will not stay inside Lewisham, the information will go out and all “dodgy” things will not go unnoticed. I will correct my post. Thank you for noticing.

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#47

Thank you very much for your support :bouquet:.
I am only the tip of the iceberg, there are people who are working on the background to make it happen, to bring good changes to our community. In fact, one of participants on this forum does a lot of writing and communications to Lewisham Homes and officials, ladies - my neighbours did a lot of walking to collect signatures, one girl, my neighbour, walked around until she got responses from all households in all three blocks. Where is a will, there is a way, but it can not be done by one person. So if people have problems in their community, they have to come together to deal with them, together we can do a lot.

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#48

The letter to Lewisham Homes complaint department has been sent today with signatures attached (and 3 local councillors) :

Bampton Estate residents and residents of neighbouring houses and streets have signed calling for the planned building to be stopped.

Without prejudice

Site of concern: Bampton Estate including the green recreational area and the childrens ball court. SE23-2XB.

Dear Sir, Madam,

We residents of Bampton Estate and residents of neighbouring houses and streets are stating that we strongly disagree with Lewisham Homes plans to build new housing on the ball court area and on any green area of Bampton Estate and with any possible future plans to use Bampton Estate and its green space including the ball court for any building projects.
Few of the many reasons for our categorical disagreement are the green space is an important factor in people’s physical and mental well-being and encouraged by UK government to be protected, the green space of Bampton Estate is much used by residents and children of the estate, neighbouring streets and people passing by to rest, have picnics, sunbath and play. The ball court is very much used by children of Bampton Estate, neighbouring streets and school to play football and basketball - it is safe and close by. The green space of Bampton Estate was well designed so people of Standlake Point, Radcote Point and Newbridge Point can use and enjoy it as the residents of these blocks do not have their own gardens due to the nature of the buildings. The trees, some of them as old as the buildings, are home for protected species: 3 types of woodpeckers, barn owls, stag beetles and invitive species. Green space and trees are very limited in London and must be encouraged and protected. Other reasons are: very limited residents parking space and very limited space for emergency access including the Fire Brigade engines; raise in anti-social behaviour if children are deprived of their playground and space; structural safety of the blocks - some flats in Standlake Point block have cracks in walls and ceilings; underground waters - the neighbouring to Standlake Point house experiences flooding because of the underground waters so a special pump had to be installed to keep the problem at bay, taking trees down may result in landslide and flooding of the blocks’ foundation.

Our green space on Bampton Estate is a very beautiful unique and dear to all its residents and neighbours. Under no circumstances should any building project be allowed, depriving us of recreational facilities.

Residents of Bampton Estate, neighbouring houses and streets.
Signatures attached.
Year 2017
Petition-signatures.pdf (1.5 MB)

#49

UPD

Good morning Customer Relations Team,

I have forwarded the objection letter and signatures from our estate and neighbouring houses and streets in support of it to your department last week but have not heard from you anything since the autoreply. Can you please confirm that the letter and the signatures have been passed to the Lewisham Homes project management team and its manager Emma and its safely receiced.

I trust you will take this matter seriousely as the objection to the building plans on our estate will be taken further to MP, Mayor of Lewisham, Mayor of London, various state departments and non-profit organisations, press, the local councilors have already been informed and given the copies of the objection sinatures and any decision-making bodies we can possibly reach to.

Igonring the voice of the majority of Bampton residents and residents of the neighbouring houses and streets that clearly states that we do not want our Bampton estate used for building anything on it, avoiding communications, not giving full information disclosure on the building plans will likely result in seriouse conflict between the local public and Lewisham Homes. Neither Lewisham Homes, nor us, the residents, want this conflict to happen. I will therefore insist that Lewisham Homes will stop any planning to build anything on the site concerned and please confirm that the planning department received the objection letter with our signatures.

Kind regards,
Kat
Standlake Point

#50

Dear Residents

Thank you for your feedback on the proposals for the Bampton Estate. Lewisham Homes is currently in the process of selecting a preferred option for the site for new council homes for older people in need of better accommodation. As some of our residents already are aware, Lewisham Homes project team would like to come and talk through more detail of the preferred option, once it has been selected. I see from your comments that you are concerned about the loss of amenity space and play for the neighbourhood. The re-provision of this amenity on the estate is something that we are working on in the preferred option.

At least two weeks’ in advance of that engagement event, we will send out a letter for Lewisham Homes residents on Bampton Estate inviting them to the event. We don’t yet have a date for this, as we are still reviewing the potential options but hope that this will happen in the next few weeks.

In the meantime, we would ask for your patience and we hope to be able to come and discuss the Bampton Estate plans with you soon.

If you would like to get in touch to discuss further please contact the development team on 0203 889 0654, alternatively you can email us at development@lewishamhomes.org.uk

Regards

Alys Exley-Smith

#51

What is the point of a consultation (the second) when it is clear the residents are vehemently against the loss of amenity land and facilities.
Is a petition of over 90% of affected households not a statement or is it a case of more presentations will change minds?

More to the point who is paying for Lewisham Homes to provide the onsite meetings, with staff travel costs and possibly overtime, when the courtesy of replying to the residents has been disregarded.

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#52

I guess that where ÂŁ40 per hour caretaking and ÂŁ54 for a dead bird are coming from.

#53

UPD

3 local councillors John Paschoud, Councillor Alan Till I wrote to have not responded, they have not even acknowledged the receipt of my email and the signed petition.Gmail - Bampton Estate, SE23-2XB, building plans.pdf (52.2 KB)

#54

Morning all, just an update on our progress.

Just came from the meeting with Susan Wise, local councillor for Perry Vale ward, brought our signatures and email objection to LH to her (i did not have any response from all three councillors so i decided to deliver our objection in person).

Brief summary of what we spoke about:

  • They (councillors) received our objection letter and signatures.
  • They are on the case and were in touch with LH and Council.
  • LH told her that smth would be discussed at TRA meeting coming.
  • She said to wait and attend TRA and come back to her with the outcome - if any mutial agreement is reached or if we still object. She will go from there.
  • I mentioned to her that we dont object housing for elderly but options available OUTSIDE Bampton estate like old Brent Knoll School on Mayow road, also that we are looking for ways to register our space as town green.
  • The three blocks of our estate are one of her favourite buildings by the way in the ward (so we have some chance to save it from building…hopefuly IMHO) .

So the next step is to attend the coming TRA and confirm our objection to LH project team who are also attending by the look of it. Then we feed our thoughts and objection to Mrs Wise and will go from there.

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#55

UPD

Hi all, John and myself came from the meeting with MP Ellie Reeves on 18/11/2017:

Outcome:

  1. They have our petition, our letter to LH, our letter to local councillors.
  2. We told her about the meeting with LH in July, about what Lewisham Homes said and done , what our position is, about the issue addressed to the local councillors, about the TRA meeting we will be attending as suggested by Councillor Susan Wise.
  3. She said we are doing the right things, local councillors are the main people to work with as they can address issues directly to the planning department in the Council.
  4. She will write to the local Councilors and LH advising that residents are to be properly consulted.
  5. we did say that our green space is not just the ball court only, it is space that not only residents use, but neighbouring houses and streets, so it is not about the ballcourt only.

Now, below is my understanding of the situation and the game (and it is the game we are in now) :

We must go through all stages of consultation process, we cannot just say ‘no’ and that is it. We have to hear what they say and respond what we think about it - this what I read between the lines when meeting Susan Wise and Ellie. So basically, they will be throwing at us solutions to reasons we are saying ‘no’ to, we have to come up with reasons why the solutions are not acceptable. Simply saying ‘no’ to them wont work. Ellie and her assistant were puzzled how 50 unit housing can be suitable for elderly people and how the massive building can be squeezed into that little space.

We were asked about the alernative play area suggested by LH, i told Ellie about the play ground by the road. My point to her was the current place of the ball court is safe because surrounded by residential houses and if something happens to children , people will quickly notice and help/assist, where as playing by the road may cause accidents if children kick the ball on the road and run to collect it. Now, if the play area is suggested to be in the middle between blocks or next to Newbridge Point, think about reasons why those places are not suitable, any issues or troubles they will cause. If they offer smaller sizes play area, what would be reasons to object to that and so on. It has to be all of our collective thinking and support against theirs. Make sure all objection points recorded by yourselves in your notes and in TRA minutes.

We mentioned about old Brent Knoll School on Mayow road, it can be redeveloped for housing without the need to take it down. And Ellie, and Susan Wise carefully avoided the discussion of the site as alternative as there may be some plans about it. But it is not our problem, the solutions are there, OUTSIDE of Bampton estate.

But Ellie is in the loop now and if we dont get resolution we want, we will be knocking on her door again, and again until we get want we want. But we have to be smart about what we say, our objections points should have as little as possible possiblities of resolution so LH will finally give up.

TRA meeting is on 30th November at 19pm at Forest Hill Methodist Church Normanton St, Forest Hill, London SE23 2DS. Pls attend to voice your objections. Waiting to hear back from you all so we can feed the information to Councillor Susan Wise and MP Ellie Reeves.

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#56

Letter received today:

30 November 2017
Dear Resident,
Re: Bampton Estate potential new homes

You may remember we visited the Bampton estate in July to talk about proposals for potential new Council homes on the estate. We have taken some time to look at all the options made in response to these proposals, and are now in a position to come and talk to you again.

We looked at alternative sites on the estate to build potential new homes, and still feel that the ball court area is the best option.

We have been working with the architects to develop designs for how these homes and improved landscaping could look on the estate and would like to talk to you to see what you think. We will show you the alternative options we have considered, and explain why the ball court is our preferred option.

We could re-provide the ball court elsewhere on the estate, and want to know if you feel this is the best play option for residents

We have arranged an event to take place on Thursday 14 December, between 3pm and 7pm.

We will be in the foyer area of Newbridge point

The boards presented at the event will be available to view in the ‘New Build’ section of the Lewisham Home’s website on, or shortly after the event. You can feedback by emailing us development@lewishamhomes.org.uk

#57

Interestingly some 85% of residents signed a petition saying they were opposed to the development.
So it seems this has been ignored? Or perhaps they have some ideas that will convince people thst another 50 homes, removal of significant numbers of trees and open space, increased pressure on parking and access can be overcome?

#60

Yes, got it too. Well, LH asked for war, it will get a war. I will do my utmost to make sure that all its ‘dirty laundry’ will come out not only to public but to the desicion making people. I want to see how people democracy works in reality.

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#63

hello
Excellent campaigning . I wanted to let you know that as a local resident we did not receive the letter inviting us the the consultation on the 14th. We weren’t told of the plans back in the summer so I called LEWISHAM homes and asked them why they hadn’t contacted the residents of the sourouding area , they said they had .
This time they definitely have not , this is a strategy to limit the objections and I have emailed the department and the project managers to register my views . I even spoke to the project manager in sept who reasured me that all residents would be consulted .
Due to the short notice I can’t attend on the 14th but will reply on line as the plans will be released .
The planed development is enormous and they can’t guarantee that all the trees won’t come down ( as that will only decided after planning and structural review ) . The development takes up every last meter of green space , its disproportional to the rest of the buildings and will obliterate the green space .
They use the idea of this being a development for the elderly to make 'this an emotional issue and to suggest that the number of people with cars and visiting will be less than usual but this is rubish . There will be carers coming and going , nurses . The residents may have there own cars etc . Also LH could decide once they having planning could do what they want .
Interesting what ER says about not just saying no.h
So a development that is smaller , preserves the green space , guarantees the trees and proportional - so basically not the area they have identified.
I also asked for a FOI request and got nothing of any interest .

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#64

Thank you for your support! :bouquet:

Residents of Standlake prepared flyers to give out to our street neighbours, inviting people to come to the meeting on 14th. They will try to cover as many houses as they can. I contacted Open Spaces Society http://www.oss.org.uk/what-we-do/protecting-open-space/community-asset-and-protecting-open-spaces/ asking to help to protect our green space, still waiting for a rely. I want to initiate the process of registering our space as Town Green. Hopefully Open Spaces Society will help us with this.

There is a single standing house on our estate. The tenant of the house received a letter from LH/Council asking to give the house back in exchange for compensation. Our resident from Standlake saw the letters. LH already decided, the consultation process is just a sham.

Just to clarify, no Ellie, no Susan Wise said it directly, it was what i was reading between the lines during our conversation. Ellie said she would write LH and Councillors ensuring that residents are consulted properly. But it does not look like Lewisham Homes have any respect for any authority or residents. The meeting in the summer was dodgy, only Bampton residents were notified, the majority of residents attended categorically disagreed with the building plans, but nothing was reflected in the summary letter after the meeting. Neighbouring houses were not invited to be consulted, not last time, not this time by the look of it. I asked for full information disclosure on the peoject - the majority of info was not disclosed in public interest. Obviously they are hiding smth and that something is the project that is agreed at the back stage to go ahead with.

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#65

Hi Kat
I am sure you are correct about this .LH have been tasked to build home and will do that whatever . The council do have a responsibility however and we juatbhae to do everything we can . Just looking at the beautiful trees now . Would be criminal to develop the site . This consultation seems to be entirely cosmetic and the reason why the "ball park "( actually the entire green space let’s face it ) iis the prefered site because it’s the biggest area that they can grab on the Estate and get the most development on.
Thank you to those who distributed the leaflets . You 100 % have our supper and we will visit or neighbours and get them to object on line but keep a copy of the objection as I suspect on line feedback will
Be ignored .

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#67

If anybody is planning to respond with objection to LH via email, you can copy me in.

kat.standlake.point@gmail.com

I will collect objections and forward them to another active resident who deals with Ellie Reeves. If we can show that LH is ‘dodging’ the game, it will be a bonus for us in this fight.