THE
LONDON Borough of Lambeth, under the control of Blairite right-wing Labour, agreed in March to bulldoze the council estate at Cressingham Gardens.
The
decision comes as a slap in the face to local residents of Cressingham Gardens
who have campaigned long and hard to save their homes and who submitted an
alternative, cheaper plan to repair the homes.
Lambeth
Council Cabinet agreed to press ahead with the complete regeneration of
Cressingham Gardens during a robust meeting on Monday 21st March at Lilian Bayliss
Technology School.
Residents
had taken the council to court over the lack of consultation and won a High
Court ruling of “unlawful” behaviour by Lambeth Council that led to the second
consultation.Taking
the matter back to court could now be an option once again for the residents.
Speakers
during the meeting continually called for a full public inquiry to look at the
financial claims made by Officers in the Cabinet report.
Council
Leader Cllr Lib Peck opened the meeting on Monday evening with a request for it
to be carried out in a reasonable manner.
A
large crowd of protestors had gathered outside Lilian Bayliss. The following
hour and 45 minutes was always going to be lively. Cllr Matthew Bennett, the
Progress Cabinet member for Housing, opened the agenda item: “We do not believe
that the quality of homes should be determined by wealth or income.”
This
statement led to the first of many comedy boos that continued for the rest of
the evening. Cllr Peck intervened to help out her fellow Progress faction member:
“If we do want an opportunity to listen to other people, then we will have to
listen. Otherwise I will adjourn this meeting. I recognise that Cressingham
generates strong emotions.”
Cllr
Bennett then attempted to make his case for complete regeneration of the
council estate: “The Lambeth Housing Standard (LHS) has been co-produced with
thousands of tenants. This is not a bare legal minimum, but an aspiration as to
where people want to live. In 2012 the Council was upfront about the cuts in
the Lambeth grant.”
Cllr
Bennett was heckled with chants of: “LIAR! LIAR! LIAR!” The Cabinet member
composed himself, then added: “In 2012 we stated that we were £56 million short
if we wanted to bring the LHS to every home in Lambeth.
“Refurbishment
was not going to be an option. Since then the finances have deteriorated. We
are facing a further £30 million coming out of the housing account because of
the Housing Bill rent reductions. The cost of refurbishing Cressingham is
higher than refurbishing other estates.”
Further
heckles followed. It was clear that Cllr Bennett wasn’t looking to win any
votes in the room when he added: “The case has not been made to divert money
from other estates to Cressingham. The options of refurbishment do not stack up
favourably. The proposal is for all homes to be re-built. It will see no loss
of social housing. We are building 27 extra homes for Council rents. We are
committed to 1,000 extra homes at council rent for local families.”
Cllr
Bennett was then shouted down. He couldn’t continue.
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