Demolition?

Hey all - i'm relatively new to the area and am encouraged by the regeneration that I can see happening around the area. Not being an architect buff or anything but I hate seeing buildings boarded up - there is a big development of what looks like old council blocks boarded up towards Elephant & Castle roundabout off New Kent Road - any ideas what is happening with this? Ideally this entire section would be knocked down and trees/grasses planted in it's place... ever hopeful

Hi - that's the Heygate Estate, which is the focus of the much-delayed Elephant & Castle regeneration. In essence, Southwark Council is selling the estate to Australian developer Lend Lease.

Behind the long solid block along New Kent Road the centre of the estate is actually very green with dozens of mature trees which are the focus of the E&C Urban Forest campaign - many of these trees will be felled as part of the redevelopment.

The new development will have a higher density of housing than what's there now, but will include more open spaces and hopefully be less monolithic.

See http://www.london-se1.co.uk/news/view/5426 for a recent interview with the developer.

"The new development will have a higher density of housing than what's there now, but will include more open spaces and hopefully be less monolithic"

You forgot to mention the unicorn pasture and the pig runway.

ahhh the stuff of myths and legends! in the current economic climate and with business and governments the world over watching every penny, cent and euro is this investment and the planned regeneration actually very likely to happen?

With the current propensity of Council tenants to riot, having the estate empty is definitely a Good Thing.

Err ... Mapmaker - absurd statements like that are liable to cause a virtual riot, as you well know. Trolling isn't appreciated here.