Borough and Bankside Housing Office development - Long Lane

There is a lot of information about the development at 171 Long Lane, the old Valentine pub, but can anyone find a link to the development plans for the old Borough and Bankside Housing Office development next door at 169 Long lane?

Furthermore, who gave them permission to cut down 4 mature trees along the property boundary, al least one of them, freshly perloined by the council using our tax money, and it actually sits well inside the car park of the JMB Kipling estate?

Kind of furious about this as we live in Simla house with full view of both developments. We liked those trees!

Here is a link to the planning application (14/AP/0117), which was approved just before the local elections.

Demolition of former Southwark Council Housing Office and the construction of a part 4, part 6 storey building comprising 21 social rented dwellings, one commercial unit for Class A1/A2/A3 (retail, services or cafe/restaurant) or Class B1 (office) use including associated highways and landscape works, street tree planting and the provision of 3 off-street car parking bays.

It used to be that before felling a tree you had to contact The Tree Preservation officer, not sure if that position still exists, but am sure there is a contact name on here somewhere for our tree man. Bloody shame they cut them down, but then it's not the Heygate where all or most of the mature trees were left to enhance the gated community that the heygate will probably be!

Jan the old one wrote:

It used to be that before felling a tree you had to contact The Tree Preservation officer, not sure if that position still exists, but am sure there is a contact name on here somewhere for our tree man. ...

Presumably only applies if the tree is covered by a Tree Preservation Order, Jan - see http://www.southwark.gov.uk/info/505/trees/557/tree_preservation_orders

John C wrote:

Jan the old one wrote:

It used to be that before felling a tree you had to contact The Tree Preservation officer, not sure if that position still exists, but am sure there is a contact name on here somewhere for our tree man. ...

Presumably only applies if the tree is covered by a Tree Preservation Order, Jan - see http://www.southwark.gov.uk/info/505/trees/557/tree_preservation_orders

...but does anyone know how to find out which trees are protected by TPOs? - they don't seem to be on Southwark's interactive map.

Thats right John, another thing watching the news today it mentioned that southwark were digging in dulwich park to remedy surface flooding (london evening news) as I recall a large mature tree can take up to 400 gallons a day, perhaps thats the answer John..make all trees protected as flood defence. There was a member of southwarks team explaining with a water spray on a model of dulwich park, he said what we know already that there is very little open land to absorb water quickly in london today therefore it floods.. ( especially in southwark!) wish I had got his name but have an old fashioned t.v. that cut the name off! lol

The application states that these will be "21 social rented dwellings". Given that 2-bed flats of a similar size next door are being marketed for sale at between £750k and £1.15m, and will likely cost £30,000+ per year to rent, just wondering what kind of "social rents" these are going to attract? Does anyone know how this is determined?

They will be council homes, at council rent. It's part of the council's programme to build 11,000 new council homes across the borough.

See also earlier news story and previous forum thread about this site and scheme from when it was first announced a couple of years ago.

(Also maps showing locations of phases one and two of the home-building plan.)

There's a reference in one of the threads to an average council rent of £90 per week. Does that mean that someone will pick up a million pound flat for around £90pw?!?

They obviously are not going to be 'average' council flats sjac, I think a bedsit social property is about £90.00 At least if any social tenant aspires to buy their flat in that block the discount for right to buy would put them off!