New flats proposed at Potters Fields

I can't see much mileage in just extending the park, all the times I've been through it it never feels crowded. Even in the height of summer when I'm partial to sitting under my favourite tree to read there is always plenty of space around me.

I would love to see some kind of development for cultural/community use and I agree with Ruck & Maul that housing should be part of the development. We are after all enjoying a housing crisis. Assuming housing does get included in the development the people living there will be our neighbours and part of the community too.

However I think the Berkeley proposals have got the balance wrong trying to fit as much housing as planning permissions allow and add little benefit to the community as well as having a harsh detrimental impact on the surrounding area.

I applaud Scamp for a balanced view... At last!! Time for a beer... Surely that is what this is about - balance? 100% housing? Perhaps not. 100% 'culture' - no. 100% sandwich space - no. Compromise but please - soon - this thread will hit 1000 before too long... Nice one Scamp.

because the site is limited in size I think a choice has to
be made about the usage ,and there are enough Berkeley Homes
developments along the river side.

London needs more housing but blindly building it anywhere

isn't the way forward

Blindly? Clearly you have absolutely no knowledge of development or the processes involved. However you do seem well versed in the arguments against - now they ARE blind (perhaps myopic at least...).

aww, thanks!

I notice that they have put a David Blain style box in Tavalgar Square obviously the crowd puling attraction of this sort of stunt wasn't so lost on Ken Livingston after all.

Im not a David Blade fan but,if one man in a box can draw crowds like that imagine what a real and permanent cultural attraction would do for the area.

I think that was the point Southwark council were trying to make when they allowed David Blane on the Potters Fields site.TO THE ANNOYANCE OF BERKELEY HOMES.

I can see why David Blaine and Sky set the multi-million pound stunt up in the first place now - it all makes sense. To make money and provide a world-wide spectacle? No. To draw crowds and inflate David's ego? No. To show the world's best illusionist doing what he does best? No. To annoy Berkeley and show that culture should win over a multi-million pound development from which I am sure Southwark will benefit? Definitely. I think you've got it there. Does anybody really think two men reading in a glass box is culture...? I just don't get it. Art gone mad - 'conceptual' or not - it's barking. I'm not disagreeing for the sake of doing so Michael - I am just of the opinion that something stunning (and that is my opinion - it fits in with an already fantastic More London scheme and Ken's office both of which took a lot of flak at the planning stage) should take precedence over something cultural like glass boxes (smaller ones!). Art has its place - I agree, but on a site of this importance I think people have the right - if they have the money to do so - to enjoy it.

?

You are half right. Millions of people do have a right to enjoy a site of this importance - as opposed to the 500 or so who can stump up half a million at least for one of your Berkeley Homes boxes.

Don't know about "stunning" either given the context.

As I said it is all a matter of opinion and there are more than 500 people out there who can appreciate what will after all be a fantastic piece of architecture. Conceptual art does nothing for me - buildings of this sort have the same effect for others... Freedom of choice, expression and stating one's opinion are such wonderful freedoms and I am simply exercising mine, so half right, no - for me 100%... For you maybe not - que sera and all that...

At the end of the day I just hope that whatever ends up being there does the site justice - on that surely we agree...? Definition of that of course will differ.

There is a beneficial side to this development.

The massive office developments at More London and possibly the Shard are in danger of overwhelming the riverside with day workers, busy at lunch, and nothing after 8pm - at worst it could become a little bit of Croydon in SE1. Housing extending to the river balances this to an extent, and connects the housing further south with public space back to the river. The plan form is informal which links in with the designs of the other developments from the river feeding back to a hopefully reinvigorated Tooley Street.

And what appropriate cultural ediface do we need between Tower Bridge and the Mayors Office. Better I think to reinforce a connection North-South to the work/living areas rather than developing a tourist strip along the river. The area immediately behind the South Bank, for example, is pretty grim principally because the large public buildings need a back for servicing etc.