E&C early housing sites and Borough & Bankside area housing office

One of the early housing sites under E&Castle regeneration is at Library St. Library Street Housing Office will be demolished. It's a great pity a housing office wasn't incorporated into the development proposal. Southwark Housing hasn't identified a new site nearby on which to rebuild the Housing Office. Library Street tenants will apparently have to travel all the way to Long Lane housing office. This will be difficult for OAPs, disabled, vulnerable tenants. It makes a mockery of the original concept of neighbourhood housing offices.

I think Long Lane is too far as well, the only bus is the C10, and the office is right in the middle of Long Lane, it's just a bit too far to walk comfortably, or access from TBR or Borough High Street.

Update: Dave Ware, Asst Projects Director, E&C Major Projects, has today emailed me revealing that Long Lane has been "discounted" as an option for Library St HO. Apparently Harper Rd Children's Services office is now under consideration. If Library St HO is "required by April 2009" for the housing development (Cllr Humphreys' letter 27 Jan 09),a definite decision re. where Library St tenants will have to go for service will have to be made very soon, won't it?!

Isn't the Harper Road children's services place itself designated as an early housing site?

Across Southwark there's a move to provide a local service delivery point which will be - in effect - a one stop shop where local residents can access the Council's services.

Library Street - itself at the very western edge of Borough and Bankside and not very convenient for many residents - is to be one of the first new Housing Sites which will provide new affordable and social housing in the borough as Elephant is regenerated.

The Long Lane housing office is equally not ideal for most residents in Borough and Bankside - mainly because it is difficult to access for the majority of residents and because it is itself on the boundary with Bermondsey community council.

Looking at the map of Borough and Bankside the ideal location would be somewhere around Borough tube - the public transport links are the best.

The former Social Services offices at the junction of Newington Causeway and Harper Road are very central in Borough and Bankside and are very transport accessible with bus and tube services, but I don't think this is ideal long-term without major redevelopment but if you had to pick a location now it's the nearest to central one could pick.

Tim