48-storey tower planned for Argos site on Old Kent Road

Plus 40 stories plan for corner of Peckham Park Rd, plus Berkely development, plus ruby Triangle the road will end up like Canary wharf. Horrible none of the properties will be social housing or affordable in any way for local people

I won't be sorry to see the 'out of town' style shopping sheds and car-parks disappear but wonder whether a 48-storey development is going from one extreme to the other. Nine Elms isn't an example to follow.

I wonder if this lot would be interested http://dev.createstreets.com/.

It might be nice to see the sheds go, but where to buy a screw or a nail? Yet we are lucky for the moment since SE1 is home to two of only three petrol stations left in the congestion charge zone. No doubt they too will be redeveloped and there will be nowhere to buy petrol either.

boroughbloke wrote:

It might be nice to see the sheds go, but where to buy a screw or a nail?

Screwfix? And it's a bit like a cross between B&Q and Argos, come to think of it.

Whilst we welcome more homes in this area, we MUST object most strongly to buildings up to 48 storeys. There was a time, not so long ago, that the inclusion of a very high building was considered as a 'landmark' building but from what we can tell, tall buildings are no longer 'land -mark' buildings but are now the rule rather than the exception. We note that in the description given for the Argos and Tesco sites the retail is the last thing to be mention with NO idea of what kind of space it will be.

On Saturday we were at the Elephant festival and when asked about the retail units to replace, even if it's only on a temporary basis while the Centre site is being redeveloped, the only super market will be a small Sainsbury's, so if this is to be the only supermarket of any kind in the area, and if Tesco goes from the corner of Dunton Road, we would ask ourselves just where all the current and prospective residents do their shopping, or are you hoping the residents of these apartments will be of an income-bracket sufficient for them to get their supplies from Harrods, Selfridge's or Fortnum and Mason?

We hope the Leader Cllr. Peter John and co read this too.

Yours faithfully,
Stephanie and Jim Lodge

We MUST? Why? Should we cry out for more urban sprawl instead? Maybe we could build low rise developments on all of our parks? High density developments clustered around transport hubs (and these developments will be right on top of a Bakerloo line station) are an effective way to house London's increasing population. They need to be done thoughtfully, but there's no reason that a balanced community (including all amenities) can't be created around tower developments.

Tesco might be only too happy to lose the big store. Supermarkets are keen on downsizing at the moment since the big stores don't make the same sort of money that the small one's do and consumers have been talking with their feet by not visiting the big stores nearly as much as they used to. Demographics and lifestyle changes are making the big weekly shop a thing of the past with customers more likely to shop little and often. Personally, I have not set foot in a big supermarket to actually shop in at least 2 years. Even the Tesco at the Elephant has not seen me inside it for nearly 12 months.I have never set foot in the Sainsbury’s there.

sjac wrote:

We MUST? Why? Should we cry out for more urban sprawl instead?

In 1939 when the urban population peaked, inner London population density was apparently 13.9k people per sq-km with no high-rise dvelopments: in 2015 it had reduced to 10.7k.

Source: Population Growth in London, 1939-2015

You're absolutely right, Pete. In fact, Southwark has seen one of the biggest reductions in population over that period - 36%. And also over that period, the number of dwellings in Greater London has doubled with the number of rooms per capita up by over 50%. So I suppose instead of "building up" we could go back to the halcyon days of the 1930s, when entire families lived in one room, or, commonly, shared a house with another family (and often shared a toilet with several families).

Given the outcry and anguish that arose when the government proposed re-allocating flats for council tenants who had SPARE rooms, I'll let you be the one who tells everyone that a family of five will now be housed in a maximum of two-bedroom accommodation and that it might be best if grandma and grandpa could also move into the kitchen.

True! You'll be pleased to know I practice what I preach though, I live in a 1-bed flat with Mrs, son and daughter (the daughter is only here 3 nights a week). We haven't got an outside toilet though, so it's not quite authentic 30's style.