We are still waiting for a response from Lewisham Council to the letter we sent regarding the cost order against us. The Judge ordered that we pay £8,000 of the Council’s costs. We do of course recognise the Order of the Court and our requirement to comply with it. The Mayor of London waived his costs. We have asked the Council to consider doing the same at least up to the around £5,000 we have remaining from our Crowd Justice Campaign. We are £3,000 short of the full amount.

If you would like to contribute to reducing this shortfall, you can do this by following this link: https://www.crowdjustice.com/case/v4d-action-for-a-judicial-review/

Thank you for your support.

In the meantime, as we come to closure of this campaign, we are considering our next steps.

The developers at Charlton Riverside in Greenwich have developed a masterplan for the area. Listed below are the things it incorporates – everything we are asking from Convoys Property Ltd. If it can be done for Charlton Riverside, why not Convoys Wharf?

Below is a summary from an article in Building about the Charlton Riverside development. The elements in it are what we will continue to push for:

“Often when a major developer works in an area, it tries to create a new identity to set the place apart from what’s around it and build as much housing as possible, to create higher financial value,” says Aecom director Patrick Clarke. “In the case of Charlton Riverside, it was about creating a place that reflects the identity of the existing area and community. We wanted to celebrate its mix of uses and activities as a strength, not a weakness.”

The masterplan: 

Centres on local people’s needs

• provides more affordable housing – half of all these should be family homes, with more than two bedrooms 
• emphasises other priorities, including employment, open space, facilities to develop skills and for higher education, the provision of shops and local services, and the need to reconnect the local community to the riverside and improve the streetscape. 
• redefines what “value” means– how it is calculated and to whom and what it is ascribed 
• somewhere local people would want to live, not somewhere full of high-rise apartment blocks for international investors
• a mixed-use neighbourhood. “This was about providing an environment where people would choose to live and put down roots. … The way to do that is to provide an environment that allows people to work, educate their kids and take their recreation in the neighbourhood, which is something the community is keen to have.”

Gives a sense of character

• shops, community use, residential space and offices sitting within the same block, 
• low- to medium-rise high density housing, spaced in a way that facilitates social engagement. “If you’re on the 17th floor of a high-rise, your children can lose connection with the street and you’re reluctant to let them out, which has a demonstrable impact on mental wellbeing 
• the place feels like it’s in London – not that it could be anywhere.
• retains the area’s existing heritage and culture.  
• reinstates some of the historic street patterns from when the area was marshland, including walkways to the river, which the community has been cut off from by a busy road for decades.

Involves the community

• Understanding about the site’s physical and social characteristics, rather than chasing after an exciting design concept and then trying to convince people. 
• Engaging the local community in the decision-making process, to reflect their ambitions, aspirations and needs. 

“The [Local Community] turned up to the [planning] inquiry en masse to emphasise that the plan articulated their vision for the area and that they were involved in shaping it.” 

Charlton Riverside: A model for living Building 8th October 2020