Ledbury estate demolition and rebuild plan to be decided this week
Southwark council are set to decide on plans to demolish the Ledbury estate and build new homes.
This new proposal will see 340 new homes replace 224. Southwark claim all social homes will be replaced and 51 new social units constructed.
The estate sits on the Old Kent Road and investigations after the Grenfell fire revealed work to strengthen the building after the Ronan Point collapse in 1968 had never been undertaken.
The estate was constructed between 1968-1970 by Taylor Woodrow and managed by the GLC which transfer to Southwark Council in 1982.
Blocks were built using the Larsen-Nielsen method, and are very similar in appearance to Morris Walk estate blocks. That estate has been demolished recently.
Four blocks at Ledbury would be knocked down – Bromyard House, Skenfirth House, Sarnsfield House and Peterchurch House – which have all been identified as “having serious structural and fire safety issues.”
One tower would dominate the new development, with mid-rise homes facing the Old Kent Road. A smaller block would be located on Commercial Road alongside smaller blocks.
The Old Kent Road was due to see the Bakerloo Line extension by 2030 – after nearly a century of waiting – but there is no support from central Government.
The proposal suggests “a £2,700 per home contribution (for the 116 home uplift) payable to Transport for London to support additional bus services in advance of the BLE”.
That won’t go far – and barely makes a scratch on budget cuts on Transport for London.
The width of the Old Kent Road makes it suitable for dedicated cycle lanes, particularly if wide central reservations are removed along its length. The application states: “Further, the Old Kent Road frontage includes a generous setback that would provide improved pedestrian, cycle and public transport facilities in accordance with TfL’s Healthy Streets scheme which is currently in design development.”
The closest station is Queen’s Road Peckham – where government have just ensured 46 trains on Southern Metro rail services have been sent to scrap shortening train lengths.
Wider area
The Old Kent Road is set to see many thousands of homes but one of London’s main avenues is still a discordant, badly designed mess with numerous retail sheds and poorly design street layouts.
The sit is quite close to Besson Street in neighbouring Lewisham borough, where 324 homes were approved – again – in December 2021.
Income is £1,929,844.00 from the Community Infrastructure Levy and £557,289.34 from Section 106.
