06 March 2015

KNIGHTS WALK : A STATEMENT BY KNIGHTS WALK RESIDENTS



KNIGHTS WALK
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THE FACTS ABOUT THE PUBLIC CONSULTATION
A STATEMENT BY KNIGHTS WALK RESIDENTS

On Thursday 26th February, the Knights Walk Residents and neighbours attended a “consultation” evening held by Lambeth, Soundings and Mae architects. In the interests of accuracy, we have summarised the proceedings below:
·         The evening was extremely well attended by the vast majority of Knights Walk Residents as well as residents of neighbouring roads and estates including Ariel Court, Dryden Court, Vanbrugh Court and Renfrew Road.
·         Also present for the whole evening were our MP Kate Hoey, Kate MacKintosh (widow of the architect of Cotton Gardens Estate and Knights Walk, George Finch and herself a former Lambeth architect) and a number of other experts in the field of architecture and estate design.
·         Lambeth officials attempted unsuccessfully to prevent entry of neighbouring estate residents and were reluctant to wait for elderly Knights Walk residents to arrive.
·         The Knights Walk Residents state that the consultation exercise so far is in breach of the fundamental rights for a fair consultation as set out by the Supreme Court in 2014 [the ‘Gunning’ principles] in all 4 principles. There has been no effective consultation
·         Soundings reported that Knights Walk Residents are generally extremely satisfied with the estate with only minor criticisms.
·         Mae Architects on behalf of Lambeth presented 3 options for Knights Walk ‘regeneration’
a.       Option 1 – demolition of the whole of Knights Walk
b.      Option 2 – demolition of the whole of Knights Walk
c.       Option 3 – demolition of the whole of Knights Walk
d.      They rejected and misrepresented an option suggested by residents and ignored all their other suggestions
·         All the Options proposed by Lambeth and Mae Architects were rejected outright by all present as totally unacceptable including our MP Kate Hoey.
·         It was also revealed that there would be private housing included in the redevelopment despite the stated aim of the project to be to increase public housing.
·         It was admitted that residents would not receive ‘like for like’ housing when rehoused.
·         Knights Walk residents fully accept the need for increased public housing on Knights Walk and Cotton Gardens Estate, are fully willing to cooperate and have many ideas of their own as to how this might be provided but will not accept the planned complete destruction of their homes or this long established community.
YES IN OUR BACKYARD - BUT NOT ON OUR HOMES!

If you support Knights Walk residents in our fight to save our homes, contact us on:
3.3.2015

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