Elephant & Castle £1.5bn Regeneration | Southwark | Approved

[gothicform]

haha. all those stupid nimbys in southwark who voted for him... i hope they feel stupid now.

[Zenith]

Seconded.

[UrbanG]

PRAT!

[jayo]

Twat!

[twilight_2008]

This man is nothing but a failure and a waste of space. He needs to go a.s.a.p. I was furious when I saw him on the Politics show yesterday, getting arsey, and at the 2008 Olympic closing ceremony he was an embarassment to the UK. Now this and countless other bad moves, when are Londoners going to realize that this man is nothing but trouble, like the Conservative Party generally?

[philb]

^ because a lot of people don't agree with you and as much as you dislike it, that is how it is. When you read the article it does seem that Southwark are not exactly helping themselves. If this was approved so long ago why have they not pushed it forward? They are playing the political game too.

[potto]

It was pushing forward! These are immense schemes, hardly building a supermarket, which is im sure the scale of Boris's urban imagination.

[wjfox]

http://www.london-se1.co.uk/forum/read/1/89994/page=5


Just to confirm that Overview & Scrutiny Committee will be getting a project update on the Elephant & Castle on 3 November. We'll be hearing from the key officers, the Executive Member for Regeneration and the Deputy Leader of the Council. I anticipate that this will be a first of many sessions on this project.

We've not finalised the areas we'll discuss but I certainly want to cover the key issues of the agreement with Lendlease, the impact of the changing economic climate on the project, the rehousing of Heygate residents and the assistance being provided to local small businesses.

We'll doubtlessly also discuss the impact of the new Mayor ie level of support for transport projects (southern roundabout and CRT) and changing policy on tall buildings which could also cause some problems for the project.

Happy to receive suggestions for other areas we should investigate.

Regards

Fiona

Cllr Fiona Colley
Chair of Overview & Scrutiny Committee

[london lad]

It really is sad when a redevelopment of a much neglected & needed regeneration of an inner London could again be scuppered due to a very minimal impact that some towers may or may not have over in Westminster.

I suppose it depends on how high they were/are going to at E&C. Both Strata & the Rogers tower are pretty tall for the area & both closer than the main E&C regeneration area. Both these towers will be seen from certain points on the embankment (one will be seen just above the IMAX when viewed from Waterloo bridge but only by a small amount so cherished views of Westminster & St James Park should also have a minimal impact. Trouble with E&C is that it is directly in line with Westminster. There wasn't much controversy when the already approved E&C towers went through planning so unless these new towers are substantially taller to make any impact then its another case of the usual suspects being petty.

[Officer Dibble]

Originally Posted by wjfox

[...]We'll doubtlessly also discuss the impact of the new Mayor ie level of support for transport projects (southern roundabout and CRT) and changing policy on tall buildings which could also cause some problems for the project.

Happy to receive suggestions for other areas we should investigate.

Regards

Fiona

Cllr Fiona Colley
Chair of Overview & Scrutiny Committee

Dear Councillor Colley,

I have two suggestions for other areas you should investigate.

First, I think you should investigate why Mayor Johnson is now threatening to scupper a huge regeneration project that will have substantial benefits for much of central London, including some nearby areas north of the river such as Westminster, on grounds that are spurious and illogical and that directly contradict the approach to regeneration, to the public realm, and to tall buildings that he explicitly stated during the mayoral election campaign.

Second, I think you should investigate the possibility of improving the prospects for the continued success of London as a world city by commissioning Damian Hirst to cut Mayor Johnson in half, pickle him in formaldehyde, and display him in a glass case on the public viewing platform at the top of Shard London Bridge.

Regards

Officer Dibble

[gazzab1990]

:

[DarJoLe]

According to Southwark New Boris has sent the Elephant & Castle regeneration project back to the drawing board to incorporate the existing roundabout which he is unwilling to be scrapped as he feels to do so would be discrimination against the motorist.

[wjfox]

Originally Posted by DarJoLe

According to Southwark New Boris has sent the Elephant & Castle regeneration project back to the drawing board to incorporate the existing roundabout which he is unwilling to be scrapped as he feels to do so would be discrimination against the motorist.

An absolutely, utterly, monumentally stupid decision. This mayor belongs in the 1960's, not the 21st century. Jesus I can't believe what morons we have in charge. He needs to be removed from office... seriously. It wouldn't surprise me if there are protests over this.

[DarJoLe]

Originally Posted by wjfox

It wouldn't surprise me if there are protests over this.

But he's against tall buildings in Southwark, and that's all people who live there care about when they decide who to vote for.

[DarJoLe]

Elephant and Castle scheme: a statement from the mayor


In response to my linking to various sites and blogs with concerns about the regeneration scheme - in particular a detailed report at London SE1 - a spokesperson for Mayor Johnson said:

"The Mayor is one hundred per cent in favour of the plans to regenerate Elephant & Castle. And the claims he would try to deny local people the benefits of this scheme by withholding funding are complete nonsense. In fact the Mayor and his team are working tirelessly to improve those plans with the aim of making sure they benefit absolutely everyone using the area whether they travel by foot, bike, bus or car.

"In the Mayor's election manifesto he vowed to get London moving again. So when told that the result of removing the southern roundabout would be to snarl up traffic on Walworth Road, Kennington Lane and Kennington Park Road; he immediately asked Transport for London to take a little extra time to see if there might be a better way of carrying out this work.

"Transport for London is now speaking to Southwark Council about an alternative scheme that would redesign the southern roundabout and include traffic signals to allow pedestrians to cross at surface level. This would enable a far smoother flow of traffic for the benefit of every road user and the many people that live and work in and around Elephant & Castle."

Discuss.

[DarJoLe]

Nothing new here but this model currently graces the window of Allies & Morrison's offices in Southwark.

image hosted on flickr

[mulattokid]

Originally Posted by london lad

It really is sad when a redevelopment of a much neglected & needed regeneration of an inner London could again be scuppered .

Boris doesnt want the roads pushed out. He likes to drive through of an evening with a pimms to see the piccaninnies and the water melon smiles.

[Officer Dibble]

Originally Posted by DarJoLe

Elephant and Castle scheme: a statement from the mayor


In response to my linking to various sites and blogs with concerns about the regeneration scheme - in particular a detailed report at London SE1 - a spokesperson for Mayor Johnson said:

"The Mayor is one hundred per cent in favour of the plans to regenerate Elephant & Castle. And the claims he would try to deny local people the benefits of this scheme by withholding funding are complete nonsense. In fact the Mayor and his team are working tirelessly to improve those plans with the aim of making sure they benefit absolutely everyone using the area whether they travel by foot, bike, bus or car.

"In the Mayor's election manifesto he vowed to get London moving again. So when told that the result of removing the southern roundabout would be to snarl up traffic on Walworth Road, Kennington Lane and Kennington Park Road; he immediately asked Transport for London to take a little extra time to see if there might be a better way of carrying out this work.

"Transport for London is now speaking to Southwark Council about an alternative scheme that would redesign the southern roundabout and include traffic signals to allow pedestrians to cross at surface level. This would enable a far smoother flow of traffic for the benefit of every road user and the many people that live and work in and around Elephant & Castle."

Discuss.

Not at all reassuring. If E&C is to become a high-quality destination as it once was, it needs proper pedestrian space, and that's why pedestrianization of the southern roundabout is critical to the whole regeneration project. Of course that has an impact on traffic, but in a city like London you simply have to accept that creating attractive urban spaces means some sacrifice in terms of traffic flow. The best way to improve traffic flow is to reduce car use by supporting public transport schemes such as the Cross-River Tram. We could stick an 8-lane motorway east-west through Holland Park, Hyde Park, Mayfair, Soho, Bloomsbury and the City, and it would really help traffic flow, but it would be stupid - about as stupid as what happened to E&C a few decades ago. This is a one-off opportunity to undo that vandalism, and Boris is scuppering it. Just rejigging the roundabout a bit and adding some traffic lights is not remotely adequate.

Boris's intervention here is, frankly, catastrophic.

[Manuel]

I dont know why some are so obsessed against the car. I would be too if London had, in its past, ever cattered for the motorist. It is not the case and never have been. Go and visit continental Europe and you see how much has been done to relieve traffic by building road capacity.

I dont suggest building underpasses and tunnels. But as the shopping centre and Heygate estate are supposed to go, is it not possible to keep both intersections and create a shared surface area inbetween?

[potto]

Elephant and Castle is as central as Westminster. There is no need for it to be a gyratory. None what-so-ever. The only reason it is one now because historically no one ever cared about South of the river and therefore it was game for the horrors of the 1960s which would have seen a motorway driven through Bloomsbury and Covent Garden and Oxford Street. Imagine if those all had gone a head, would you have really supported their retention? Actually say people would be stupid to want to reduce the space devoted to the car?