Berkeley Homes has promised to revise its Aylesham Centre redevelopment plans – six months after its original designs prompted uproar across Peckham.
Local residents had complained the 1,050-home development, on the site of the Rye Lane shopping centre, would be a ‘citadel looming over historic Peckham’.
In a statement, Berkeley said the new design brief “sets out the vision and expectations…for a proposal that considers the local needs and aspirations for the site”.
But local campaign group Aylesham Community Action (ACA) questioned whether the brief is materially different from Berkeley’s original proposals.
ACA member Chris Allchin said: “Any reading of the design brief would be ‘isn’t this the same thing?’…. it’s hard to see where the substantial difference is, particularly on affordable housing or sustainability.”
Controversial Aylesham Centre plans send shockwaves through Peckham
The Aylesham Centre has been poised for redevelopment ever since Tiger Developments and hedge fund Blackrock revealed their plans to build flats and shops on the site in 2016.
In July 2021, Blackrock sold the site to Berkeley Group whose proposals, published last November, caused outrage among many local residents.
Many said 1,050 apartments were an ‘overdevelopment’, that towers of up to 27-storeys were too high, and the scheme disregarded the area’s ‘Peckhamness’.
ACA’s petition opposing the plans received over 7,000 signatures. In an unusual move, even Southwark Council said the proposals had “significant issues”.
The new design brief suggests Berkeley could deviate from its original plans in some aspects.
Berkeley initially planned to build fourteen blocks, with some rising 27, twenty, eighteen and fifteen storeys.
Now it’s saying it wants to build blocks with ‘heights up to twenty storeys’. But this appears to be contradicted on a later page, where ‘buildings of 20+ storeys’ is listed as an ‘objective’.
Southwark Council has previously said it would consider one building above twenty storeys but that “beyond that none of the buildings should generally exceed ten storeys in height”.
Berkeley initially said it wanted to build 1,050 homes, with 35 per cent let an affordable rate – significantly over the site’s indicative capacity of 850.
In its design brief, Berkeley has listed ‘indicatively 850 new homes’ as an ‘objective’. Southwark Council has previously said this figure is ‘flexible’.
Berkeley said 35 per cent of these homes will be affordable with 25 per cent social rent and ten per cent intermediate – meaning 80 per cent of market rates.
Much of the brief suggests plans remain the same. This remains a major redevelopment of a site encompassing the shopping centre, Morrisons supermarket and Peckham Bus Station.
There will be new retail space, new public realms, a revamped Morrisons and office space.
Campaigners already look set to challenge Berkeley on some key aspects of the new design brief.
ACA has said it wants to “discuss” the 35 per cent unaffordable housing provision, which many see as too low, and the “ambition to build at least 850 homes”.
Mr Allchin said: “Big questions remain about the amount of open space, building height, mix of retail, workspace and housing. What is critical is that the homes that get built are a decent quality for families to live in.”
“The development needs to be integrated into the town centre, not a separate quarter, in terms of the shops, routes and architecture and heritage,” he added.
According to The Architects’ Journal, architect Sheppard Robson has left the project – meaning Berkeley will need a new architectural firm to take on the scheme.
Berkeley will begin its community consultation this autumn and hopes to submit a planning application to Southwark Council in mid-2024.
Cllr Helen Dennis, Cabinet Member for Sustainable Development, said: “We join local residents in welcoming this fresh start. Their continued engagement will be a top priority for the new design team and crucial to their success. We all want to see a scheme come forward that the majority of the local community can get behind, delivering on their needs in line with our adopted planning policies.
“Local residents, groups and businesses should all have their say on the future of the Aylesham Centre, so we encourage everyone to engage with the new design team once they’re appointed.”
Berkeley Homes declined to comment.