Business owners at Elephant and Castle were told last week whether their application for temporary trading space during the demolition had been successful.
Developer Delancey confirmed 36 retailers’ applications were successful for spaces in Castle Square, Perronet House and Elephant One, but 28 were rejected and will now be forced to go elsewhere.
A Delancey spokesperson told the News: “Due to some units being oversubscribed and others under subscribed, it has not been possible to provide all traders with their first choice location.
“We are now waiting to hear from traders as to whether they would like to accept the offers made and will be meeting with the other traders who have not been successful in this process to provide further help and support to find a relocation option.”
Campaign group Latin Elephant says traders had been ‘misled’ by Delancey and Southwark Council, claiming they had previously been assured there was enough space on offer for all small independent traders to be relocated.
Patria Román Velázquez, Latin Elephant’s director, said: “We objected to the lack of floorspace available for relocation for years, but the Council and Delancey insisted that there was enough space to accommodate at least 80 traders. Now we see the picture that is emerging is bleak”.
The group is continuing to fundraise to take Delancey to court in a bid to halt the entire regeneration scheme.
Alongside 35% campaign and other ‘Up the Elephant’ activists, the crowdfunding appeal has now raised more than £6,000 towards its £10,000 target with – at the time of going to press – just a week to go.
www.crowdjustice.com/case/stop-the-elephant-shopping-centre-destruction/