An update from one of our Admin team-members:

“We heard on Friday 3rd February that West Norwood's Site 19 (aka Knollys Yard) will be FULLY WITHDRAWN from Lambeth's draft SADPD (Site Allocation Development Planning Document) which is FANTASTIC news! Inclusion of Site 19 in the SADPD would have effectively unlocked a route for developers to build a tower of up to 68m / 24 storeys on the site with a massive flyover bridge to access it - a height and scale completely out of keeping for this area. I think we all agree that building genuinely affordable housing is important for our community, but it needs to have sympathy with the existing area and shouldn't deprive existing residents of light and amenity, so this decision to limit the height of such a development is very welcome.

This is a significant moment for our campaign - it means should any developers want to take forward the site, they will now have to meet current Lambeth planning policy, which includes a stipulation that buildings above 25m should not be built south of the South Circular Road (A205).

HOWEVER, there is still a good chance that a planning application will be submitted by EcoWorld/other developers, so we must remain on high alert to respond if/when it does.

The Knollys Yard Action Group has some materials ready to use, to raise awareness, and points people may wish to consider in a response should this be needed, so please stay in the group to be alerted to this.

On behalf of the Knollys Yard Action Group we'd like to thank you all for supporting our efforts to coordinate this response - in particular:

  • to those of you who generously contributed to the GoFundMe campaign that covered the costs of producing leaflets and posters delivered to the ~5,000 homes within 400m of Knollys Yard which massively helped raise awareness

  • to those of you who have given up personal time to create our leaflet and posters and then pound the local streets to get them distributed

  • to those who then took the time to write and engage with our local councillors, Lambeth Council, our local MPs and the Mayor of London. This has been instrumental in reinforcing the message that West Norwood does not want tall buildings.”

Please open this link to further details on the Lambeth Council website for the full details.

Please watch this space for further news.