Speech delivered at Sands Films Studio event for THE MAN WITH THE PLAN on 12th and 13th April 2025.
A Campaign film produced by Sands Films studio in London.
The Man With The Plan is a new film about William Beveridge, written and directed by Christine Edzard and starring Simon Callow. Contact: ostockman@sandsfilms.co.uk
A Campaign film produced by Sands Films studio in London.
The Man With The Plan is a new film about William Beveridge, written and directed by Christine Edzard and starring Simon Callow. Contact: ostockman@sandsfilms.co.uk
Category
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LearningTranscript
00:00We do. We clap and cheer and we welcome every speaker with a passion and respect and joy.
00:10That's what we want. Please welcome Sean McCarthy from the Southwark Housing and Planning Emergency.
00:17Please welcome Siobhan McCarthy.
00:25Thank you. What a great atmosphere. Thank you very much.
00:28My name is Siobhan McCarthy. I'm born and raised in Peckham. I live there now.
00:34Yay! Big up Peckham.
00:36I'm part of a very small action group in Peckham called Elsham Community Action.
00:42We're a very small group of concerned locals. Oh, thank you.
00:47Yeah, that's perfect. Thanks. Thank you.
00:49We are currently campaigning and fighting against a current planning application on the Elsham Shopping Centre site in the heart of Peckham.
01:01Private developer, Berkeley Homes, I'm sure you've heard of them.
01:05Yeah, it's terrible.
01:07They're invading. They've bought the site and what they plan is full demolition.
01:12So that's a very big shopping centre outside a door car park and a petrol station.
01:17They plan full demolition of the site and what they plan to do is build 16 tall and bulky towers of up to 20 storeys in height full of luxury flats.
01:28Yeah, exactly. And these are mostly unaffordable housing.
01:36So most people in Peckham and Southwark will not be able to afford to buy housing in this development.
01:44To kind of give you an accurate view of figures, another site in Southwark that Berkeley Homes have bought and are developing is on the old Kent Road called Bermondsey Place.
01:53They opened up their pre-sales yesterday and the cheapest house you can buy from them on that site is £475,000 and that's probably for a studio.
02:05So that gives you a sense of Peckham and Southwark cannot afford this.
02:13Yeah, exactly.
02:14So what you might have heard about recently is that the developer Berkeley Homes, just before Christmas, amended the planning application and they actually reduced the kind of affordable and social housing element, which was 35%, which is the absolute bare minimum that the Southwark Council will accept.
02:34They've reduced that down to 12.
02:36That's 12%.
02:38It's disgusting.
02:39It's absolutely awful.
02:40To put that into perspective, the whole development is 867 homes.
02:46That means 27 intermediate, which means something like shared ownership.
02:51And we all know in built developments when they get sold, they're unaffordable.
02:54So so-called affordable housing.
02:56And then out of 867 homes, that's 50 for social housing.
03:00So it's not cut the gold standard of council housing, but social housing.
03:04So 50 out of 867 for people on the housing list.
03:07So I think we can all agree that's absolutely disgusting.
03:12Yeah, thanks.
03:13Thanks.
03:14They did not consult properly with the people of Peckham, or they wouldn't have done that in the first place.
03:19But we as a campaign group have gone out on the streets for years now.
03:24And everyone we talk to, I'd say two-thirds of people, do not even know that there's development due on that site.
03:30So the developer is going around heralding that they've engaged with the people of Peckham about this wonderful plan.
03:37And two-thirds, certainly for now, if they haven't raised awareness of it, how on earth can they claim they've engaged with the people of Peckham?
03:43The people of Peckham did not ask for 16 tall towers of luxury flats that they cannot afford.
03:49The plan will displace communities and local traders.
03:52If you haven't been to Peckham, come along, walk up and down the wonderful Rye Lane, and you'll see the local traders.
03:58They have their goods and services in cash, and the price is right.
04:02People tell us all the time that they come to Rye Lane.
04:04They've been priced out, so they don't live there anymore.
04:06But they come, and they come to meet their friends and family, get the goods and services they need,
04:11and they come and they'll feel part of their communities while they're there.
04:14So come and witness that.
04:15And it really speaks to the character of Peckham, that our communities and our traders are a big part of the characteristic there.
04:22We also, people of Peckham, did not ask for the economy, local economy, to be destroyed.
04:26They did not ask for the environment to be destroyed and to lead to a climate emergency.
04:31They didn't ask for all these tall towers.
04:36They didn't ask for, basically, the Peckham they are known love to be destroyed.
04:41So I think we can all agree that the plan is absolutely disgusting, and it's an insult to the people of Peckham.
04:52This plan really is a disgrace, but over 2,300 people have actually objected on the planning portal,
05:02which you can still do to the middle of April.
05:04If you Google Aylsham Community Action, it's our website, you'll find it.
05:10And there's a little page there about objecting and guidance to do that.
05:14But the people of Peckham have been heard, and that's a lot of people participating in the planning system as well.
05:20But as Aylsham Community Action, we are a proud member of SHAPE,
05:23which is the Southwark Housing and Planning Emergency Coalition.
05:27We're an active member.
05:28Yeah, and we're a broad group, a diverse group of planning and housing groups in Southwark.
05:35And we're doing a lot of them.
05:36We've had quite a few demos, which I think you've heard about.
05:39What we're sick of hearing at the moment is quite a few of us who are campaign groups against these big developers.
05:46And at the moment, Berkeley Homes own a lot of Southwark developments.
05:52So we think there's a lot of Berkeley Homes and a lot of Southwark.
05:54So as a coalition, we're trying to focus on that at the minute.
05:59But we don't want to forget the other aspects of the housing and planning crisis.
06:04So I think we feel lucky if we have somewhere to live.
06:09And some people are actually able to afford to buy.
06:11They're stuck in very extortionate leaseholds because years of cutting corners, they're having to pay for it now.
06:17So they're kind of trapped.
06:19They can't sell and they can't afford monthly payment now.
06:23Tenants who are living in Southwark in housing estates and council housing have had decades and decades of mismanagement.
06:31And they're living in disgustingly mouldy disrepair and dangerous kind of dwellings.
06:37So we should all remember that as well.
06:39I shouldn't have to say this, but as human beings, we shouldn't be lucky or rich to have safe, secure and affordable housing.
06:54It just shouldn't have to be said out loud.
06:57But it is a building block.
06:59It's a building block of life.
07:01And it helps people and families and communities thrive.
07:04So let's all keep that in mind.
07:06We're always on the lookout for new groups to join SHAPE.
07:10We also know that all these problems, they extend far past Southwark.
07:14We know that.
07:15So we encourage everyone.
07:16This has to be dealt with nationally.
07:18We encourage everyone to join together.
07:21All your local groups, join together.
07:22We've seen SHAPE.
07:23We're taking much more seriously now.
07:25We have a stronger voice and a stronger call to action.
07:27So we're encouraging everyone nationally to do the same.
07:30Now, on our demos, we like to make a bit noise.
07:32So I thought we'd do some chanting.
07:35Now, our tagline, oh, of course, thank you.
07:41Right, is homes for people, not for profit.
07:45So I shout homes for people and you shout not for profit.
07:48Homes for people, not for profit.
07:50Homes for people, not for profit.
07:53Homes for people, not for profit.
07:55Homes for people, not for profit.
07:58And we're sick of big developers at the moment.
08:00so one thing we've been yelling a lot as
08:02I shout big developer
08:04and you shout in the bin
08:06big developer
08:07big developer
08:09where do these big developers go
08:12big developers
08:14let's hope they're listening
08:16and the last one I shout
08:19what do we want and everyone responds
08:21council housing and then I shout
08:22when do we want it and you shout now
08:24what do we want
08:26when do we want it
08:28what do we want when do we want it
08:31what do we want
08:33when do we want it
08:35alright thank you very much