The fight to stop Elephant and Castle’s Mercato Metropolitano being demolished and replaced with residential blocks of up to 46 storeys is gathering steam.
Some local residents say the ‘Borough Triangle’ development by Berkeley homes will be too tall, lacks affordable housing and strain local infrastructure.
Several traders at Mercato, a popular hub of bars, shops and events spaces, are also disappointed by the plans, with some telling the News they were unaware that a planning application had even been submitted.
Lib Dem Councillor for Borough and Bankside and local party leader Victor Chamberlain said: “This is a very large development and would have a huge impact on our neighbourhood. Borough and Bankside Liberal Democrat councillors are carrying out our own consultation and holding a public meeting to make sure residents get to have their say.
“We support sympathetic development in the area, but many residents are concerned their needs aren’t being addressed by the proposals. In our area we have a chronic shortage of affordable housing, I’m concerned that just 17.5 per cent of the proposed homes would be genuinely affordable social housing.”
Formally submitted on October 3, the application says 35 per cent of the flats will be let at an affordable rate. Those ‘affordable’ tenancies will be split as 50% social rented and 50% affordable intermediate tenures.
Elephant and Castle’s Mercato Metropolitano could make way for tower blocks of up to 46-storeys
Objectors have highlighted that council inspectors previously said the site had an indicative capacity of just 438 homes, almost half the 838 proposed.
But a council document has since said that the 438 figure is “not clear and justified” and could “support a much greater quantum of development on the site”.
An objector and leaseholder at the neighbouring Two Fifty-One building, has been organising local opposition. He said: “In general, we’re worried about the impact of so many apartments on the community.
“There hasn’t been enough planning for the increase which will result in a worsening of the quality of life.
”What will happen to infrastructure and transport and access to GP surgeries? And we’re worried about schools.”
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Southwark Council has previously recognised that the area is underserved by health facilities, hence plans to build a ‘health hub’ on nearby Elephant Park.
Schools, many of which face budget crises due to plummeting admissions, would probably benefit from new families coming to the area.
But it is unclear how many families would move into the proposed towers, given just 16 per cent of apartments would have more than two bedrooms under current plans.
Residents at the Two Fifty-One building next door also say the towers would overshadow and disrupt their privacy.
Mercato Metropolitano was always earmarked as a temporary measure, but some traders still feel they’ve been caught off-guard.
One small business owner, who wished to remain anonymous, said: “Nothing is disclosed. What we hear is rumours. Nobody has given us an update. Everything is blank.
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“We’ve been given zero time frames… [better communication] would be decent and fair because in the end we are the ones maintaining Mercato life.”
According to its community engagement summary, Berkeley held multiple pop-up consultations in and around Mercato between November 2021 and March 2022.
Berkeley said it does not comment on ongoing planning applications.
A meeting where Borough and Bankside councillors will meet the public to hear their views and go through the plans is being held at the Queensborough Community Centre, Scoville Estate, SE1 1QQ, on November 15 at 6.30pm.
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