18 December 2020 — London Renters Union

To all London Renters Union members in Lambeth,

We are writing to you today to ask you to support a tightly knit community in Lambeth that is fighting against a planning application that threatens to destroy it.

Cressingham Gardens is a council owned estate – the building has been lauded by architects as a human and community centered building and what you’ll find at Cressingham Gardens is a testament to that. You can find a wonderful film made about the community at Cressingham Gardens here.

Unfortunately the estate also sits on a valuable piece of land that Lambeth Council is keen to monetise via developers. That is why, just a few weeks before Christmas and during a pandemic, Lambeth Council has submitted planning applications to demolish Cressingham Gardens and its community.  

In support and solidarity with local organisers, we’re asking that you take five minutes and submit an objection to Lambeth’s planning applications for Cressingham Gardens by following the following instructions:

1. Go to this link: https://planning.lambeth.gov.uk/online-applications/applicationDetails.do?activeTab=documents&keyVal=QDRW4MBOGMR00 

2. Click “Make a comment”

3.  Fill in your details and tick ‘object’.  Here is a sample objection – you can either write your own, modify the wording of the sample, or even just copy and paste the sample. 

4. Tell others in Lambeth to submit objections!

Please try to submit your objection by 21st December, but objections will still be accepted after that date. 

The people of Cressingham Gardens are invested in their community, as you can see from the beautiful vision that they have created in their People’s Plan.  We all deserve to live in community and it is a tragedy that so few places like Cressingham Gardens exist. Lambeth Council needs to be serving these communities rather than selling them out.

You can connect with renters fighting for Cressingham Gardens via their website and on twitter at @SaveCressingham.

We know the importance of looking out for each other and we know that when we work together as a union we can fight back. There are enough LRU members in Lambeth to make a difference!

In solidarity and friendship