Our borough and communities are changing rapidly.
Just this month, Southwark Labour Council announced it would permanently close the doors of yet another primary school in our borough.
Townsend Primary was well-loved by children and parents who, less than a year ago, believed it had been saved from closure.
Townsend follows the permanent closure of St Francis Cabrini Primary School in Honor Oak late last year. And there is no end in sight, with five primary schools identified for amalgamation by the council and a further three earmarked by an independent consultant.
The Council boss responsible blamed the decline on a drop in birth rate, Brexit and… the pandemic.
Obviously, these are factors, but the Labour Cabinet member is doing a grave disservice to the people of Southwark by ignoring the largest issue: the Council’s support for unaffordable housing.
All over London, and especially in Southwark, vibrant communities have been replaced by towering office blocks and “ghost towers” of luxury housing where no one lives.
In my ward, whole blocks are dark windowed at night and homes are just international investment opportunities. Families are leaving in droves to find neighborhoods where they can afford to raise their children.
Townsend School’s location close to Elephant and Castle provides the perfect example. Where once Elephant was home to diverse communities like the Heygate Estate and the Elephant shopping centre, we now have skyscrapers full of unaffordable one and two bedroom flats. Out of reach and unsuitable for most local families.
Unfortunately, it is little wonder Southwark Labour are reluctant to acknowledge the key role that the lack of affordable housing has on our schools. It’s their poor record.
The housing waiting list has ballooned to over 17,000 and there are now 2,400 fewer Council homes than when Labour took control of the Council.
They stubbornly stick by their unambitious affordable housing target of 35% for new developments, despite continuous calls from the Liberal Democrat group to raise it to 50%, as is the preference of the London Mayor.
Even worse, in many cases Southwark Labour is failing to meet their own unambitious targets. The Council scandalously declined to take action against lost social housing on the Gutenberg Court development and councillors offered an inexplicable and unacceptable exemption to Kings College London from affordable housing requirements.
Why does a student halls in Canada Water only have 11 per cent affordable housing?
Our borough is becoming actively hostile to families. Time and time again, Labour Council capitulates to luxury developers.
Expensive private developments have attempted to ban children from playing on their ground and when the council does build homes they are often built at the expense of the green spaces that children need for an active, healthy upbringing.
Without a change in the council’s policies and priorities, primary schools will continue to close and families will be forced out of Southwark
Southwark is changing and needs development that works for families, it needs 50% affordable housing. Without that, our borough will be left with nothing but hollowed-out communities and a horrifying number of empty skyscrapers.
