Businesses say they fear for their futures after a “surprise” announcement that flats will be built on the Biscuit Factory car park in Bermondsey.
Business owners have complained they received no prior warning they will imminently lose out on 60 spaces.
Grant Davis, chairman of the London Cab Drivers’ Club, which provides trade representation to taxi drivers, said: “We have members park their taxis in the car park while they come to give us important licensing and medical documentation.
“The car park is of enormous value to the club and, if they take that away, where are our members meant to park?”
Grant said he’d just signed a new car park and office lease and that there’d been “no real consultation” about the looming disruption.
The changes are part of developer Greystar’s plans to build over 1,500 homes – including 35 per cent affordable – on a site including the former Peek Freans factory, which provides offices to a range of businesses.
Greystar’s plans include a residential building on the car park between Jam and Almond studios which is shared by numerous businesses.
The developer has had planning permission to build on the car park since 2020. But many businesses had no idea before receiving an email from Workspace, which manages the car park on Greystar’s behalf, on Friday, June 9.
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Businesses will be given just four weeks’ notice before their car parking arrangements are terminated and this could happen very soon.
One company, which helps unemployed Southwark residents into work, is relocating, meaning 200 local people will miss out on jobs.
Its owner, who asked not to share his name because of worries about the impact on his business, said: “The whole of that car park is going to be a building site. You can’t work here – it’s just going to be a nightmare.
“We’ve got no choice but to move out of the borough as a direct result of the disruption caused. While we respect the fact the development has to go ahead, a limited notice period of just four weeks makes it impossible for us to plan long-term.
“We’re now pulling all our support for local unemployment out of Southwark – that’s 200 people out of work. There’s no point in working with Southwark if we’re not going to be in the borough.”
Fred Stone, director at the Arch Climbing Wall, said the announcement had come as “a surprise” and that he was “confused” by the situation. But he added that, given most of their customers cycled or walked, he didn’t “think the change of use will create any issues for us”.
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A spokesperson for Workspace said it was planning to source twenty new parking spaces nearby although accepted that this was still a net loss of 40.
Asked about the lack of warning businesses have received, they said: “Any businesses leasing a car parking space should have been aware of the four weekly rolling break clause in the lease.”
A spokesperson for Greystar said: “We will be commencing site investigation works in the car park in mid-July ahead of the building construction later in the year as part of the future development. Given the extent of these works, the safest option is to suspend the car park.
“As discussed with Workspace we will be maintaining some parking spaces for tenants during construction and have agreed with Workspace that the completed development will provide 20 parking spaces for use by their tenants in perpetuity. We look forward to continuing conversations with Workspace and the wider community in the coming months.”
