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It’s February 2017 and Network Rail along with their contractors, Spence Ltd, continue with their shambolic attempts at running two building projects within the railway viaducts at Brixton and Herne Hill – but they are only succeeding in damaging both of these important trading areas.
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Communities are rightly getting angry over the arrogant approach by Network Rail in the last year, as businesses have been prematurely evicted, rumours that negotiations with remaining tenants have been aggressive and unreliable, lies over the proposed developments have been exposed and now planning regulations and laws are being ignored.
Network Rail applied for planning permission to develop Brixton Viaduct in February 2016 in the full knowledge they had key tenants who wanted to stay and could not be removed from their premises for these refurbishment works until 2019 or 2020.
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This did not deter Network Rail from releasing eviction notices to clear most of the viaduct, presumably in the vain hope that the rest of the tenants would follow before the project started.
Planning permission was granted in August 2016, with no further progress over the leases of the remaining tenants, but despite this, their contractors, Spence Ltd, applied for and were licensed to install hoardings along Brixton Station Road and Atlantic Road in November 2016 prior to starting the works.
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However, since planning permission was awarded, Spence Ltd have made no effort to discharge the planning conditions associated with this project and it has since been confirmed by the planning officer that absolutely no works, including arch clearance and site preparation, can commence until a specific condition within the planning approval has been discharged.
As it is clear that this development cannot commence until full and vacant possession of the viaduct has been achieved, perhaps the reality of the situation has now dawned on Spence Ltd.
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This could explain why Lambeth Highways last week instructed Spence Ltd to re-fix the existing hoardings back against the empty arches rather than occupying much of the pavement in certain areas.
The community was also informed by Network Rail negotiators that their building contractors were due to start the works at Brixton on 30th January, however they didn’t turn up .. well they did, but they went to Railton Road in Herne Hill market instead and the site of another Network Rail debacle.
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This follows the erection last week of some hoardings by Spence Ltd on the pavement outside the arches and shop fronts within Herne Hill Market that have been empty for a year and, coincidentally, immediately after being told by Lambeth Highways to re-fix the hoardings in Brixton.
The only problem is that no planning applications have been submitted for refurbishing the arches and shop fronts on Railton Road and no planning approvals exist on the Lambeth planning portal.
Despite this the building site has been swiftly set up, security is in place, containers and storage have been delivered and construction works have commenced.
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Either Spence Ltd simply don’t know what they are doing or they think that normal planning regulations and the need for compliance does not apply to them.
These are critical areas of our community that offer work, trade, services, amenity and support real people, but their future seem to be in the hands of amateurs who don’t give a damn about the damage they are causing.
We deserve better.
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Lambeth Council should represent the citizens of the borough they serve, rather than playing poodle to Network Rail, a huge and failing business who are desperately trying to raise over £1 Billion in revenues from their vast property and arches portfolio, by employing the likes of global financiers Rothschild to oversee and commission these terrible, cut & paste developments that are tearing the soul out of our community.
[This article by a local resident who has elected to remain anonymous]
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