The Southern Railway stables on the corner of St James Rd and Catlin St in Bermondsey have been a site for horse stabling since 1863. At different points of time over this period the stables have been made available for local residents to keep horses and work with them for a range of commercial and personal uses, though the site has been mostly cut off from local residents in recent years.

Given the wide-ranging evidence of the therapeutic power of working with horses, we are now calling for the site to be restored as a professionally-run community horse club, for local teenagers and people of all ages, with access affordable or free for people on lower incomes.  

With Southwark council now purchasing the stables for the first time to consolidate the sites around it, there is a decision to be made about what use the site should be given over to. While the Old Kent Road area action plan currently defines this as a site for flats and commercial workshops, given the (relatively) small contribution to housing supply the site would make, the fact of having a ready-made infrastructure for horse stabling, a potential arena or paddock space, and repurposeable spaces for teaching and learning needs full consideration.

With the population due to grow further with the Old Kent Rd regeneration, the wider area will need a better variety of community-building institutions that better meet the cradle-to-career aspirations of support structures at every stage of a child's upbringing. 

Having successfully reopened the Blue youth club with Somerville and seen the site at the bottom of St James Rd secured for the Livesey exchange, we are also keen to further broaden the youth offer in the area, securing the site as a new option for teenagers to approach at low or no cost and that's safe and secure, on a similar basis to the hugely successful Ebony Horse Club in Brixton.  This follows on from the local campaign to create more and better options for young people in the area away from knife and gun crime, led by Lisa Dalton at the Manor estate TRA, as well as the equine therapy sessions organised for students at the nearby City of London Academy at further away sites.

We believe that securing the site for a community horse club, mainly for  Southwark teenagers but open to residents of all ages, will create an important new therapeutic resource in Bermondsey, broaden the youth offer, and help build community for new and established residents in the area.  The benefits of horse riding and learning to look after an animal should be available to everyone.

The purpose of this petition is to demonstrate the extent of local support for securing the site for a professionally-run community horse club operator to take on the site.