Dear all,

We have now just a few people short of 750 signatures on our petition to stop the Beast of Belmore. Yesterday we were out and about collecting more than 100 signatures door to door and on the local streets. This is going to send a powerful message to Lambeth Council - thank you!

What's also really important is that lots of us turn up to the Planning Applications Meeting on Tuesday. This is the meeting at which our Local Councillors (who we elect) decide whether or not to grant permission to the Beast of Bemore. Because their Planning Officer is recommending they should grant permission, we need to make sure the Councillors see how strong the feeling is in all the local communities. I'm envisaging standing-room-only to make sure the Councillor have too look us all in the eye as they make this decision that is going to affect all our futures for decades to come! We're also going to have some short opportunities to speak and summarise our objections.

The meeting is happening this coming Tuesday at 7pm at Committee Room B6, Lambeth Town Hall, Brixton Hill SW2 1RW. If there is any way you can be there, please show up. This is the crunch meeting and we need to throw everything at it, that we can.

There is still time to make sure the decision of the meeting goes our way:

• Come to the meeting on Tue evening! 7pm at Committee Room B6, Lambeth Town Hall, Brixton Hill SW2 1RW
• Email the councillors who will be making this critical decision (you can find their email addresses and some phone numbers here. It took me less than 10min to send all them an individual email! If you only have time to send one email, please send it to the Chair, Clair Wilcox at CWilcox@lambeth.gov.uk)
• Get others to sign this petition (we will take the latest update to the meeting on Tue)
• Leave a comment on the petition (to do this, visit the petition website and scroll down to the section called Reasons for Signing and enter your comment in the box)

In other news, half a dozen of us collected signatures for the petition door-to-door and on the local streets yesterday. We added another 106 signatures to our cause. We also asked everyone whether they had heard of the development through the consultation run by the developer, South Bank University. Our worst suspicions were confirmed: only 1-2 of the 106 people we talked to could remember any consultation. Many were completey unaware of the development. Most shockingly, of 30 people we talked to in the residential buildings closest to the development on Belmore Street, none were aware of these plans that will materially affect the quality of their lives.

We have managed to contact the the Vice Chair of the Patmore Cooperative that represents the residents who live on Belmore Street and the wider Patmore Estate. As you can see from his quote below, he is justifiably appalled by how the official consultation has been run.

Even our neighbouring council, Wandsworth, is objecting to this development on the basis that, amongst other things, it contravenes the London Plan's rules on where tall buildings should be built.

It looks like the Planning Officer, who is recommendation planning permission is granted, is pretty much the only person who thinks the Beast of Belmore is a good idea... let's make sure that those who are making the decision about this realise this!

All the best,

Tom on behalf of the Nine Elms Residents

From John Osbaldeston: Vice Chair Patmore Cooperative Ltd.

"This development has enormous consequences for hundreds of residents on Patmore Estate. As Patmore Cooperative are the largest stakeholders in the affected area and are Managing Agents and community advocates for residents and their homes, I find it incredible that Lambeth Council has had zero contact with the Coop and never once included us in what seems to be an inadequate (at best), consultation process. 

"Lambeth Council's own planning report into this development concludes "there are significant reductions in daylight" to some of the blocks on Patmore; in some cases figures of 48 to 54% less daylight. The Council's officers appear to think this is acceptable, adopting a Marie Antoinette attitude of 'they don't have a lot of light anyway so it doesn't matter if we take even more away'; not so much 'let them eat cake' as 'let them live in the dark'. 

I believe that if Lambeth Council votes to approve this development in its' current form they will be wilfully and knowingly consigning hundreds of Patmore Estate residents to quite literally live in the shadows. Appalling."