The Public Inquiry on 72 Upper Ground opened on 6 December 2022 and closed on 25 January 2023.

The Inspector will present a report to Rt. Honourable Michael Gove MP, Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, who will make a final decision around June. 

The SOS Save Our South Bank action group presented expert witnesses on design and heritage (Nicholas Boys Smith - Director, Create Streets and Patrick Dillon, architect responsible for the National Theatre refurbishment, from Twentieth Century Society) who made a clear and convincing case that the Lambeth Council backed Mitsubishi proposals for ‘The Slab’ were completely inappropriate. 

We raised our concern for carbon emission issues and presented ground-breaking evidence from Kiru Balson, (Max Fordham Associates) on the 1.5m kilos of carbon which would be emitted by the unnecessary demolition and construction of this over-sized hulk.

This was only the second time carbon/sustainability has been a Public Inquiry issue in the UK, and in this climate emergency we hope the government will listen.

We also challenged the impacts on daylight to adjacent residents in Iroko and Mulberry housing co-operatives, which will result from the disastrous CO-RE and Make Architects design. These impacts alone should be reason enough to refuse permission.

The SOS Save Our South Bank action group made a very strong case, and we are hopeful that the Secretary of State will refuse permission for the development to go ahead. 

In September 2022, we set a target of £15,000 and although thanks to the generous support of many people we have so far raised over £12,000 in donations, we need some additional funds to cover the outstanding costs to finish this campaign. 

So, we are asking you to donate a little more to cover remaining costs and help us to achieve the victorious result which we all want to Save Our South Bank!

https://donate.giveasyoulive.com/campaign/save-our-south-bank

All funds raised via Waterloo Community Development Group (WCDG) are held and used specifically for the costs incurred in mounting the challenge to the 72 Upper Ground development and to #StopTheSlab.

Waterloo Community Development Group (WCDG) Charity number: 1114299