Cressingham Gardens
Brixton, London. Sat 2 Dec 2017
A 'bold and imaginative scheme' by Lambeth Council architect
Ted Hollamby with a number of innovative
features , construction began in 1968 but took some years in part
because of strikes across the building
industry. The estate was planned by a Conservative Lambeth council
of which John Major was a leading
member and acheived a high density while retaining a feeling of spaciousness
with properties having
gardens as well as open space. Despite praising the way the design
responds to its setting, with skill and sensitivity,
“both in the scale and massing of the built elements, as
well as through the integration of these elements with
informal open spaces which bring a park-like character into the
estate” , Historic England turned down its
;listing in 2013.
It is hard to see anything but political reasons behind the failure
to list the estate which was ground-breaking
and in many ways innovative for its time and meets all the criteria
for listing.
Although there is a feelling of spaciousness, it aceived a high residential
density of over 250 persons/hectare.
There are large photographs of residents from an art project on a
number of estate buildings
The estate has a path along its boundary with Brockwell Park
There are access roads on the estate edges, with some parking under
some blocks
and largely open walkways with only a few places not well overlooked
It has always been a popular estate, and has a low crime rate for
the area.
Like most council estates it has suffered from poor maintenance, and
there are some problems but with gutters
and land drainage, but bringing the estate up to modern insulation
standards and ealing with the problems
would be a relatively cheap option, costing perhaps aorund £30,000
per dwelling. Demoltion and rebuilding as
the council plans to do would cost at least ten times as much, and
only makes sense in financial terms by
selling most of the new properties at market value - probably around
£800,000 for a typical property here.
Far more than the current residents can afford - or what leaseholders
would get in compensation.
Developments by councils with privated developers of housing associations
seldom result in much if any low-cost
social housing.
People are gathering near the Rotunda for a protest march against
demolition of the estate as a part of Lambeth
Council's policy to realise the market value of assets such as this
estate. Few of those who live here now will
be rehoused or able to find properties in Lambeth. Lambeth
is run by New Labour, many members of a strangely
allowed right-wing group called 'Progress' , a party within the party that
has few Labour values, but which currently
controls many London Labour boroughs and has either demolished or has plans
to demolish well over a hundred
council estates in a mass programme of social cleansing.
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