Aylesham Centre redevelopment plans set to bypass local council and appeal plans to Planning Inspectorate
By Ruby Gregory, Local Democracy Reporter
The developer behind a controversial regeneration scheme in South London is set to bypass the local council by appealing its plans directly to the Planning Inspectorate.
In December 2024, Berkeley Homes amended its original plans to redevelop the Aylesham Centre in Peckham, which includes dropping the amount of affordable homes it wants to build from 270 to just 77.
The percentage of affordable housing planned for the site by Rye Lane would shrink to 12 per cent from the previous 35 per cent, under the revised proposals. A Berkeley Homes company spokesperson said it has appealed the application as it had still not received a confirmed date for its updated application, which proposes more than 800 homes, to be heard by Southwark Council’s Planning Committee.
The plans were supposed to be heard in spring 2025. However, the amended planning application meant the council had to launch a 30-day consultation period where locals were invited to drop-in sessions to have their say over the latest plans. Cllr Helen Dennis, Cabinet Member for New Homes and Sustainable Development at Southwark Council, said she was ‘very disappointed’ over the appeal, adding there is a ‘huge need’ for more affordable homes in the borough.
Cllr Dennis said: “The council met all the relevant timetables for this application and the decision to appeal against ‘non-determination’ was entirely that of Berkeley Homes. The decision by Berkeley Homes to reduce the affordable housing offer to 12 per cent from the previously proposed 35 per cent was the reason the council had to reconsult on the scheme this year.”
She went on to say: “There is a huge need for more affordable homes in Southwark, with more than 4,000 households in Peckham and the nearby area on the waiting list for social housing. We have clear expectations that all planning applications in Southwark must meet the needs of our borough, including our policies and requirements for green space, local business, transport and affordable housing.”
Southwark Council’s Planning Committee will still decide on the plans at a meeting next month, and will set out the council’s own case for the appeal, though it won’t now have the final say. The developer’s amended proposals for the site, which includes the 1980s Aylesham Centre and a Morrisons store, would also see a Community Land Trust (CLT) scrapped. The CLT would have provided low-cost, locally designed housing.
Berkeley Homes’ original plans for the site, published in summer 2024, intended to bulldoze the Aylesham Centre and the current supermarket. Under the latest plans, the buildings will be replaced with a new Morrisons store, as well as 867 homes, plus shop and restaurant space. The application includes plans for several buildings up to 20 storeys high.
Under the original proposals, Berkeley Homes committed to making a quarter of the new homes available at the cheapest social rents. A petition set up by a group called Aylesham Community Action in May of last year, which demands that at least 50 per cent of flats in the development are social housing, attracted over 5,000 signatures on change.org.
In February, hundreds of people took to the streets of Peckham to protest against the latest plans from Berkeley Homes and the proposed reduction in affordable housing.
A Berkeley Homes company spokesperson claimed that under the terms of a Planning Performance Agreement with the council, the agreed determination period for the application expired on January 31, 2025, adding ‘no extension has been requested by the council’.
They said: “This is a site that has been earmarked for housing for 11 years now. Two previous developers failed to come up with a workable project. We have been working with the council, local residents, and businesses for four years and have sought to accommodate everyone’s wishes along the way while keeping the project viable.
“After all this time, effort and money, if Berkeley is to build homes, we have no other option but to appeal for non-determination.”
PICTURE: Berkeley Homes
