The Runoff recently attended a consultation for the proposed development of what is probably the ugliest building in Greater Kennington. That of course is the Job Centre Plus at the corner of Kennington Road and Kennington Park Road, across from the post office. However, it appears that the new erection might just be uglier than the one it replaced, but we’ll leave that up to you.
409 Kennington Road is the name of the project proposed by Standard Securities Ltd, who now own the site, and their concept is to provide 200 student rooms over 16 floors. After consultation (this is where you come in) the build will commence in 2028 with completion the following year. The general rule of these developers is that that they sweeten the deal by telling local stakeholders that in a sense the building will be benefitting them. So with classic Runoff candour, at the consultation we handled this head on.
Developers – The ground floor will be commercial. Probably something like local businesses.
Us – You mean like Papa Johns? That’s a local business.
Developers – Ummm no. More like a place where local people can get together.
Us – Oh you mean like Starbucks?
Developers – Umm….no.
As a rule the Runoff doesn’t lodge an opinion on planning matters as we want to leave it up to our readers. However, as nice as it is to see rosy cheeked 20 years bopping around with their youthful exuberance and great hair, they don’t exactly contribute much to our community and have a niggling habit of moving on after a few years. There is already an abundance of student housing in Greater Kennington and we wonder if this is another example of cramming as many people as possible into a small space. In addition to the building being, well, brown.
The 409 Kennington team want to hear your thoughts, and this can be undertaken by giving feedback at the bottom of their website or emailing them at 409kenningtonroad@kandaConsulting.co.uk . But before you go all full Guardian reading NIMBY mode, remember that real people read these emails and the most effective course of action is subtle discretion. Just like us at the Runoff.
For the history buffs amongst you, for centuries the site was home to the beautiful Horns Tavern and a massive, 1000 seat assembly hall (where the present day Nisa foods current resides) next to it. A community gathering spot and the place where Surrey cricket club was founded, the Horns was rebuilt several times, most recently in 1887. It was bombed during the Blitz but the damaged building remained well into the 1960’s. But unlike mini skirts, Victorian architecture wasn’t exactly in vogue in 60’s Britain and the building was destroyed.
I attended the consultation at the Durning Library. In my opinion the proposal to build 16 storeys is not appropriate in this location. This would be setting a precedent in an area that has nothing of the sort in the vicinity. It is likely that 407 KR will be looking to follow in these ambitions.
There are plenty of high rise neighbourhoods popping up in Vauxhall and the Elephant & Castle, where this would be a suitable proposal.
As was pointed out by the group of interested neighbours who attended the session, the site is located right by the Duchy’s estate which consists of Victorian design, and also would be overlooking, overshadowing and intruding onto Kennington Park and the adjacent estates.
It’s not about Nimbyism, this is simply not an appropriate location for this business proposal. Give us something that actually benefits the community.