Southwark Council spent £140k on 'Berlin Wall-style' fence around housing estate

 
Eyesore: The 'Berlin Wall-style' fence stands 8ft tall and is topped with metal spikes (Picture: Twitter/@SouthwarkNotes)
Tom Marshall1 April 2015

A council spent £140,000 building a massive 'Berlin Wall-style' metal-spiked fence around a housing estate in south London.

Southwark Council splashed £200 per metre on the 8ft-high, 700 metre-long eyesore surrounding four blocks on the Aylesbury Estate.

Council bosses, who have been facing protests over the estate's planned demolition, claimed the hoarding was put up for the safety of residents.

But residents told the Standard they were furious about being penned in behind the wall and left with only one access point to their homes, manned by private security, when it appeared three weeks ago.

Now the staggering cost has been revealed under the Freedom of Information Act.

Housing campaigner Piers Corbyn, a weather forecaster and brother of Labour's Islington North MP Jeremy Corbyn, said: "It's ghastly, it's a squandering of money in order to make way for social cleansing.

"It's an utter scandal. The whole of that section of the Aylesbury estate is fenced off, tenants and leaseholders are living in a kind of Berlin Wall situation."

The council insisted residents had asked for increased security because all but 18 of the affected flats are now empty. A planned £1.5 billion regeneration project will eventually see the blocks bulldozed.

Mr Corbyn is a spokesman for a campaign group opposing the Aylesbury regeneration, which includes a number of squatters who are occupying some of the empty flats in protest.

The fencing was erected after the squatters moved in, but Mr Corbyn said: "The [remaining residents] who have been fenced in are all 100 per cent supporting the occupiers.

"The council's claim that the fencing is needed for security reasons to defend them is rubbish, they're more intimidated by these very large security men hanging around."

Labour-run Southwark Council refused to say how much was being spent on private security guards when asked by the Standard.

Cllr Mark Williams, cabinet member for regeneration, planning and transport, said securing the site was the "right thing to do for the safety of the remaining residents".

He added: "Only 18 of the 560 properties in this part of the estate are now being lived in.

"The fence was installed as a direct response to those remaining residents who expressed concerns about security on the site and anti-social behaviour from non-residents passing through.

"We understand this has caused some problems for the remaining residents, we will review whether any changes to access points are possible.”

Meanwhile the council's lawyers will tomorrow appear at Lambeth County Court to apply for a possession order to evict the squatters.

It will be the third time they have done so, with the squatters each time simply moving to different properties on the Aylesbury estate.

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