A £3 billion scheme to breathe new life into the run-down Elephant and Castle shopping centre has been halted in a row over affordable housing.
Southwark council’s planning committee narrowly voted down proposals to flatten the Sixties mall to make way for almost 1,000 homes, a cinema, an arts college campus and a new Tube station entrance.
Councillors voted four-to-three against, saying the application failed on “a number of significant policy grounds”.
The scheme was criticised for not having enough social housing and because it could displace small businesses.
A follow-up meeting has been scheduled for January 30 when the panel will vote again, once official reasons for refusal are drawn up.
Mark Williams, a cabinet member of the Labour-run council, said it shared concerns about a lack of cheaper homes. Labour councillor Paul Fleming added:“The justification for the lack of social housing was unintelligible.”
Developer Delancey said it was disappointed by the decision and that a third of the homes would be subsidised to an average of 50 per cent market rents.
