Pembury Circus development - another chance to provide your feedback

Next week sees two drop-in sessions where local residents will be able to see more plans for the Peabody/Bellway redevelopment plans for Pembury Circus, on the corner of the Pembury Estate.

The sessions will be on:

Wednesday 23 March between 4-7pm

Thursday 24 March between 4-7pm

Both will be held at the Senior Citizens Centre on the estate. Peabody's proposals are outlined in more detail here.

As your local councillors, we have made clear our opposition to one of the applications which contains proposals for private car parking which, given the amount of public transport on the doorstep of the development, is completely unacceptable. We are disappointed that despite this clear advice from us, and from officers of the council, Bellway and Peabody continue to promote this option in their application. We have also pressed for commitments around the nursery provision and youth facilities for the young people in the area. We await an update on these areas from the developers.

It is important that local residents come along to see more of the plans for the area which will see more housing being provided in one of the poorest parts of the borough. If you have concerns, make sure you have these documented and tell us, so we can pass these on to the planning department.

**UPDATE** Below is the newest image of the proposed scheme that is about to be released by the developers.

** UPDATE 2** 22 March

We have just received an updated set of ground floor plans, elevations and an briefing note from the developers and we are increasingly concerned by what we are hearing. It would appear that Peabody are now rolling back from a commitment to provide a new nursery site in the new development (which is actually relatively small) and that the possible "A2" use is a possibility - something that we have insisted is not possible.

We are also concerned that Peabody have not commited to a some of money for youth activities in the development, despite our repeated requests - and that they wish to see increased "private money" being introduced - which makes us question their commitment to funding a long-term youth facility.

The revised proposals also see additional height on the lower blocks making them higher than the existing blocks on "old Pembury", something that we again are concerned about.

As a result, we are seeking an urgent meeting with planning officers in Hackney and will let you know the outcome.