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St. Matthew’s Estate Tenants and Residents Association joins the chorus of opposition to the Hondo 20-storey tower

- by mike urban - Leave a Comment

St. Matthew’s Estate Tenants and Residents Association joins the chorus of opposition to the Hondo Enormo-Tower

The community-wide chorus of opposition to Hondo’s proposed 20-storey tower in the heart of Brixton gets louder and louder with the St. Matthew’s Estate Tenants and Residents Association stating that they ‘fundamentally oppose this development.’

Here’s the full text of their statement:

This letter has been written on behalf of the St. Matthew’s Estate Tenants and Residents Association (SMETRA) to state our opposition to the proposed Hondo Development on Popes Road in Brixton.

 

In an effort to represent local opinion on this matter SMETRA Committee Members have been speaking to Residents of St.Matthew’ Estate and discussed this at a recent open SMETRA meeting. We have developed a list of our core concerns which have shaped our position to conclude that we fundamentally oppose this development.

 

1.It is very clear from the way the world is currently moving that the requirement for Office Space has and will continue to diminish with time as a result of a new culture of Home Working.

 

Why then, will Brixton require 22 floors of Office Space? There is clear trust issue with the development owner, it was felt that this proposal was a back door means to develop future residential capacity and increased financial reward.

 

2. Even if this development is used for office capacity it will have a drastic change on how this part of Brixton will function. It will put further pressure on the market and Brixton Village Traders and will threaten this community’s access to culturally representative shops.

 

We have already seen this with the development of Brixton Village and how the area has become increasingly alien to the local community in favour of a restaurant and pub culture that draws people from all over with very little concern or respect for Local Residents.

 

3. The size, capacity and architecture of this proposal will literally put the existing local shopping area in complete shade as well as being entirely out of place with the small town aesthetic that, that part of Brixton currently has. The current shopping experience is varied and provides some low cost food.

 

Most importantly, it is accessible to members of the community. In an increasingly busy and urban London it is important to have some quiet streets for local people to feel at home, particularly, the elderly. This proposal will literally flood the area making it inaccessible to the elderly and too busy to provide a stress-free shopping experience.

 

4. If this proposal goes ahead, construction work alone will have a massive impact on the local economy and create a huge amount of disruption to Local Traders who are under a huge amount of strain already as a result of an impending recession, these people are not big business, unlike many of the new shops and restaurants that have been introduced in recent years.

 

5. The development of Brixton Village has demonstrated that this owner cares little for the cultural identity of this shopping area and more about business. This approach has been consistently at the cost of Local Businesses and Residents.

 

It is now a regular experience for many Residents to feel like a complete stranger in this part of Brixton. An increasing awareness of ones income in terms of the number of shops one can actually afford to go into. This is not good enough and is a very clear demonstration of what has become known as gentrification.

 

Residents also describe this as a form of Social Cleansing, a horrible term that seems to describe the visual consequences of this sort of development, to date, in this part of Brixton.

 

6.The design of this building is completely at odds with the look of the area, Brixton wide there are very few developments of this size . It will be an eye sore and is out of keeping with the current look of the area. Brixton Residents do not want to look at this ultra-urban, intrusive high rise on its skyline.

 

SMETRA will continue to actively oppose this development and are committed to reminding Lambeth Council to put Brixton’s People and soul ahead of their efforts to raise funds to combat austerity driven cuts forced upon them by this government.

Join the discussion

Join in with the forum discussions on the Brixton forum:

Have your say about the development

Hondo start soliciting signatures in support of their unpopular Enormo-Tower in Pope's Road, Brixton

Background

Who’s behind the development?

The planning application says that the scheme “is a joint venture by AG Hondo Pope’s Road BV who have an agreement to purchase the site, currently occupied by Sports Direct and Flannels.”

It goes on to claim that Hondo is part of a property development company who have a “longstanding presence in the borough having purchased Market Row and Brixton Village” in, err, “March 2018.”

Housekeeping DJ and socialite Taylor McWilliams – the sole director of Hondo Enterprises who own Brixton Village and Market Row – is also a director of AG Hondo Pope’s Road BV, along with Robert Tieskens, a director of the Netherlands arm of the monster New York based investment company, Angelo Gordon.

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