At Lambeth County Court this morning full hearings of the eviction cases against residents of the Carlton Mansions Housing Co-op were deferred until the second week of August to enable a further fire safety inspection to take place. Lambeth Council’s legal representatives had not supplied witness statements regarding the fire inspections in March so no cross examination could take place, despite the council having their expert witnesses on hand in court.

After the council’s possession hearings were deferred, their legal representative (under instruction) then asked to proceed with injunctions against the Carlton Mansions residents, but the judge refused as this would have granted immediate possession by another route and the legal basis of the injunction applications was not clear.  The injunction hearings were therefore also deferred until the possession hearing date in August.
Background to the case in our previous article.

News that Carlton Mansions tenants are facing eviction at a court hearing on May 22nd 2013 is unwelcome and disturbingly follows an earlier trend.  Carlton Mansions Housing Co-op dates back to the early 1980s when many compulsorily purchased properties remained from the scrapped 1960s Ringway 1 inner city motorway scheme.  Many of these “short-life” properties were then licensed to temporary occupants and Carlton Mansions Housing Co-op has proved an enduring example of this type of social housing.

The Brixton Society and Carlton Mansions Housing Co-op share some common roots. The Brixton Society formed around a nucleus of Brixton residents opposed to the draconian demolition and redevelopment plans of the 1970s which had caused widespread planning blight.  Carlton Mansions stands in splendid isolation by the railways bridge opposite what is now the Brixton Village on Coldharbour Lane.  The adjacent terraced houses were demolished around 1970 as part of the clearance which stretched up that side of Coldharbour Lane as far as Moorlands Road and included the whole of the area now occupied by the Moorlands Estate and the “Barrier Block” (Southwyck House) – designed to shield the Moorlands Estate from motorway noise which never happened.

The Lambeth Council/Brixton Green Ltd redevelopment proposals for Somerleyton Road show Carlton Mansions with its iconic “Nuclear Dawn” mural forming an integral part of a public space beside the theatre designated for Oval House (see below).  The sudden news that the council wants the residents out of their homes follows a fire inspection when the council has had 30 years to check and improve fire safety at Carlton Mansions. It could remedy the situation with the residents’ assistance and co-operation.  Instead we are being told that the council will expend major resources on legal fees to remove the residents from Carlton Mansions – and therefore effectively destroy the Co-op.  We understand the council have no plans to make the building safe for occupation – merely to make it “secure” when unoccupied.

This is terrible PR – Lambeth, the Co-op Council, intentionally or otherwise poised to disperse Carlton Mansions Housing Co-op, leading to further run-down of this 1891 building (and its Thatcher era mural). What then? Eventual demolition – or a “rescue” bid from the private sector?  There are always large companies ready to take on residential “solutions”.  We think it is time for councillors and council officers to take a step back and seek a more co-operative route – to preserve Brixton’s heritage character and for the good of Carlton Mansions residents .

It would be unfortunate for Brixton if Carlton Mansions and its mural were lost.  That would show how development pressure on Lambeth Council has changed its stance from conservation to expediency in exploiting a suddenly fashionable prime site location. And the residents surely deserve more respect that simply to be turfed out at short notice the way slum clearance worked in the 1960s.

If the block is to be conserved – and we hope it is – then the residents who have maintained Carlton Mansion over the years surely deserve the chance to be part of it.

ABOVE: Somerleyton Road proposals being consulted on by Brixton Green – Carlton Mansions and mural to right

BELOW: from the 2009 Lambeth Council Brixton Masterplan

The society objected to this proposal because it would have reduced the retail frontage in the main shopping zone of Brixton Road as well as safety issues at an already dangerous pedestrian crossing outside the shop.  We also pointed out that a similar previous application had failed because of potential late night disturbance for adjoining residents.

We are pleased to report that Lambeth Planning concurred.