LMHS’S KENNINGTON QUARTER PROPOSAL

from RCDT ENews/Events Bulletin 9 March 2007

Jeffe Jeffers, Director of Lady Margaret Hall Settlement, writes: The Council’s paper called the Prince’s Ward Strategy published today (ed. see story below), does not offer much to the area. The sale of the entire Beaufoy site and a long uncertain future of temporary use for the Lilian Baylis old school site do not add up to an exciting strategic vision.

It ignores entirely the impact of the Damien Hirst development of restaurants, galleries and studios in Newport Street, which will be a new Central London visitor attraction and has no proposals to build on it.

Our proposals hinge on this important development and show how by using the two key sites in Council ownership a new economy can be created for Kennington and further enhance Lambeth’s visitor attraction appeal along the river.

The Hirst proposal will trigger

Redevelopment of the railway arches in Newport Street and in time will spill over into improving the Lambeth Walk shopping parade.

We propose

  1. The creation of another major visitor attraction in the Beaufoy Institute – a National Museum for the arts and crafts movement. Already several serious collectors have expressed strong interest.
  2. The opening up of the old school site to house, managed workspace for craft related business, ground floor retail, the Cinema Museum and related Arts Cinema, the SAZ sports academy facilities, and use the main hall as a major arts venue, all within a strongly supported business environment to maximise business growth and linked by a through route to the Beaufoy site.
  3. The creation of a new ‘studio’ academy school for up to 200 students specialising in Craft, and creative industry skills, business studies and core curriculum. Set in an environment of businesses offering work skills placement and apprenticeship, to the students and local community.

In effect creating a new long-term economic engine for the area and enabling the Council to make a strong new proposal for its LEGI bid later this year.

We are proposing that the Council create a new organisation out of the Beaufoy Institute Trust in which it can invest these two sites and which can be the driver of the process, able to draw in a wider range of partners and investment than currently available to the Council. This approach fits centrally with the Council’s desire to move to being a strategic body with strong local partners and fits within the government’s policy of using assets more dynamically in a community framework.

The proposal has been prepared at the request of KOV following a public meeting last year and published by Lady Margaret Hall Settlement. It will be presented to the next KOV meeting for discussion.