Residents are currently occupying a housing estate and are refusing to leave – marching on the council TONIGHT

Residents from the Lesnes estate will protest at Bexley Council on Thursday 11 April evening to demand support in their campaign against Peabody’s planned demolition of their homes. It comes after residents and campaigners have occupied an empty house and appeal for supporters to join them to protect an estate made up of a lot of social housing.

Save Lesnes from demolition

Lesnes Estate residents and campaigners are occupying an empty home on the Lesnes Estate and are demanding that Peabody executive director and leader of the Thamesmead regeneration scheme, John Lewis, agrees to meet residents in person and listen to their demands:

• That empty homes are opened up immediately.
• That the entire estate is refurbished, not demolished.

The protest will begin at 6:30pm outside Bexley Civic Offices at 2 Watling Street, before a meeting of the Council Planning Committee.

The protest is part of a long running campaign against plans by Peabody Housing Association to demolish the estate in order to replace it with higher density luxury housing that will be unaffordable to existing residents. As the Canary previously reported, Peabody is planning on making just 3% of the 1,950 new homes social housing.

Residents recently escalated their campaign with a march to Peabody’s sales office, followed by a protest occupation of one of the many empty homes on the estate that is ongoing:

Destroying social housing

Bexley Council approved Peabody’s scheme in October 2022 but no work has begun and Peabody has left hundreds of homes boarded up on the estate whilst Bexley Council has thousands of people on the waiting list for social housing.

Residents argue that the council should be pushing Peabody to refurbish the estate, otherwise the council should step in and do it themselves to provide desperately needed social housing in the borough.

The protest will be attended by Jerry Flynn who was central to the campaigns against regeneration of the Heygate and Aylesbury Estates in Southwark, and worked directly with leaseholders on their long running challenge to compulsory purchase of their homes:

Jerry will also be holding a workshop in the occupied house at 24 Hinksey Path to advise the many dozens of homeowners on the Lesnes Estate who are adamant they won’t be forced out. They are preparing for collective legal action which could also cause significant delays and additional costs for Peabody should they insist on pushing ahead with their demolition plans.

Residents say the protest occupation will continue until John Lewis (Peabody Executive Director for Thamesmead) comes to the estate to meet with residents and discuss their alternative proposals to get the empty homes back in use and refurbish the estate. Cops have visited the occupation three time but have said they won’t be taking action – for now.

As the Canary previously reported, the occupation began after a community event and action meeting on 6 April.

Featured image and additional images via Housing Rebellion