Public inquiry into dRMM’s controversial Peckham redevelopment set for 28 October

The date for a public inquiry into dRMM’s controversial plans to redevelop Peckham’s Aylesham Centre has been set for 28 October.

The Planning Inspectorate will launch up to eight days of hearings on the 877-home scheme at 10am on the last Tuesday of next month.

Plans to redevelop the shopping centre were submitted by Berkeley Homes in July 2024 but the developer launched an appeal in May this year on the grounds of non-determination.

The scheme has provoked considerable controversy in Peckham due to the relative height of its proposed buildings in the mostly low-rise suburb and the low number of proposed affordable homes.

dRMM’s masterplan for the site would see the construction of a total of 15 buildings ranging in height from five to 20 storeys, but it would contain just 77 affordable homes - down from 270 in an earlier version of the scheme.

Individual plots on the development, which would also contain retail and office space, have been designed by Dowen Farmer Architects, Feix & Merlin, Jas Bhalla Works and Nimtim Architects with Gillespies acting as landscape architect.

Southwark council, which had agreed to make a decision on the scheme by the end of January this year, said it had been forced to reconsult on the scheme following Berkeley’s decision to slash its number of affordable homes.

Revised plans submitted by the developer last December cut the scheme’s share of affordable homes from the London Plan minimum of 35% to just 12%, from 270 to 77 affordable homes, a reduction of 71%.

In July, Southwark council’s planning committee issued a symbolic refusal of the application with councillors arguing the impact of the scheme’s height on the surrounding townscape was not outweighed by the public benefit provided by the reduced number of affordable homes.

Local campaign group Aylesham Community Action has led opposition to the scheme and will be a party at the inquiry. Earlier this month it launched a crowdfunding campaign to appoint a “top-notch” legal team with the group so far raising more than £30,000 towards its £50,000 target.

Proposals to redevelop the shopping centre have been in the works for at least a decade with initial plans drawn up by AHMM for developer BlackRock, which were never submitted, replaced by a Sheppard Robson-designed scheme for Berkeley which was junked following sustained opposition from locals. dRMM was brought in to replace Sheppard Robson in August 2023.

Berkeley have been approached for comment.