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Page Content
Welcome to the Downtown Defence Campaign (DDC)
Unfortunately, after seven years of fighting the destruction of land prior to the agreement of revised plans, Barratt Homes removed trees from the planned area of development in 2009, leaving a barren zone of destruction which is fenced off from the local community. The most recent plans from Barratt Homes for new premises would position new buildings only metres away from one of the most attractive ponds in Russia Dock Woodland and will inevitably have an adverse effect on the ecology and biodiversity of our the woodlands. The current proposal for development shows the building work lining up against the edges of the Downtown Pond, next to Redriff bridge - where kingfishers have been photographed, a heron frequently fishes from the same perch, and a fox sunbathes behind a mass of fabulous yellow water irises. Reed warblers feed and nest around this pond, which is also the winter home of kingfishers. Without doubt all these valued local residents will disappear if there is no buffer zone between the woodlands and Barratt Homes development site. Here’s a sketch map showing the location of the development in relations to the Russia Dock Woodland. Barratt Homes plans to build flats on the Downtown site in spite of intense opposition from local residents to the extent of the development, the failure to deliver on promises for community facilities and the adverse impacts on local wildlife that would result from the proposed development of this site, particularly in view of the cumulative effects of developments in the vicinity. The Canada Water Development alone (less than 1 mile away) will add 2,700 new homes over the next 10 years.
Members of the local community, local councilors, local London Assembly Members and Southwark Friends of the Earth have opposed the development. The plan for the Downtown site was rejected by the Planning Inspector & Southward Council but they were overruled by the Communities Secretary Ruth Kelly. Barratt Homes appealed against the refusal of planning permission in July 2008 but have so far failed to secure permission to begin building at the site, which has now been cleared with the loss of large numbers of mature trees and communal areas. Continuing work to ensure that the interests of local residents are heard and acted upon has resulted in a number of decisions in favour of the Downtown Defence Campaign. See below for a summary of the situation or if you want more information or can provide assistance in any way to the Downtown Defence Campaign please contact:  About the Downtown site
The planned development would have a severe adverse effect on the ecology and biodiversity of our wonderful woodlands. The Downtown Site and Russia Dock Woodland and Stave Hill Ecology Park combined form an ideal location for the large urban population to experience wildlife. Birds, insects & wild mammal populations do not recognise boundaries imposed for humans.
Ecological Assessment of the buffer strip adjacent to Downtown Road Pond
Although this area is not particularly diverse with regard to plant species, it is of considerable value as a buffer zone to the adjacent pond, woodland and ecology park. It is the only area of rough grassland in the immediate vicinity of Downtown Pond, and will have had a marked effect on the pond’s species diversity. The grassland supports large numbers of frogs and common newts in the spring. As both slow worms and great crested newts are present in the ecology park nearby, it would be interesting to see whether they have crossed the intervening 30-40 metres. ( Given the high level of interaction between local children and amphibians, it is quite possible!). Butterflies seen in this area (during summer 2002) include Large and Small Skippers, Small Copper, Common Blue, Meadow Brown, Gatekeeper (on grassland) Comma, Orange Tip and Speckled Wood. (in pond area) Due to the presence of these butterflies food plants, I would expect them to be breeding in this area. The adjacent woodland has a very varied bird population. Species sighted include Green Woodpeckers, Jays, Firecrests and Reed Warblers. The Reed Warblers have been noted as nesting in Downtown Pond in the previous two years. In conclusion, disturbance in this area will have an effect on the pond and woodland, due to its status as a buffer zone.
History of the Downtown Defence Campaign
"The purpose of the Downtown Defence Campaign is to help secure the continued peaceful existence of its members and their families and neighbours and help free them all from the worry of threats of encroachment in the form of unsuitable development, particularly on the 'Downtown site' but also elsewhere on the Rotherhithe peninsula, as needs dictate." On 29 July 2003, when the process of selling the site to Barratt Homes and their partners was set in motion, the DDC fielded a deputation and presented the following statement to Southwark Council's Executive: Most of us are people who moved to the Downtown area of Rotherhithe from the early 1980s onwards, attracted there by the vision of an almost rural oasis close to the centre of London, an environment and 'image' painstakingly nurtured by both Southwark Council and the London Docklands Development Corporation. For many years now we've lived happily there, thinking that, while a gradual growth in the population of the Rotherhithe peninsula was to be expected and welcomed, given the construction of Surrey Quays Shopping Centre, Surrey Quays Leisure Park and the Jubilee Line Underground Extension, our array of various 2- and 3-storey homes would remain undisturbed and unthreatened more or less indefinitely. As far as most of us are concerned, the exercise of the planning function of our local authorities has been primarily to do with making sure that any changes in a residential neighbourhood, be it someone's loft extension or whatever, occur in such a way that they're barely noticeable and that the area's overall look and feel are basically unaffected. All of us can point to many instances when friends and neighbours have had long-drawn-out negotiations with council staff over what have seemed to us to be very minor changes. So, then, to square those experiences with what we're being asked to consider now is clearly very difficult. Indeed, it's tempting to speculate whether there isn't a totally separate book of rules governing individual householders' proposed modifications from the one governing applications by commercial concerns! We could all probably do with some proper clarification about why such a difference of approach appears to exist.
So, then, we urge the Executive to recommend to the Council that, if the Downtown site is to be sold to one of the two consortia whose proposals have already been made public (Ampurius and Barratt), the sale should be on the understanding that all future development proposals must be presented on the basis that there's a distinct possibility that, by the time the Southwark Plan is finalized, the Downtown area will have been redesignated as 'suburban'. Such a recommendation would go a long way towards reassuring local residents that their major concerns were at last being addressed, from the entirely natural desire not to be overlooked and overshadowed by tall buildings to the equally natural wish to preserve as much as possible of the local 'green' environment, notably the more than 400 mature trees currently on the development site. The DDC gratefully acknowledges the support and encouragement of the London Green Party with the preservation aspects here. Finally, it has to be acknowledged that some of the residents who've supported the Downtown Defence Campaign since its foundation have already lost heart over the way the Council has presented itself over these two consortia's proposals, giving on many occasions the appearance at least of somehow being duty-bound to favour the interests of commercial concerns over those of ordinary householders, and those people have now departed the area, sometimes literally in tears. The Executive has a splendid opportunity this evening to reassure those of us who are left that we were right not to also lose faith in the process too soon. Note: the part of Rotherhithe where the Downtown site is located was subsequently designated as 'suburban'! Extract from the DDC's response to Barratt's revised proposals (as presented to the Canada Water Consultative Forum on 14 March 2005) "The Downtown Defence Campaign (DDC), on behalf of its members and the people of Rotherhithe has, from the outset, totally rejected the heights and densities that Barratt Homes propose. A mere 5% reduction in the number of units and the loss of a storey here and there will not placate our members, who have consistently called for a development of approximately 100 units and in keeping with the surrounding area, which is low, clean and green. Our questionnaire to DDC members, asking what they would prefer to see on the site, resulted in a 100% result in favour of this more appropriate development."
An archive of information about the Downtown site has been consolidated on the Rotherhithe Community Safety Forum (the RCSF) by Kam Hong Leung: If you want to see an archive of emails, newspaper articles and official documents then the best place to go is definitely Kam’s newly indexed archive, which consolidates exactly this type of data. Kam has separated the archive into two main sections, both of which can be accessed from the Index page.
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The Downtown Defence Campaign is a non-political neighbourhood self-help group that exists for the purpose of safeguarding the interests of the Downtown community. Development plans for SE16 6NP pose a threat to local homes and parkland and the DDC was formed to ensure that planning projects fit in with the needs of the local community.
The Downtown site is located on the Rotherhithe Peninsula in densely populated Southwark only 2 miles from Tower Bridge. The site is covered by mature vegetation and is visually indistinguishable from the adjacent Russia Dock woodland, a proposed local nature reserve. Stave Hill Ecology Park managed by the 
This is an area of mixed rough grassland, with some scrub species, i.e. bramble. The grass species are predominantly Cock’s foot and Fescue species. It is difficult to assess the range of flowering plants at this season. However, amongst those present are St. John’s Wort, Creeping Thistle, Goat’s Rue and Ox-eye Daisy.
"The public meeting attended by 150 people on 18 November 2002 utterly rejects both the Ampurius and Barratt proposals for the Downtown site described in their brochures; respectively, ‘Lavender Moorings’ and ‘Downtown Place’. The buildings proposed would be far too high for the location. Furthermore, the proposed destruction of the surrounding trees is totally unacceptable."
The Downtown Assessment Advisory Panel has already made many of the points we might have done had the Downtown Defence Campaign been the sole representative of the local residents, and we certainly want to endorse the view that it's the current classification of the Rotherhithe peninsula as a whole as an 'urban' area for planning purposes that's given rise to so much of what we see as totally unnecessary ill-feeling here. We know from various discussions with staff from the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and the Greater London Authority that it's generally regarded as one of a local authority's main duties to make sure that only developments which are agreed by all concerned to be in keeping with what's in an occupied area already are encouraged and approved. Accordingly, we urge that, within the peninsula, a major distinction now needs to be made between the area around Canada Water and Surrey Quays Shopping Centre on the one hand and the Downtown area on the other, and we believe that it's entirely within the Council's abilities and powers to make and support such a distinction. We know, for example, that the Southwark Plan is nowhere near in its final form at present and that there's a definite possibility that the Downtown area could indeed end up being treated entirely differently from Canada Water. 
Contact the Downtown Defence Campaign