MORE than 100 people staged a mass lobby of Southwark Town Hall in south London on Wednesday night.
The rain did not dampen their spirits, as they vowed to fight to defend council housing and all services in Southwark.
More than 20 members of the South-East London Council of Action lobbied Southwark Council, and were joined outside the Town Hall by a large contingent from The Spike community project in Peckham.
Paul Kelly, a volunteer from the project, told News Line: ‘We’re from The Spike surplus scheme.
‘We’re a voluntary, not-for-profit organisation. We’ve been in operation for over 10 years.
‘We were given a favourable lease by the council, but the council are determined to sell the property.
‘They want half a million for it by August and we were only informed of this in May,’ he said.
‘We’re here today to ask for a two-year extension on our lease while we investigate funding possibilities.
‘Our leaflet explains what we do. We’re totally not for profit, all our services are provided on a donation basis, and the scheme has only been possible through the hard work of local volunteers and up to now a fair council lease.’
Tenants from Heygate and Aylesbury estate taking part in the SE London Council of Action lobby kept up chants of ‘Hands off our council estates – we’re not moving!’ and ‘Kick out the privateers!’
An item on the council agenda read: ‘CLOSED BUSINESS: Phase 1a Aylesbury Regeneration – Site Disposal’.
Amano Ali and Victoria Briden, from Aylesbury estate, said: ‘They have a lot to hide and that is one of their tactics, to prevent real consultation.’
They said that selling-off the council estates would make it impossible for local people to find affordable accommodation and alleged that tenants and leaseholders were being ‘bullied and blackmailed’.
Brenda Fenner, from Heygate estate, said: ‘We’ve had terrible treatment.
‘We want to keep our council homes and improve them because there’s no council housing to be had.
‘We want more homes built for families.’
