As local residents, I'm sure you want to know what the councils plans are, so it does not become fly-tipped, rat infested, trashed, vandalised, etc again.
The Council says they want to use it for affordable housing (isn't it already?) and commercial uses (no more donation based activities then!). Nice, such imagination!
At the possession proceedings the judge agreed the Council had probably been a bit underhand about it all – 2 hours notice before the executive committee to decide whether or not to sell various 'former industrial buildings and workshops', – one of which was Spike! He even admitted that 'one could say they acted in a hypocritical manner'.
Tim McNally – Councillor for Resources – (who has consistently refused to speak to us for the past 4 months, despite repeated requests) said in the South London Press today that he's "glad that this matter has reached its conclusion." Don't you just love people who take pleasure in others misery?
Incidentally, this is not the first 'save the spike' campaign. We found press articles from 1985 to 1990 detailing local people working to save the entire premises (Spike Surplus Scheme is only part of the much larger Spike complex) for the community. We currently have an exhibition here of all the original plans. They proposed a community garden, theatre, café, crèche, workshops, low cost accommodation and more. (Sound familiar?) It would have been great and it seems like they nearly made it but the Council wouldn't wait for them to get the funding (Déjà vu, or what?).
