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| Sam, one of a group of young people occupying part of the Aylesbury Estate © Paul Coleman, London Intelligence 2015 |
Sam
is one of several young people occupying the Aylesbury Estate that is
threatened with demolition.
Southwark Council says these Aylesbury homes
are no longer habitable.
“But all they need is refurbishment,
like double glazing to make them more efficient,” says Sam.
“There’s nothing structurally wrong with
them.
“And there’s over 18,000 people in
Southwark that need homes right now.”
After the March for Homes on 31 January,
Sam and others took over flats 77-105 on the Chartridge block.
“There was a stand-off with the police.
The Council hasn’t even spoken to us,” says Sam.
“But they sent Council workmen to cut
open the properties next to us and smash them up even more,” he adds.
“They’ve welded them shut again.”
Legal
Police did not seek entry to the
decommissioned and now occupied flats.
Occupying residential property as a
protest is legal, say the occupiers.
Grabbed
On 1 February, Sam says the occupiers
issued the following statement: ‘We are tenants, squatters, and other people
who care about how our city is being grabbed by the rich, by developers and
corrupt politicians, socially cleansed and sold off for profit…
‘…The same bullshit that we have seen on
the nearby Heygate estate, and all across London.
‘No demolition of the Aylesbury.
‘No yuppy flats.
‘Homes for all.
‘We are here to fight for the Aylesbury.
‘We are here to fight for our city.’
Represent
Sam accepts not all residents support
the occupiers.
But many do show support – and the
occupiers say they are keen to ‘engage with residents’.
Especially, as many residents 'see how
the Council has allowed the Aylesbury to become rundown'.
“Councillors say we don’t represent
estate residents,” says Sam.
“But
I don’t think councillors can say they represent the people on the Aylesbury.”
© Paul
Coleman, London Intelligence, February 2015
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