FOI - Elephant & Castle town centre regeneration [Aug 2026]

I wanted to ask if it would be possible to access an FOI response published in 2014.

It was a set of emails between Boris Johnson and Simon Thurley. The below is from an article about the request:

"Now correspondence published by City Hall under the Freedom of Information Act shows that Mayor of London Boris Johnson has lobbied English Heritage chief executive Simon Thurley to reject the listing application on the grounds that it would inhibit the "one in a lifetime opportunity to remove the 1960s eyesore" of the adjacent Elephant & Castle Shopping Centre. "Listing the building would be a significant obstruction to the redevelopment of this key site, and compromise the wider regeneration of Elephant & Castle town centre," wrote the Mayor. "I do not believe the listing of this building merits further consideration.”

Our response

We no longer hold a copy of this FOI response nor the incoming request. I have been able to retrieve the letter itself. Please find attached.

Dear Simon

Application for listing of The Coronet, 28 New Kent Road, London (English Heritage reference 7427986)

I have been notified of the request which has been made to add the above building to the List of Buildings of Special Architectural of Historic Interest. The Greater London Authority (GLA) is invested in making Elephant & Castle an attractive central London destination. Together with Southwark Council and Transport for London (TIL), my officers continue to work and push for development which will improve the environment for local residents, encourage visitors to the area, as well as taking the opportunity to provide essential new housing. 

Elephant & Castle is identified in the London Plan as one of the 33 opportunity areas. The aims for the area and proposed development opportunities are outlined in the Elephant & Castle Supplementary Planning Document (SPD). It covers an area of 122 hectares (ha) and aims to simulate 440,000 sq.m of new commercial development and provide 4,000 new homes, 1,400 of these being affordable.
 

Delancey have recently acquired the shopping centre site which desperately needs to come forward for wholesale redevelopment and restore the heart and vitality of Elephant & Castle as a once in a lifetime opportunity to remove the 1 960s eye-sore. The cultural uses of the existing Coronet Theatre can be re-provided within any new scheme (or alternative meanwhile accommodation) which the Council and GLA are working hard with Delancey to secure.
 

The Coronet sits directly adjacent to the shopping centre. Listing the building would be a significant obstruction to the redevelopment of this key site, and compromise the wider regeneration of Elephant & Castle town centre. I do not believe the listing of this building merits further consideration.

I am keen to remove the threat of any barriers in the negotiation of this scheme. Should you wish to discuss this further, please contact Sir Edward Lister, my Chief of Staff and Deputy Mayor for Policy and Planning, by email at
 

Yours ever,
 

Boris Johnson
Mayor of London