Letter to Southwark Council and Meanwhile Space about Elephant Arcade evictions

Dear Catherine Brownell, Cllr John Batteson and Meanwhile Space,

Eviction of traders at Elephant Arcade

I am writing in my position as an elected member of the London Assembly regarding your eviction of traders at Elephant Arcade.

I urge you to resolve the ongoing dispute with traders over the agreed payments as part of the Agreement to Surrender. I understand that traders were paid their first payment of £1,000 and have not received the second agreement payment of £2,000. The Agreement states that traders would receive the second payment when they returned their keys which they did in the week of 8th September. I urge you to resolve this matter urgently and fulfil your side of the Agreement. Please can you confirm when traders will receive their payment.

The delay is causing real financial difficulty for the traders. The uncertainty and lack of confirmation is causing undue stress. This situation needs to be resolved urgently.

The value of these businesses cannot be overlooked – they are part of the surviving fabric of Elephant and Castle, which is being steadily eroded in the face of the massive redevelopment of the area. Some of the traders were previously relocated from the Elephant & Castle Shopping Centre and now are facing displacement for a second time.

Not only do you have a planning duty to ensure businesses in the demolished shopping centre have a new home in the area, you have a moral duty to the long-standing community around Elephant and Castle to preserve its culture as best as possible.

Residents I have spoken to have described the last few years as “racialised displacement” and “cultural erasure”. This is what is at stake here – and it must not be allowed to continue.

I urge you to recognise the value of these traders, as the local community do, as I do, and treat them with the respect that they deserve.

Kind regards,

Zoë Garbett
Green Party Member of the London Assembly