In 1997, Tony Blair chose the Aylsebury Estate as the perfect place to deliver his first Prime-Ministerial speech, promising an end to so-called "no hope areas." Four years later Michael Howard chose the estate as a backdrop for his speech on how New Labour had failed. In the following weeks the estate was kicked round the press like a political football, a living image of everything that was wrong with Britain. The Sunday People wrote that, "Estates like the Aylesbury are where the new generation of drunks, junkies, muggers and wreckers are growing up now." Yet more cynical was the Daily Mail, writing that, "to walk around the sprawling landscape of the Aylesbury estate is like visiting hell's waiting room."
The reality is that these accounts are as close to accurate portrayal as the disinfected and fragranced stairwell from which Blair made his speech over a decade ago. After the reporters had gone, the residents returned to feeling misrepresented and betrayed.
Tucked behind the far end of Walworth Road, the sprawling estate is home to roughly 7,500 residents making it the largest housing estate in Europe. Built between 1967 and 1976, it is in line for demolition like the Heygate Estate up the road. It is in such a poor state of repair that Southwark Council have decided to tear it down and start afresh. In a project that will involve the current residents being shunted around the estate and neighbouring tower blocks, everything is going to be rebuilt over the next 15 years. Most of the streets in the sky were torn down 18 months ago in an attempt to stem the muggings and burglaries that have plagued the estate since the 1980s, the rest will make way for leafy boulevards as part of the wider regeneration and gentrification of the area.
As with many such estates, it is hard to draw out the truth of the situation. The New Deal for Communities saw Aylesbury being in receipt of £56.2 million. There have been improvements: more lighting in corridoors, a new playground, street wardens now patrol the estate. 55% of children now gain 5 A-Cs at GCSE yet a crime is still committed on the estate every 4 hours. A chilling reminder that the Aylesbury has a way to go was served up on Boxing Day of 2007 when a man was stabbed to death. His body lay unreported in a communal garden for 24 hours.
The residents of the Aylesbury relate a long tale of being neglected by the council, demonised in the media and used as politicians for little more than a photo opportunity. Broken heating, broken lifts, broken promises. Will Southwark Council finally deliver with the regeneration project or will it be the same story as it was in the 60s, when Elephant and Castle bore the brunt of poorly realised political dreams and architectural vision? The recession may yet see the whole project being massively delayed or scrapped entirely, considering the pace that developments with the shopping centre and the Heygate Estate further up Walworth Road have slowed to. It is clear that those further up the greasy pole are keen to cash in on the potential returns that an area so close to the city can offer but as per usual, council tenants appear to be at the bottom of the list.
The reality is that these accounts are as close to accurate portrayal as the disinfected and fragranced stairwell from which Blair made his speech over a decade ago. After the reporters had gone, the residents returned to feeling misrepresented and betrayed.
Tucked behind the far end of Walworth Road, the sprawling estate is home to roughly 7,500 residents making it the largest housing estate in Europe. Built between 1967 and 1976, it is in line for demolition like the Heygate Estate up the road. It is in such a poor state of repair that Southwark Council have decided to tear it down and start afresh. In a project that will involve the current residents being shunted around the estate and neighbouring tower blocks, everything is going to be rebuilt over the next 15 years. Most of the streets in the sky were torn down 18 months ago in an attempt to stem the muggings and burglaries that have plagued the estate since the 1980s, the rest will make way for leafy boulevards as part of the wider regeneration and gentrification of the area.
As with many such estates, it is hard to draw out the truth of the situation. The New Deal for Communities saw Aylesbury being in receipt of £56.2 million. There have been improvements: more lighting in corridoors, a new playground, street wardens now patrol the estate. 55% of children now gain 5 A-Cs at GCSE yet a crime is still committed on the estate every 4 hours. A chilling reminder that the Aylesbury has a way to go was served up on Boxing Day of 2007 when a man was stabbed to death. His body lay unreported in a communal garden for 24 hours.
The residents of the Aylesbury relate a long tale of being neglected by the council, demonised in the media and used as politicians for little more than a photo opportunity. Broken heating, broken lifts, broken promises. Will Southwark Council finally deliver with the regeneration project or will it be the same story as it was in the 60s, when Elephant and Castle bore the brunt of poorly realised political dreams and architectural vision? The recession may yet see the whole project being massively delayed or scrapped entirely, considering the pace that developments with the shopping centre and the Heygate Estate further up Walworth Road have slowed to. It is clear that those further up the greasy pole are keen to cash in on the potential returns that an area so close to the city can offer but as per usual, council tenants appear to be at the bottom of the list.
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