A woman who fought the gentrification of the south London council estate that has been her home for 30 years has won a high court battle against the local authority for its misuse of planning law.
Aysen Dennis, 65, who lives on Aylesbury estate in Southwark, said on Wednesday that the decision was “brilliant, brilliant news” and that she had begun preparations for a big party.
Her judicial review against Southwark council and the housing provider Notting Hill Genesis challenged amendments to the wording of planning permission about the redevelopment of the estate.
The new wording that was pushed through as a “non-material amendment” made it easier to wave through changes that had not been previously agreed with residents without making a new application. This included issues such as making proposed buildings higher.
The case sets a precedent that will be watched closely by councils and developers, who increasingly rely on “drop in” planning permissions to change parts of large developments.
The judge, Justice Holgate, said he was “in no doubt” that the new wording made a material difference to Southwark council’s original plan and was therefore unlawful. The judgment was handed down on Wednesday after a hearing in November.
Dennis has said she believes demolishing council blocks and replacing them often with mixed-use homes – which can also feature homes for sale or private rent – amounts to “social cleansing”.
She said: “It is incredible because at last justice is done. They were wrong, we were right and we exposed them.”
Last year, Dennis was moved to a new two-bedroom council flat with panoramic views of the park, which was part of a new block bought back by Southwark council for £193m in 2020.
Dennis believes she was moved there in the hope that she might stop campaigning, though Southwark council denies this.
She said she was determined to carry on her fight. “They sold off the community at the end of the day,” she said. “It’s going to be a very good example for everyone, for developers to realise [what they can’t do]. And also to campaigners, to give everyone the courage to keep fighting.”
She said: “This needs to be celebrated. They used to say when people got married they celebrated for 40 days and nights and that’s what we’re going to do. We’re going to celebrate every day because it’s really big news, not just for us but for all campaigners.”
Dennis had tried to prevent the demolition of her two-bedroom flat in the original Aylesbury estate block that she lived in for 30 years, even opening it up for an anti-gentrification exhibition.
The case was brought amid a wider trend of social housing being replaced with expensive private properties. It hinged on the addition of the word “severable” to the broader planning permission granted to the regeneration project. This made it easier to tweak structures within it, without needing to apply for new permission.
Granting Dennis’s challenge, Holgate wrote that he had “strong reservations … about the legality of an amendment to a planning permission which simply inserts language as uncertain as the bare term ‘severable’”.
Aylesbury estate was once the location of more than 2,000 council homes. The case focused on the second phase of its redevelopment, which proposed a reduction of social-rented homes in favour of shared ownership and at least 50% privatisation.
Helen Dennis, a Southwark council cabinet member for new homes and sustainable development, said: “We are reviewing the high court’s ruling on this judicial review, which rested on a highly technical planning argument that previously had no precedence in law.
“It is disappointing that this decision will mean delays to building new homes for residents, but our plans to replace the original homes that were badly built in the 1960s are still in train.”
She said the new phase of building at the Aylesbury estate was “the largest single council house build project in the country” and would deliver more than 580 new council homes at traditional social rents as well as a new medical centre, care facility and library.
A Notting Hill Genesis spokesperson said the group was disappointed with the decision and considering its options. They added that the estate “remains in desperate need of regeneration” and that the judgment was “bad news for residents as it delays the desperately needed construction of brand new, high-quality homes. We are very pleased that some tenants, including the complainant in this case, have already been able to move into the quality, safe, energy-efficient homes being built here, but it is disappointing that others will now be deprived of that same opportunity for the foreseeable future.”
Alexandra Goldenberg and Saskia O’Hara at the Public Interest Law Centre, who brought the claim, said: “Today is a win for Ms Dennis and her community who seek accountability and justice from Notting Hill Genesis and Southwark council in their endeavours to demolish the Aylesbury estate.
“We are hopeful that today’s ruling has far-reaching consequences in favour of estate residents across the country who feel powerless to affect change on the land they call home. This judgment should serve as a warning to developers who disregard historical masterplans and the promises they make to communities in the process of gentrification.”
