The Department of Community and Children’s Services has been granted planning approval to convert the ground floor of Great Arthur House into three much needed homes. This means that we must move the Estate Office from its present location.

The Housing Service had proposed that the Estate Manager, Michelle Warman, the Estate Officer, Ian Dowsett and the Customer Services Officer, Ruben Mendes, be relocated into the office in the Community Centre, but we know that not all residents support this plan and we are keen to investigate other options.

We know that there is a wealth of experience on the Golden Lane Estate and that the people who live here would like to contribute to the plans for its future.

We have arranged three workshops, to find out what everyone thinks and to hear your ideas.

The workshops will be run by independent facilitators from Southwark Mediation.

The feedback from the first two workshops will be published shortly after the second one has taken place. This will then form the basis of a third and final workshop.

The feedback we get will then inform the City’s decision on the location of the Estate Office and the designs for the new flats.

We look forward to hearing your views.

Workshop One will take place on June 17th from 6-8pm in the Golden Lane Community Centre and will focus on the location of the estate office, including:

• What other spaces are available on the Estate that could be used to house the Estate Office?
• What are the functions of the Estate office and Community Centre office?
• What are the financial and practical implications of the different ideas?

The workshop will last 2 hours and there will be further time afterwards for people to discuss their views with the facilitators.

Workshop Two will take place on July 11th from 6-8pm also at the Golden Lane Community Centre and will focus on the plans for the new flats.  More info here.

Workshop Three will be arranged and confirmed in due course. This will be shared with residents. This will take place after the feedback from the first two workshops has been compiled. It will be an opportunity for people to discuss the feedback and comments from the first two workshops, or to add their own comments if they could not attend these sessions.

If you can’t attend any of the workshops, you can still make your views known by:

Calling Dave Walker from Southwark Mediation on 07932 762 001

E-mailing your comments to davewalker@southwarkmediation.co.uk

Sending your comments in writing to the Estate Office, marked “Estate Office/Flats Consultation”