Aylesham Community Action have raised nearly £30,000 in one week in their battle against the development of the Aylesham Centre in Peckham.
Spearheaded by Ann Lalic and Siobhan McCarthy, the campaigners (ACA) have amassed nearly 60% of their £50,000 goal to fund their legal fees needed to take on Berkeley Homes – one of the UK’s largest house builders, responsible for building 10% of London’s new homes.
The ACA – largely comprised of Peckham’s residents and business owners – have declared their outrage at the developers plans to transform the Aylesham centre into luxury flats, significantly reducing the percentage of social housing from 35% to 12%.
McCarthy – who was born and raised in Peckham – shared her sadness over having to crowdfund to be able to give the community a voice.
McCarthy said: “Peckham is tiny compared to this giant Berkeley homes. So, we have to stand up. The community needs a voice.
“I see that development and the social and economic impacts it’s going to have, and I can’t tolerate that, and so many people I speak to are the same.”
The 47-year-old, who is the orchestrator of the group’s communications, is concerned over the lack of social housing.
She said: “27 houses are for intermediate housing, which is shared ownership, which is so called affordable, when that’s built and sold in other developments, it’s never affordable, and that does not meet any kind of need.
“In Peckham, you know at all, there’s 4000 people on the council waiting list.”
This sentiment is also felt by Peckham’s business owners.
A director of Parched Pubs, Neil Watson, said: “Peckham needs affordable housing with buildings that aren’t an eyesore. So alongside the community we can firmly say that this is not what we want or what we need.”
Campaigners intend to challenge Berkeley Homes in the upcoming October Inquiry.
McCarthy revealed the legal side of proceedings are being championed by Jed Holloway of Southwark Law Centre and barrister Hashi Mohamed, who specialises in planning and environmental law.
Legal action follows Berkeley Home’s decision to bypass Southwark Council’s planning committee, seeking permission from government instead – the developer has attributed this change to Southwark missing the deadline to process their application.
However, Councillor Helen Dennis said: “There is a huge need for more genuinely affordable homes in Southwark, and it’s very disappointing that Berkeley Homes has lowered its offer of affordable housing on the Aylesham Centre site.”
Berkeley’s decision to dramatically reduce social housing has led the council to reconsider the initial application.
Peckham MP, Miatta Fahnbulleh, has also displayed support for the ACA’s cause via X:
I support building homes on the Aylesham site- but they must include the right amount of social and affordable housing. With 18,000 on Southwark’s housing waiting list and thousands of kids in temporary accommodation, Berkeley’s 12% offer simply isn’t good enough. https://t.co/0otspsnpUU
— Miatta Fahnbulleh (@Miatsf) July 24, 2025
Their cause has drawn significant celebrity attention through comedy nights, pulling names such a Nish Kumar and James Acaster – who will performing on 3 October at Peckham Levels.
A Berkeley spokesperson said: “Private developments have to self-fund affordable housing without any public grant.
“Different developers have been trying to develop this site since 2014 and we have been working on the project since 2021.
“Meanwhile market conditions have declined and costs soared. This forced us to amend our planning application in December 2024, reducing the affordable housing so that the project can go ahead.
“The alternative is no housing gets delivered at all, and everybody loses.”
Featured image credit: Aylesham Community Action
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