Elephant Park
Construction work resumed at Lendlease’s Elephant Park site in May.
Having signed-up to a new charter launched by the Government and the Home Builders Federation, and having undertaken a full safety review and risk assessment, Lendlease were able to get back to building the new homes already under construction on this major development project.
Key to the restart were measures to ensure workers could travel to the site, safely, and to ensure that they could maintain social distancing once there. Where practical, workers are not using public transport to reach Elephant Park and Lendlease has introduced a new shift pattern so that those workers who can’t avoid using public transport can at least avoid travelling at peak times.
Lendlease has reduced the size of the workforce, overall (compared to before lockdown) and has suspended those activities where social distancing cannot be maintained. They have also introduced measures such as one-way walkways and staircases to help workers avoid getting too close to one another.
All of these measures are being kept under review. If you have any questions or concerns you can contact the team at ele-ask@lendlease.com or call 020 3600 0001 and a member of the team will get back to you.
The Southwark Construction Skills Centre, based at Elephant Park, is also now back up and running with appropriate safety measures in place.
Having been used as a collection and distribution point for Personal Protective Equipment (for frontline health workers and others) during the height of the pandemic, it can now get back to doing what it does best: training local people who want to work in the construction industry.
Town Centre
Delancey’s scheme to create a new town centre for Elephant and Castle will involve redeveloping the shopping centre site and helping to relocate many of the businesses that trade there to other sites such as nearby Castle Square.
Originally the shopping centre was scheduled to close, permanently, at the end of July but the delays caused by the pandemic mean this has now been extended to 24 September.
The lockdown has meant that most of the businesses at the shopping centre, with a few notable exceptions, have been unable to operate since late March anyway. And, as with retailers throughout the country, this will have had a big impact on their businesses.
Delancey has helped by waiving rent and service charges for shopping centre traders and some of the businesses have also been able to get help from schemes operated by the Government and from support offered by Southwark Council.
The lockdown has also delayed work on building the temporary units at Castle Square that will enable many of the traders to continue operating while the shopping centre is redeveloped. However, work resumed in May with Delancey introducing a number of measures to ensure that workers can operate safely, in accordance with Government advice and while maintaining social distancing.
The work (which was already underway before lockdown began) is now expected to complete in time for the new retail units to open at the end of September. The revised closure date for the shopping centre will provide time for these units to be completed and also provide time for the traders to fit them out as they want.
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Return to the home page for the Elephant Magazine, Summer 2020