Protesters ask Church Commissioners to choose - Palm branch or... Thirty pieces of silver?

In April the Church Commissioners were faced with the choice - a palm branch or thirty pieces of silver.

Around 150 people including several Southwark clergy joined a march to the Commissioners Lambeth HQ on Monday of Holy Week, April 9, to protest at plans to commercialise the Octavia Hill Estates.

Proposals to charge market rents on the majority of properties as they become vacant could see them double to as much as £1,500 per month on over 1,000 homes.

At the Elizabeth Street SE1 offices, they offered the Commissioners the choice -a palm branch, symbolising the honour which Jesus received on Palm Sunday or the 'traitors purse' of 30 silver coins. Not surprisingly, the Commissioners chose the palm branch and tenants hope that means they will abandon the proposals. The protesters also presented a petition with over 500 local signatures, calling on the Commissioners to reaffirm their 100 year commitment to the Christian vision which formed the estates - quality homes at affordable rents for people on lower incomes.

Local MP's Kate Hoey and Simon Hughes, and ward councillors also joined the protest. Kate Hoey, MP for Vauxhall said, "Support shown by so many people today should make the Commissioners think again. We are not going to allow valuable social housing to be lost. The campaign will continue."

The Archdeacon of Southwark, Ven Douglas Bartles-Smith said recently in a sermon: "There have always been those amongst the Commissioners who have been tempted to opt in favour of whatever will pay best. To remember Octavia Hill means to resist this, as she did a hundred years ago and as we must do today."

The Church Commissioners emphasise that their proposals for the Octavia Hill estates include major improvements and a mix of market rents and some property at affordable rents which would be offered to key workers, such as bus drivers, teachers, nurses and the police.

The benefit, they say, is that the estates and their environment would be enhanced, the Commissioners would be helping to meet housing need in the local community, and the proposals would both help finance the upgrade and generate money for the support of the Church's social mission in communities throughout the country. They add that existing tenants' rights would be unaffected by the proposals, and they are subject to consultation with local clergy and residents.

The Commissioners' Chief Surveyor, Andrew Brown FRICS, said: "This would be a significant change and we want to hear the views of others before we take it further. But our hope is that, in time, and with the assent of those involved, we can move forward with a plan that will be good for the community, good for London and good for the Church and its mission." However, the protesters, including local clergy, were unpersuaded.

The Rev. Benny Hazlehurst, Estates Outreach Worker in the Southwark Archdeaconry, and a member of General Synod, said: "These proposals fly in the face of everything the Church stands for. If adopted, they will remove over 1,000 homes from hard pressed social housing. Over 100 years of commitment to people on low incomes will be thrown away. It will increase social exclusion, and could lead to the break up of the communities which have been a feature of these estates for generations."

Why the Octavia Hill legacy matters ->