Below is a copy of the letter we are sending to local residents following the successful campaign to get planning permission for a new local bakery on Brixton Road. Congratulations also to the South London Press for their coverage of the story!
Dear Resident,
We expect you may have heard the outcome of the campaign for the Di Lieto family, whose plan to get baking again at on the corner of South Island Place and Brixton had been blocked by Lambeth Council.
Its taken us a bit of time to send out this "round robin" to thank and update residents and supporters - we had so many letters and emails of support to catch up with.
Labour run Lambeth Council has had a quite a reputation over the years as "loopy" Lambeth.
But the Council's opposition to a local family business, long-established baking real bread and confectionery - was so loopy it astonished even us.
Fortunately we have powers as ward Councillors which allowed us to step in and insist on a public hearing. We met the Di Lietos’ and their architect and we went through all the efforts that they had made to meet the Councils successive objections - hoping and almost expecting that the Council would change their mind. But we saw from the report the council published only a few days before the hearing that they weren’t budging.
Di Lietos had baked at south Lambeth road, for over 27 years, greatly to the approval of customers and neighbours – as many people recalled in their messages of support. When the senior generation retired those premises closed – but the family then intended to reopen the bakery at Brixton Road, premises which they had owned throughout. Having let the front shop, they planned to rebuild the old bakery on its original round the back – with a new shop counter facing onto South Island Place. The site has never been anything other than a bakery – there is a sign on the wall that has been there for a hundred years; a number of supporters also recalled it as Wilson’s bakery, and said how pleased they will be to see it reopen.
But it was a nerve-racking evening with the Council opened its case by restating its opposition, citing the bizarre grounds that:
- The bakery (they said) would cause smells and fumes.
- The shop window, in South Island Place they said, would intrude on a residential area, and “commercialise” the side street. (Even though their own planning policy says the site is part of Brixton Road shopping area)
- The bakery (they said) would weaken the shopping parade on Brixton Road.
Then the committee heard the other side of the story.
A resident nearby to the Di Lietos’ previous premises on South Lambeth Road said that there had never been any such complaint of nuisance in all the years that she had lived there, and that while neighbours were sorry if the shop moved they were pleased to have it open again nearby.
Another resident near the proposed premises, submitted that they would welcome the new shop, including former nearby neighbours who remembered it when it had previously been in operation under its old proprietors, and who said that it had caused no nuisance.
Councillor Andrew Sawdon told the hearing that ward Councillors had a huge postbag and bag of emails on this. People were saying that baking is one of the best smells in the world, - we agree - and they were aghast that there was a threat to something that would be such a wonderful local amenity.
Comments included: “Councils should be supporting local shops, supporting family business like this, which add so much to our community. And our diet”; "I live in Hackford Road and I hope the smell of baking bread will waft this far"
It was a u-turn that involved some backtracking from people involved in the decision who might otherwise have been expected to have stood by the original proposal. Finally the Councillor responsible for planning application said to the meeting that he would not normally do this, but he would now support the refusal being overturned. Maybe he was thinking about what he might be reading in the national press if he did otherwise!
And so are pleased to report that the refusal was overturned – Di Lieto got their permission, and we are sure that it was largely due to the overwhelming level of public support they received!
PS people are asking when the bakery will re-open. Please be patient, as Giovanni and Alex Di Lieto have to build the new bakery yet (they are doing the building work themselves) . We will keep people updated.
