New bridge mural at Old Kent Road

A new colourful mural celebrating the area’s diversity has been unveiled at Old Kent Road bridge.

The artwork features spaces and buildings in Old Kent Road that help connect people and give a sense of 'a home from home'. This includes places of worship, restaurants and community halls.

The mural falls under Southwark Stands Together, Southwark Council's race equality programme.

The brief was developed with the local community including residents, businesses and the Southwark Young Advisors. The team also worked closely with children from Kender Primary School on the designs, with the school’s art specialist Nicola McCaffrey playing a key role in the process.

She said: “The project offered our Year 6 children the opportunity to experience firsthand the process of taking an initial design brief through to completion and seeing their designs interpreted on the bridge. This reallife experience gave the children confidence and I am sure will have a lasting impact as they move on to secondary school.”

The project is one part of the wider transformation of Old Kent Road. At full Council Assembly, it was agreed that the proposed growth strategy for the area (known as the Old Kent Road Area Action Plan) was ready to go to final statutory consultation before being submitted to the Planning Inspector.

Thousands of local people and businesses have provided feedback on different versions of the plan since the council began consulting in 2016, helping inform the final submission version. This includes:

• The delivery of the Bakerloo line extension

• 20,000 homes, of which at least 7,000 would be affordable

•10,000 new jobs

• A network of youth facilities at locations including 231 Old Kent Road, Leyton Square, Frensham Street Park and the Tustin estate

• Four new parks at Mandela Way, at the old gasworks, along the old Grand Surrey Canal route and at Frensham Street

Since 2018, Southwark Council has approved 9,500 homes – an average of 1,500 approvals per year. Over 3,000 homes have been built, under construction or about to start on site, of which 51 per cent are affordable and 30 per cent are social rent.

Cllr Helen Dennis, Cabinet Member for New Homes and Sustainable Development, said: “It is so fitting that Old Kent Road’s beautiful new mural centres on the theme of ‘home’. It’s part of our renewal of the area which is bringing thousands of much-needed new homes to

Old Kent Road. We are greenlighting more new home planning consents in Old Kent Road than any other opportunity area in London, strengthening the case for funding of the Bakerloo line extension.

“Our Area Action Plan for Old Kent Road is about making sure local people reap all the benefits of the area’s future growth and development. It sets out how Old Kent Road will evolve with an innovative mix of new homes, parks, shops and industry, working side by side in this thriving neighbourhood.”

“It is so fitting that Old Kent Road’s beautiful new mural centres on the theme of ‘home’. It’s part of our renewal of the area which is bringing thousands of much-needed new homes to Old Kent Road."