Paul McGlone's speech at the opening of the Diamond Way Buddhist Centre at the Beaufoy Institute

Earlier this month the Beaufoy Institute reopened its doors after years of lying empty and neglected. It's now the home of the Diamond Way Buddhist Centre, after Lambeth Council took the decision to sell the site and use the proceeds to invest in our community's priorities. Lambeth's Cabinet Member for Finance Councillor Paul McGlone made the following speech at the event:

There is a saying attributed to Mark Twain that “History Does Not Repeat Itself, but It Rhymes”.

That is the sentiment I feel most today standing in this beautiful building that has many ‘ribbons of history’ that rhyme with Lambeth’s past, present and now its future around education, learning and arts.    

The lovely red-brick facade of the Beaufoy Institute has looked over Black Prince Road in Lambeth for more than a century, and has always stopped people in their tracks with its beautiful architecture and artistry.

I am personally fascinated with the connection of this building and the progressive Doulton family and the history of Lambeth Doulton ceramics and pottery.

My understanding is that this building was built using a patented Doulton Tile system, and a Doulton was one of the original school governors of the institute.

Others are best place to reflect on the heyday of the Beaufoy Institute as a place of learning. But I would like to introduce the friend I brought with me, Mr Roger Bowdery, who went to school here at the Beaufoy Institute 55 years ago!

The many wonderful connections with Lambeth’s past that connect with this building must be captured for the future, and I hope they are.  

But fast forward to more recent times and Lambeth Council’s involvement.

I first came to this building in 2007 when I was Cabinet Member for Regeneration and then in 2008 as Cabinet member for Children and Young People.

Having stood empty and neglected for some years, there was a strong proposal to turn it into a museum for a collection of De Mogan ceramics. But that proposition floundered.

This was followed with a very real proposal to turn the building into a school again, an Arts and Crafts Academy, with an educational sponsor and backing from the Prince of Wales Trusts. But that plan also faltered to.

In a different role in 2010, as Cabinet Member for Finance, I made the decision to disposal of the building and the adjacent property and land, with the expectation that the Institute building would have a new lease of life.

Sometimes in local government you have to realise that you have to ‘let go’ to allow better things to happened. And that is what has happened here. What has been achieved has benefited everyone.

Buy disposing of the property, the sale proceeds of approx. £7 million have allowed

1. The Beaufoy Trust, of which all Lambeth councillors have historically been ‘corporate trustees’, to be financially endowed with £1.2m of funds to use for updated philanthropic purposes, as the Beaufoy family originally intended.

2. From the £600,000 Section 106 contributions, local ward councillors (Stephen Morgan, Lorna Campbell and Mark Harrison) were clear they wanted the local community to share in the benefits.

So to support Lambeth's co-operative work to give citizens greater control over their neighbourhoods, decisions have been made to spend more than £200,000 on such things as computers at Durning Library, Lollard Street Adventure Playground, re-landscaping outside Coverley Point and work into the greening of Tyers Street.

3. Importantly, I recommended to the Cabinet in July 2012 that the balance of funds of £5.6m be ‘ring fenced’ and have now been invested directly in building Lambeth schools, thus benefitting future generations of young people.

4. And now finally, by you acquiring it and conversion into the London Diamond Way Buddhist Centre, the Beaufoy Institute building has a new lease of life.

This wasn't without its difficulties! Some have said that the planning application was the second most controversial one of recent times!

But the positive outcomes of Lambeth Council's decision to grant planning permission to Diamond Way Buddhist Centre to purchase the Beaufoy Institute are now self-evident.

I also know that Diamond Way Centre will work with the local community to ensure there is a community resource for all to share.

Equally, I know my colleague Councillor Lorna Campbell is pleased and has worked to ensure that the Buddhist Centre is part of the ‘Faiths Together in Lambeth’.

This is our borough-wide independent interfaith organisation that fosters constructive relationships among religious communities, and promotes interfaith involvement in civic life in Lambeth. This relationship is really welcome.

So in concluding, all I can say personally is that I wish this centre all the best for the future, and hope it will always be a place of peace, contemplation and learning.

Thank you.

Pictured: Prince's Labour candidates Chris Marsh, Joanne Simpson and David Amos with Leader of the Council Lib Peck outside the Beaufoy Institute

Beaufoy Institute planning approval unlocks investment for our area

On Tuesday evening Lambeth's Planning Committee approved two applications for the Beaufoy Institute site, between Black Prince Road and Sancroft Street.

The first application was from Diamond Way Buddhism, who plan to restore the historic building and use it as a Buddhist community centre with accommodation, a cafe and a contemplation garden.

The second application was from Bellway Homes, who plan to build a residential building of 75 homes on the car park to the rear of the Beaufoy Institute site.

The approval of the schemes completes a agreement made with the Council which releases a disused site for development, provides £7.5 million to the Council to invest in vital capital works (schools, housing and pavements), provides £1.5 million to Beaufoy Trust so it can fund work to help young people get into work, and provides 75 much needed homes, 40% of which will be affordable.

Local councillors have also negotiated a £200 000 'community pot' for our area, funded by this sale and development. We'll be consulting with residents over the coming weeks to decide how the money should be spent for maximum benefit.

Councillor Stephen Morgan spoke in favour of the applications at the planning meeting, and all three ward councillors supported the project as the best deal possible for our area. The site has sat empty for years, and we are delighted that the Beaufoy is finally going to be brought back into use.

Beaufoy Institute planning applications

Planning applications for the two parts of the Beaufoy Institute site have now been submitted.

You can now visit the Council's planning site to view the plans and comment on them.

http://planning.lambeth.gov.uk/online-applications/search.do?action=simple&searchType=Application

The plans are as follows.

REF: 12/01173/RG4
Erection of a new part 3/part 8 storey buildings comprising of 75 new residential units on the southern part of the site, including landscaping, cycle parking and associated works. 39 Black Prince Road London SE11 6JJ

REF:12/01101/RG4
Change of use to provide residential institute (Use Class C2), residential (Use Class C3) and community (Use Class D1), (24 private bedrooms, 1 dormitary and 2 self contained flats), involving a 3 storey rear extension and a ground, first and second floor extensions. Alterations to the existing fenestration with the removal of an external staircase, replacement of existing single glazed windows with crittal double glazed windows. Formation of a terrace to the rear elevation, with the installation of a ramp. Installation of solar panels and replacement of existing rooflights to the rear elevation. Internal alterations to include, removal and installation of new partition walls, creation of new staircases and corridors. Installation of new pedestrian and vehicular access gates with the provision of off street car parking, cycle storage refuse and recycling and assocaiated landscaping. [Town Planning and Listed Building Consent] 39 Black Prince Road London SE11 6JJ

The two developers have provided some more information about their plans:

Bellway

Following pre-application consultation, Bellway has now submitted plans
for the development of 75 new homes on the former playground behind the Beaufoy
Building on the corner of Vauxhall Street and Sancroft Street.

The homes include

• a mix of affordable including both rented accommodation and shared ownership and private housing


• cycle parkingon site


• open space for residents of the scheme.

Additionally, there will be substantial section 106 contributions for local infrastructure.


Diamond Way

Planning application submitted for the Beaufoy Institute

Following local community consultation, the planning proposal to bring the historic Beaufoy Institute and Annex back to life has been submitted by Diamond Way Buddhism. The plan will:

· Fully renovate the Beaufoy Institute, with minimal changes to the listed building
· Provide space for community living including common dining and children’s areas.
· Include a contemplation garden, exhibition room and facilities for events and meetings.
· Provide accommodation for the Buddhists living at the centre and visitors.

The community consultation has highlighted interest in the history of the building and in the transformation of the derelict site. The renovation will provide opportunities for local people to be involved in the project and also visit and use the building for different events and community activities.

The primary activity in the institute will be Buddhist meditation and an associated program including art exhibitions and classes on wellbeing. Funds have been raised for the project from within the Buddhist community and have come from many activities in the last 10 years both in the UK and in Europe.

For more information, see www.buddhism-london.org. There is also a regularly updated blog at http://www.buddhism-london.org/blog

Contracts exchanged on the Beaufoy site

We can today announce that Lambeth Council has exchanged contracts to sell the Beaufoy Building and surrounding land.

As you may know the council owns the car park which is being sold to Bellway Homes. The Beaufoy Building and space around it is owned by the Beaufoy Trust and that will be sold to the Tibetan Buddhist Charity, Diamond Way Buddhism.

The sale of both sites will generate around £9 million. Around £7.5m will go to the council and will contribute towards the Council's Capital Programme that is used to fund housing, roads, schools, leisure centres etc. About £1.5m will go to the Beaufoy Trust. After years of having all their money tied up in an unused building and, therefore, not actually helping anyone they will finally have the money to fulfill their objectives;

“The object of the [Beaufoy Trust] charity is the promotion of the education for the public benefit of persons under the age of 25 who are in need of financial assistance and resident in the area of benefit, with a preference for the promotion of vocational training.”

On top of this 40% of all the homes that Bellway will build on the site will be affordable.

Finally, a sum of £200,000 has been ring fenced and will be spent in Kennington on local projects. Your three councillors will be making the decision on what to spend the money on and we shall be back in touch with everyone in the near future in order to get ideas of what to spend the money on.

Buddhist Centre Scheme

The Beaufoy is an iconic local building and a lot of residents will want to know what plans there are for its future. The scheme proposes a mixed-use building which has three predominant functions:

1) Community facility
2) Place for meditation and education
3) Residential accommodation

The building would be occupied by Diamond Way Buddhism, a registered charity centred on Buddhist philosophy in the Tibetan tradition. They intend to offer a facility which would primarily be used by the Buddhist community but would also seek to engage with and benefit local communities.

At the heart of the building, largely within the historic Grade II listed section, the facility would offer a large meditation/teaching space within the existing lecture/assembly hall. There would also be a library, exhibition space, seminar room, meeting rooms, offices and a general welcome area. These areas and rooms would all be at ground and first floor levels and would form the primary location for the charity's work in terms of its public activity.

The refurbished buildings and the proposed extensions would also provide various types of residential accommodation at ground, first and second floor levels of the building which would support a community of permanent residents and guests.

Public Meetings

As you may be keen to meet the prospective new owners and find out more about who they are and what there plans are, public meetings are planned with Diamond Way Buddhism and Bellway Homes.

This will be where the planning application will be presented and discussed so that the local community will be able to give their views on what is proposed. Both Bellway and Diamond Way are introducing themselves at tonight’s KOV meeting.

Diamond Way Buddhism is holding a drop-in session 6pm-9pm, next Thursday 2 February at the Tea House Theatre, 139 Vauxhall Walk, SE11 5HL. This is in advance of their submitting their planning application as they seek your contribution and input to the renovation of the Beaufoy Institute whilst the project is still in its early stages.

The Future

At this stage we have exchanged contracts with the two groups. We will not complete the sale until they have both received planning permission for their schemes.

Everyone will have an opportunity to view the plans and comment on them when they are submitted to the planning department.

If, and when, planning permission is granted, we shall be in touch with all residents and community groups to discuss what projects you would like to spend our £200,000 windfall on.

We hope to see you at the meetings.