Elephant & Castle shopping centre to avoid demolition

Plans for the regeneration of the Elephant & Castle, gateway to the south, appear to be unraveling, with the owners of the shopping centre reportedly considering abandoning plans to demolish it.

Despite installing the world's most elaborate roundabout crossing scheme to make the area more pedestrian friendly, plans to make significant changes to the road layout have been scrapped, while new height limits introduced by the Mayor have caused problems for the cluster of tall buildings and related open spaces envisaged by the original master plan.

Despite these setbacks, it appears that Oakmayne Plaza, a mixed use scheme that includes a Bermondsey Square-esque development, including a cinema, hotel and public square, is finally getting underway, having lain as a sad pile of masonry on the New Kent Road for many years.