In January 2026 we launched a campaign for the public adoption of the park area in Elephant Park.
Who pays for Elephant Park?
At the centre of the £2.3 billion Elephant Park development sits a new, 2-acre public park, filled with mature trees and new planting.
Residents in Elephant Park, including South Gardens, pay disproportionately high service charges due to underlying agreements between Southwark Council and the developer, Lendlease.
Under the Section 106 (which you can download here), Southwark Council included a clause (20.12) that forces businesses and residents in the development to “manage and maintain” the park area “at no cost to the council”.
This means the park area is “unadopted” – ie. no public funds are used to manage and maintain the area. It is privately funded.
The cost of upkeep therefore falls to leaseholders who live or own businesses in the estate to fund the park’s upkeep.
Why we launched the campaign to adopt the park
We believe this is fundamentally unfair, with residents and leaseholders effectively paying twice for what, in effect, is a public service. Like other residents in the borough, we pay council tax; however no funds from our council tax bills contribute towards the maintenance of the park.
Instead, the park is funded through the estate-wide service charge paid by all residents and businesses. As a result, our service charge is approximately 15% higher than it would be for a development without such a provision.
Timeline of events
January 2026
The South Gardens Residents Association and Arum & Henderson Residents Association jointly launch the campaign mandate the public adoption of unadopted estates.
February 2026
Our public campaign was submitted to Matthew Pennycook MP ahead of government consultation on reducing the prevalence of private managed estates. Pennycook is Minister for Housing.
March 2026
We received a response from Baroness Taylor of Stevenage, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Housing and Local Government, promising to include our petition as part of the consultative process on the issue.
South Gardens Residents' Association 