Activists from Greenwich People Before Profit take control of Mansion 88 - come and help!

5th April 2012

At 9am on Thursday campaigners from Greenwich People Before Profit peaceably entered 88 Eltham Road, SE12 8UE - a huge mansion owned by Greenwich Council which had been boarded up for about two years.

According to a previous resident, his family was evicted when the previous owner couldn't afford to renew the lease on the building and it became the property of the freeholder - the Mayor and Burgesses of the London Borough of Greenwich.

There are seven flats in the building which was not properly secured as you can see from the photo. After climbing over the plywood at the front door it was easy to get into the rest of the building because the front door had been left open!

Water has been restored to parts of the house, despite pipes having been ripped out, probably not by copper thieves (as many pipes remain) but perhaps merely to make it difficult to restore the supply. Our electricians are restoring the power via a pre-pay meter and we have started the task of cleaning the building to make it habitable.

Do come along and help this  Easter Monday and Tuesday 10th - please bring wallpaper scrapers, brooms, screwdrivers, claw hammers and rubbish bags.

There will be a meeting of housing activists at the house on Tuesday 10th April at 7pm to decide which parts to restore first and hear some proposals for the use of part of the building as a public art gallery.  All welcome.

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There will be a full meeting of Greenwich People Before Profit at 2pm on Saturday 14th April at the occupied Mansion 88 to discuss progress in the housing campaign, the GLA election and other matters. All welcome.