What is going on with the trees?

Peabody are going to do the bare minimum: plant 9 trees

When Peabody and Bellway built Pembury Circus / Atkins Square, they were required by Hackney Council as part of the planning permission to plant a specified number of trees. They have not done this, and some trees that were planted have died. As a result, they are deciding where to plant some more trees.

Peabody told the Residents’ Association that they want residents’ views on precisely what trees that they will plant. However, they are limiting this to only 9 trees. Peabody also have to plant additional gardens on Dalston Lane. They hope that this might improve the flooding that often occurs outside the Vincent and Community Centre.

This diagram illustrates the trees currently on site. These have been located over a base which is the existing built scheme.
The total number currently is 23.

Peabody’s options: spot the difference

Peabody have created 2 options for what trees to plant. They say that they will choose the option that receives the support of the majority of residents voting. (You can give your views in the Residents’ Association survey here.) The two options are almost identical. Both plans include identical trees on Pembury Road and Dalston Lane: only 5 trees are different across the two plans.

We have lobbied Peabody to improve the state of planting across the whole of the Pembury Estate, and to actually engage with residents. So far they haven’t. At the end of this post we explain what our discussions with Peabody have involved.

Option 1

Option 2

Landscaping for both options

What’s wrong with Peabody’s approach?

In November 2024 Peabody invited the Committee of the Residents’ Association to a meeting about “additional tree planting” in the Pembury area. We hoped this was the start of a discussion about improving the landscaping across the whole Pembury Estate. It was not.

Since our meeting with them, Peabody have ignored our requests for information about funding to improve the landscaping and tree planting across the Estate. This raises the following issues:

Peabody backed out of an agreement to work with the Residents’ Association to consult residents. It was agreed that we would do a survey of residents and provide the results to Peabody. Despite their original agreement, Peabody have refused to provide residents with a link to our survey on landscaping and tree planting.
Peabody are not consulting residents about landscaping across the entire Estate. They want to do the minimum possible. They have set up their own survey which they will send to residents in the next couple of days, giving two almost identical options for you to choose from. This is their idea of resident engagement and democracy.

It is up to residents of Pembury Circus whether they fill in Peabody’s survey when they receive it. We advise you not to, because it simply provides approval for Peabody’s approach. The more people who vote in Peabody’s survey, the less they will feel the need to listen to residents’ detailed views.

What can you do?

We urge all residents – leaseholders, tenants, and private renters – to fill in the Residents’ Association’s survey on tree planting. This gives you the opportunity to provide detailed feedback to Peabody about what you think needs to be improved on the Estate.

Peabody say they will count feedback that the Resident’s Association gathers directly from residents. As a result, there is no need to fill in Peabody’s own survey. Filling in the Peabody survey in addition to the Residents’ Association’s survey would be a waste of time.

You can provide your views on Peabody’s options here, in the Residents’ Association survey.

The Residents’ Association continues to lobby Peabody to improve planting of trees and landscaping across the Pembury Estate, and not only Pembury Circus / Atkins Square. You can get involved with the Residents’ Assocation to help: come to our monthly General Meetings and help set the Residents’ Association’s priorities.