Councillors in Bermondsey & Rotherhithe have lodged a cross-party protest against the failure of the council to proceed with plans to extend the Edward III’s Rotherhithe Conservation Area to include all of Bermondsey Wall East.

Bermondsey & Rotherhithe Community Council considered the proposed extension to the conservation area back in March 2013, recommending that Southwark’s planning committee should formally designate the expanded conservation area.

The proposal would have brought key buildings such as the Old Justice pub, Angel Wharf and Corbetts Wharf into the scope of the existing conservation area which covers the area around the Edward III manor house.

However, the proposal has never been referred to the borough’s planning committee and no further action has been taken for more than two years.

At Saturday’s Bermondsey & Rotherhithe Community Council, councillors from across the political divide joined forces to ask the planning department to explain the delay.

The motion – tabled by Lib Dem Anood Al-Samerai and seconded by Labour’s Bill Williams – said:

Bermondsey & Rotherhithe Community Council regrets the decision of the planning department to ignore and override the views of elected members in failing to designate the Edward III conservation area extension.

We call on the planning department and cabinet member to designate the extension or attend the next community council to explain how the views of the community will be enacted.

The next community council meeting is scheduled for Saturday 17 October.