Southwark Labour's Val Shawcross has spoken out against the Lib Dems plans to sell-off Maydew House, a tower block of council housing in Rotherhithe, after only two weeks consultation with local residents. She is warning that the only way to save Maydew House is for a Labour victory in the local elections in May.

The decision to sell was originally due to be made by the Lib Dem/Tory Executive Committee last Tuesday (09/02/2010) only 19 days after many residents first heard about the money-making scheme.

The sale would have meant they would have been forced to leave their homes within months. But while the decision has now been put back until June, thanks to pressure from local tenants, leaseholders and Labour politicians, Val fears that the Lib Dems will plough ahead with plan if they win the council elections in May.

Val Shawcross, London Assembly Member for Lambeth & Southwark and Parliamentary Candidate for Bermondsey & Old Southwark said:

"From my years as London Assembly Member for Southwark I have seen the highhanded and incompetent way in which Southwark’s LibDem/Tory Council treats its tenants and leaseholders. Even so I was shocked to hear of their plans to force people out of their homes to sell the block to private developers and the complete lack of consultation about it. I’m pleased that the council has extended the consultation, but I fear that in reality this is just a cynical move to delay the decision until after the local elections."

"Labour on the Council is committed to treating tenants and residents with respect and having a genuine and open consultation. The only way to save Maydew House is for Labour to win the local elections in May. If the Liberal Democrats and Tories win again they will bulldoze the residents out of the way and press ahead with selling the estate regardless of local opinion. And who knows which estates are next on their sell off list!"

"When I spoke to residents this week they told me how friendly and safe the estate is. Many other councils would be envious of having achieved that sense of cohesion in an estate and it would be a tragedy to shatter such a community for the sake of a few million pounds profit."