Booming Bermondsey

According to the Evening Standard the population of London will hit an all time high next month,  exceeding the prevous record level of 8,615,000 in 1939.

After the war the population of London started to fall, and by the early 80s it had reached a low of 6.2m, with the reduction in population being most marked in the inner London boroughs. In those days I was a school teacher with the Inner London Education Authority and schools were being closed all over inner London because of falling school rolls.

Since then the city has attracted two million new residents and the population is set to reach the 10 million mark by 2030.

Currently London is growing by 100,000 people a year, the equivalent, says the Standard, 'of a new borough every three years.'

Here in Bermondsey the population is booming. The Bermondsey Spa development is now complete, with residents starting to move into the last part of it, the Porter Building (right) on Spa Rd just before Christmas.

Meanwhile developments continue apace at Chambers Wharf, in Old Jamaica Rd, and Drummond Rd, and more are planned for the biscuit factory site - and that's just in Bermondsey, that's to say nothing about the huge developments planned at Canada Water or at the Elephant.

The challenge is to develop the infrastructure at the same rate at the population grows (there is a particular challenge about school provision) and to maintain a good proportion of social housing and affordable homes in new developments at a time when property prices are rocketing.

But overall its good news.

Its good to be part of a community that people want to join, and didn't Jesus say something about the harvest that is to be reaped? Now there's a challenge for the churches in Bermondsey....