Hadley’s Hamlet man takes Time Out!

That’s time out to talk to the famous London listings magazine Time Out

Time Out are running a series of interviews with people in the property industry, and this week, in their fourth of the run, they took time out, if you’ll excuse the poor pun once more, to chat to our very own Matt Rimmer, from our owners Hadley Property Group, who oversees our football affairs for them.

Here’s what he had to say:

‘As developers we’re no strangers to hostility. Supporters of Dulwich Hamlet FC had their pitchforks out when Hadley bought the land the team’s ground stood on. So Hadley propped up the club, help pay of its (substantial) debts, and is now preparing to hand the club, complete with a new ground, back to the fans. There’s no denying it’s a commercial decision. Of course there’s profit in it for Hadley. But we couldn’t let a club go tits up on our watch. That’s what the cynics expected us to do.’

‘Find a common purpose with other stakeholders. When I first moved to London I was a musician in the warehouse district by Manor House. It was pretty creative, pretty wild. The council wanted to chuck us out, and the residents-a bunch of painters, trapeze artists and all sorts- didn’t have much common ground with the conservative, old-school landlords. I helped by acting as a go-between; we managed to align both sets of interests, and got the properties reclassified as live/work spaces. It can be done!’

‘The general public tend to know best. Councils often give developers a basic checklist: an NHS surgery, commercial units, investment in roads. Asking locals what they want is far more interesting. In Dulwich, for instance, we’ve included a subsidised gym for residents and local school kids. The local authority suggested adventure playgrounds and ziplines, but the neighbours weren’t keen, so now the scheme includes a popular wildlife preservation aspect with land set aside for hedgehogs and birds.’

‘Writing one letter is worth signing ten petitions. If you’re concerned about a proposed development, forget online petitions. I’ve spoken with MPs and they all agree it’s not enough to just click on a link. A single piece of engagement-a letter, an email-which is thoughtful and has clarity will carry far more weight.’