A decision is taken behind closed doors by Southwark's Regeneration chief Fred Manson to include the Heygate estate within the wider regeneration of Elephant & Castle. His report acknowledges that 'This overall proposal raises very big issues which involve a large number of different interest groups. Even raising such matters can lead to difficulties.' It therefore proposes to 'balance time for discussion of these matters with maintaining a momentum.'
Source: June 24 1998 report from Fred Manson (Southwark's Director of Regeneration
In March 1999, Fred Manson flew to MIPIM in the South of France - a property developers' jamboree, where he described the brief for Elephant and Castle as “It’s a blank canvas – anything is possible – we can demolish houses, take away roads, anything.”
Source: https://www.architectsjournal.co.uk/archive/pigs-might-fly-over-londons-white-elephant
In the same month he said in an interview: “We need to have a wider range of people living in the borough” because “social housing generates people on low incomes coming in and that generates poor school performances, middle-class people stay away.”