COUNCIL BUYS OLD CAR PARK SITE TO BUILD NEW HOMES
As part of what it calls the regeneration of one of the borough’s main district centres, Croydon council have completed the purchase of a former car park in South Norwood to build new homes.
A planning application is due to be submitted for the site at 24 Station Road, outside Norwood Junction station, in the coming months. The application will be for a mixed use scheme, which includes a commercial space on the ground floor.
With the number of homes yet to be finalised, this will include plans to build apartments as part of the council’s New Build programme. Hoardings have now gone up around the site to prevent fly-tipping.
Cllr Alison Butler, cabinet member for homes and regeneration, said: “Croydon like many other London boroughs is experiencing a severe shortage of housing.
“Subject to planning permission, this site will enable us to provide much needed council housing for families in need.
“Building new homes is a key part of our plans to regenerate Croydon, with some 9,500 forecast for the next five years.
“South Norwood is one of our major district centres, and this development will help towards its much needed revitalisation.”
Earlier this month Croydon announced plans to build 800 affordable homes across the borough – 15 in South Norwood ward and 114 in Upper Norwood ward. (Source: Croydon council press release)
NEW PLANNING GUIDANCE TO PROTECT LONDON’S CHARACTER
The Mayor of London Boris Johnson has published detailed planning guidance to ensure that future developments enhance the rich character of the city.
With London set to be home to ten million people by 2030, the Mayor’s ‘character and context supplementary planning guidance’ “aims to ensure London can continue to grow sustainably without losing its much-loved distinctiveness” says a statement from the Mayor’s office.
“The guidance encourages anyone engaged with the planning system to fully understand the heritage and environment of an area before taking important decisions on its development.
“It asks planners to think about how an area has come to be the way it is, the things about it that people who live, work, and visit want to see changed and the economic, social and other forces driving change.
“In addition, the document builds on detailed guidance in the London Plan and the Mayor’s London View management framework that advises on the location of tall buildings and ensures strategic views across the city are protected.
“It also links in with the Mayor’s opportunity area frameworks and the borough’s local plans which provide clear guidance about the right places in which to locate tall buildings.
“By taking all of these factors into account, the Mayor expects that future developments will be more likely to be successful economically as well as aesthetically” the statement added.
Mayor of London Boris Johnson said: “Planning for neighbourhoods in a city as dynamic and diverse as London is a tricky business.
“This guidance aims to ensure that areas do not lose their unique character while allowing developers to continue to bring forward innovative and thought-provoking schemes.”
The Mayor is also now consulting on his draft social infrastructure supplementary planning guidance.
“This considers how social infrastructure such as schools and hospitals could be developed and integrated alongside the 49,000 new homes a year that the Mayor believes need to be built to meet the demands of the city’s ever increasing population” the statement adds.
“Increasingly, London is seeing communities and parents setting up new academies and free schools and GPs working together through clinical commissioning groups to understand and meet local needs.
“Against this changing background, this guidance provides sensible guidance that will help planners and non-planners to work together so that social infrastructure can be built where it is most needed.
The Mayor’s ‘Character and Context Supplementary Planning Guidance’ can be accessed at https://www.london.gov.uk/priorities/planning/publications/shaping-neighbourhoods-character-and-context
The draft ‘Social Infrastructure Supplementary Planning Guidance’ is open for consultation until the end of September 2014 and can be accessed at https://www.london.gov.uk/priorities/planning/consultations/draft-social-infrastructure-supplementary-planning-guidance
Both supplementary planning guidance documents support the further alterations to the London plan – the Mayor’s strategic document that sets out the future development of the city. (Source: Mayor of London’s office press release)
