Agenda item

The Head of Town Centre Management and Business Support gave an update around Town Centre Development across the Borough.

Progress was continuing across the sites that made up the Bromley Town Centre Area Action Plan.  The Council had responded robustly to the challenge from Linden Homes/Network Rail in relation to the number of residential units that could be accommodated on Site A: Bromley North, and a hearing would be heard before the High Court on 31^st October 2011.  Further work was being undertaken at Site B: Tweedy Road seeking to develop a temporary parking area during the refurbishment of The Hill and the redevelopment of Westmoreland Multi-Storey Car Parks to support demand during the Christmas period.

The Land Group had been selected as the Council’s development partner in relation to Site C: the Old Town Hall, and had been granted a 6 month exclusivity agreement, expiring in November 2011, to allow them time to complete the work needed to support a full Planning and Listed Building Application.  The Land Group had recently entered into a joint venture arrangement with the Cathedral Group to undertake the development of the site, and a Specialist Heritage Architect team had been appointed.

Work was ongoing on the refurbishment of Site E: The Pavilion and would be completed in March 2012.  Howard Oldstein confirmed that the refurbished gym provision would be ready by January 2012.  Following a review of options at Site F: Civic Centre, refurbishment of the North Block was currently being undertaken to support more efficient use of the campus site and would be completed by spring 2012. 

Working with CB Richard Ellis, the Council was currently reviewing the development proposition for Site G, with a view to developing a high level master plan to attract a significant development partner.  Meetings had also taken place with a number of department store operators in relation to the Site.  The Chairman highlighted the importance of developing Site G to complement the existing retail offer in Bromley Town Centre.  Following procurement difficulties between Network Rail and their contractors, the target start date for refurbishment works at Site J: Bromley South was now November 2011, with step free access being implemented before the start of the London 2012 Olympics.

Cathedral Group, the Council’s development partner for Site K: Westmoreland Road Car Park had conducted a pre-application consultation over summer 2011 in Bromley Town Centre and initial feedback suggested the public reaction had been overwhelmingly positive.  A draft planning application was due to be submitted to the Council for landlord’s consent shortly.  Katy Woolcott confirmed that London Biggin Hill Airport was in talks with Cathedral Group to ensure that any over-flight issues were resolved in relation to the development.  Concerns were raised with regard to the number of car parking spaces on site, and Sam Parrett highlighted the potential to utilise parking provision at Bromley College campus for a park and ride scheme. 

A pre-application enquiry for a mixed use, hotel-led development had already been submitted by agents in respect of Site L: Former DHSS, and officers were arranging to meet with the applicants towards the end of September 2011.  Capital Shopping Centres were also in discussions with the Council in respect of Site M: Queens Gardens regarding a proposal for the site.  A public consultation with regards to proposed development had been undertaken in September/October 2011 and it was anticipated that a proposal would be submitted to the Council in October 2011.

An area based bid to Transport for London, as part of the Mayor’s ‘Great Spaces’ initiative, had been successful in providing access to £300k for detailed design work in respect of Bromley North Village.  A further allocation of £3m had been made available by Transport for London to implement improvements to the public realm in line with the distinctive character of the area, and public consultation on the detailed designs would take place in November/December 2011, with first phase implementation on works to commence by early summer 2012.

In terms of development across the Borough, two key opportunity sites had been identified in the Walnuts shopping complex in Orpington Town Centre, and further meetings had taken place with landowners over a potential joint redevelopment of these sites.  The Walnuts Shopping Centre had now been sold and the new owner had plans to expand the site.

The first phase of environmental improvements had been successfully implemented as part of the Penge Renewal Strategy and initial scoping work was being undertaken to develop a Master plan for Penge.  A successful bid had recently been made to the Outer London Fund for £70k of improvement funds, and a further bid was being submitted to the Outer London Fund Round 2 to support a programme of public realm improvements in Beckenham.

RESOLVED that the update be noted.