Minutes:
Mr Sam Wilson (Cascade Communications), Mr Nick Clarke (Countryside Properties), Mr Piers Kortlang (Countryside Properties), Ms Louise Billingham (Stitch Architects), Ms Sally Lewis (Stitch Architects) and Mr Will Edmonds (Montagu Evans) gave a presentation providing an update on Churchill Quarter.
Countryside Properties (UK) Limited had been selected by the London Borough of Bromley as their preferred development partner in March 2017, and Cascade Communications were working alongside them on stakeholder engagement. The first resident consultations had taken place over three days in July 2017, and a second three-day consultation took place in November 2017, during which they engaged with around 650 people. This extensive engagement had allowed them to reach the current stage of the development plans, but there were still some tweaks to be made prior to the final submission of the planning application.
The scheme would provide 411 new homes, including affordable homes to meet a range of housing needs; high quality landscaping with the historic Library Gardens cedar tree at its heart; and new commercial space, including space for local small to medium sized companies or start-ups. There would be an enhanced public realm linking Churchill Quarter, the High Street and Church House Gardens, and community space to provide a new home for Bromley Town Church. All of this would create a new cultural destination around the Churchill Theatre and Library.
The benefits of the scheme would include the delivery of 39% affordable housing on site, which had increased from 35% at the bid stage, and new ground floor commercial space for shops and restaurants to support the vitality of the town centre and increase footfall. The enhanced public realm around the Churchill Theatre and Library would integrate with the High Street public realm improvements being delivered by the London Borough of Bromley. Further benefits included work space for small to medium sized businesses and incubator units for start-up businesses, and the creation of new jobs and training opportunities.
The Churchill Quarter site was situated between the High Street and Library Gardens, with the aim of the project to link them all together, and bordered Ethelbert Road to the south. The scheme had evolved throughout the consultation process, and the current proposals had changed significantly from the initial consultation in July 2017, although the footprint was similar. The heights of the proposed buildings were between 21 metres and 44 metres, and were within the realm of surrounding buildings. The site was also next to a conservation area so the architects were working closely with the London Borough of Bromley to ensure that the scheme fitted with their requirements.
Instead of the current narrow entrance leading to the Churchill Theatre, the view from the High Street would be opened up, with the removal of the unit that housed Halifax PLC. Retail units would be positioned at the entrance from the High Street, with restaurants and cafés positioned around the historic cedar tree and areas for outside seating. The larger, improved home for Bromley Town Church would be situated at the southern end of the site, and would provide a flexible space that could support a variety of community events and users. The work space offer for local businesses would be positioned across the promenade, with the aim of producing a creative hub. These units had the flexibility to be made smaller, depending on what tenants came forward, as double amenities would be installed. This would mean that the ‘back of house’ could be used as a workshop, whilst allowing space for displays at the front. Countryside Properties had an internal commercial property division, which would work with local agents. Baxter Philips had been brought in to act as a ‘go between’ for tenants in the local area, as well as those looking to move into the borough. The scheme would provide five new retail or commercial units and up to six new work space units totalling 21,000 sq. ft., and create up to 126 full time equivalent employment opportunities.
The construction of the scheme would see £170m invested into the area and around 140 operatives working on site. Countryside Properties were committed to ensuring that a high number of these were locally sourced contractors, tradesmen and suppliers, and they currently employed an average of 23% local labour across all of their construction sites. There was a ‘Local Labour opportunities’ clause in all larger sub-contract packages, which required them to use at least three local suppliers per tender. During the construction stage, for every £1 invested it typically delivered at least £1.63 in local benefits.
Members enquired what the proposed timescale for the development would be. Mr Clarke responded that the planning application would be submitted towards the end of March 2018, and was likely to go to Committee between July and September 2018. Countryside Properties and the London Borough of Bromley were currently working on the background for the Compulsory Purchase Orders (CPO), and it was hoped that these would be completed by September 2019. The construction phase was to commence at the beginning of 2020, and was expected to take up to five years.
Members asked if the construction of the retail and commercial units would begin before tenants were confirmed. Mr Kortlang responded that they would start by delivering the residential units first, followed by the commercial space. Large nationals were likely to take up units prior to completion, but smaller businesses tended to want to see the actual unit, and stand in the space before committing. The units would be installed with uniform shopfronts, and internally to a shell and core finish, as it would not be known where the sub-division walls would be needed. The units could range in size from 500sq. ft. to 2,500sq. ft.
Members considered that the construction materials would need to be transported to the site around the rush hour time, and suggested that a request could be made to Transport for London (TfL) to permit the use of the bus and taxi route, which would be the most direct route into the site from the north. Mr Clarke agreed that this would be their preference, and said that the lengthy construction period was to ensure that there was enough space on site for storing the materials for when they were needed.
Members enquired what parking would be created on the site. Ms Lewis responded that as the site sloped down towards Ethelbert Road, the lower level would allow 100 residential parking spaces to be provided underneath the development. They had taken advice from their consultants that they would not need to provide any commercial parking. Mr Kortlang added that as the development was in the town centre, people tended to make multiple stops, and it was expected that they would use the existing car parks. Members considered that this could cause problems for people working in the town centre, particularly as they felt that the cinema development near Bromley South was also lacking in parking.
Members asked about the customer engagement programme. Mr Wilson said that everything had been taken on board from the consultations, and changes made to the scheme following this had been received positively. Aspects that some people liked, others did not, as everyone had a different point of view. Ms Lewis added that they had worked on a number of regeneration projects, and this had been the most public engagement that they had done on a scheme. Those that had responded to the consultation could see that their opinions had been taken on board, and changes to the scheme had been made. Mr Wilson could be contacted at consultation@cascadepr.co.uk if members of the Partnership had any further question regarding the development.
The Chairman thanked Mr Wilson, Mr Clarke, Mr Kortlang, Ms Billingham, Ms Lewis and Mr Edmonds for their interesting presentation.