Agenda item

Report HPR2022/034

The Committee considered a report recommending that the draft Bromley Town Centre Supplementary Planning Document (SPD) be published for 12 weeks public consultation. The SPD provided guidance to assist with the determination of planning applications in the Bromley Town Centre area, including guidance on design requirements.

The Head of Planning Policy and Strategy advised that the report provided the rationale for the SPD. It was highlighted that this was a consultation draft which would go out to public consultation for 12 weeks – following this the responses received would be assessed and the Council’s Executive would make a decision in terms of adoption.

Members queried whether the SPD should be ‘endorsed’ or ‘noted’ by the Committee. The Chairman considered that the draft document needed to be endorsed by the Committee. It would then go to the Renewal, Recreation and Housing Policy Development and Scrutiny Committee before being presented to the Council’s Executive, which would be followed by a call-in period. If no objections were received, it would be signed-off and put to public consultation. Another Member considered that if the Committee ‘endorsed’ the document for consultation it implied that it was not the finalised document and would be subject to amendments. [Note: the Chairman held a vote on the wording and it was agreed to stick to the suggested wording.]

A Member said that the document was extremely comprehensive and highlighted that the Ward Councillors had been consulted and their contributions noted. Several points were noted:

-  Where there were a number of empty offices, owners could be encouraged to subdivide the floor space to create more rooms for smaller businesses (page 118/6, paragraph 2.5, item 1);

-  While endorsing the car-free element it was considered that provision should be considered for new developments to provide parking for people with disabilities (page 119/7, paragraph 2.14);

-  What, when and how could walking and cycling be encouraged (page 129/17, paragraph 4.14);

-  Rooftop gardens and viewing terraces on the tops of high-rise buildings should be encouraged (page 132/29, SPD guidance note 7);

-  Buildings could be designed and built over the area of the railway track at Bromley South Station (page 135/23, Character Areas and Sub Character Areas); and,

-  The Old Palace, being a listed building, must be retained and preserved. If at any point the Council scaled down the number of employees on site, the buildings could be restored and the side wings removed to create an executive office building. Within the Queen’s Gardens, a bandstand could be built which could encourage the public to appreciate the leisure space and make use of the nearby restaurants (page 137/25, paragraphs 5.7-5.8).

A Member advised that the newly-elected Bromley Town Ward Councillors had made initial comments on the document. They expected to make some further comments in due course and intended to share the SPD consultation with their residents.

A Member asked for further information as to how the consultation process worked. The Head of Planning Policy and Strategy advised that a comprehensive exercise, similar to that undertaken for the Orpington SPD, was intended. They would work in collaboration with the Communications Team to ensure the document was made widely available, including using social media and the LBB e-newsletter which residents subscribed to. They would also speak with various stakeholders and partners for further dissemination via their databases. In response to a question from another Member, the Head of Planning Policy and Strategy said that as a minimum, they would liaise with town centre businesses through the Your Bromley Business Improvement District (BID) but would gladly use any other mechanisms to encourage businesses to contribute to the consultation. It was confirmed that the team had spoken with Your Bromley BID and they had been involved in the initial consultation.

A Member asked if Bromley Central Library could be used to house a display on the SPD consultation – it was located in the centre of the town and provided easy access. Both the Chairman and Head of Planning Policy and Strategy said that this was a good idea. It was agreed that the possibility of some form of display would be explored further. Another Member suggested that The Glades could also be considered for housing a display, and that the availability of a terminal for people to complete a survey or make comments, there and then, would be beneficial.

Another Member considered that detailed information on how the public would be consulted, and through what channels, needed to be clearly stated. It was noted that a decent response to the Orpington SPD public consultation was only received following the Orpington and Petts Wood and Knoll Ward Members undertaking a leaflet drop. In terms of the time frame, the Chairman advised that officers had indicated that the SPD would go out to consultation from early October 2022 through to early January 2023. The Head of Planning Policy and Strategy suggested that a list of those to be consulted, places where the consultation display would be held, and the media channels to be used could be included as an addendum when the report was presented to the September meeting of the Renewal, Recreation and Housing Policy Development and Scrutiny Committee, and circulated to Members of the Development Control Committee for information.

RESOLVED that:

i.)  the draft Bromley Town Centre Supplementary Planning Document (shown at Appendix 1 of the report) and supporting documentation (at Appendices 2 and 3) for 12 weeks public consultation be endorsed, noting that there may be further minor amendments prior to consultation.

ii.)  the Executive be recommended to approve the draft Bromley Town Centre Supplementary Planning Document (shown at Appendix 1 of the report) and supporting documentation (at Appendices 2 and 3) for 12 weeks public consultation; and,

iii.)  the Executive be recommended to authorise the Director of Housing, Planning, Property and Regeneration, in consultation with the Portfolio Holder for Renewal, Recreation and Housing, to approve any further minor changes (e.g. related to formatting or mapping) to the draft Bromley Town Centre Supplementary Planning Document (shown at Appendix 1 of the report) prior to consultation.