Minutes:
The chair said that this item was designed to be a whistle-stop tour of large regeneration projects in the newly merged community council area, so that all attendees got to find out what was happening across the area.
London Bridge
Dan Taylor, Principal Project Officer, gave an overview of the major regeneration projects in the community council area. He reminded the meeting that the council’s core strategy set out its plans for the London Bridge area to become a thriving mixed use centre. The following projects sat underneath this strategy. London Bridge Station itself would see large-scale refurbishment worth £400m, which would increase the station’s size and capacity. It would also create a north-south link through the station from Tooley Street and St Thomas Street, and an open space between Weston Street and Stainer Street. Planning permission had been granted in September 2011, preliminary works had started. The building works would probably last up to five years. Because of the inconvenience with noise and disruptions, a community forum had been set up to regularly consult with residents. This would be meeting quarterly. In terms of the area around the station, the Shard would be fully completed in March 2013 including the restaurant and viewing gallery; the hotel would open in April 2013. Part of the development of the Shard was the neighbouring “The Place”, also due for completion in April 2013, as well as a jobs programme in which local people could get training. The new bus station had been completed since June.
There were two further projects taking place in the area: the Guy’s Tower re-clad which would be completed by October 2013, and 1 Tower Bridge which was a mixed use development, whose construction would run until November 2016. It would include 400 residential units and a cultural and retail spaces.
Bermondsey Spa
Tom Kemp, Principal Surveyor - Bermondsey Spa, outlined the background to the Bermondsey Spa development which had been adopted in the 2000 master plan. Part of the development were 1,500 new homes, a large part of which were affordable. The new Spa Park, health centres, new community facilities such as the new Salmon Youth Centre, as well as commercial units were also part of the scheme. More developments were going to be coming on-stream: Notting Hill Housing was developing new units on the corner of Grange Walk and the Neckinger, which comprised 205 new units, half of which were affordable. Hollybrook Homes would redevelop 19 Spa Road (the former Town Hall) resulting in 41 new homes. The conversion of the redundant railway arches in St James’s Street would create commercial spaces, which in turn would generate 300-400 jobs. All these and further schemes would generate Section 106 funding. In answer to a question from the floor, Tom Kemp responded that the old Bermondsey Town Hall would not be demolished, but refurbished, as the external facade and the atrium were both listed. A question was raised about access by local people to the brass plaque listing past mayors of the former borough of Bermondsey, which was located in the old Town Hall building. The meeting heard a call for the developer to grant general access to local people to the plaque.
ACTION: Officers to report back on granting access to local people to the plaque in old Town Hall building in Spa Road.
Canada Water
Dan Taylor informed the meeting that there was much regeneration activity going on around Canada Water, as laid out in the Canada Water Action Plan. This set the goal of creating more shopping, residential and civic usage in the area. There were several developers present who would be able to answer people’s questions during the workshop and the break. He went on to talk about the most important sites: The Daily Mail was relocating its print operations from Harmsworth Quay to Essex, so the freeholder – Southwark council – was trying to secure an alternative use for the site. The Daily Mail’s lease was likely to be sold to British Land (whose representatives were in attendance). There were proposals from King’s College (in attendance) to open a new campus on the Mulberry Business Centre site, on which they had an option to buy. Site C and E in the Area Action Plan were also about to have planning applications submitted by the Sellar group (who were also present). The owners of Surrey Quays shopping centre, British Land, had put in an application to extend the shopping centre, but this had gone to judicial review, because the car parking structure had been refused planning permission. In terms of Albion Street, an action plan had been put together, about which there would soon be a public consultation. The report contained the following work streams: Albion Primary School site options, Albion Estate (primarily regarding anti-social behaviour, and the poor state of the blocks), Rotherhithe Library (which was going to be redeveloped by Canada Quays, who were also present), and public realm. A consultation about Albion Street was currently underway, and David Taylor from Canada Quays Ltd was in attendance to canvass people’s view.
Tim Cutts, Team Leader, Planning Policy, informed the meeting that the Area Action Plan was being refreshed at the moment to take account of these changes, and would include preferred options for Harmsworth Quays. There would be a public consultation event in the form of a workshop around the future of Harmsworth Quays on Saturday 17 November 2012 at 10am, at Alfred Salter Primary School, Quebec Way, SE16. For further information about this meeting, please contact Tim Cutts, Team Leader Planning Policy, tim.cutts@southwark.gov.uk or 020 7525 5380.
The chair explained that over the last ten years a lot of development had taken place from London Bridge, along the Jubilee Line extension, all the way to Rotherhithe. Moneys from Section 106 payments could be used for affordable housing, but also for health, education or infrastructure projects in the area affected by the proposed development. The workshops later in the meeting were designed to provide a focus on what money could be spent on. Suggestions arising from the workshops would be kept in the project bank, to be used for Section 106 spend and for the Community Infrastructure Levy which would soon be replacing most of Section 106 spend.