Agenda item

Each community council may submit one question to a council assembly meeting that has previously been considered and noted by the community council.

Any question to be submitted from a community council to council assembly should first be the subject of discussion at a community council meeting. The subject matter and question should be clearly noted in the community council’s minutes and thereafter the agreed question can be referred to the constitutional team.

The community council is invited to consider if it wishes to submit a question to the ordinary meeting of council assembly on 13 July 2016.

Members of the community council submitted a question about the regeneration in Peckham. This was submitted at the council assembly meeting on the 13 July 2016.

Community council question:

Given the regeneration that is happening in the wider Peckham area could the

council

(a)  set out how it will improve communication with residents through the planning

  portal.

(b)   explain what the plans are and how residents can get involved.

(c)   produce information for this community council area on planning permissions for private, mixed and social housing over the last three years?

Council assembly meeting on 13 July 2016:

Response

The council’s online planning register was recently launched where residents, developers and businesses across the borough can access information on over 5,000 new planning applications each year, as well as thousands of past applications. It is the most effective way to be kept up to date with what’s going on in their area, as once registered, users can request personalised email alerts for planning applications for specific geographic areas that they are interested in, such as Peckham.

Residents and businesses who are registered on the council’s My Southwark website can now opt in to receive email updates on planning policy consultations like the new Southwark Plan. The planning policy team is proactively contacting people who are currently on the planning policy mailing list and encouraging them to sign up for this new service which improves access to planning information, alongside the My Southwark consultation hub where we consult residents on all new planning policy documents.

The council’s planning service is also preparing a new digital strategy that will include pilots to improve how we communicate and reach a wider audience. The planning web pages have also been redesigned and rewritten to ensure access to information is quicker and more intuitive. Our web pages will be further improved when the council moves to its new website and the department is exploring ways to further integrate the online planning register with the My Southwark website.

The Peckham and Nunhead Area Action Plan is the adopted plan for the area and shows the changes that will take place and what they will be like in the future. Peckham will change significantly following regeneration of the town centre, employment sites, shops, housing, schools and community places. Nunhead will be enhanced and improved, particularly around Evelina Road. The council will be updating the area visions and development sites for Peckham and Nunhead as the new Southwark Plan is prepared over the next year and will be asking residents and businesses to get involved.

On particular developments being taken forward by the council in Peckham, the council has developed tailor made resident and stakeholder programmes. The development of the design pre-planning for the current developments, which include Peckham Rye Station Square, Library Square, Peckham Levels and Mountview, have allowed extensive time for detailed discussions at a local level and have piloted working with social media. The council is undertaking a review of the co-design processes undertaken during the Station Square and Library Square developments.

Residential permissions in Peckham community council area for the past three financial years are set below: