Hard copies distributed via Members drop.
The latest version of the action plan can be found by following this link:
http://www.southwark.gov.uk/futurepeckham
Minutes:
6.1 The Nunhead and Peckham Area Action Plan was now at the 5th stage of consultation and had been developed with the next 15 years in mind. It covered public realm improvements and set out ideas for getting more interest from developers, faith groups, local traders and other community groups to help inform Council policies, such as the regeneration project for the cross river tram.
6.2 Alison Squires, Planning Policy Team Leader, set out the various themes covered by the plan:
6.3 Shopping and employment in Peckham town centre.
The policy supported new retail development in Peckham town centre to help maintain and enhance its status as a major town centre in the borough’s retail hierarchy. It intended to work with landowners to improve and expand shopping floor space through the promotion of additional retail space. Most of this would be on the following sites:
· Aylesham Shopping Centre
· Copeland Road Industrial Park
· Peckham Rye Station
· Land between the railway arches
6.4 Arts culture, leisure and entertainment
6.5 There were aspirations to maintain a cinema and to work with businesses to facilitate the provision of more cafes and restaurants to improve the town’s night life. As far a Rye Lane was concerned, the plan set out to protect business, retail and leisure use, along with other cultural projects.
6.6 Local shops and services
The plan was to maintain the status of the lager shopping parades as ‘protected shopping frontages’ and maintain a vibrant mix of retail uses within the area, using policies in the core strategy.
6.7 Hot food takeaways
There were no plans to establish any more fast food takeaways. There were over 10% shops given over to this type of retail exceeding the limit of 5%. Concerns over childhood obesity meant that there was support and encouragement from the local community and the NHS to restrict these outlets.
6.8 However, Members mentioned that whilst some takeaways were poor in nutritional content some were of good quality and those businesses were also good for the cultural vibrancy of the area. For instance, Portuguese and Turkish takeaway restaurants, offered more healthy and diverse food options. Not all takeaways were as bad as the many chicken and chips shops that were already in excess of what was desirable. It was noted that there would be no more takeaways allowed within 40 meters of any school.
6.9 Markets
There would be an established site for markets in a new location in Peckham town centre, possibly on land to the rear of Peckham Rye station. The plan would also support occasional markets on Peckham Square and Nunhead Green.
6.10 Business space
The generation of new jobs and businesses would be promoted and there would be new small scale business floor space in Nunhead local centre.
6.11 Community facilities
The aims of the strategy was to locate local facilities and bring them together so that all of the services required by the community, including services for young people, health centres and community spaces, were to be provided in accessible locations. It was hoped that the facilities and services coming together in this way would enable them to complement and support each other.
6.12 Schools
Following the policy in the core strategy Southwark would like to deliver improvements to schools by working with partners to:
· Provide additional places at primary schools
· Build new and improve existing schools to improve educational opportunities.
· Protect schools where there is a long term local need.
6.13 Health facilities
There had been work with NHS Southwark to improve the health of current and new residents in Peckham and Nunhead by considering opportunities to improve local heath services. The new developments in Peckham and Nunhead opens up the possibilities for supporting and encouraging GPs to promote and provide services for the community.
6.14 Sports facilities
There were plans to support improvements to sports facilities in the area to meet the needs of an increasing population.
6.15 Active travel
Working with Transport for London, developers and other stakeholders, Southwark would be able to provide a high quality network to support active travel.
6.16 Public transport
Working with Transport for London, Network Rail and other stakeholders to improve the frequency, quality and reliability of public transport.
The key priorities in the action plan were:
‘The extension to the Bakerloo line through to Peckham and Camberwell’
‘The Cross River Tram, or an alternative high quality public transport service to link Peckham to north London.’
6.17 Officers told the committee that the Mayors plan has no funding with which to extend the Bakerloo line at the moment.
6.18 Parking for shoppers and visitors
The proposals for parking as set out in the area action plan were:
· Retain Choumert Grove car park (as the consultation revealed, local residents and traders don’t want this car park built on)
· Support the redevelopment of car parks which are currently under-used for alternative uses
· Allowing the existing multi-storey car park and the Copeland Road car park to be developed for alternative uses
· Support the redevelopment of the Aylesham Centre, Asda site and the Bellenden Road retail park.
6.19 Residential parking
In the Peckham core action area the plan had set out that Southwark would encourage residential developments to be car free, aside from the requirement of provision for parking for disabled persons and car club spaces. It also set out that Southwark were to allow developments in line with the Peckham core action area to include a maximum of 0.3 spaces per unit.
6.20 New homes
Development in the action area will provide a minimum of 2,000 net new homes between 2011 and 2026. We expect at least 1,500 of these homes to be within Peckham core action area.
6.21 Affordable and private homes
Development in the action area was to provide a minimum of 700 affordable homes and 700 private homes. The development within Livesey, Peckham, Nunhead and The Lane wards must provide a minimum of 35% private homes.
6.22 There are two types of housing:
· Private (or market) housing were to be available to either buy or rent privately on the open market.
· Affordable housing, as set out in the London Plan policy 3.10 should meet the needs of households whose incomes were not enough to allow them to buy or rent decent and appropriate housing in the borough.
6.23 Mix and design of new homes:
New developments were to comply to a range of sizes and were to be built to Lifetime Homes standards. 10% of developments must be suitable for wheelchair users.
6.24 Open space and sites of importance for nature conservation
There would be protection and improvements to open space and sites of importance for nature conservation. The plan had stated that Southwark would provide an accessible, high quality, green infrastructure network for residents and visitors to enjoy and which strengthened local character, promote nature conservation, exercise and food growing opportunities.
6.25 Energy
There was a need to reduce the energy use of new developments and support the provision of an efficient energy network for Peckham and Nunhead.
6.26 Waste, water, flooding and pollution
Developments would be required to meet the highest possible environmental standards, in line with Core Strategy strategic policy 13.
6.27 Trees
Southwark would protect trees wherever possible as part of a new development and would seek to maintain and improve the provision of street trees in Peckham and Nunhead.
6.28 Public Realm
Working with Transport for London, English Heritage, developers and the community Southwark would provide a high quality design of public squares, streets and spaces.
6.29 Built form, high quality design of buildings
The high quality of design of buildings would protect and enhance the character area.
6.30 Building heights
The current character of places were to be retained, with most new developments being similar to existing building heights.
6.31 Heritage
To strengthen the character of Peckham and Nunhead by conserving and enhancing the significance of Peckham and Nunhead’s heritage assets and protect buildings with local value by identifying those buildings on a ‘Local List.’
6.32 Members commented that the biggest issues were around the shops on Rye Lane. It was felt that there was a case for inviting the larger shopping retailer chains to the area, given that the consultation processes had found that younger people wanted to see an ‘Oxford Street’ south of the borough. However, keeping a balance between the big high street names and the more traditional ethnic shops was important.
6.33 Car parking was seen as an issue for the area especially for people coming in from other boroughs. The unique shops made Peckham quite popular to residents just outside Southwark. Market traders were very vocal in leading the movement for more public parking as this was seen as crucial to the survival of their businesses and had a direct impact on the accessibility to their ability to thrive.
6.34 Members were aware that there was a demand for the types of shops that Peckham had to offer to those in neighbouring boroughs and likewise, residents from Southwark also tended to shop in neighbouring areas. It was felt, therefore that there should be more capacity for shops, possibly behind Rye Lane to continue to develop the unique character of the area.
6.35 Officers told the committee that there were aspirations to open up the railway arches so that people can walk from north to south. They also informed the committee that it was possible that more shops could be developed along that route.
6.36 Officers also said that there were aspirations to preserve the amenities that have been successfully established in the area already but also to maintain a cinema and increase capacity within the Aylesham Centre.
6.37 Members and Officers were concerned that the law didn’t allow any restriction of payday loan shops at the current time. That if the premises were already grade 2 use then there was little the Council could do to stop payday loan shops opening in premises that were once banks or estate agents.
6.38 Members and Officers felt that being able to move about the area freely and safely, increasing the amount of links between the various commercial areas of the borough was something of a priority. Members noted that there wasn’t a great deal of information regarding the creation of cycle highways and increasing the ‘safe routes’ for cyclists. Officers said that there were some basic plans in place but they were planning on building on what they had in forthcoming years.
6.39 Members said that there didn’t seem to be a great deal of improvements planned around the pedestrian and cycle areas around Nunhead station. Officers reported that no one had mentioned Nunhead station in the consultation.
6.40 Officers reported that the Nunhead and Peckham area action plan would have its final consultation process between September and November 2012 and would then invite comments on the soundness of the document based on the evidence and various tests.