We are holding an online Teams meeting between 8-9 pm on Wednesday 26th October, to discuss issues regarding the proposed redevelopment of the Blenheim Centre by Hadley Property Group and Clarion Housing: There is no need to register – To join the meeting, click on this link (only at 8pm on Wednesday – the link will not work before then.)
Discussion topics:
- Is the current proposal acceptable? If not, how should it be modified? Height? Parking? Retail space?
- What are the planning grounds for objecting to the plans?
- Are there other potential legal avenues available?
- What other action can be taken to put presssure on the developers to modify or change their proposal?
We will also provide additional information about the scheme.
The Walnuts in Orpington has just had their proposed development stopped by their community we must be treated the same. This centre is far bigger than ours.
It is a monstrous plan and shows that this company only has money in mind not the people of Penge.
These meetings are a joke because when I went the people I spoke to could not tell me anything.
Bromley Council must stop these plans going ahead as they have done at the Walnuts now. No more meetings for residents because this development is not what Penge needs or wants. We will be losing some of the best shops in our High street. Only to be replaced by restaurants, takeaways etc. Like Penge needs any more of those.
We do not have the infrastructure for this. schools, GP’s, parking have to be a reason for stopping these plans from going ahead.
Thanks for your comment. I will try and find out how they managed to get the plans overturned – hopefully we can do the same!
As part of the core group for Nuts to the Walnuts I think I need to be clear that we have succeeded in the developer withdrawing their plan but they will be back with a revised plan. The plan was for 990 flats, initially including a 25 storey tower block. We are hoping for a far more appropriate plan for our town centre when the revised plan comes in. We have been in touch with your organisation and offered advice that I hope will be helpful to you all. Good luck.
@Karen Thanks for the advice – greatly appreciated. I would still say that yours was an impressive victory, and would have cost the developers a great deal of money. Ultimately, if their plans become unprofitable because of concerted local opposition, they may moderate their plans or even give up altogether!
We will try to attend your meeting tomorrow at 8 PM. Hopefully we might be able to give you some pointers. STEVE NTTW
Thank you for the Teams online meeting tonight. I feel that with a properly collated set of well presented objections, questions and requests, plus help and advice from the Nuts group, the people of Penge should be able to enter the official Consultation Period (21 days) with a coherent plan of action. Many assumptions appear to have been made by the Developers as to the bright and sunny uplands of their project, but it is likely that they have done few in-depth surveys or projections as to the ongoing effects on the existing infrastructure. It is these surveys that we should be requiring of them during the consultation process, because if they can be shown not to have carried them out, they can find scant justification for their optimistic claims, and this could strongly influence the final decision makers. This approach also puts a responsibility on the Developers to instigate such surveys if they had not already done so, within the 21 Days, to justify their initial claims, and submit them to the Statutory Consultees for their digestion. The relevant document at gov.uk is ‘Consultation and pre-decision matters’, setting out the process for efficient and inclusive consultation of planning applications. This is the Law. Neither the Developers nor the GLA nor the Statutory Consultees can baulk it. G
Thanks, Gordon for your contribution to the meeting and this very useful information. Developers will no doubt be tempted to shortcut the process, and clearly we need to be vigilant and make sure that doesn’t happen.