Plans for the demolition of the existing buildings and the phased redevelopment of 275 residential homes in buildings ranging from 3 to 7 floors, alongside associated landscaping, car, and cycle parking.
Proposals for the existing Calverley Close Estate in Beckenham in the London Borough of Bromley (LBB), which currently provides 205 homes across 2.41. hectares.
The site benefits from being less than 15 minutes from Beckenham Hill and Beckenham Junction railway stations to the north and south respectively, the site has a Public Transport Accessibility Level (PTAL) score of between 1a and 1b throughout the site.
The estate is owned by The Riverside Group housing association which appointed Countryside Properties Ltd as the development partner in 2018, at the time of application to the LBB of the 275 homes on site including the 40 decommissioned specialist accommodation units, 179 will be re-provided of which 136 are currently occupied.
The registration of proposals with the LBB follows the conclusion of formal engagement that has also been undertaken with existing residents of the Calverley Close Estate.
Amendments to the scheme include the reduction of units from 358 to 275 units and reducing overall building heights, from a maximum of 8 to 7 floors, and the re-provision of all pre-existing car parking spaces.
In accordance with the Mayor of London’s ballot requirements for new regeneration projects, an offer document was produced by Riverside which was voted on by local residents. Of the 151 eligible votes, 60% of the voter turnout was in support of the regeneration of Calverley Close Estate.
As is common with many housing estates built in the post-war period, car parking takes up a disproportionate amount of space at the ground level.
This is supplemented by tokenistic strips of green at the perimeters, which often go used as places of recreation.
The series of quality and diverse landscapes across communal and private amenity spaces, alongside green and blue infrastructure, will result in a net bio-diversity gain of 12.52% which goes above and beyond the 10% sought by the 2021 Environment Act.
In accordance with London Plan Policy H8, the Applicant will be facilitating a right of return to existing residents under Social Rent tenancies (136 homes).
However, in accordance with planning policy, the Applicant proposes to deliver 43 homes for London Affordable Rent as 27 of the existing homes are currently vacant and 16 affordable homes are an uplift on the existing accommodation, therefore there are no existing tenants and no rights of return.
Plans for an entire estate redevelopment with the same landowner and principal project architect in nearby Bromley were approved by the local planning authority earlier this year towards the end of March.
