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REPORT BLOW FOR DOWNTOWN PLAN

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22 August 2008

By Gavriel Hollander
gav@southwarknews.org

CONTROVERSIAL plans to develop the land around Rotherhithe’s Surrey Docks Health Centre have been dealt a potentially fatal blow by a damning City Hall report.

In the report put together by the Deputy Mayor of London last week, Barratt Homes were advised that their proposed redevelopment on the Downtown Road site does not comply with the Mayor's London Plan. It went on to recommend that Southwark Council reject Barratt's planning application in its current state.

The plan was criticised over the level of affordable housing it offered, for under-provision of larger family sized units and for the lack of wheelchair access to some of the blocks. The report also said that undercroft parking in one of the blocks would "have an unfortunate impact on the visual appearance of the most publicly visible side of the development."

The report goes on to suggest possible amendments to the plan to make it comply with the provision of the London Plan, a city-wide development strategy. However, local groups who have been campaigning against the development for the last five years feel this could be a final nail in the coffin for Barratt's plans in the area.

Steve Cornish of the Downtown Defence Campaign said: "This timely intervention by the Mayor's office is totally welcomed by the Downtown Defence Campaign and the residents of Surrey Docks. We now feel that it proves beyond doubt this application is fundamentally flawed in many different ways.

"There are so many new recommendations in this report that have to be addressed, that we feel the only alternative is to stop this land going into private ownership and to go back to the drawing board with the input of the general public being paramount to this procedure from the outset."

Val Shawcross, London Assembly member for Southwark, said: "I'm pleased there's now going to have to be more thought going into the development as it is in a sensitive area. We should try and stop this development intruding on the woodland."

However, Shawcross added: "There are some who don't want a development at all.

"The advice makes it clear that there's no objection in principle to the project but it could delay work for a couple of years.

"We do need more social housing but there needs to be sensitivity about concreting green spaces."

A Barratt spokesman said: "Barratt welcomes the GLA's report and the positive comments about the high quality of design in the scheme. We will make the minor amendments required to ensure our proposals are compliant with the London Plan and remain fully committed to Downtown and the wider regeneration of Rotherhithe."

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