Going back a little:

Objections to LDA application
22 February 2008

Many people wish to inform Bromley Council that they object to the housing proposals in the LDA’s Masterplan outline planning application for Crystal Palace Park, reference numbers: DC/07/03897/OUT and DC/07/03906/CAC.

The deadline for response to this application is 11th March 2008 according to site notices posted around the Park, however Bromley has agreed to accept late submissions but these might not be included in the Officer’s report to the planning committee members.

The CPCA has produced a standard letter that anyone may use or adapt to incorporate their own comments. Just download the letter, add your own name and address, date, sign and post to:

Bob McQuillan
Acting Chief Planner
London Borough of Bromley
Civic Centre
Stockwell Close, Bromley BR1 3UH

or email to planning@bromley.gov.uk

Cite the reference numbers on all letters or emails. We would be grateful to receive a copy of your objection letter for our reference.

For those who wish to write their own letter we have provided additional grounds for objection, arranged under topics to download or View Here

Planning Policy
The inclusion of building houses on protected parkland in the LDA planning application for Crystal Palace Park:

conflicts with Bromley’s adopted Unitary Development Plan,
is contrary to government planning policy guidance PPG2 and PPG15,
is contrary to the requirements of the Mayor’s London Plan, i.e. protection of open spaces, Metropolitan Open Land (MOL),
and the requirement to demonstrate ‘exceptional circumstances’ as embodied within PPG15 and the London Plan has not been established. (Unless the LDA can prove otherwise, housing or buildings that are not ancillary to MOL are not acceptable.)
The Mayor’s objectives (as detailed in his London Plan) state: “Protect and improve the green belt, Metropolitan Open Land, other designated open spaces …The Mayor will and boroughs should maintain the protection of MOL from inappropriate development.”
The loss of the Crystal Palace Caravan Club* for housing is contrary to the Mayor’s London Plan, Policy 3D.9 MOL, which states: “ …land that includes open air facilities, especially for leisure, recreation, sport, arts and cultural activities and tourism which serve the whole or significant parts of London.”

Special designations

Important mature trees will be lost to built development.
The historic landscape of a Registered Grade II* Historic Park will be harmed, i.e. views within, into and out of the Park.
Housing will threaten the Park’s natural wildlife habitats.
Housing will conflict with the character of the Conservation Area as set out in Bromley’s SPG for the Crystal Palace Park Conservation Area.
Housing is harmful to the setting of Listed Buildings i.e. structures – the terraces, the sports centre, the dinosaurs and the historic park.

Planning history

The LDA are proposing changes in planning land-use terms e.g. from day nursery (Class use D1) to housing (Class use C3), but any changes of use cannot be made in an ‘outline’ application.

Site considerations

It is accepted that the One O'clock Club, St John’s Ambulance centre and the lottery-funded Park Maintenance depot, although within the Park boundary are not on MOL, however their proposed relocation within the Park would result in a net loss of MOL and Grade II* registered parkland.

Surrounding area

Housing will have adverse effects on the surrounding area and neighbouring properties from an increase in traffic, and major road infrastructure changes to accommodate access, e.g. changes to the road system at Sydenham Hill, Westwood Hill, Crystal Palace Park Road and Ledrington Road.
Page 70 of the EIA Non-Technical Summary admits that the height, bulk and scale of the proposed residential developments “…are likely to cause a small number of adverse impacts…[to adjacent and existing properties]”
The proposed design of the multi-storey blocks of flats is incompatible with the adjacent period buildings and conflicts with the small scale pattern of development in the conservation area.
Blocks of flats on the periphery of the Park are contrary to the philosophy of the Masterplan, which advocates permeability (visual and physical) at the boundaries of the Park. Housing is visually damaging to the landscape and the setting.
The road system is inadequate for the whole Masterplan; traffic chaos ensues when there is just a single large event in the Park.
Sale of parkland for housing is a permanent loss of pubic parkland.
Housing provides no employment except briefly during construction stage.

Notes:

*The Crystal Palace Caravan Club is London’s only tourist camping and caravan site, and brings considerable economic benefits to the local and wider London area. Unlike housing, the area of parkland it occupies would easily revert to parkland should the Club decide to cease operating. Despite LDA claims to the contrary, there is public use of the site and its facilities.
PPG means Planning Policy Guidance and is government statutory legislation with which boroughs must comply unless 'exceptional circumstances' can be proved.
SPG means Supplementary Planning Guidance – These are planning guidelines drawn up by local authorities to emphasise aspects of PPGs.

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LDA Planning Application for Park Masterplan
January 2008

Just 42 Days to consider and object to 30-year £67.5million ‘Masterplan’

If you are a Bromley resident, immediately local to the Park, you should have been notified by Bromley Council of this application. However, many who care about Crystal Palace Park will have no idea of the huge changes planned for the Park by the London Development Agency. These include the construction of at least 180 private luxury housing units on public parkland and the loss of the Caravan Club. Anyone anywhere can object to this planning application.

The LDA's Masterplan application arrives at Bromley Civic Centre Bromley’s statutory time limit for making objection to this application is inconsistent and confusing. Although Bromley officers have extended the statutory 21 days to 42 days, the public notices in the South London Press of 1st February (see these links: Outline and CAC & LBC) give 21 days, while the flimsily attached notices around the Park state 11th March for the Outline application and an illegible date for the Conservation Area Consent and Listed Building Consent applications.

The CPCA is pressing for an extension to the deadline as the £67.5 million ‘Masterplan’ application runs to many thousands of pages and is the largest that Bromley has ever received.

The application, all 5½ feet of it, as it arrived at Bromley Civic Centre - 2nd November 2007

A statutory requirement is that notices are posted adjacent to the area of a planning application. As of 30th January no such notices had been posted around Crystal Palace Park.

There are two methods of viewing the three applications and supporting material; either visit the planning department at Bromley Civic Centre and ask to see the documents, or open the documents online at the LDA’s website www.crystalpalacepark.net home page and click on ‘here’ in the top right green box. This takes you to ‘Planning Applications and Supporting Documentation’ and links to the following application references:

07/03897/OUT
07/03906/CAC
07/03907/LBC
Supporting documentation

NB: It is important to note that the only way the documents can be viewed is by downloading and saving them with different file names to your computer. It is not possible to view them directly online which will be a difficulty for those using public internet services. We have pointed this out to both Bromley and the LDA but no action has been taken.

The Bromley website is much harder to navigate and does not include critical ‘Supporting Documentation’ such as the ‘Business Case, ‘Cost Plan’ and the ‘Management and Maintenance Plan’. On both sites there are a number of files that do not open despite the CPCA bringing this to the attention of Bromley and the LDA.

2 out of 3 notices at the Triangle Gate entrance
The flimsily attached notices around the Park

The CPCA is resolutely opposed to the building of housing on the Park and we would urge that you pay particular attention to the housing proposals for Rockhills and Sydenham Gate. The applications’ illustrations, although ‘outline’ at this stage, give a good indication of size, massing, general design and impact of the housing developments and this is the time to object to the principle of selling parkland for housing or commercial development, although a later ‘full’ application might show amendments.

The LDA are attempting to demonstrate to Bromley ‘very special circumstances’ to allow controversial development on Metropolitan Open Land/Grade II* registered parkland.

To make objection to this or any other aspect of the masterplan, write to:

Bob McQuillan
Acting Chief Planner
Bromley Council
Civic Centre
Stockwell Close
Bromley BR1 3UH

Bromley expect the application to go before a planning committee at the end of September 2008.

If you need further help or advice, please contact the CPCA. Don’t be put off by the statement in bold at the top of each planning application that you can’t object.

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See our 2007 archive and 2006 archive pages for earlier news.

News archive

Feb 2008 Objection to LDA application
Jan 2008 LDA Planning Application for Park Masterplan
2007 2007 news archive
2006 2006 news archive
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Going back a little:

Objections to LDA application 22 February 2008

LDA Planning Application for Park Masterplan January 2008

News archive

Objections to LDA application
22 February 2008

LDA Planning Application for Park Masterplan
January 2008