29 October (Part 2) - Thamesmead South proposals. Some extra detail
Bexley’s Planning Committee galloped through
Peabody’s planning application so quickly on Tuesday that a simple report on what was said on the night leaves
some important gaps in what is to happen.
Not only is Tavy Bridge to be called Southmere Village, the other three areas
coming along later all get new names too. The area nearest the railway station
is to be called Gateway Quarter, Coralline becomes Lesnes Quarter and the old
Binsey Walk becomes Lakeside Quarter. The development I live in was called
Priory Gardens by the builder, ask where it is now and no one knows apart from one or
two residents who have an unhealthy interest in property values. Unless Peabody
sticks up a named and literal gateway few will remember the name - estate agents
excepted of course.
There will be a new walking route from the Gateway to Lakeside via the new supercrossing in Yarnton Way.
As the three sites are only at the outline planning stage at the moment,
figures given below are for guidance only but Sedgemere will have up to 219
residential units and 3,225 square metres of commercial floor space with a
maximum height of 58 metres. 14 or 15 storeys.
Coralline will be bigger, 549 units and 3,225 square metres. Binsey is 329 units,
1,050 square metres and both destined for 14 or 15 storeys. Brick will be
the dominant building material.
The GLA will be putting in £54 million of funds across all four sites to which
Peabody is adding £300 million. Together with what is being done on the
Greenwich side of the border, the total investment is in the order of £700 million.
Bexley Council is the lead authority for improvements to Harrow Manorway with
Peabody chipping in up to ten million pounds. They have reserved another eight million
for expansion of primary school form entry streams.
The Harrow Manorway roundabouts at Yarnton Way and outside Sainsbury’s will both
be improved on their southern exits to try to improve traffic flow which is
forecast to become worse than it is now, but the application blames factors
other than the Peabody developments. Locals are already living in dread of the
Crossrail related traffic.
Whilst Coralline is redeveloped, Lensbury Way will be blocked and will
eventually be given a new access point on Harrow Manorway. The forecast is that
the increased population will have no significant effect on bus and train
loadings but residents parking provision is to be dropped to 0·6 spaces per
dwelling (Binsey), 0·5 (Coralline) and 0·4 in Sedgemere. Tfl suggested none at all.
Traffic noise is expected to rise by about 3dB when construction is completed. 3dB is
barely perceptible but they have a habit of adding up. Living rooms will not face main roads. Neither will
there be “no new exceedances of the Government’s air quality objectives”.
Bexley is already over the limit so making pollution worse will not set off any new alarm bells.
Provision will be made for CCTV.