Housing targets: the Green Belt around New Addington could be used for more housing as sites identified in Mayor Sadiq Khan’s draft London Plan
Jason Perry, Croydon’s failed Mayor, has put himself on a collision course with Lord Sadiq Khan and City Hall over proposals in the draft London Plan to build hundreds of homes on the borough’s Green Belt.
“Whilst I am Mayor, Croydon Council will always stand up for our Green Belt and for the right of local communities to shape the places where they live,” Mayor Perry said today.
Inside Croydon has reported how the draft London Plan, published last week, calls for 5,600 new, high-density homes on Croydon’s “Greenfield”, or Green Belt, land. This is in addition to 15,944 homes on Croydon brownfield sites. All to be achieved by 2037.
Under the draft London Plan, swathes of land from New Addington to the Addington Hills, from Lloyd Park and Park Hill and on to Haling Grove, could be transformed to residential estates in a way not seen in Croydon since the 1960s.
Outer target: Croydon is the only outer London borough south of the river targeted by the draft London Plan
London Mayor Lord Khan has selected nine outer London boroughs in his London Plan where Green Belt and green spaces need, in his view, to be released for high-density housing.
Croydon is the only borough south of the Thames included in Khan’s list.
The draft London Plan identifies New Addington as the anchor for housing intensification, along with development loosely associated with all the stops along the tram line to East Croydon and Addiscombe, and also the area around South Croydon Station.
The identification of development near tram stops and rail stations is in line with consultation earlier this year on the National Planning Policy Framework, allowing for building on sites within 15 minutes’ walk – about one mile – of public transport facilities.
Likely sites for greenfield housing are thus green land running through and around New Addington, Featherbed Lane, Gravel Hill, Addington Hills, Coombe Wood, Croham Hurst, Park Hill, Lloyd Park, Shirley Park, Addiscombe Recreation Ground, Ashburton Park and Haling Grove. The draft London Plan has a table of potential areas for development, which you can find by clicking here.
“These proposals are likely to be resisted by Mayor Perry,” Inside Croydon predicted, accurately.
Slow reactions: it has taken Jason Perry almost a week to work out that he doesn’t like the draft London Plan
Perry’s push-back began in an announcement on the council website today.
“The council does not agree that meeting housing targets should depend on building on Green Belt land,” the council said.
“Croydon Council supports building more homes, including affordable homes, but believes priority should be given to developing brownfield sites. The council wants City Hall and the government to focus on already-approved developments, making sure that homes that already have planning permission are built before Green Belt land is considered.”
Planning permission has already been granted for more than 300,000 homes across the capital, most of which remain unbuilt, as developers landbank or reschedule their developments because of rising construction costs or shortages of skilled labour.
“Simply allocating more land and increasing housing targets will not solve London’s housing shortage,” Croydon Council’s statement said.
Croydon, and Mayor Perry, have until October 15 to respond to the GLA’s draft London Plan.
“I am clear that Croydon will oppose the draft London Plan in its current form,” Perry said.
“We need more homes, including affordable homes, but our Green Belt is sacrosanct. The Mayor of London’s Plan identifies capacity for nearly 16,000 homes on brownfield land in Croydon. That must be the priority, alongside making schemes viable and getting existing permissions moving.”
In the latest Andrew Fisher Interview, Fiona Fletcher-Smith, the chief executive of housing association L&Q, talks frankly about the barriers facing housing providers and developers to try to deliver enough new homes to end the housing crisis. Premium content for Inside Croydon’s paying subscribers, click here to sign up and listen now to our in-depth and informed interview
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Too many NEETs; not enough skilled labour in the construction industry?
Training the dole-bludging NEETs to become builders seems an obvious solution ?!
Perry’s sudden conversion to the cause of environmentalism is as fake as the wood effect plastic cladding he flogs from his warehouse
He thinks biodiversity is the name of a boy band
Perry thinks Climate Change is a button in his big BMW SUV to make the air cooler (I’m here all week)
“….a commitment to the biggest council house building programme in history” . Doesn’t Croydon owe the UK government £1.4bn? Mayor Perry has no leverage or trump card in these negotiations right? He is going up against the Mayor of London and the newly elected Prime Minister, so one assumes he has little power in this situation. What is the most likely outcome?
Actually, it’s gone up to £1.7bn under Mayor Perry.