News on College Green

Thank you to all those who commented on the initial proposals for new homes in College Green. We have reviewed your comments and provided our responses to the main comments received to date below:

Requirement for New Homes

We appreciate that some who commented on the proposals are supportive of providing new homes in the area and feedback suggests that a mixture of home sizes is preferred, predominantly family-sized homes. We acknowledge that a number of local residents feel there is no need for new homes in the area. There is a significant demand for homes across every part of Croydon and the new draft London Plan has identified that Croydon needs to build 2,949 homes per year. Brick By Brick aim to deliver 500 of these homes each year and it is important that homes are delivered in all parts of the borough to meet local need, and the proposals for College Green would contribute towards this.

Loss of Open Space and Garages

We appreciate that many residents are concerned about the loss of open space and garages. Our proposals seek to enhance green space within College Green for all residents through the introduction of a pocket park and our Site A proposals aim to improve the connection to Westow Park.

Sites B, C and D contain 48 garages in total, of which only a third are let. The garages are generally in a poor state of repair and our proposals would activate these underutilised backland garage sites and discourage antisocial behaviour in these particular areas.

Scale and Density

A number of residents raised concerns about the scale and density of the proposals.

Site A

The proposals for Site A showed a 13-storey tower which has been designed to respond to the site’s context: the tower has been sited to avoid impacting existing trees, and made as slender as possible to minimise overlooking to the existing towers through purposeful positioning of balconies and windows. We will continue to work with the project teams to make amendments to the development proposals where it is feasible to do so.

Site B

The height of the proposals has been distributed between 1 and 3 storeys to allow views through the site from the existing homes to the west and east of the site. The roof form is still being tested to reduce impact on existing homes.

Site C

The 2-storey houses are designed in response to neighbouring trees and the existing homes on College Green. The facade facing the neighbouring gardens will have obscured windows and decorative brickwork to minimise overlooking and privacy concerns.

Site D

Thank you for voting or suggesting what you would like to see at Site D. Car parking was voted as the most preferred option and we have decided to progress Site D as a car parking court for the benefit of all College Green residents.

Parking

We appreciate parking is a concern for many residents and our transport consultants have undertaken two night-time parking stress surveys, according to standard methodology agreed with Croydon Council, to identify where there are parking issues and where there may be on-street capacity for parking. Using census data of car ownership in the area for residents living in flats or houses (as relevant to the type of development we are proposing), our consultants are able to forecast the number of additional cars expected as a result of the development proposals.

In response to this and combined with our decision to progress Site D as a car parking court, we are developing a parking strategy for all the College Green sites and full details will be provided in a transport statement submitted as part of a future planning application. This will need to satisfactorily meet the relevant policy requirements for parking and sustainable transport, including details and tracking for emergency vehicle and refuse vehicle access.

Existing Utilities

Concerns have been raised regarding the pressure of utilities serving College Green. Our building services engineer is looking into this and is in the process of making enquiries with the utility companies.

Second Engagement Event

We will be holding a second exhibition for the public to view and comment on the updated proposals:

Date & Time: Saturday 14th March 2020 – drop-in between 10am and 1pm

Venue: The Chevening Hub, Upper Norwood Recreation Ground, Chevening Road, London, SE19 3EA

We look forward to meeting with you again then. If you are unable to attend the event, the information displayed at the event will be available to view via www.collegegreen.commonplace.is from 10am on Saturday 14th March and will be open for comments until 10am on Saturday 28th March 2020.