Planning exhibition: new council homes at Kidbrooke Park Road South

Welcome to our planning exhibition for new council homes at Kidbrooke Park Road South, part of the Greenwich Builds programme to deliver 750 new council homes across the borough.

We have updated our design taking into account feedback received at our first consultation earlier this month, and are keen to hear your views, so please fill in this survey once you have read the overview. 

There is an option within the survey to ask us questions, please opt in when asked to receive notifications so you are alerted when answers are posted.

Please note that the energy centre proposals that were part of our previous consultation have now been submitted for planning approval.

Important: at this stage, the decision on intention to build on this site is subject to the Council’s governance procedures being progressed and approved.

What we want to build:

Our plans for the site at Kidbrooke Park Road South will create 322 new homes across five buildings ranging from six to fifteen storeys in height.  

The development will be made up of 100% council homes, which will be available to local people on our housing waiting lists, allocated according to their level of need. 37% of the homes will be family sized, and 10% will be wheelchair accessible, reflecting the make up of our waiting lists.

A commercial space is located on the ground floor of the tallest block (Block 2A). Below is a detailed breakdown of what our design will provide:

• 130 one-bedroom apartments
• 89 two-bedroom apartments, 22 of which will be wheelchair accessible
• 29 three-bedroom apartments, 11 of which will be wheelchair accessible
• 59 three-bedroom maisonettes
• 15 four-bedroom maisonettes

You can see the layout of the buildings and some computer-generated images of the design below.

Entrance to the proposed development

 

North west corner

 

South east corner

Landscape and public spaces

Kidbrooke Park Road South will be an attractive and safe new neighbourhood featuring a range of landscaped spaces for the enjoyment of all residents.

The proposal includes a variety of fun play spaces for children, a central green with trees and benches, communal courtyards and a new community garden with space to grow plants and vegetables.

A green corridor is proposed along the eastern boundary of the site, where it forms a tree lined buffer for the proposed buildings along Kidbrooke Park Road. It continues the green corridor proposed for the northern site and it can also extend further south in the future to connect with Cator Park.

Central courtyard

Ecology and Biodiversity

At Kidbrooke Park Road South we will create a blossoming, leafy and green neighbourhood where people and wildlife alike can feel at home.

We have incorporated a wide range measures to increase biodiversity, climate resilience and drainage, such as green roofs, raingardens, meadows, native hedges, fruiting and flowering trees and plants.

100 new trees will be planted, including birch, hornbeam, cherry, pine, and lime trees.

Along the boundary with the allotments and along old post office lane a species rich native hedgerow will provide a green boundary as well as fruit, nectar and habitat for our birds, bees and butterflies.

Sustainability and energy

Sustainability forms an important part of the design brief for Kidbrooke Park Road South.

The scheme will achieve low carbon emissions through its energy strategy, with heating and hot water provided by air source heat pumps and solar panels across the roofs of the buildings.

A highly efficient Mechanical Ventilation with Heat Recovery system will be installed within each home, extracting stale air and bringing in fresh, filtered air while retaining up to 95% of heat normally lost through open windows, trickle vents and extractor fans.

The scheme will be future-proofed to allow for a connection to a District Heating Network should this option become available in the near future.

Our scheme also features a range of energy efficiency measures including good levels of insulation, the installation of high performance glazing and energy-efficient lighting to reduce energy demand.

A carbon reduction of at least 10% above building regulations will be achieved through active and passive measures alone. The overall performance will exceed the minimum target of 35%.

This will both reduce the environmental impact of the development while also making the homes much cheaper to run for our tenants.

Click here to download full sustainability information.

Height and number of homes

The proposed development is made of five buildings ranging from six to 15 storeys in height. 

The full elevation plan can be found here.

We have taken into consideration the surrounding area and existing constraints to determine the height of buildings across the site.

The tallest building, Block 2A, is placed at the site entrance, off Kidbrooke Park Road. Block 2A contains a commercial unit on the ground floor.

A gap has been strategically placed between Blocks 2A and 2B to break up the overall height and introduce a visual and physical connection between Kidbrooke Park Road and the new internal road and green square beyond.

The buildings along Kidbrooke Park Road are set back by at least 10 meters. The space created as a result is designed to continue the green corridor now being created as part of our approved development to the north of this site. 

In addition, the proposed set back also provides a visual and noise buffer for the flats on the lower floors.

The central block on the perimeter of the site comprises of a run of maisonettes stacked over six storeys, with a 12 storey apartment block at the south western corner. This block is strategically placed at the proposed location to allow sunlight into the courtyard.

The western most block comprises of six storeys of maisonettes. To avoid overshading on to the allotments, the building is set back at least 8 metres from the site boundary.

South eastern apartment building viewed from Kidbrooke Park Road

Daylight and overshadowing

A detailed analysis demonstrates that our proposed design is unlikely to have a significant effect on the level of daylight and sunlight to the existing surrounding properties. The only properties which the Development could impact on are the buildings in our soon-to-be constructed development to the north of the site, however the homes in that development which are close to the south boundary are all dual aspect units and any reduction will be limited.

The assessment of the sunlight availability of the allotment confirms that 100% of the space will comply with the Building Research Establishment guidelines, meaning that  impact on the allotments should be negligible.

See below for an image showing the level of sunlight in March (on the left) and June (right). Yellow areas receive 100% of the available sunlight, which decreases to 0% in purple areas.

Parking & Transportation

The development is proposed to be car free with the exception of 10 disabled parking spaces, which will provide electric vehicle charging capabilities for all spaces.

Over 600 secure and sheltered cycle parking spaces are proposed throughout the development, providing over and above the minimum number of spaces required to be Policy Compliant from the London Plan.  

The development is situated in close proximity to public transport facilities, including Kidbrooke Railway Station which is situated just 350m (5-minute walk) south of the Site and bus stops which are located immediately adjacent to the site.

The vehicular access to the site will be via the KPR North development, which is accessed via a signalised junction off Kidbrooke Park Road. New pedestrian and cycle access points are proposed along Kidbrooke Park Road providing direct access to Public Transport facilities along key desire lines.

About the location:

The site is currently vacant and is located to the north of Kidbrooke Station and the recently developed Kidbrooke Village. It was used to house RAF Kidbrooke from 1917 to 1965 and then the Thomas Tallis School from 1971 to 2011.

The site falls within what is known as a Strategic Development Location, meaning an area where redevelopment is creating a new neighbourhood focused around a new local centre. Besides this classification the site is not subject to any specific land use designations. There is an area of Metropolitan Open Land to the north and west.

The wider proposals for the area, in line with Site Allocations and Preferred Approach (2019), identify the site as being suitable for a large number of family homes, as well as communal outdoor spaces and play space, to support the future residents of the development and the wider community.

A nursery for the area will be provided as part of our soon-to-be constructed Greenwich Builds development north of the site.

Specific points raised in response to our previous consultation

We hope that the information above has answered most of the questions you have about our proposals. Below is further information specifically responding to questions raised in our previous consultation, which we hope you will find useful.

Access to light

The detailed daylight analysis above demonstrates that our proposed design is unlikely to have a significant effect on the level of daylight and sunlight to the existing surrounding properties, and negligible impact on the neighbouring allotments.

Building height

In deciding what height of our development should be we have taken into consideration a number of factors, including the surrounding area and existing constraints, as well as the overwhelming demand for social housing in our borough, with over 20,000 households now on our waiting lists.  

We feel the current design, with three lower rise blocks and two taller towers, is the optimum arrangement given the many factors involved. 

Number of homes

Building affordable homes is a key priority for Royal Borough of Greenwich, in line with our 2018-2022 Housing Strategy in which we promised to: 

• Ensure the supply of genuinely affordable homes 
• Support specialised housing needs 
• Build excellent communities and neighbourhoods 

The plans for 322 council homes at Kidbrooke Park Road South, which will be available for social rents to the over 20,000 people currently on our housing waiting lists,  are consistent with this commitment. 

In addition, wider proposals for the area, in line with Site Allocations and Preferred Approach (2019), identify the site as being suitable for a large number of family homes, as well as communal outdoor spaces and play space, to support the future residents of the development and the wider community.  

Parking, cycle storage and electric vehicle charging points  

These points addressed in the Parking and Transportation section and further in the Planning Application.

Acoustics

A noise survey has been undertaken at a number of locations around the site of the proposed development in order to quantify the existing noise climate which is dominated primarily by road traffic. The proposed development will be designed to ensure an appropriate internal and external acoustic environment is achieved in habitable rooms and external amenity areas. Mitigation measures will be adopted in order to minimise and reduce noise levels as far as reasonably possible during the construction of the proposed development.

The Energy Centre

A planning application has been submitted for the Energy Centre, which is separate from the Kidbrooke Park Road South application. The energy center will service the heat and energy needs of the already approved Kidbrooke Park Road North site as well as having capacity for the servicing the South site, subject to approvals. 

Local services (Health / education)

These housing numbers are part of the boroughs housing commitment in the Local Plan. Health and school provision is forecast and provided, based on these numbers. The future residents occupying these homes will place additional demand on local services, including education and healthcare. Whilst there are some existing schools / nursery and primary healthcare facilities within the locality there is likely to be additional demand created by new residents and this will be assessed within the Socio-economics chapter of the Planning Application.

Space standards for the planned homes

The standard homes included in our design meet the government’s Technical Housing Standards. The wheelchair accessible homes meet the Greenwich Wheelchair Site Brief.  

Drainage strategy

The proposed development will have separate foul and surface water networks as per Building Regulations – Part H.  

Rainwater will be collected at roof level via a series of rainwater pipes and conveyed to ground level where it will enter into the below ground drainage network. Rainwater at ground level in external areas will collect into gullies, channels and other form of inlets. 

Surface water will be restricted to greenfield rates via a flow control device and be attenuated in a large geo-cellular attenuation tank in the central landscape area, along with other forms of  attenuation in the form of other Sustainable Drainage Systems such as permeable paving and rain gardens.  

Both foul and surface water are intended to discharge into the Thames Water network located at the south of KBP South within the local highway. 

Full drainage strategy to form part of the planning application

Landscaping

Please see detailed information above under the headings Landscape and public spaces and Ecology and Biodiversity.