Bexley to get new neighbourhood of 550 homes

By Joe Coughlan, Local Democracy Reporter

Plans for a new neighbourhood with hundreds of new flats have been approved by a local authority.

Bexley council backed proposals for a new set of seven tower blocks between six to eight storeys tall in Crayford, including 559 new flats.

Council documents said the design hopes to add a new residential neighbourhood to the site, including children’s play areas and a new riverside walkway.

The plans, sent by Purelake New Home Ltd and Skillcrown Homes, were discussed at a planning meeting for Bexley council on Thursday.

Conservative councillor Melvin Seymour, representing the Crayford ward, said at the meeting that the plans were a “mass overdevelopment”.

The councillor also criticised planning officers for recommending permission be granted to build the flats, and for only providing an addendum to the report on the day of the meeting, which addressed previous flooding concerns in the area.

Cllr Seymour said: “The fact that I have had to come here tonight with my colleague, having prepared a speech, to protect our community and our town from this horrendous development is utterly appalling.

“I think officers need a long, hard look at themselves because I am actually disgusted by their dereliction of care and duty and respect to ward members.”

Council officers addressed concerns about the heights of the buildings in their report.

They said: “The scheme would present a group of buildings of a similar height rather than a single tall building.

“The buildings would be distinguished by different types of brickwork and gaps between the buildings would provide visual separation between the blocks.

“It is considered that the buildings would sit well within the context provided by existing buildings in Crayford Town Centre and would not adversely affect the skyline.”

Council documents also said 43 per cent of the new homes will be “affordable”.

Robert Lancaster, head of planning for Bexley council, said at the meeting: “[The eastern block] is the one that’s closest to the town centre and one closest to amenities, and there’s always a balance of a whole range of factors going into the desirability of property, of which daylight is just one.”

At the meeting, the planning committee voted to approve the plans for the 559 new flats in a 5 to 4 vote.

Pictured top: Design of the proposed site as viewed looking west from the River Walk (Picture: Alan Camp Architects)