Plans for seven-storey block near park thrown out
By Robert Firth, Local Democracy Reporter
A beauty spot has been saved from plans to build a seven-storey tower block overlooking it.
Southwark council recommended the plans be thrown out to construct 32 ‘affordable’ homes on the edge of Burgess Park in Peckham.
Developer Burlington Developments said the plans would clean up an “environmental disaster” zone and provide cheap housing.
But councillors branded the seven-storey tower block “imposing”, and unsuitable for the beauty spot.
Councillor Martin Seaton, chairman of the planning committee, said: “I am familiar with Burgess Park. This tall building within the curtilage of Burgess Park seems to me wholly inappropriate.”
Earlier in the meeting he quizzed the developer on a mock-up of the apartment block at the park’s entrance.
He said: “It does appear to be quite imposing.
“Would it look as distinctive and imposing as this image suggests?”
Tim Gaskell from CMA Planning, attending the meeting on behalf of the developer, dismissed the concerns as a “leading question.”
He said the site was an eyesore and the developer’s plans would enhance the area.
He said: “For us this is really a case of what you want to see – the site as it exists today or a new development delivering many benefits for the area.
“It is polluted, oil soaked, rubbish covered, an environmental disaster of a site. It brings down the area and it brings down this part of Burgess Park.
“Our proposal is to clean the site up and decontaminate it. We would then give one third of the site to the council to be incorporated into the park.”
Susan Crisp from Friends of Burgess Park said: “We support the recommendation to refuse planning permission. This building will harm the openness of Burgess Park.
“This new development right beside the park intrudes through both height and bulk.
“This part of Southwark has low levels of green space per person. Significant development around the park increases demand for quality green space.”
Pictured top: A computer-generated image of what the development could have looked like, as seen from Burgess Park
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