The trio of tower block developments in the heart of our historic Market Town is now fully revealed with the latest application at 2-4 Ringers Road alongside the ‘Maplin’ and Churchill Quarter Sites.
The developer onslaught has ramped up another notch with the latest 11 & 14 storey tower block application at 2-4 Ringers Road. This is immediately behind the contested 16 storey ‘Maplin’ site and both developers claim their buildings are fully justified by the adjacent and still-undecided 16 storey Churchill Quarter and the Site G/10 policies in the Local Plan.
The 2-4 Ringers Road development is now a registered Planning application. We ask you to please object.
Permission for any one of this terrible trio will trigger permission for the other two. Churchill Quarter and the Maplin developments are currently on hold but please object to this latest development. Objections that might carry most weight are those that refer to the size and bulk of the proposed development and its impact on the historic heart of the town in particular the Conservation Area. Whilst it’s best if you can put it in your own words, these are some examples of objections that you could use:
The proposal is an overdevelopment which is grossly out of scale with the surrounding townscape;
The high rise buildings of this size will permanently alter the character of the historic centre of the town;
The proposed buildings would harm the view of the skyline as seen from Queensmead open space which is within the Bromley Town Centre Conservation Area;
The proposed development will be harmful the Conservation Area as it will overlook parts of the High Street and will be seriously at odds with its exisiting character;
The absence of a Masterplan for Site G/10 means that developments are coming forward ad hoc and proposals for blocks of flats should not be permitted before such a plan is approved by the Council after public consultation.
Click here to comment online: https://bit.ly/RingersObject
Or write to : LBB Bromley, Planning, Stockwell Close , Bromley, BR13UH.
Give your name and address (otherwise your comments will be discounted) and quote Planning reference 21/05585 2-4 Ringers Road Bromley BR1 1HT.
Please send a copy to the Ward Councillors and to BCS via email or via the postal address above.
Julie Ireland: julie.ireland@bromleylibdems.org.uk
Graeme Casey: graeme.casey@bromleylibdems.org.uk
Sam Webber: sam.webber@bromleylibdems.org.uk
BCS – cqcampaign@bromleycivicsociety.org.uk
The current position with the Big Three
The Churchill Quarter (Left Picture) this revised gargantuan Council co-development was due to be resubmitted as a new planning application in November ’21. Could it be that, because of the huge public opposition and possible political backlash, this monster is being held back until after the Local Elections on May 5thbefore being unleashed on the town along with the other tower block developments it has spawned ?
BCS Churchill Quarter Campaign – Update November 2021 | Bromley Civic Society
The 12 storey ‘Maplin’ tower was refused thanks to public opposition and that of the Ward Councillors and BCS , but it was only by a majority vote of one! The developer responded by submitting a double footprint 16 storey version (Centre Picture) on which the developer has lodged an appeal for non-determination. This went to Development Control Committee who have agreed to fight the appeal. The Appeal Inspector will look at both versions at the Appeal and if either is accepted it will be on the basis of the Council policies in the Local Plan relating to Site G/10 and those for the Churchill Quarter.
2-4 Ringers Road: Extracts from the developer’s planning application
This development will be yet another eyesore in this ill-conceived trio of monster of tower block developments on top of the hill in the heart of the Conservation Area in our historic Market Town. Below are extracts from the application:
1. Corner of Ethelbert Road and High Street.
The images below show the existing Ringers Road / Ethelbert Road site seen from the High Street side of the Conservation Area. Below that is the developer’s block visuals from the same viewpoint. Their development is shown as the multi-coloured blocks and the proposed ‘Maplin’ development as the blue block in front.
2. Skyline from Queens Mead
Below are the developer’s before and after visuals of the skyline from the Queens Mead side of the Conservation Area. The development is shown in red alongside the proposed Churchill Quarter shown in green.
3. High Street.
The developer’s block visual from further along the High Street Conservation Area with historic Ravensfell House in the foreground overpowered by all three developments
4. Aerial View
Below the developer’s aerial view of the Big Three – Churchill Quarter in green, Maplin in blue and 2-4 Ringers Road multi-coloured.
The Site G/10 Master Plan and Town Centre Supplementary Planning Document (SPD).
As we’ve said time and time again there is supposed to be a Masterplan for the whole of Site G/10 but this hasn’t materialised. Instead, in the 2019 Borough-wide Local Plan, each individual developer on Site G/10 is now supposed to come up with their own Masterplan for the whole site, surely a contradiction in terms!
The Council is also preparing a required Supplementary Planning Document (SPD) for the Town Centre which will contain planning guidance for Site G/10 including building design and heights and the environmental considerations such as views, the Conservation Area and skylines. Of course the ‘big three’ which all pre-empt what is being prepared in the SPD, should all be judged against the guidelines that should appear in that document.
For credibility the SPD ought to be an objective appraisal of the environmental context surrounding the site of Site G/10 with a design code relevant to that context. Will it be or will it just be devised to accommodate the pre-existing Churchill Quarter proposals which were conceived in the absence of a design code and are so damaging to the character of Bromley?
Browse our old photos, in 
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