On June 13th 2007, a Public Hearing took place as part of the Independent Examination of the SCI. Members of the community including the Willowbrook Centre and Officers from Southwark Council took part in the hearing, presenting their cases in front of an Independent Planning Inspector. Read More...

An Independent Inspector has been appointed and thehe Council has issued a date for the Independent Examination of the Statement of Community Involvement. The Examination will begin on June 13th. 2007 at 10am. Read More...

The modifications to the Emerging UDP drafted by Southwark Council to respond to the direction from the Secreatry of State are now available for public formal consultation for the next six weeks. Read More...

Councillor Richard Thomas has reported in his blog on the decisions taken by the Council's Executive and Planning Committee last night to challenge the Secretary of State on the urban/suburban designation of Rotherhithe, East Dulwich, Nunhead and Herne Hill. Read More...

The Secretary of State has requested that the council modify their Southwark Plan to re-classify the areas of Rotherhithe, Herne Hill, Nunhead and East Dulwich as urban rather than suburban areas. Read More...

Southwark Council has published the new timetable for the examination in public of the SCI. Read More...

Consultation period 25 January -> 25 April Read More...

Two consultation events have taken place to inform local residents about Southwark forthcoming Annual Monitoring Report. Read More...

Friday October 13, 2006 was the last day to submit comments on the modifications made to the Southwark UDP. Read More...

The Southwark Plan is in its final stages of consultation after which it will be adopted by Southwark Council. This consultation concerns modifications to the Southwark Plan made after February 2005. Read More...

Peckham Vision is a consortium of local residents, artists and businesses, who have come together with the Peckham Society, to seek information about the development plans for Peckham Town Centre, including the tram and tram depot, raise public awareness of these issues and stimulate an informed discussion about the future of Peckham.
The website provide update information on regeneration and transport policies in Peckham, with a particular focus on the Cross River Tram and the debate on the impacts of the tram depot on Peckham.

Planning Contributions are an important tool in the hands of local authorities and can be used to offset the negative impacts caused by a development. Contributions are negotiated between the Council and the developer and they can range from the provision of affordable housing, new open and public spaces, to the funding of school places, health and community facilities or training schemes. A developer can chose to implement these projects or can make payments to the Council which will implement them in his/her place.

Southwark Council had already developed a Supplementary Planning Guidance for Planning Contributions in September 2005, but changes in Government directives and in the Southwark Plan now requires a new document to be redrafted. The Council has announced that it will respond to the initial consultation that took place on the previous document after the new document is redrafted.

Government legislation requires that Supplementary Planning Documents are subject to a Sustainability Appraisal and Strategic Environmental Assessment. A draft scoping report setting out how the Sustainability Appraisal and Strategic Environmental Assessment will be carried out has been sent for consultation to statutory consultees: English Nature, Environment Agency, English Heritage and Countryside Agency.

According to Southwark Statement of Community Involvement the Council must consult the community on the draft document.
A round of consultation on the redrafted Planning Contribution SPD is due to commence in December 2006 but dates are still to be announced.

The Cross River Partnership made its "tram consultation" debut at I ♥ Peckham festival on Saturday 12 August. You might not have noticed their stall at the back of the Peckham library but we did.

Willowbrook approached them to gather more information on CRP's consultation plan and future consultation events but we were just presented with a voting card which asked us to support the tram. No other voting options were given in the card. If you wanted to be added to the consultation mailing list you had to submit your "vote".

CRP volunteers at I ♥ Peckham informed us that actual works on the tram project are likely to begin not sooner that 2013 and due to finish in 2016.

We still don't know if and for how long this will delay decisions on the regeneration of Peckham, were the tram is due to stop and possibly also have its depot.
The progress on the Peckham Area Action Plan will be presented by Southwark Council officers at the next Peckham and Nunhead & Peckahm Rye Community Councils.

The Department for Communities and Local Government has published a reviewed consultation paper on changes to the Mayor of London Order 2000. Among the changes proposed is the statutory referral to the London Mayor of all planning applications for tram stations. Under the current powers, referral means that the London Mayor can request the borough to refuse a planning application but with the proposed changes the London Mayor would be allowed to take over the decision from the borough.
The Mayor of London is responsible for strategic planning in London and for producing the Spatial Strategy for London (the London Plan). The strategy provides a framework for the borough's Local Development Strategy. The Order defines how to determine if a planning application is of strategic importance and the role of the London Mayor in the decision regarding planning applications of strategic importance. This is to ensure that strategic planning interest of London as a whole are taken into account by central and local governments.
The Government proposes to: 1) change the thresholds for referral of planning applications to the London Mayor; 2) require the London Mayor to apply a test before he/she decides whether to take over a planning applications and 3) change the procedures for handling planning applications of strategic importance for London.
Responses to this consultation can be sent until 2 November 2006. Visit the Department for Communities and Local Government for further information.

Planning Minister, Yvette Cooper, today urged local authorities to make better use of "section 106" agreements to deliver more affordable housing and infrastructure.
The call to action came as the Government published new guidance for local authorities and developers on how better to use planning obligations. The guide offers practical advice on how to improve the development, negotiation and implementation of section 106 agreements. It also provides real life examples of how to make the process quicker, whilst providing more certainty, and includes a model legal agreement prepared by the Law Society.
A recent study by Sheffield University showed that there is still a great deal of inconsistency between local authorities in the use of planning obligations. The research showed that sixty per cent of medium and large and ninety per cent of minor residential planning permissions do not include s106 agreements at all.
Read the full article and download the report here.

This week, we launch our new website. We have done a complete re-styling of the website but, most importantly, we have updated all the contents.
We have now a news section, with regular updates of news about planning, regeneration and community issues in Southwark, London and the UK.
We have also a diary where we advertise events organised by the Willowbrook Centre as well as by other organisations which discuss issues related to planning in
Southwark.
Check our new What is planning and Get Involved! pages to see what planning does and how you can influence council's decision that affect what happens around you
and your neighbourhood.
And don't forget to tell us what you think of our new website!

Southwark Council is calling for the submission of proposals to improve your local environment.
Cleaner Greener Safer is a programme run by community councils to fund environmental and community safety improvements and any local person or community organisation can apply. You can now submit your project ideas for environmental and community safety improvements for 2006-7. Now for the fourth year running, Southwark Council has given money to local Community Councils to help fund projects that will make your area Cleaner, Greener or Safer. If you have an idea for improving your neighbourhood, please complete and return an application by Friday 8th September 2006. You can download or request an application form from Southwark Council.