Agenda, decisions and minutes

The Committee agreed that:

The minutes of the meeting held on 7^th February 2012 be approved

The Committee agreed that:

The minutes of the meeting held on 7^th February 2012 be approved

None were declared

The Committee agreed that:

·        The report be noted

The Head of Planning introduced the item, running through a presentation that highlighted important aspects of the planned development of Lewisham Town Centre. Over the next 5-10 years there are plans for:

·        2,500 new homes (in addition to 1,300 now underway or completed during past 3 years)

·        50% increase in shopping space

·        New leisure facilities

·        Re-routed roads and rivers and improved public spaces

The Committee then discussed a number of issues raised by the presentation:

·        The Tesco planning application to extend the store to the town centre. This will be a partial rebuild and extension. The store is very close to public transport and there needs to be a discussion about the sustainability of the application and transport link impacts.

·        The mix of housing and the impacts that this will have on local public services. The percentage of affordable homes will be as high as is financially viable for the developers, with 20% in the majority of schemes taking place. Planning has worked with Public Health and Children and Young people on the modelling, with a long-term aim to see where the hotspots are and how to deal with it. At the moment there are no plans for new GPs in Lewisham Town Centre. Lewisham has a requirement of 100 new homes a year from the London plans, which this development addresses. There are transport issues too though this is not necessarily in control of the Local Authority. The developments will be looking to have a mix of people in it, possibly including some families but there does need to be some pragmatism about this as it is high-density housing. There will be a look at other opportunities, such as improving the nightlife attractiveness and what to do in terms of licensing.

·        The need for the station to be integral to the plan, especially with the links to Stratford and Canary Wharf. An issue is that National Rail can be difficult to deal with and it is not practical to tie developers to their timeline. There is also the potential for office space, and while no-one sees Lewisham as a new Canary Wharf there is additional commercial space available which could help change image of Lewisham.

·        Whether pedestrianisation will work as it is not always successful, though it should work in this context as it is a high quality environment with a park and restaurants.

·        The shopping centre itself, which needs easy parking and to be family friendly. Land Securities, who run the shopping centre, are a major player and know that Lewisham underperforms compared to the catchment area. There is interest in extending Lewisham shopping centre and in developing the ‘leisure box’ above as a cinema.

The Committee agreed that:

·        The report be noted

The Committee agreed that:

There should be further discussion of a way forward for the Bakerloo extension at the next meeting of the Sustainable Development Select Committee

Jonathan Roberts of JRC introduced his presentation to the Committee which outlined:

·        Update on official thinking

·        Spending pressures and priorities

·        Demand indicators

·        Project risks and other ‘lions in the path’

·        A wider South and SE London approach

·        Stakeholders and politics

The presentation also highlighted the keys to pursuing a project such as the Bakerloo extension:

·        Vision – what do you want and why?

·        Intelligent ideas – affordable sense

·        Long-term

·        Key next steps

·        Phasing

There are possibilities and opportunities in central London as the Bakerloo is less used through central London than other lines which means that capacity through central London with the Bakerloo could be swapped for capacity at London Bridge.

The Committee then discussed a number of issues raised:

·        The benefit cost ratio needed for projects such as the Bakerloo extension, which are around 2 to 1, though current projections are slightly below this. There will need to be a bigger draw destination. Tube lines get around three times the number of passengers compared to nearby train routes, though this may not be enough to justify a project around the margins. For example the Crossrail and Thameslink projects values are huge, as every extra space is an extra job and the stations are likely to be transformational.

·        Whether there are the big regeneration schemes to attract passengers and money for an extension. Simply reserving the suburbs with a tube will not be able to justify the costs involved, especially when lines have been extended to take 12 car trains.

·        The potential for the tube to help with the regeneration of Catford, perhaps even offering Catford as a destination or integrating a new station into the development. It would also improve access to Catford which is poorly served on weekends.

·        What a local authority can do to make this happen. By bringing groups of shareholders together the project can build momentum. This would need Lewisham, Southwark and London Councils, as well as private groups all working together and lobbying same points. It is not long before people start planning the 2019-24 spending, . Bakerloo won’t be able to start entering this arena until there has been money spent on project planning in detail. There is a space of about 5 years to get this all started, including a stakeholder group and getting clarity on what needs to be done.

·        The need for Disability Discrimination Act compliance, platforms would need to be reworked so that new stations are DDA compliant as tube trains are lower than rail trains. This would rule out sharing a rail and a tube platform.

·        What the other options are, for example extending the DLR to Catford. This would need to be thought through, especially in terms of linkages and detail. Also whether spurs from an extended Bakerloo would be viable, for example to Beckenham or even to Croydon.

·        The level of in-depth research that needs to be done. The associated costs of this would be into 6 figures to do it properly and would  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

The Committee agreed that:

The final report of the Financial Exclusion Review be agreed and referred to Mayor and Cabinet

The Committee discussed the final report and agreed changes to the key findings and recommendations.

The Committee agreed that:

The final report of the Financial Exclusion Review be agreed and referred to Mayor and Cabinet

The Committee agreed that:

Outstanding items on the work programme be carried over to the 2012-2013 work programme

The Committee discussed the work programme, including potential items for the 2012-2013 work programme.

The Committee agreed that:

Outstanding items on the work programme be carried over to the 2012-2013 work programme