Agenda item

Resolved: that the report be noted. The Committee thanked Kplom Lotsu and his team for their work on the Catford regeneration.

5.1      Kplom Lotsu (Service Group Manager, Capital Programmes) introduced the report, the following key points were noted:

·         The tender for a masterplanner for Catford was currently open.

·         A recent event had been held for potential masterplanners to visit the borough and to meet with officers. There were around a hundred attendees at the event.

·         A timeline for further scrutiny of the masterplanning process had been developed.

·         The Commonplace platform was still being used to capture the views of local people. Further targeted engagement activities were taking place to reach younger and older people - as well as people from black and minority ethnic backgrounds.

·         A new food market was being launched in Catford. Local businesses were being encouraged to take part.

·         A new newsletter had also recently been launched for local businesses.

·         The Council was working with Transport for London (TfL) to move forward plans for the realignment of the south circular.

·         Topographical surveys had recently been completed, which would enable the next stage of the development to take place.

·         It was intended that plans would reach the detailed design stage before the end of the year (the plan was still for work to begin on site in 2021).

·         TfL estimated that the cost of the realignment would be £42m (though it was hoped that this would reduce when detailed plans were developed).

·         A similar road realignment had cost £22/23m in Stratford.

·         The expectation was that half of the cost would be met locally.

·         The Council had secured £10m in funding from the Government’s ‘housing infrastructure fund’. The terms of the funding were not yet available.

·         Work on the theatre was also continuing. It was anticipated that the conservation management plan would be completed in the near future.

·         The conservation plan would underpin bids for heritage lottery funding or applications to other sources of funding.

5.2      Kplom Lotsu responded to questions from the Committee, the following key points were noted:

·         The work carried out by Ian Chalk architects had been included in development of plans for the Broadway theatre.

·         Officers recognised the high ambitions that the Council and community had for the future of the theatre.

·         The intention of the conservation management plan was to ensure that all options for the future of the theatre were explored.

·         Widening of the south circular where it crossed the Hayes line was not currently included in plans for the realignment of the road.

·         Options were being considered for the development of the Catford stations. There might be the potential to relocate the pedestrian access from the road to enable the widening of the roadway.

·         The difficult pinch point on the road in to Catford was where the south circular passed under the Catford (Thameslink) line.

·         There were plans for the two stations to be linked and options for the improvement of infrastructure around the stations would be included as part of this work.

·         Officers would return to the Committee at regular stages in the masterplanning process to seek further opinions on the developing vision for Catford as a civic hub, as well as to test ideas.

·         The redevelopment of Catford was one of the biggest mixed use town centre redevelopment opportunities in the country.

·         The Catford team was grateful to the Committee for the support and guidance it had received.

5.3      In the Committee’s discussions, the following key points were also noted:

·         The Committee commended the quality and scope of the engagement activities being carried out by the Catford programme team.

·         There was good work taking place with local businesses.

·         The community in Catford had been inspired by the quality of engagement activities.

·         Further work needed to take place on developing the corporate vision for the civic centre that would be provided in Catford, which would distinguish the offer in Catford from that in Lewisham and other local centres. This might include work with other public services as well as the community and voluntary sector or the higher education sector.

5.4      Resolved: that the report be noted. The Committee thanked Kplom Lotsu and his team for their work on the Catford regeneration.