What it was trying to achieve

A former care home in Forest Hill, London, vacant since 2015, was proposed for demolition and replacement with a part three, part four storey building providing 20 residential flats, three of them affordable rent. The site had not found a viable operator as a care facility and the decision was taken to bring it back into productive use as housing. Both transport planning and drainage engineering were required to support the planning application on a constrained inner-London site with limited space above and below ground.

What made it complex

The development would increase the impermeable area of the site by around 10%, raising the risk of downstream flooding from surface water runoff. London Clay beneath the site made infiltration unviable as a disposal route. The nearest watercourse was approximately 1.2 kilometres to the east, making connection to it impractical. Above-ground space for attenuation was severely limited by the development footprint. On transport, the site could not provide a policy-compliant level of on-site car parking, placing reliance on surrounding streets whose actual available capacity had not been established.

What it produced

Planning permission was granted. During the determination period the Council sought clarification on both the drainage and transport assessments. Both were answered swiftly, with positive consultation responses from the relevant consultees and no delay to the programme. The former care home was brought back into residential use.

“Trust in the advice is what formed the relationship. As a consultant, if you’re in charge of picking the team, you only want the best.”
David Brown  |  Director  |  Newsteer Real Estate Advisors