This meeting was scheduled to consider an update on planning and regeneration in the borough, and a report on the council's planned transport work for 2024-25. It is important to note that the document used to write this summary only describes what was scheduled to be discussed, and gives no information on what was actually said by the attendees or whether any decisions were made.

Cabinet Member for Planning, Estate Renewal and Development Update

The meeting was scheduled to receive a report on the work done by Councillor Rahman, the Cabinet Member for Planning, Estate Renewal and Development, since he was appointed on 24th July 2024.

The report includes a section on planning, and reveals that the planning service is currently operating with an 88% success rate for deciding on 'non-major' planning applications¹ within the statutory time limit.

The most recent planning committee meeting is reported to have approved 829 new residential units, 340 student bed spaces, and a 70-bed care home. The report pack also says that officers continue to work on a new Local Plan for the borough, and have recently adopted a Statement of Community Involvement² and Developers' Engagement Charter³. The report also notes that planning officers have recently reviewed and responded to the government's first planning reform consultation.

On planning enforcement, the report pack notes that in 2023/24 the team dealt with 636 complaints, taking formal enforcement action on 14 sites. This included legal action concerning the Mast Quay Phase II development and an appeal against the action, and a successful prosecution against Marwan Motors.

The report notes that Greenwich Council has secured £86 million in capital grant to deliver new affordable homes, and reveals that through the Greenwich Builds programme 324 new council homes have been built, and another 919 are under construction. The report pack also notes the completion of the Royal Hill supported housing scheme, and the purchase of 629 homes for temporary accommodation.

The report pack also lists many completed and ongoing regeneration and capital schemes in the borough, including the refurbishment of the Tramshed in Woolwich, the construction of a new community centre in Kidbrooke Village, and the improvement of shopfronts and public realm on Plumstead High Street.

Finally, the report pack describes the council's priorities for the coming year as including the publication of a draft Local Plan in 2025, the replacement of the existing planning IT system, the delivery of more housing, a borough-wide review of housing estates, and work to support a planned Docklands Light Railway extension to Thamesmead.

An overview of the Council’s Transport work programme for 2024-2025

The meeting was also scheduled to receive a report on the council's planned transport work programme for 2024-25, which is being delivered against the backdrop of the council's new borough-wide Transport Strategy, adopted in October 2022.

The report states that funding for transport schemes has been adversely affected by the pandemic and reduced funding levels are not expected to increase significantly in the foreseeable future. The report notes that this has forced the council to be more flexible about how we identify and utilise available funding and to make use of its own resources and identify other funding opportunities. In particular, the report pack reveals that the council plans to bid for money from Transport for London's Safer Streets funding programme to implement a borough-wide 20mph speed limit.

The report pack describes some of the details of the transport strategy, which aims to encourage more walking and cycling and reduce the number of car journeys made in the borough.

The report pack says that the council has recently commenced mapping work to identify local needs and demand for transport schemes, saying that the council identifies trends and needs / demand within certain neighbourhoods and areas. The report explains the council's focus on delivering improvements to meet competing needs within neighbourhoods saying Our approach to sustainable streets, would be where possible, deliver against competing needs, within a neighbourhood. Aiming to improve a multitude of improvements. This may not always be possible, and individual improvements to an area may be impossible to avoid.

The report pack also describes the council's Bus Service Improvement Plan for the borough, and reveals that the council is working with TfL on a plan to deliver new bus priority measures along the A206, and other improvements in Woolwich, Greenwich and Charlton.