This meeting will include discussion about a proposed development on a 1.12 hectare site, known as Borough Triangle, and the release of £2.4m to support the delivery of affordable housing in the borough.

Borough Triangle Site at 18-54 Newington Causeway

The committee has been asked to decide whether to grant planning permission for a development on the Borough Triangle site at 18-54 Newington Causeway. The application site sits within the Elephant and Castle Opportunity Area, and currently contains a number of buildings, some of which have been occupied by Mercato Metropolitano on a meanwhile basis.

The proposal is for the phased demolition of all the buildings on the site, except for 82 and part of 83 Borough Road. The plan is to replace the demolished buildings with 4 new buildings. The report pack explains that the applicant has agreed to provide a total of 230 affordable homes, which is a significant increase on the number in the withdrawn 2022 scheme. The committee has been advised that this is the maximum that can be achieved given the challenging financial viability of the scheme. The report pack also notes that this development has taken into account Southwark Council's commitment to building 11,000 new council homes by 2043 as part of the Council Plan 2018-22.

The tallest of the proposed buildings, Building B, is scheduled to be 44 storeys tall, and Building A, the second tallest, is scheduled to be 38 storeys. The impact of the buildings on the skyline and their prominence in views from a number of locations, including from the Trinity Church Square Conservation Area, and from a number of key views identified in the London View Management Framework are discussed at length in the officer's report.

It is scheduled to be decided whether a number of planning conditions should be imposed on the development relating to transport, servicing, waste, landscaping and biodiversity, air quality, noise, fire safety, and construction management. These include conditions relating to the sustainable drainage strategy to ensure that surface water discharge would be restricted to greenfield run-off rates, and that the development achieves net zero carbon emissions. The report pack also notes that

The applicant has agreed, at the request of TfL, to make a contribution of £30,000 towards providing new and refreshed Legible London signage.

Also scheduled for discussion is the fact that the development would affect a number of businesses that currently occupy the site. In particular, Mercato Metropolitano currently occupies the site under a series of temporary permissions that expire in August 2025. The applicant has been in discussion with them and the traders who occupy stalls in the market about whether the market could return to the development once it is completed, and about how to manage the effects of the development on their businesses during construction. The report pack explains that:

Following submission of the BRS November Addendum, the applicant continued consultation with traders and the council and subsequently submitted a second and third addendum (referred here as the BRS January Addendum 2 and BRS February Addendum 2A) to respond to comments received. The BRS Addendum 2A sets out in further detail the mechanisms and processes by which businesses trading on the site will be supported to relocate.

The report pack notes that, following discussions between the applicant, Southwark Council and the traders, the current proposal is for the applicant to provide a financial contribution to help traders relocate, and to build a temporary food market for some of the traders to occupy on the site during construction.

Release of £2,376,936.12 from S106 agreements across the borough to support the delivery of affordable housing in the borough.

The committee is also scheduled to discuss whether to release £2,376,936.12 from Section 106 agreements to support the delivery of affordable housing in the borough. The report pack explains that the money was originally received from developers as a contribution towards the provision of affordable housing in Southwark. This money is currently held in an account for affordable housing contributions, and the council is seeking permission to transfer the funds to the Southwark New Homes Programme.

The report pack explains how the Southwark New Homes Programme has recently delivered 305 new affordable homes, and lists the names and locations of 45 of them. The committee will decide whether to release money that was received from developers who built the following properties:

• The Workshop Site, Land Bounded by Gilkes Place, Gilkes Crescent and Calton Avenue to the Rear of 25 Dulwich Village
• Land to rear of 16 St Marys Road
• 123 Fenham Road
• Capital House, 42-46 Weston Street

The report pack explains that the money, if released, will be used to help build more affordable homes, and goes on to list the names of 22 projects in Southwark that are currently underway and which are scheduled to be completed in the near future.

The report pack explains that the Southwark Construction Programme uses both a direct delivery model, in which the council directly oversees the building of new homes, and a development agreement model, in which the council works with a developer partner to deliver homes. It explains that the development agreement model is used for the following five projects:

• Alfred Fagon Apartment Terraces (Copeland Road Car Park)
• Harold Moody Court and Prout House (Goschen Estate)
• John Gorsuch House (Daniels Road)
• Leathermarket (Joyce Newman House)
• Lilac House (Meeting House Lane)

It also explains that money will be transferred from the affordable housing contributions account to fund the Southwark Construction Programme. The report pack explains that, subject to the committee's approval, this will:

enable them to be used to help fund the council’s New Homes Programme. As set out in the Capital Programme Refresh report presented to Cabinet in January 2023, this programme aims to deliver new affordable homes and contribute towards the council’s commitment to build 11,000 new council homes by 2043, as per the Council Plan 2018-22. 2,500 of these homes have been delivered or started on site before May 2022, and the current plan for 2022-26 includes 1,000 new council homes to start before May 2026.