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The Review of Croydon Council’s Local Plan 2018
Update 7/12/22
The RRA made enquiries with the Head of Planning as to the current position of the revised Croydon Local Plan 2018 (Regulation 19) and this is the response from Heather Cheesbrough, Director of Planning at Croydon Council:
“In respect of the review of the Croydon Local Plan, we are still working through with the Mayor the proposals and what this will mean in terms of process and consultation. I hope that early in the new year we will be able to update residents about what the programme is.”
We also enquired about the continued Green Belt status of the farmland in Riddlesdown (Mitchley Ave & Rectory Park/Mitchley Hill) and this was the response:
“ …. yes the site is Green Belt, but it was not proposed to release under the Regulation 19 consultation and there are no plans to de designate this land from GB.”
Update 16/6/22
The new Executive Mayor has given an update on the Regulation 19 of the CLP 2018 which has been put on hold after being elected on 5 May 2022;
“Mayor Perry has also previously outlined his intention to review the Local Plan, looking at how to achieve sustainable growth through listening to residents and halting over-
More info on this link
Update 9/1/22
The Council have now corrected their mistake and new official notices were posted in the S&C Guardian on 6 January (see below). In addition, an extra week has been given for consultation (on the red font amendments only), until 5pm on 17 February 2022 -
More details are on link to the Council’s website; https://www.croydon.gov.uk/planning-
The crossed out red font CLP document (to comment on) is under the Regulation 19 tab -
Update 3/1/22
The RRA have pointed out to the Council that the year '2021' instead of '2022' is shown in the dates for the consultation. We have asked the Council if they are going to re-
Update 23/12/21
The proposed Croydon Plan (CLP) 2018 revision was approved at the Council's Cabinet meeting on 6 December 2021.
It has been announced in the Public Notices section of the Sutton and Croydon Guardian on 23 December (screenshots below) that the next 6 week public consultation on the revised CLP will be from 6 January to 17 February 2022 (5pm).
The public will be able to make comments on the changes in red font only in the CLP document. The document will then go to the Planning Inspectorate for their input/comments. It will then be adopted by the Council.
The good news is that the proposal to build between 680 and 780 homes, on the Green Belt land on Mitchley Hill/Rectory Park appears to have been dropped by the Council. We take this from the wording in the revised CLP for the Green Belt category and also in Sanderstead area in Table 11.11 'Proposals for uses of land of specific sites in Sanderstead'’ on page 383 where the site is NOT named for development.
And the Committee report, which states on page 118; "3.2.3 No Green Belt release is proposed to accommodate the London Plan housing target or infrastructure provision".
In addition, the Council have added the 'Very Special Community Green Spaces' category. The nearest VSCGS to us, is Sanderstead Rec, Sanderstead Pond and Green, and Wettern Tree Garden.
The Cabinet reports are at Item 8 on this link:
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Previous Consultation Information Below in 2019/20
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Update 21/1/20
Croydon Council’s consultation on the Croydon Local Plan 2018 closed on 20 January 2020. A big thank you to all residents who sent in their objections to the Council to save our Green Belt farmland and also to those who copied in the RRA on their correspondence to the Council.
Posted 9/1/20
As well as the information posted below, the RRA have now also issued some further information as to how to write into the Council and ‘have YOUR say to defend Riddlesdown’s Green Belt Farmland.’ This farmland in Mitchley Hill and Rectory Park is graded as No.3 (farmland is graded 1 to 5 with the best at No. 1).
The RRA flyer is on this link in pdf, and has now been delivered to RRA members along with the Recorder magazine and to nearby Sanderstead homes not in the RRA area.
Although not mentioned in the flyer there is also a proposal by the Council to take some of Sanderstead Recreation Ground for the ‘expansion of Gresham Primary School’
As a footnote;
Since the RRA’s formation in 1937, we have had to defend the open aspect of our area on three occasions;
- In 1974 -
the RRA successfully opposed the appeal to Secretary of State to build hundreds of houses on local Green Belt. - 2006 -
The local Green Belt under threat again with speculators buying and selling plots of Green Belt land and woodland. - 2019 -
The Green Belt farmland again under threat with Croydon Council reviewing its local plan growth strategy.
Riddlesdown’s Green Belt Farmland is Under Threat
Posted 28/10/19
According to papers that went to Croydon Council’s Cabinet meeting on 21 October, the Council is considering the option of de-
Three areas are being considered and these are;
- Land at Borrowdale Drive/Mitchley Hill/Rectory Park.
- Land at Gravel Hill (behind Monks Hill).
- Land at Lodge Lane, near New Addington
For Riddlesdown, the suggestion is to build between 350 and 780 new homes on the sloping Green Belt farmland in Riddlesdown! This is the first time the RRA have heard about this. More details are available on this Council link and scroll down to Item 91/19 for the papers;
https://democracy.croydon.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=183&MId=1876
Following agreement at this Cabinet meeting, the Council have advised that a Borough-
The consultation for amendments to the Croydon Local Plan 2018 starts on 8 November 2019 and runs until 8 January 2020 (date changed again to 20 January 2020). It includes the proposal to de-
Amongst the questions the RRA intend to ask the Council, include:
- Where are the new schools (pre school, primary & secondary) to be located? Riddlesdown has no primary school in our area and the largest secondary school in the Borough but RRA residents can't always get a place for their children at the Collegiate because location is way down the criteria list!
- Where are the additional doctors, dentists and other healthcare provision to be located? Riddlesdown has one small doctor's surgery and no NHS dentist. CUH is over subscribed.
- Where is the infra structure for improved rail, bus and tram services?
- Where is the provision for improved foul water and surface water drainage, to stop flooding?
- Where is the improved road network (major roads) for all the additional vehicles that will be using the road network; including delivery vehicles to shops to feed and clothe us and home deliveries via the internet?
- Where is the supply of water to come from, for all new and existing homes, from a very limited resource?
- If the Green Belt status is removed why is it proposed that this land is to have so much density of housing compared to other areas in Riddlesdown?
This list is not exhaustive. It is all well and good Croydon Council saying that new homes are urgently needed but the improved infra structure also needs to be put in place to accommodate the existing and new population. The RRA have been pointing this out to Croydon Council in our objection letters, for at least the last 10 years with virtually no response from the Council about these important issues!
The RRA do have a fighting fund (which is ring fenced) for planning legal fees following the threat in 2006 for the destruction of green belt woodland in our area and it is possible that we will use this contribution and ask residents for further contributions. We will advise further on this if we feel it is necessary to employ planning lawyers in the near future.
Image below taken from Google Earth;
The Farmland under threat, bordering Mitchley Hill, Rectory Park and Borrowdale Drive and Borrowdale Close
