A planning application for 40 flats opposite Orpington’s Walnuts Shopping Centre has been approved by Bromley Council.

The existing building, a former Woolworths store on the High Street, will be demolished to make way for the development, which will be up to five storeys in height with a mix of one, two and three bed units.

It is the latest in a series of a proposals which could transform the town centre. Plans to partly demolish the Walnuts Shopping Centre, building two 19 and 25-storey residential towers, are currently the subject of controversy.

The development control committee also approved a second application for 17 new apartments on nearby Homefield Rise.

 

This Is Local London: A picture from 2008, when the site was a Woolworths (Google Maps)A picture from 2008, when the site was a Woolworths (Google Maps)

Two semi-detached houses will be demolished to allow for a part three storey, part four storey development with a mix of one and two bed units.

Welcoming the decisions, councillor Alexa Michael, chairman of the committee, said: “These applications both deserved approval as they are well designed and will provide much-needed housing for Bromley Borough residents.

“The Orpington High Street development will contribute to the regeneration of Orpington Town Centre. The Homefield Rise application is the third part of a phased development which contributes greatly to the local area.”

The committee also approved a development in York Rise, behind Orpington station, which will see 35 affordable homes built.

Acklam Developments, who acquired the vacant site in 2020, is behind the development of the High Street.

The Homefield Rise development is being brought forward by Landsdown Goldman Klein and Clarion Housing Group, who have already developed 68 units on the site, which is allocated for housing in Bromley’s local plan.

Orpington First, the local Business Improvement District (BID), made representations supporting the Orpington High Street development for being a "forward-thinking scheme which will contribute towards the future sustainability of the town."

The Walnuts Shopping Centre development, a £500m project by Areli Real Estate, could see around 900 flats built.

The total mixed-use development would create 100,000sqm of floorspace across the residential units, state of the art leisure, day care centre, office floor space and car parking, together with “new and enhanced public realm, access and connectivity across the site."

Areli claims the development will bring 535 jobs and an estimated spend from new residents of between £12-13m per annum.

Campaigners previously pledged to boycott the shopping centre should the development go ahead, launching a petition which has been signed by nearly 1000 people.

Opponents are now organising in a group named Nuts to the Walnuts.

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