Fears Penge High Street could be 'killed' by tower blocks

Penge High Street is said to date back to the 10th century, with locals praising the close-knit, village atmosphere which they feel could be wiped out with this latest development of four apartment blocks.

Ian Barrington, 64, is the owner of Designer Drapes on Penge High Street. The shop has been on the road for over 35 years, with the shop owner saying many residents take pride in getting involved with the community.

He told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “It’s a very village-y and friendly area. We do things to promote and bring people to the High Street, anything that brings people in is what we try to do.”

Mr Barrington’s shop faces the Blenheim Shopping Centre on the High Street, which includes a variety of stores such as Wilko and Iceland. However, Bromley Council received plans in January this year from Hadley Property Group and Clarion Housing Group to build four new apartment blocks up to 18 storeys high on the site, which would see the current shopping centre knocked down.

The shop owner said: “I look at this [road] as being a shopper’s high street. What they’re proposing is to make it into blocks of flats and take and cut back on the shops, doing away with our car park.

"For people to come to a high street they need somewhere to park; these people that are just developers, all they’re looking to do is put as many flats in an area as they can.”

Ian Barrington, owner of Designer Drapes (Image: Facundo Arrizabalaga)

He added: “They’re not really considering what shops are wanted, or whether the high street survives.

"It’s just going to be a monster that’s going to kill it. There will be four years of development going on, and this high street won’t survive that.”

Planning documents for the new development show that up 250 new flats will be included in the new build, 35 per cent of which will be “affordable”. The building will also include space for shops on the ground floor.

A Clarion and Hadley spokesperson told the LDRS: “It has always been our intention to invigorate and complement Penge’s much-loved high street with a range of new uses and the re-provision of local favourites, such as Iceland. Our proposed new public realm is more inviting, inclusive and safer than the existing offer, and we are eager to play our part in the ongoing transformation of SE20.”

But Michael Payne, 61, who has lived in Penge for 17 years, organised the Stop the Blenheim Centre Redevelopment campaign and started a petition opposing the plans, which currently has 2,480 signatures online. The plans have also received 855 objections on the Bromley Council planning portal.

Mr Payne told the LDRS: “I looked at this and I was just utterly appalled. I mean, it just looked so completely wrong from the very inception… Something that appeals to a lot of people, particularly with families, is that we don’t have massive tower blocks.”

The local resident said he was worried the development will “set a precedent” for more tall buildings in the area. Rebecca Williams, 46, said she moved to the area in 2021 for the opportunity to live in a house near local parks, as opposed to a flat elsewhere in London.

Ms Williams told the LDRS: “If this plan had been on the table, I would have thought very hard about moving here. It’s not about being a NIMBY, it’s going to totally negatively transform the High Street. It will be virtually adjacent to these beautiful conservation areas like Watermen’s Square and it just feels totally out of character.”

She added that she is worried the 250 new flats will put a strain on schools, GPs and public transport in the area, with the limited parking in the new development affecting surrounding streets. While Ms Williams recognises the current shopping centre is “ugly” and needs updating, she feels 18 storeys is too tall for the High Street.

She said: “Nothing in this area on the High Street is higher than three or four [storeys] max. So having anything above eight would look totally out of context.”

One person in favour of the plans is Robert Carney, 59, who has owned a shoe repairs and key cutting shop in the Blenheim Shopping Centre for nearly 40 years. The trader said Penge is not as built up as other town centres such as Bromley, and has still maintained that “small town feeling”.

“We’ve been here ever since the centre was built, right from the beginning. They want to demolish it, pull it down and rebuild a whole new complex. Personally, I think Penge needs it. I think it needs the regeneration in the area, because it is very rundown. It hasn’t really seen any new building work of this scale for many years.”

Despite being unsure whether he will have a place for his shop in the new development, Mr Carney is looking forward to seeing how the plans progress. He said he feels the increase in people to the community will benefit local businesses “if it’s done right”.

The Blenheim Shopping Centre in Penge (Image: Facundo Arrizabalaga)

Labour Councillor Simon Jeal, who represents the Penge and Cator ward for Bromley Council, praised the local charities, voluntary groups and local businesses that support the Penge area. He also said the impact of the Blenheim Centre development is worrying many residents and he opposes the plans.

Cllr Jeal told the LDRS: “We support regeneration of the shopping centre and Penge does need more genuinely affordable housing and more secondary school places locally – but the size and nature of current plans risks killing off our high street and causing serious harm to our local community.”

A Clarion and Hadley spokesperson told the LDRS: “We have been working closely with Bromley Council, local residents and neighbouring businesses for over two years as part of our plans for Penge, and this will remain the case. While proposed new development can often bring some resistance, our plans have been met with wide-ranging support among those who recognise the clear need to regenerate a tired shopping centre.

“We have used valuable public feedback to amend the design of the project throughout the planning process, including to the height of the buildings. Any further compromise on height will reduce the number of affordable homes delivered, something we are firmly committed to maximising at this site – especially with close to 3,000 on the borough’s housing waiting list.”

A Penge SE20 BID spokesperson told the LDRS that the town’s Victorian heritage was currently being celebrated in the London Festival of Architecture. They said that work is continuing to be done to bring more investment into the town and to tackle some of the antisocial behaviour seen around the shopping centre.

They added: “We are always looking at ways to enhance visitors’ experience of the High Street and this includes currently providing a small amount of extra security and working closely with partners so that residents of all ages continues to feel safe while enjoying the wide range of shopping and leisure activities available locally.”

A Bromley Council spokesperson told the LDRS: “Penge is an attractive and thriving area, surrounded by impressive heritage and served by a close community of local shops and restaurants, brought ever-closer by the efforts of the Penge SE20 BID to support businesses and improve the town centre.

“A planning application has been received in relation to the Blenheim Shopping Centre. We thank local residents who have submitted their views on this application through our Planning Portal, which are being considered in the usual process for determining the application in due course.”