A new adventure golf course, hotel ballroom and flats on the site of a former church are all included in the latest planning applications sent to Greenwich, Bromley and Bexley councils.
Hundreds of planning applications are sent to local authorities each week, all of which must be validated and are publicly available online for the public to view and comment on.
Such comments can be used to inform planning officers and local councillors when deciding on whether to grant permission for applications.
Below are a set of highlights from the most recent set of proposals. Further details of each application can be found on the respective council’s website.
New outdoor adventure golf course
Bromley Council has received plans to add a series of leisure features to Ruxley Manor garden centre including an adventure golf course and high ropes course for children.
The project is expected to cost £1.5million and will deliver an 18 hole adventure golf course including oversized plant and animal features.
The plans also include building an adult high ropes course with a zipline.
Planning documents from Pleydell Smithyman Limited, on behalf of Ruxley Manor, called the site one of the biggest independently-owned garden centres in the south east of the country.
The business on Maidstone Road in Sidcup was originally started in 1964 and already includes a restaurant and two children’s day nurseries.
Planning documents said: “Complementary leisure facilities are becoming commonplace at garden centre sites as operators recognise the synergy between the two uses and they also help to attract the ever growing young family market, to offset changes to the demographic profile of the typical older garden centre customer.
"They also help to combat the effects of online shopping, giving customers a reason to visit the site to gain an experience rather than shopping online.”
Plans move forward to build flats on church site
Further plans have been sent to build a new three-storey block of flats on the site of a former church in Bexleyheath.
The location on Devonshire Road was previously home to the Harold Stevens Memorial Hall, and served as both a day nursery and church.
A previous application to build a set of four flats on the site was approved by Bexley Council in 2019. The new plans seek to add an extra home to the building, bringing the total up to five.
Planning documents from Jones Town Planning Limited, on behalf of the Celestial Church of Christ, Elephant & Castle Parish, said the former building has since been knocked down.
They added: “The aim for the current proposal was to provide a scheme that optimises the use of the site and provides an increase in high quality residential units but at the same time providing a design that fits within the existing street context.”
Former liberal club could be knocked down
An application to knock down the former Charlton Liberal Club has been received by Greenwich Council from Altitude Contractors Limited.
The club on Charlton Church Lane has been closed since 2018 and was later put on sale for £500,000.
Three sets of plans were previously sent between 2020 and 2022 by Liberal Limited to knock down the building and build it into a three-storey set of flats.
However, the council refused to give the developer permission in the past for reasons including the loss of a communal amenity.
Plans progress to convert hotel car park into ballroom
Greenwich Council has received further plans from Arora Management Services Ltd on a second ballroom being built at the Intercontinental hotel beside the O2 Arena.
Permission for the original plans was granted by the council last month, with the latest documents detailing a travel plan for the surrounding area.
The new ballroom would see an indoor car park for the 453 bed hotel being converted. The car park includes 231 spaces and sits beneath the existing ballroom.
The new feature would be just under half the size of the original ballroom and would include space for 1,140 people to dine.
The space is planned to only minimally change the outside of the ballroom building on the site, with 28 new jobs being made as a result.
The hotel opened in 2015 and guests are also reportedly able to use a dedicated link between the hotel and the O2 Arena next door.
House to be converted into children’s home
An application has been sent by Melburay Limited to change a house into a children’s home. The building on Hayes Road is planned to have room for three young people and carers.
The development would include communal spaces for children and carers to cook and eat together as well as engage in family activities together. Planning documents cite the house as currently being a bungalow with living space in the roof.
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