The major changes planned in Bexley and Bromley in 2024

The upcoming year will see a wide variety of developments across South London.

Below is a list outlining the projects to look out for in Bromley and Bexley boroughs over the next 12 months. These include the delivery of schemes which have been previously approved as well as the progression of major proposals for the area.

Further details on the planning applications mentioned can be found on the relevant authority’s website.

Bromley

Updates to most used leisure centres

Plans for major renovations to leisure centres in West Wickham and Orpington are set to be finalised in 2024.

The £27million project will see the pools in West Wickham and the Walnuts leisure centres gaining new pool roofs and drowning detection technology.

Gym spaces in the centres will also be expanded, with new accessible toilets, cafés and changing facilities being planned.

The initial plans were approved by at an executive meeting for Bromley Council on October 18.

Council officers said in their report that the leisure centres were at the end of their natural design life after being built in the late 1960s.

They added that the centres were two of the borough’s most used facilities, with over 20,000 visits per month.

Plans for the project are expected to be finalised this year before work is completed in 2026. 

Crystal Palace Park to see major regeneration including updates to dinosaur statues

Bromley Council announced in June last year that HTA Design has been appointed to lead an estimated £17.5m project to restore Crystal Palace Park.

These works include updating the famous Grade I listed dinosaur statues and regenerating the park’s Italian Terraces, as well as adding a new dinosaur-themed playground.

The famous dinosaur statues as seen in Crystal Palace Park

The funding comes from the National Lottery Heritage Fund as well as Bromley Council’s sale of residential properties beside the park.

The works come as part of a wider £52million regeneration plan for the park, including restoration of the Grade II listed Crystal Palace Subway.

The first phase of renovation works reportedly finished in November 2023, with the project since progressing to an advanced stage.

Day to day management of the park was also transferred to the Crystal Palace Park Trust in September last year. 

National Sports Centre upgrade plans to be finalised

The National Sports Centre in the park is also set to receive an upgrade, including the outdoor athletics track being repaired and the existing flood lights being replaced.

The Mayor of London announced the works last May, with a spokesperson confirming that a planning application for the comprehensive redevelopment will be brought forward by April this year.

The project, reportedly within the single millions, would also see indoor facilities such as the fitness gym and climbing walls being upgraded, as well as a potential children’s activity centre being added.

A Mayor of London spokesperson previously told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) that the early improvements had been planned while long-term innovations were developed, with such investments believed to be in the tens of millions.

Bexley

New neighbourhood of over 500 new homes to be added to Crayford

Plans to deliver 559 new flats in Crayford will progress this year, including a new riverside walk along the River Cray and children’s play areas.

The £180 million project will see a set of seven residential tower blocks being built on the former Electrobase site.

A CGI design of the proposed development in Crayford (Credit: Alan Camp Architects / London Square)

The site was bought by developer London Square from Skillcrown and Purelake New Homes in September last year. London Square announced that 240 of the new homes would be available for shared ownership and social rent.

The plans were originally approved by Bexley Council in April last year before planning consent was finalised in August.

Tens of thousands of new homes along River Thames

Housing Secretary Michael Gove outlined plans from the Government in July last year to add “tens of thousands” of new homes along the River Thames in a project named “Docklands 2.0”.

The areas would include Charlton Riverside in Greenwich borough and Thamesmead in Bexley in the south, as well as Beckton and Silvertown in Newham borough.

A Peabody spokesperson previously told the LDRS that the company planned on building up to 2,800 new homes in South Thamesmead.

The housing association reportedly owns 65per cent of the land in the area, with John Lewis,  Peabody’s Executive Director Thamesmead, saying there was potential for 15,000 new homes in the space.