One publican said he hadn’t been able to increase his trade since taking over because of the lack of parking in Bromley North Village
Plans to build a children’s home on a car park in Bromley have been slammed by nearby residents who call the current parking situation “a nightmare”.
Bromley Council has submitted a planning application to build the four-bedroom home on the site of the Wharton Road car park in Bromley North Village, saying the facility would help children in their care be closer to their support networks and reduce reliance on costly private placements.
Over 660 Bromley North residents have signed a petition calling for the car park to remain open, and the planning application for the home has received nearly 100 objections.
Those opposed to the scheme are not against the idea of a children’s home in principle. They are primarily concerned with what it will mean for residents once the 16 spaces in Wharton Road car park are lost, which many of them use them on a regular basis.
Piers Hurn-Torr has been the landlord of The Anglesey Arms on Palace Road for nearly two-and-a-half years. The Anglesey is one of five pubs within the immediate vicinity of the car park, the others being the Crown and Anchor, The White Horse, The Red Lion and The Freelands Tavern.
Piers said he hadn’t been able to increase trade at his pub since taking over because of the lack of parking space in the area, something he described as “a pain in the backside”. He feared business would only decrease for all five pubs if the car park was to be built on.
Piers said: “I think all of us are struggling because of the lack of parking. If we lose those spaces, everyone loses the spaces. Residents and businesses, we are all a bit screwed.”
Palace Road resident Mark Doonan lives a stone’s throw from the Anglesey and he said losing the car park would be “unthinkable”.
He said: “I regularly have to drive around the block two or three times [to find a space]. If we lose these 16 parking spaces, it’s going to have a hugely detrimental effect on everyone.”
Both men said communication from Bromley Council about the children’s home proposal had been poor. Piers said he had received a couple of letters notifying him of the plans, but he had expected more of a dialogue rather than being directed to Bromley’s planning portal.
Karen Scully and her husband Ross have lived in the area for 36 years. She called the parking situation “a nightmare” and said: “We all have to go out and do our shopping, and whatever we need to do, and get back by 2pm. If not, we can’t park.”
Annual parking permits cost Bromley North residents £80, but the permits are only valid from midday to 2pm. Residents say the roads often get clogged up in the afternoon as shoppers park their cars to visit the nearby town centre.
Karin Goldsmith, another car park user, said: “You’ve got young families and working mums who are trying to pick their kids up and they’re having to park three streets away.”
Residents fear those working at the new home—which will be staffed 24/7—will be parking in their roads as well, which will only exacerbate the problems created by the car park being lost.
Bromley Council chose the Wharton Road site because it’s “central, residential, and well connected to most parts of the borough” and its “accessibility and quiet residential setting make it an ideal location for a home that blends into the neighbourhood while meeting Bromley’s commitment to provide local care for children and young people who need it most”.
The South London authority said parking concerns had been considered, and although it understood “some neighbouring residents may be disappointed”, it claimed the car park was no longer needed to support town centre parking. The council said the car park operated at a loss which further supported its change of use.
An independent parking survey was also commissioned by Bromley Council, the results of which found that parking demand accommodated by the car park can be absorbed by available space on nearby streets between midday and 2pm.
The council said it was considering potential mitigation measures to appease residents, such as offering permits for businesses at a central multi-storey car park or identifying opportunities to convert redundant single yellow lines into permit-holder bays. Park Road and Park Grove have been identified as roads where more parking bays could be added.
Despite what the council has said, Bromley North residents are not convinced their roads can meet parking demand if the car park is removed. They feel as if the parking survey was geared towards presenting the car park as being used by Bromley shoppers, rather than for local residents on a daily basis.
Local resident Dickon Love said: “The parking study avoided making any conclusions about the local requirements, but the data presented confirms that the reduction in parking from 101 to 85 spaces represents a significant shortfall in the number of spaces required against demand.
“Such a large reduction in available parking would be seriously detrimental to safety when travelling around the area, and the health, safety and wellbeing of residents—especially the elderly, disabled and vulnerable—and the economic and community life of its local pubs.”
The planning application is currently being considered by Bromley Council’s planning department. The council is scheduled to make a decision next month, likely at a public planning committee meeting due to the level of local opposition.
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