Croydon Council’s planning team won two prestigious national awards last night for their work on future housing delivery and working collaboratively with developers.
At the Planning Awards in central London, Croydon won in the categories of Planning for Increased Housing Delivery and Planning Permission of the Year.
In the first of the two categories, Croydon Council’s spatial planning team was recognised for the suburban design guide’s supplementary planning design document, known as SPD2. The Planning Permission of the Year award went to Croydon’s development management team’s role in approving 101 George Street – soon to be Europe’s tallest modular, prefabricated building.
Welcomed as the first of its kind by the Greater London Authority, SPD2 was adopted in April this year. It assists developers, their architects and residents when looking at how to sensitively provide new homes in the borough’s suburban neighbourhoods. It encourages high-quality design, clear guidance on what is acceptable and provides further explanation on the council’s adopted Croydon Local Plan policies. It was created to help the delivery of new homes in Croydon’s growing communities while protecting local green and open spaces.
The guidance was designed to reflect the Government’s and Mayor for London’s policies that promote the intensification of existing suburban areas, and has already generated interest from other local authorities who plan to take the same approach.
The council was also jointly named in the Planning Permission of the Year award category with developer Greystar Europe, Tide Construction and the architects HTA Design LLP on the 101 George Street towers being built opposite East Croydon station. Croydon Council shared the honours for the way it worked collaboratively with the developers to ensure the scheme met planning policy to create a high-quality, sustainable design. The 44-storey, 546-home tower complex is currently under construction.
In total, 26 winners were announced at the awards ceremony hosted by the Royal Institute of British Architects, recognising the year’s best achievements in the development industry.
“I’m absolutely delighted that the council has won both of the categories it was nominated for at the Planning Awards. We are committed to delivering much-needed new homes for Croydon residents, and it is brilliant to get recognition for the professionalism, experience and commitment of our staff.
“High-quality developments are being delivered here in Croydon and it’s great to be recognised alongside the best of the best, so well done to our fantastic planning team.”
Councillor Paul Scott, cabinet lead for planning and regeneration
