Consultation About A Conservation Area for Shortlands Village

August 7, 2020

In recognition of the special characteristics of the Shortlands Village area, consultation is underway about designating the area as a conservation area. The council encourages residents living in Shortlands Village and interested parties to respond.

The news to designate a conservation area for Shortlands Village follows approval from the council’s Development Control Committee to consult about the conservation area proposal and from an independent report by the Built Environment Advisory and Management Service (BEAMS). Conservation areas are locations with a special character, often due to the quality of their buildings and other elements. These can include the historic layout of roads, paths and boundaries, together with characteristic buildings and paving materials which all contribute to a familiar and cherished local scene.

Shortlands Village is an historically and architecturally interesting suburb. In common with so many London suburbs, it developed following the arrival of the railway and station in the area. The area is under developmental pressure, and without the creation of a conservation area this could affect the historic character of the area. Conservation area status would mean that applications would be required to either preserve or enhance the conservation area, thus ensuring a higher standard of design and greater sensitivity to the historic character of the area.

Councillor Alexa Michael, Chairman of Development Control Committee said: “We are determined to value the unique heritage in our borough and the proposal for a new conservation area reflects this. The proposed area has many qualities that merits conservation area status.  We think that this will be a positive step and the council would encourage all interested people to respond to the consultation.”

The BEAMS report concludes that the proposed area warrants designation as a conservation area due to its special historic and architectural interest; and because conservation area protection would ensure that the area’s distinctive character will be preserved and enhanced in future. The council is seeking views on the following designation options, with Option A already ruled out, as identified in the report. The two remaining options are:

  • Option B which proposes that the southern section of the area, around Queens Mead and across the pedestrian bridge to Valley Road, be added to the existing Bromley Town Centre conservation area. The rest of the proposed area would then form a new Shortlands Village conservation area.
  • Option C which proposes the creation of a new Shortlands Village conservation area for the entire area.

The BEAMS report and details of how to respond are available at www.bromley.gov.uk/conservationareas, with consultation ending on 5 October 2020.

Following this consultation exercise, comments will be considered and reported back to a future meeting of the Development Control Committee. The members will then determine whether or not to formally recommend designation of the proposed conservation area to the council’s Executive.