FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

The site is bounded by Bear Lane, Dolben Street and Treveris Street and currently contains a series of brick buildings and steel-framed sheds that are currently unoccupied.  The site links to six railway arches and 8 Chancel Street that are also owned by Acorn and Galliard.  Planning approval was obtained in March 2019 for a change in use at the arches to create a “flexible” use of that space to allow a comprehensive redevelopment of the whole site and create a commercially-led development of new offices, commercial units, shops and restaurants that would form another part of Southwark Council’s “Low Line” initiative.

The Council is currently considering amendments to these proposals to ensure that they can be delivered alongside the proposed development.

Initial proposals to bring forward that comprehensive redevelopment were presented in January 2020 when a public exhibition was held of Acorn and Galliard’s initial thinking. 

Following feedback from the exhibition and subsequent meetings with Southwark Council and the local community revised proposals are now being presented that are a direct result of the feedback received.  

As an Opportunity Area, the New Southwark Plan proposes to transform Blackfriars Road into a lively, historic boulevard linking central London and the River Thames to the Elephant & Castle offering a mix of new homes, 

offices, services and shops catering for both a local and wider need and providing opportunities for new flexible business space that will help consolidate and expand the existing business services cluster and reinforce the area as a strategic office and employment location, within the Central Activities Zone. 

Recent projects developed or in progress as part of this initiative include the following:

The proposed scheme has been designed to reflect the industrial character of the area through its materiality and surface detailing.

Constructed of articulated brick with deep set reveals, the weight and colour tones of the building harmonise with the surrounding streets whilst the set back 7th floor pavilion is lightweight and playful in its appearance.

The upper levels provide the opportunity for green roofs and planting whilst colourful horizontal brick bands give a distinct and rich language to the proposal.     

Our scheme will focus on improving the public realm to balance the private and public amenity spaces at ground level whilst utilising the inherent length of the site and its varied entrance positions to create a significantly enhanced presence. This will provide a legible public experience that flows easily from the street level into the reconfigured site with visible horizontal and vertical circulation.

The layout of the open space acknowledges the aspirations of the Low Line and places a particular emphasis on pedestrian connectivity by creating an attractive and animated streetscape linking Dolben Street to Treveris Street on which the proposal will have a positive affect along with an animated street frontage onto Bear Lane including a new link towards the opened viaduct.

The building is based upon the classic brick and glass design principles.

We are currently undertaking a second phase of pre-submission consultation having previously held a public exhibition of our initial thinking in January 2020. Following feedback received at this public exhibition and from key stakeholders both at Southwark Council and within the local community these plans have been updated to incorporate much of the feedback received earlier this year.  

Given current restrictions on social distancing, it is not possible to hold a public exhibition to present our revised plans and as such, we have set up a website, www.bear-lane.co.uk to present our redevelopment plans. The website contains details of our proposals, answers to possible questions you might have and a feedback form for you to fill out if you would like to provide us with any comments about our scheme. 

In addition to the website, we will be holding a series of online Zoom meetings for you to attend if you would like further information. The website contains a booking form for these sessions that will be held on Thursday 7th January and Monday 11th January, both at 5pm.  We will be taking feedback throughout December and up to 15th January 2021. We are happy to attend any resident or amenity society meetings (subject to social distancing requirements) should we be invited.  

It is proposed to submit a planning application in the Spring of 2021.

Your views are of vital importance for us at this phase of our consultation. We would like to hear from as many of you as possible and welcome your feedback through our feedback forms or email address.  

All feedback received during the consultation, either in writing or in person, will be considered carefully by the project team during the finalisation of the final development proposals and will be addressed in the Statement of Community Involvement that accompanies the Planning Application.

The purpose of the public exhibition is to elicit views and receive feedback from the general public for the redevelopment plans and it is expected that suggestions will emerge that may improve the scheme.  As such, all comments received during the consultation will be carefully considered as final development proposals are drawn-up and changes may be made.

We are required to balance the underdeveloped nature of the site with the impact that its redevelopment may have on the local community. We have therefore assessed the daylight/sunlight impact of the development in accordance with the guidelines set out by the Building Research Establishment. In direct response to the findings of this assessment, we have revised the massing of the proposed development to set back at floors 4-7 and have replaced floor 7 with a lightweight pavilion.

This information will be made available for residents to view and the developer and its team will be happy to explain the contents of it once it is available.

The whole scheme should take around two years from start to finish.

We are committed that our new development should be designed to very high sustainability standards, reducing carbon emissions by designing the residential elements in line with planning and Building Regulations. The new commercial space will comply with BREEAM Standards and achieve an Excellent certification as a minimum environmental sustainability target for the offices.

Construction hours will be limited by the London Borough of Southwark as follows:

• 8am to 6pm Monday to Friday 
• 8am to 1pm Saturdays 

Yes, at appropriate times.

A construction management plan will be implemented to minimise disruption during the construction phase and outline the programme for construction works. This would be a condition of any permission received and would be formulated in close liaison with LB Southwark transport team.

There will be no night-time working during construction.

During the construction phase of the development careful consideration will be given to minimise the disruption to local residents as much as possible.

• Working hours for the construction works will be restricted to those agreed with the planning officers.
• Safety is paramount. The site will be fully hoarded to ensure no unauthorised access or injury to a member of the public.
• The main contractor will provide 24-hour security to the site.
• The main contractor will carefully manage deliveries to and from the construction site. 
• Deliveries will be allotted time slots, which will be in normal working hours, and lorries will be held at a distance from the site until required during demolition and excavation.
• A residents’ liaison committee will be set up comprising of the developer, the main contractor, local residents’ associations and any individual residents and local businesses affected.
• We will be using a main contractor who will be a member of the ‘Considerate Contractors Scheme’ (CCS).
• Construction methods will be used to reduce noise and dust generation where possible.

A Construction Management Plan will be required to be approved prior to works commencing explaining how the above will be delivered.