Some of you may have received a letter from Southwark Council advising you of the renewed planning application for the Flood Alleviation works on the Common and in the Park.
Thanks to your support the previous planning application was withdrawn as the application would have resulted in the loss of several trees in the Park.
The application number is 23/AP/3031 – the documents can be viewed via the Southwark Council planning portal. The list of documents is laborious and many are cross sections of the works. The date for comments ends on the 30th January.
The renewed application is an improvement on the previous withdrawn application – the installation of the southern bund will not involve any tree felling.
However we do have concerns:
We have concerns that there are two ‘pathways’ across the Common – one from Peckham Rye East to the northern bund site for delivery of material, in yellow on the plan attached. Access to the existing path from north to south would be severely restricted. Evidently as these items are part of the works they do not need to be included in the planning application. We feel it is imperative that we know how long these restrictions will be in place as they will impact on use of the Common for events and daily use. We have also queried that as Peckham Rye Common is Common Land is permission from the Secretary of State not required?Part of the planning application involves herbaceous planting near the northern bund. Peckham Rye Common is designated open grassland, not a Park. Although we have been told that this planting will be maintained for a year we question how is it to be maintained in the future? The Park maintenance team is severely stretched and there is no water source nearby. The planting of bulbs in the area of the Common north of the East Dulwich Road would seem to an easier option.So far there seem to be no planning application posters visible near the sites.
The Friends of Peckham Rye Park
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