While it’s not quite Netflix or the Disney Channel, when a Bromley council meeting is broadcast live, you can watch it online. The next Budget meeting is on Wednesday 26 February at 7pm. There’s a page online which you can bookmark now to visit on the date itself. You can also read the agenda in advance to see if there’s anything you’re particularly interested in.
There’s a lot of documents in the agenda, and a couple include answers to questions we know local residents are concerned about. To save you trawling through the documents, we’ve reproduced them here. The first is about houses of multiple occupancy (HMOs) and the second is about speeding. These questions are asked by councillors on behalf of local residents.
Further down this post, we’ve also included an answer from the Development Control Committee about building new homes on greenbelt land In Bromley.
HMOs
Question: Currently, are the planning, enforcement and licensing teams sufficiently aligned and coordinated to efficiently action HMO complaints from the public?
From Carol Ann Denyer to the Portfolio Holder for Public Protection, Cllr Angela Page
Reply: There are 3 main service areas within the Council whose work can apply to complaints regarding HMOs. These include Housing Enforcement, Planning Enforcement and Development Management. Whilst the legislative requirements for the Article 4 and HMO Licensing are independent of one another, all 3 service areas work together under an operational agreement, ‘HMOs Inter-Service Process’. This provides a structured and accountable approach to ensure effective collaboration when complaints are received. All staff are aware of this process and contact each other directly and, if needed, complete joint visits, and agree appropriate action.
Speeding in Bromley
Question: Does the Portfolio Holder agree that effective speed reduction requires a change in environment, as I was told by a police officer, and does he agree that the Council has a responsibility to ensure that this is done?
From Cllr Josh King to the Portfolio Holder for Transport, Highways and Road Safety
Reply: We would welcome some more speed cameras; unfortunately, the Mayor of London does not appear to have had any new speed cameras in the last few years, so any pressure that can be put on the Mayor so that we can have them in those places where they are most needed would be gratefully received.
Question: Some of the speeding in roads over time has been by vehicles filling the size of the road. Are any of these ideas being thought about as replacements as you take humps away? So, instead of having the same size of road for a mile or whatever, at some point you squeeze it – width restrictions. Otherwise, it just seems that we are just leaving this to the Police it looks like the Council is absolving any responsibility with regard to speeding.
Additional supplementary Question from Cllr Kevin Kennedy-Brooks
Reply: We do have a number of width restrictions, I am always willing to consider them, but it depends on the nature of the road and the amount of traffic.
Question: Do we have any options for putting softer measures in to control speeding? In some places you might see cobbles where you enter a residential road or changes in the street-scene to indicate that you need to slow down. It may be something that we can explore across he borough where they are needed?
Additional supplementary Question from Cllr Chloe-Jane Ross
Reply: Certainly, we put 20mph flashing signs outside schools, but what we have not done and will not do is make them permanent 24 hours a day 365 days a year. They work morning and afternoon when the children are coming and leaving. As far as cobbles are concerned, I thin Cllr Ross means a “Copenhagen kerb.” We do have a number of those in the borough and I have no objection to them, but obviously there is a question of cost and if they are considerably more expensive than just resurfacing the road that does make a difference. We will certainly bear that in mind.
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To see the full agenda for the meeting and the rest of the documents, visit the Bromley Council website.
Building on greenbelt land
As you may know, the government has ambitious building targets to fill the shortfall in homes needed across the UK. This includes a review of the greenbelt to identify ‘grey belt’ land and meet local housing needs, with ‘golden rules’ driving 50% delivery of affordable homes. In the Development Control Committee on 13 February, the following question was asked:
Question: What is the outline timetable for Bromley to carry out the new Greenbelt Review, as required by the NPPF 2024 [National Planning Policy Framework], and will site-specific flood risk assessments of Greenbelt land considered for future potential housing development form part of the appraisal process?
From Councillor Chloe-Jane Ross
Reply: The reporting tools for planning enforcement in our current case management system are very poor meaning that data had to be extracted manually. We temporarily ceased providing the manually created data whilst staff resourcing is focussed on the implementation of the replacement case management software which is currently at a critical stage. Whilst that project has been subject to unexpected delays, we are confident that the recently agreed ‘go live’ date in July 2025 will be met and once this system is in place, we will have significantly enhanced reporting capabilities which will not require manual data extraction. As such we would ask that officers are permitted to revisit this question in the summer in conjunction with the Portfolio Holder and Chairman as we would like to provide enhanced data to the committee.
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As and when we get further news of decisions made, we’ll let you know. Back in September 2024, local MP Peter Fortune wrote an open letter to the Planning Policy Consultation Team with concerns about building on green/grey belt land. He did not include his thoughts on other ways the council could increase housing across the borough for people who need it.
Your local councillors
These are the councillors for Coney Hall:
Follow those links to find out how to contact your councillors, and details of drop in surgeries where you can talk to your councillors face to face.
Coney Hall Village Residents' Association (CHVRA) 