adapting the high street
Norwood High Street, London
Type | Digital month-long consultation
Client | London Festival of Architecture (2020)
Status | Completed June 2020
Collaboration | Station to Station, the West Norwood & Tulse Hill Business Improvement District
Publication | High Street Task Force
Technically, how does planning in the Local Authority respond to this? For example, do we need new ‘Use Classes’ to facilitate adaptable strategies? How can we protect unintended activity and the use if interstitial places? Artists and makers have adapted railway arches and abandoned warehouses making a strong artisan community. How can we ensure any high street ‘gentrification’ doesn’t push them out? How can we provide even more flexible workspace for locals?
Roundtable with Lambeth Council
What did we do?
Our aim was to discuss this locality (or ‘key site’ according to neighbourhood plan) with Planning, Policy, Regeneration and Business & Enterprise teams within Lambeth Council and find a common ground that we can work collectively on. Mainly so that the top-down ambition is synchronised with the bottom-up aspiration that is being prepared as part of the Neighbourhood Plan.
Key Recommendations
Outside of the shopping area Lambeth Council policy is being flexible with B class uses since it recognises the growing need for workspace.
Local stakeholders, residents and business should avoid piecemeal assessment on sites and do larger assembly of city blocks. Lambeth promotes working collectively with neighbors to take a longer term vision of sites
Lambeth Council is trying to introduce interim and alternative uses across sites and spaces. This is to promote meanwhile strategies, interim uses and agile approaches.
There is strong argument to champion West Norwood as an area of ‘hyper-locality’ especially as boroughs seek to widen the focus from central areas and promote hyper locality.
Lambeth Council is preparing a Supplementary Planning Documents (SPD) for this area, and they want to hear the views of local residents and stakeholders because it will add richness and an evidence-base to the SPD.