Plans for Catford town centre approved by Mayor and Cabinet

The Framework Plan for Catford town centre has been approved by the Council’s Mayor and Cabinet. Last night, the green light was given to this ambitious vision for Catford to become the greenest town centre in London.

The Framework Plan has been shaped by over 3,000 comments from local residents, and sets out the Council’s ambition for Catford over the next couple of decades. The plans will secure significant benefits for Catford’s community, including nearly 1,000 new social homes, more opportunities for local shops and businesses, and improvements to enable walking and cycling.

The South Circular road will be rerouted to create a largely car-free area in the centre of the town centre along with generous public space. The approach to Catford Bridge station will be pedestrianised with significant improvements making it easier for people to walk and cycle.

Over the next couple of decades, 2,700 new homes will be built including 1,000 new social homes. The vision for Catford to become a vibrant town centre will signal a strong economic outlook, creating new jobs for local people and opportunities for small businesses.

To kickstart this ambitious vision, six new projects will come forward by the end of 2022.

The Old Town Hall will become a public services hub with Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust and SLAM among the first to take up workspace this summer bringing jobs into the town centre.

Public space improvements are planned for Holbeach Road, which will deliver the first of several ‘green stepping stones’ through the town centre with new planting and support Catford Mews, the independent cinema, with its plans for a new music venue.

A £7m refurbishment of Catford’s Broadway Theatre will be complete next year, helping the Grade II Listed building to play a starring role in the Council’s plans for Borough of Culture 2022.

Construction is set to start on the restoration of the former Catford Constitutional Club which will see this much-loved building reopened as a pub, thanks to Good Growth Funding from the Mayor of London.

A planning application will be submitted later this summer for improvements to the area around Catford and Catford Bridge stations, which could see works start next year. Safer walking and cycling routes with a double-width pavement along a stretch of Catford Road, a wider underpass under the South Circular Road and two river decks across the River Ravensbourne will create a pleasant riverside space. A new pedestrianised approach to Catford Bridge Station could be in place by December 2022.

Thomas Lane Yard is set to be the first project on the Framework Plan’s strategic sites delivering employment space and 100 new affordable homes including 40 social homes for those on the Council’s housing register, helping to address Lewisham’s housing crisis.

Find out more about the timeline to deliver the Catford Town Centre framework here.