WEA Planning are Southwark planning consultants offering advice on all levels of planning application from small-scale house conversions up to large commercial projects.
We can help you gain the planning permission you need, regardless of the type of proposal:
Confirmation that a development can be built using permitted development rights.
Prior notification - an express application scheme for smaller projects.
Development in Southwark conservation areas or where you need listed building consent.
Change of use in Southwark - for applications where no structural changes take place, but the building is used for a different purpose.
Residential extensions, basements or loft conversions in Southwark.
Commercial developments, including new build and change of use.
Our experience working on planning projects in across London covers all the different stages of the planning process.
We can help you with:
Initial consultations and pre-application submissions.
Making a full planning application to the London Borough of Southwark.
Applications to remove or vary a planning condition.
Negotiating Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) contributions.
Obtaining Certificates of lawful use.
Planning appeals and public inquiries.
Making representations at Southwark planning committee meetings. Most applications will not need to go this go through this process, but even a smaller planning application can be called before the committee if there are a sufficient number of unsatisfied objections.
With experience across many different sectors, WEA Planning can help with your scheme, whatever the nature and type of building proposal it is. We have worked on all of the following types of scheme across London:
Residential schemes, including securing planning permission for large garden outbuildings, extensions, home offices and conversions from offices to flats.
Commercial planning applications.
Educational buildings, health centres and similar such public sector planning applications.
Other usage types (sui generis). This planning application type covers any kind of building which does not already have its own usage class.
The London Borough of Southwark is located in south London. It is well-positioned between the City of London and the South Bank, making it a key area for both residential and commercial activities. Some of the key areas in the borough include, Borough, Bermondsey, Peckham, and Elephant and Castle.
There are key architectural developments in the borough. Peckham Library, designed by Will Alsop, won the Stirling Prize and Dawson Heights, designed by Kate McIntosh, is a modernist utopia of social housing, overlooking the borough.
The area has some key entertainment and leisure facilities, including Tate Modern, Shakespeare's Globe Theatre, Borough Market, South London Gallery, Dulwich Picture Gallery, and Imperial War Museum. Recent building works and excavations along Bankside discovered remnants of the Rose Playhouse, an Elizabethan theatre, and Roman ruins.
The borough has plenty of parks and green spaces in the borough, including Peckham Rye, Dulwich Park, and Burgess Park. The north of the borough benefits from good TfL underground connections, the rest of the borough benefits from National Rail and Overground networks.
The borough faces significant opportunities for change and development. There is significant regeneration projects ongoing in Canada Water, Peckham, Camberwell, and Elephant and Castle. There has also been significant resistance from local communities and activist groups.
The borough also has significant planning challenges and constraints. Key issues in the borough are the risk to heritage assets and designated open space. The demand for housing and affordability.
In 2023, Tate lost their legal battle against their neighbours in Fearn and others v Board of Trustees of the Tate Gallery. The residents argued on grounds of loss of privacy from the new viewing platform at the gallery.
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WEA Planning have a successful track record of gaining planning approvals across London. We are Southwark planning consultants who can make representations to the London Borough of Southwark planning team on your behalf.
The Local Plan informs the policies which guide development across the borough, this includes residential, commercial, parks and other public infrastructure. These policies are important to decide whether to approve planning applications.
The Local Plan 2019-2036 was adopted in 2022.
The London Borough of Southwark has approximately 2,200 listed buildings and structures, over 1,200 locally listed buildings and structures, 48 conservation areas, 5 registered historic parks and gardens, and 8 scheduled ancient monuments.
Details of the locally listed and statutory listed heritage assets in the borough can be found online.
Article 4 Directions
Article 4 Directions enable a local authority to remove certain permitted development rights. This means that for the specified development a planning application will need to be submitted.
The borough has article 4's in place for some of the conservation areas in the borough. There is an article 4 for changes in use from dwelling house to a HMO across the parts of the borough. There is also an article 4 in place across parts of the borough for change of use from Class E (commercial) to Class C3 (dwellinghouse). There is an article 4 removing rights to convert railway arches to residential dwellings. The borough has an article 4 for demolition of commercial or residential buildings for replacement dwellings in certain areas of Southwark. There is more detail on the borough's website.
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Are you looking for Southwark planning consultants who can advise you on all stages of the planning process? Contact us today to see how we can help!