A proposed expansion of Capel Manor College, a specialist environmental college in Mottingham, was unanimously approved on Tuesday night by the council’s Development Control Committee.
The application was for two new buildings with teaching facilities to be constructed on a reconfigured site. It demonstrated the very special circumstances needed to allow the development. As the site sits on Metropolitan Open Land (MOL), there is a presumption against built development. However, in this case the educational need for the new facilities was found to outweigh the minimal effect on MOL, primarily as the expansion was needed to meet the college’s educational requirements.
The proposals were found to improve the overall conservation value of the site through landscaping and biodiversity enhancements, including the installation of bat and bird boxes. The proposed buildings were also found to be designed in keeping with the surrounding woodland setting, with disruption to MOL kept to a minimum and no harm to the local amenity of neighbours. The application included appropriate cycle and car parking with eight electric car charging points.
Councillor Alexa Michael, Chairman of Development Control Committee, said: “This application is a prime example of how developers can use an appropriate design on a sensitive site to overcome environmental impact. The applicants have successfully produced a scheme that supports conservation while delivering significant benefits to education and the local community. I am hopeful we will see the enhanced specialist educational provision in the borough that the proposal is designed to achieve and allow more students of all ages to take up the environmental courses here.”
Planning approval for this development is subject to any final direction by the Mayor of London, as well as the usual Section 106 agreement.
The Capel Manor College site is located on Mottingham Lane and has been in operation since 2020. Capel Manor College are London’s only specialist environmental college. Bromley hosts their only campuses in South London, along with the paired campus at Crystal Palace Park Farm.
ENDS
For media enquiries, please contact James George, public affairs, on 020 8313 4565 or email james.george@bromley.gov.uk