Policy information sourced from Newham Local Plan 2018
INF8 Community Facilities
Proposals which address the following strategic principles, spatial strategy and design, management and technical criteria will be supported:
- Strategic Principles
- Community facilities development and growth will be co-ordinated to ensure that the delivery and retention of community facilities is carefully managed in order to align provision with the needs of new and existing communities in the borough (as per INF9 and H1);
- Retaining or [re-]providing community facilities where a local need exists, that can be clearly demonstrated;
- Ensuring all new community facilities are accessible, welcoming, inclusive and open and available to all members of the local community, with sufficient capacity and flexibility to meet a range of local needs;
- Co-locating facilities and services, and encouraging mixed-use formats incorporating new or enhanced community facilities and other compatible and policy-compliant uses notably housing to help support viability, security and efficient land use;
- Promoting innovative ways of addressing constrained sites such as the use of shared facilities, meanwhile provision on Strategic Sites, off-site and multi-storey provision; and
- Prioritising the provision of health, childcare and education facilities where an element of community floorspace is proposed on Strategic Sites.
- Spatial Strategy
- Ensuring all community facilities are located in places that are or will be accessible by a range of means of transport, including walking and cycling;
- Prioritising town and local centre sites for the development of community facilities where compatible with Policy SP6, but allowing exceptions to this, subject to the satisfaction of other criteria, where proposals:
- Do not result in a loss of housing as per Policy H4 or designated employment land as per policy J2, and are otherwise compliant with other policies; and
- Are meeting a localised need, are smaller than 75 sq. m and staff and facility users occupying the building at any one time do not exceed 15 people; or
- Will be adding to existing facilities to help form a recognisable ‘hub’ or ‘cluster’ meeting localised needs; or
- Will result in the protection of a public house for an alternative local community benefit with a similar catchment area; or
- Relate to the operational needs of emergency services provision; or
- Are ancillary training or childcare facilities for employers within employment hubs; or
- Are Class D1 uses located within the defined Community Facilities Opportunity Areas (CFOA) as set out in Table 14 when it can be demonstrated that there are no available or affordable in-centre premises or sites; and
- To promote the delivery of community facilities in accordance with identified need the health, education and flexible community facility sites listed in Table 15 have been allocated for new, re-configured or intensified facilities, incorporating other compatible and policy-compliant uses where appropriate as per INF8:1e above, in addition to provision accounted for on Strategic and Non-Strategic Sites (listed below Table 15).
- Design, Management and Technical Criteria:
- Facilities must be outward looking, address the street and neighbourhood in their design so that they are obvious and welcoming within the urban grain, subject to design and character considerations;
- Proposals shall set out design and management measures detailing how, outside of their principal use and any sacred areas, the facility would operate as a multifunctional space with fair and affordable access to all members of the community;
- Proposals for new or intensified community facilities should demonstrate that they take account of other public infrastructure providers’/commissioners’ expressed needs and scope for co-location;
- In order to demonstrate local need for new, intensified or replacement community facilities, (typically D1) proposals should be accompanied by evidence including:
- that at least 67% of users will be ordinarily Newham residents and that existing facilities cannot meet the identified need, taking into account the need to consider innovative approaches to provision, including alternative models in relation to scale and scope, in Urban Newham; or
- published sufficiency assessments, strategic infrastructure plans or capital programmes including the latest IDP as reflected in Community Infrastructure and Strategic Site site allocations; or
- where the facility is commercial D1, D2, A4 or sui generis, compliance with town centre policies, including reference to the latest capacity studies; and
- Where the release of a community facility building or site to other uses is proposed, evidence must be provided that the facility has been either:
- Assessed and identified as surplus as part of a broader strategic approach changing the model of provision that is considered to be of local benefit, (e.g. aligned with other Local Plan Core Strategy objectives) and may be necessary to help realise that strategy, having first drawn it to the attention of public providers and offered it to them as per ii below; or
- Offered to the market for the range of existing lawful uses (typically Class D1) for a period of six months, at a market rent or sale price benchmarked against at least three other equivalent properties in the area. This will include drawing it to the attention of public providers and allowing for a mixed-use ‘compromise position’ where it can be marketed for a replacement facility plus other uses such as residential; or
- Shown to be unsuitable in size and scale for its location in relation to the spatial strategy prioritising Town and Local Centres as locations for community facilities, where the local area has good access to a Local/Town Centre and facilities which meet similar local needs where these arise.
| Reference | Area |
|---|---|
| CFOA1 | East Ham |
| CFOA2 | Canning Town |
| CFOA3 | Forest Gate |
| CFOA4 | Beckton |
| CFOA5 | Stratford |
| CFOA6 | Manor Park |
| Reference | Site | Primary community need as per IDP 2018* |
|---|---|---|
| CF01 | Tollgate Medical Centre | Health |
| CF02 | West Beckton Health Centre | Health |
| CF03 | Lord Lister Health Centre | Health |
| CF04 | East Ham Memorial Hospital & Shrewsbury Road Medical Centre | Health |
| CF05 | Balaam Street Practice | Health |
| CF06 | Bow County Court | Health |
| CF07 | Scott Wilkie Primary School | Education |
| CF08 | Eleanor Smith Lawson Close | Education |
| CFO9 | Eastlea Community School & Star Primary | Education |
| CF10 | Royal Road | Royal Road |
| CF11 | Brampton Manor Academy | Education |
| CF12 | Langdon Academy | Education |
| CF13 | Forest Gate Community School | Education |
| CF14 | Site at Flanders Road | Education |
| CF15 | Eleanor Smith Primary School (North Road) | Education |
| CF16 | Tunmarsh Centre | Education |
| CF17 | Colegrave Primary School | Education |
| CF18 | NCFE Welfare Road | Education |
| CF19 | Sarah Bonnell School | Education |
| CF20 | New Vic | Education |
| CF21 | Odessa Infant School and St. James Primary | Education |
| CF22 | Maryland Children’s Centre and Primary School | Education |
| CF23 | Former Rainbow Centre | Community Centre / flexible community use |
| CF24 | Former Upton Centre/One Love Site | Community Centre / flexible community use |
| CF25 | Manor Park Community Centre | Community Centre / flexible community use |
| CF26 | Katherine Road Community Centre | Community Centre / flexible community use |
| CF27 | Barking Road Centre | Community Centre / flexible community use |
| CF28 | Newham Leisure Centre | Leisure – built facilities |
*may be subject to updates [See also mixed use Strategic Sites S01, S03, S04, S05, S06, S08, S10, S11, S13, S14, S15, S19, S21, S22, S23, S24, S26, S27, S28, S29, S31 and non-strategic site HSG23]
For more information please see the Local Plan 2018