Policy information sourced from the Southwark Local Plan 2022
AV.01 Aylesbury Area Vision
The Aylesbury Area is:
- A residential area located north of Burgess Park and between Walworth Road and Old Kent Road. It originally accommodated 2,750 homes and is characterised by buildings built in the mid 1960s – 70s, but which were valued by residents for the number of social rent units and the larger flats and room sizes. They are set amongst mature trees, green and open spaces and play space;
- Served by emerging new community infrastructure, which includes three new high-performing schools, existing primary schools, the re-landscaped Burgess Park and sports facilities, including a new BMX cycle track. Burgess Park is protected Metropolitan Open Land and plays an important function for green space, play areas, recreation and sports facilities;
- Served by good bus transport links, along the Walworth Road and Old Kent Road corridors, and near to the Elephant and Castle train and underground stations and the Old Kent Road Opportunity Area.
Development in the Aylesbury Area should:
- Generate new neighbourhoods with a range of housing tenures and sizes that will attract existing residents to stay and new people to move in, including Southwark residents who want to stay and benefit from the great connections, facilities and communities;
- Stitch back into the surrounding context and enhance the ability for pedestrians and cyclists to get around a network of attractive tree-lined streets and public open spaces, arranged around a loose grid of well designed urban blocks;
- Deliver the three green fingers which will run from Burgess Park into the Action Area Core connecting with Surrey Square Park, the Missenden Play area and Faraday Gardens and providing important public space;
- Establish a local hub in the vicinity of East Street and Thurlow Street with a range of community facilities including a new Health Centre, Library, pharmacy, café, employment opportunities and a public square;
- Deliver homes and a wider urban environment suitable for residents at all stages in their lives, encouraging people to live and work locally. This will include excellent cycling provision, safe secure streets with good building frontages and a choice of homes with a priority for high quality social rented housing, including a range of different sized homes, generous space standards and provision of specialist housing;
- Contribute by encouraging all those who take decisions that affect our community to aspire to and maintain the highest standards;
- Deliver an exemplary neighbourhood in which we and our children will want to live and of which we can be rightly proud;
- Reinforce its image as a place for families to live and deliver an excellent range of quality public and private open spaces, and will provide new local opportunities for shopping and employment in Thurlow Street and East Street, as well as supporting existing town centres.
Growth opportunities in the Aylesbury Area:
- The Area Action Plan 2010 envisaged approximately 4,200 new homes with the provision of 50% social rented and intermediate homes housing including the reprovision of at least 2,249 social rented homes. The emerging direction of travel of planning policy seeks to build new homes whilst also supporting any existing residential use. This suggests that it would now be appropriate to consider an increased number of homes within the land covered by the Area Action Core replacing all the existing social rented homes in and in reasonable proximity to within the footprint of the orginal estate. The objective of delivering 50% social rented and intermediate homes should be met with a preference for social housing in accordance with Policy P1.
- The Action Area has the potential to provide a minimum of 600sqm of employment space, up to 6,500sqm of retail, community and leisure facilities and a minimum of 600sqm of flexible retail or workspace.
For more information please see the Southwark Local Plan 2022