Policy information sourced from the Southwark Local Plan 2022

SP2 Southwark Together 

We will continue to revitalise our places and neighbourhoods to create new opportunities for residents and local businesses, to promote wellbeing and reduce inequalities so that people have better lives in stronger communities. This will be achieved through:

  • Mitigating and adapting development to climate change to meet the net zero carbon target by 2050; and
  • Developing places where everyone can benefit from all activities, including play spaces, leisure activities, squares and shops, buildings and the natural environment. These places should enable everyone to feel proud of their home and create a sense of belonging in the community; and
  • Investing in our communities and residents, and particularly existing residents, so that everyone can access the benefits of our regeneration programmes and the opportunities created by those programmes for new homes, new jobs, education, training and new physical and social infrastructure; and
  • Encouraging greater tenure integration and equality within and between new development in order to create the conditions for properly mixed and integrated communities, ensuring equity of esteem from street level, and to mitigate against stark visible differences and a sense of tenure segregation; and
  • Developments being designed for the diverse communities in Southwark, including all principles of the Southwark Stands Together initiative and to ensure accessibility, inclusivity, and interaction, regardless of disability, age, race, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation, pregnancy and maternity, marriage or civil partnership or gender, and allow all to participate equally, confidently and independently in everyday activities; and
  • Making our neighbourhoods safer with well-designed buildings and spaces that mitigate and minimise the impacts of climate change on local residents, discourage crime and anti-social behaviour and foster a sense of community; and
  • Encouraging residential development above shops to enliven town centres; and
  • Ensuring that our existing residents and neighbourhoods prosper from good growth by giving people from every community the opportunity to collaborate throughout the regeneration process. Good growth includes supporting and diversifying our strong local economy, providing new jobs including new green jobs, championing existing and new business growth and supporting small shops and businesses through regeneration including building new, affordable workspaces to continue trading or grow their businesses; and
  • Enhancing local distinctiveness and heritage-led regeneration by requiring the highest possible standards of design, creating vibrant, attractive, healthy, safe and distinctive buildings and places that instil pride of place in all our communities. This will include networks of green infrastructure, opportunities for healthy activities and improving streets, squares and public places between buildings; and
  • Strengthening support in regeneration areas for those who are vulnerable or who face greater disadvantage, by investing in the prevention and tackling causes of inequality, involving all of our services, partners and community-based activities.

For more information please see the Southwark Local Plan 2022