The Bromley Council Development Control Committee met on 27 November 2025, and approved plans for a new leisure centre in West Wickham, and reviewed planning enforcement and appeals data. The committee also noted updates on councillor planning application 'call ins' and planning key performance indicators (KPIs).

West Wickham Leisure Centre Redevelopment

The committee approved the recommendations for planning permission to be granted for the redevelopment of West Wickham Leisure Centre, subject to a legal agreement. The proposal includes the erection of a new two-storey leisure centre building, the retention and refurbishment of the single-storey learner pool facility, associated roof plant, landscaping, and parking works.

The key reasons for recommending approval were:

• The development is of sustainable design and will improve the existing leisure centre facilities.
• The proposal would not have an adverse impact on the local road network or local parking conditions.
• The development would not result in a significant loss of amenity to local residents.
• Environmental matters such as air quality, contamination, noise and lighting would be acceptable subject to appropriate conditions.

Although the proposal fails to achieve a mandatory 10% biodiversity net gain¹, a condition would apply to any planning permission granted. A Section 106 agreement² will secure contributions towards environmental monitoring (£2,890) and energy (£51,728), plus a planning obligation monitoring fee (£1,000).

Planning Enforcement Actions

The committee reviewed the Planning Enforcement Actions Progress and Monitoring Report for April 2024 to March 2025. The report provided an update on current enforcement cases, including those at appeal, awaiting compliance, or pending prosecution. It also covered new practices and tools used to address breaches of planning control.

A call-in process was implemented on 1 April 2024, where ward councillors are notified of proposed enforcement action and given five working days to request the matter be referred to the Plans Sub-Committee. To date, no enforcement cases have been called in since the implementation date.

The report noted that the Planning Investigation Team has been proactive in investigating potential breaches of planning control, including the use of enforcement warning letters. Direct action, such as clearing untidy sites, will incur costs, which the council may recover by placing a charge on the property or land.

The council has been using enforced sales to recover costs. For example, in Queens Road, Beckenham, the council recovered the cost of direct action by instructing a debt collection agency, which prompted the property owner to sell the property.

The report included a breakdown of the types of enquiries received, with operational development (32%) and untidy sites (16%) being the most common. A total of 76 enforcement notices were served between April 2024 and March 2025, and 22 between April 2025 and September 2025. The council is currently prosecuting several cases related to tree enforcement and planning enforcement.

Planning Appeals Update

The committee considered a report providing an update on the council's planning appeal performance for the financial year 2024/2025. The number of planning appeals lodged has remained relatively steady. In FY24/25, of the 189 appeal decisions issued by the Planning Inspectorate (PINs), 57 appeals were allowed, 173 were in relation to delegated decisions, and 16 were committee decisions. The greatest number of appeals allowed were in Bromley Common & Holwood, Darwin, Penge & Cator, and Petts Wood & Knoll wards.

The report noted a steady improvement in the success rate of the Appeals Service over recent years, which is an indicator of the quality of the council's planning decision-making. The planning team schedule regular meetings to review appeal decisions to identify areas for improvement.

The government measures councils on their performance in relation to their 'speed' and 'quality' of decision making. The quality of decision making is based upon the percentage of 'major' and 'non major' applications allowed at appeal as a proportion of applications determined by the council. Bromley's figures are well below the MHCLG 10% designation threshold, which reflects the 'quality' of the decision-making across the planning service.

There were six claims for costs received, of which four were refused, one was allowed with a partial award of costs against the council for £1,350, and one application is awaiting determination by PINs.

The Planning Inspectorate (PINs) is replacing its Appeals Casework Portal with a new casework management system. The changes to PINs case management system is likely to have an impact on the way councillors are notified.

On 25 June 2025, the Planning Inspectorate announced changes to the appeals process to introduce simplified (Fasttrack) appeal procedures for the majority of appeals currently decided by Written Representations.

Councillor Planning Application 'Call Ins'

The committee received information on councillor 'call-ins' for planning applications from 1 October 2024 to 30 September 2025. Officers have delegated authority to determine applications unless a councillor requests in writing for a specific application to be considered at committee.

From April 2025 to September 2025, there were 41 call-ins, representing 2% of total applications decided. Beckenham Town and Copers Cope ward had the highest number of call-ins (9), while several wards had no call-ins. Of the called-in cases, 14 were still live, 7 were duplicates or not planning applications, 54 were conditional call-ins determined under delegated authority, and 20 were considered at committee. All of the allowed appeals were cases where the officer recommendation was overturned at committee.

HPR Planning KPIs

The committee reviewed the Housing, Planning and Regeneration (HPR) planning key performance indicators (KPIs). Application numbers received remain slightly less than in recent years. Performance for the period remains comfortably over the 70% target. The number of submissions is on an upwards trend following changes in national legislation and this is expected to be sustained, in particular for major applications.