The worries come after Bromley Council approved plans in July this year for a pair of tower blocks measuring 19 and 24 stories tall above the Waitrose store on Masons Hill.
The development from John Lewis Partnership, which includes 353 new homes, features what will become the new tallest building in the town centre, with the current tallest building, Perigon Heights, being 17 storeys tall.
Consultations on the new scheme reportedly divided residents prior to its approval, with 109 making objections and 144 putting down their support for the proposals.
Barry Saunders, 66, has been coming to Bromley town centre his whole life since growing up in Downham.
He said over the past few years he has noticed more tower blocks being added to the area and compared it to the cluttered skyline seen in Lewisham.
He told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS): “That’s all they’re doing, they build flats.
They’re not building houses any more… They’re taking away the theme of it, the history of the place. You’ve got all these tower blocks everywhere.”
Mr Saunders said he was worried about there not being enough parking spaces for residents moving into the new builds and local traffic would become ‘terrible’.
He also claimed he was concerned on whether the local sewage network would be able to handle the increased pressure as one of his previous homes flooded.
He said: “The drains couldn’t take the pressure of all the new builds and it came up in our house. There was sewage in our house and everything whenever there was really bad rain.”
Bromley Council documents from July this year indicated that Thames Water had raised concerns that the current water network at the site may require upgrades due to the stress from additional residents.
Mr Saunders’ wife, Debbie, 65, said she acknowledged the need to build homes but that she was worried about how safe the materials being utilised were following the blaze in St Mark’s Square this year.
A block in St Mark’s Square in Bromley town centre caught on fire in August this year following a fault with an extension lead on a 10th floor balcony.
The incident was the second blaze to affect the complex in just over two years after a fire damaged the roof of another block in the square in July 2022.
Ms Saunders told the LDRS: “It’s about the materials that they’re using to build them really. Are they being more careful now because of all the fires that have been going on in the flats?”
A spokesperson for St Mark’s Square, which was developed by LandsecU+I, previously told the LDRS that work was underway to repair the damage caught by the recent blaze so people could safely return to their homes as soon as possible. They added that ensuring residents are supported and their buildings are safe remained one of their top priorities.
Eunice Harding, 82, has regularly visited Bromley town centre for her entire life, having also been born in Downham and now living closer to Beckenham.
She said the area has dramatically changed since she was a child and she was not overly keen on the new buildings in the area, but admitted they were necessary. She said she hopes that the new residents will help bring more money in to support the high street.
She told the LDRS: “The only thing is, I suppose it brings money into the borough, doesn’t it? They keep closing shops so people can spend their money here. I don’t like that the shops keep closing and everything has got to be done online. I don’t agree with that at all.”
Rodney Compton, 80, lives in Bromley Common and has been based in the borough since he was a teenager.
He said he remembers how the area used to be and that it has become the ‘same high street that you would get in many of our major cities and towns’.
Mr Compton said he would like to see more aesthetically appealing designs being incorporated into modern buildings. He claimed that this could possibly help with developers persuading residents to support new projects.
He said: “Older people in particular become very set in their ways… I’m doubtful that [the Masons Hill project] will set a new trend in aesthetic development but one lives in hope.”
He added: “The real parameters in terms of development should be based on aesthetics and not on whether there is this or that. If you travel abroad, I’m thinking of Gaudi, the architecture is desirable. Whenever I have driven around Thamesmead, I think to myself, ‘This could have been a glorious development.’”
Lib Dem Councillors Julie Ireland, Graeme Casey and Sam Webber, representing the Bromley Town ward for Bromley Council, told the LDRS that while they felt the new development planned for Masons Hill was too big, they did not feel it would affect the historic character of the town centre.
They agreed that parking was a major concern, with deliveries and visitors to the site potentially increasing traffic in an area that already suffers from major congestion.
They said: “While we felt the site itself was a good location for flats, the height and massing of the proposed development was completely inappropriate, nearly half as high again as the tallest tower in Bromley which set a worrying precedent for other developers.”
John Lewis Partnership declined the opportunity to comment. Landsec U+I were approached, but had not responded at the time of publication.
