Work on transforming the town centre skyline forever is also expected to progress after divisive plans to build a 19-storey tower and café were narrowly given the green light.
A leisure centre in Orpington is set to reopen in spring and work is also expected to continue on the new £22m West Wickham Leisure Centre planned for a 2028 opening.
Below is a round up of several plans situated throughout the borough, some of which have been approved and others which haven’t yet had planning applications submitted.
2,000 green belt homes
Over 10,000 people have signed a petition to stop 2,000 homes from being built on a large patch of green belt land in the middle of Bromley.
Housing developer Berkeley recently unveiled its ‘Ravensbourne Place’ project, a large residential neighbourhood that would sit south of Bromley Football Club on a large patch of land between Hayes Lane and the A21.
Berkeley claims the Government’s new grey belt policy has opened up the green belt site for development, but objectors are concerned about the fate of horses that currently graze on the development site, as well as the loss of green belt land and the pressure an additional 2,000 households would put on Bromley’s schools and roads.
Berkeley has engaged in both digital and in-person engagement, with the aim of incorporating feedback into its first formal proposal. A planning application is yet to be submitted to Bromley Council.
650 homes in Biggin Hill
Another large development that could be coming to Bromley’s green belt is in Biggin Hill. Over 1,100 Biggin Hill residents have already registered their objections to a proposal to build 650 homes on more than 120 acres of farm and woodland to the south east of the village.
Although developer Welbeck Strategic Land has yet to submit a full planning application, it has revealed its intentions to build a large residential neighbourhood that will contain a care home, a community centre and public green space on a patch of land known as Aperfield Green by the A233.
19-storey town centre tower
Contentious plans to build a 19-storey tower block in Bromley town centre were narrowly approved by Bromley Council’s Development Control Committee in September. Councillors voted eight to seven in favour of the 138-home scheme that will come to transform the southern view of Bromley High Street.
The former Department of Health and Social Security office building at 1 Westmoreland Road that has stood vacant since 2021 will be demolished to make way for the new development.
It will consist of three buildings, the first being a 19-storey tower that will contain 107 one and two-bedroom build-to-rent apartments as well as some office space. This will be accompanied by a six-storey complex with 31 specialist homes aimed at older residents and a three-storey building with more office space and a café.
Two new leisure centres
Plans to demolish West Wickham Leisure Centre were approved earlier this year after it closed in early 2024. Bromley Council approved plans to build a new leisure facility on the same site at a meeting of its Development Control Committee in November.
The new two-storey £22m centre will have a 25m, six-lane swimming pool, a café, a soft play, a gym, a studio and unisex changing facilities. The council hopes it will be able to re-open the centre in early 2028.
The authority is also aiming to re-open the refurbished Walnuts Leisure Centre in Orpington in the spring of 2026. Work on the £17m transformation project began in January of this year, and it will result in a new look leisure centre with new competition-length pool and leisure centre spaces, as well as an improved café and reception.
Civic centre homes plan refused – developer’s next move?
Property developer Galliard bought the former Bromley Civic Centre site from Bromley Council for £13.5 million in April with the hopes of transforming the vacant office complex into residences. It submitted plans to convert two of the centre’s office blocks into flats in May.
However, Bromley Council refused both applications because not enough natural light was provided for the 128 flats across the two buildings, 115 of which would be designed for a sole occupant. The council also felt that “insufficient waste storage and excessive parking provision” had been provided within the scheme.
The refusals would have sent Galliard back to the drawing board, with the developer initially hoping to bring 224 new homes to the entire site. Galliard also wants to covert Bromley Palace (which it owns) into housing as part of the project, but it promises it will be “sensitively converted into beautiful parkside apartments”.
£3.9m museum archive in Grade II listed gardens
Bromley Council wants to build a new £3.9 million museum archive within a depot in Priory Gardens, a Grade II listed Arts & Crafts and Italianate style gardens in Orpington. The proposal would bring together the borough’s entire museum and art collection under one roof.
The plans have already received backlash from the public, with a petition opposing the facility gaining over 2,600 signatures. The Friends of Priory Gardens group does not support Bromley Council’s archive proposal, saying it would “degrade” the gardens with a “monolithic warehouse”.
Care home to make way for affordable homes
Plans to demolish a former care home and temporary accommodation location in Orpington and build affordable homes in its place were approved in September. Bromley Council will build 68 affordable apartments at 100 Mickleham Road in St Paul’s Cray.
The homes will be a mix of one to three-bedroom units within a four to five storey complex. 13 of the units will be one-bedroom supported living accommodation for older residents, which will be wheelchair accessible, and the remaining 55 will be social rented flats. The council wants to begin construction on the Bellegrove project in 2026 and complete it by late 2027.
24/7 industrial yard among homes
Many residents of Farwig Lane and the surrounding streets were dismayed when plans to redevelop a disused industrial yard for 24/7 were approved in June despite fears of 22 HGV movements in and out of the site every hour.
The proposal allowed for the demolition of four buildings and the construction of three new ones for speculative industrial and light industrial use. Demolition work on the site was set to begin in September, with the redevelopment being completed a year later in September 2026.
