£1m released for Old Kent Road

Southwark Council has released just under £1m in funding for improvements in the Old Kent Road neighbourhood.

Old Kent Road’s public realm is set to receive a further upgrade thanks to £1m of Section 106 (S106) funding released by Southwark Council.

The money will be used to improve Bramcote Park and to renew the historic mural that adorns the former Kentish Drovers pub.

The money comes from funding provided by local developers through their S106 agreements with the council, (agreed when a planning application is approved). These agreements are one of the ways in which the council can ensure that new developments and regeneration help to deliver social value for the local community.

On this occasion, just under £700k has been released to upgrade Bramcote Park and almost £210k to improve the faded mural on the old pub.

Bramcote Park

The proposal to improve Bramcote Park came out of the Bramcote and Bonamy Liveable Neighbourhoods project in 2019. It is one of the projects that will help deliver the Greener Belt Strategy to improve opens spaces linking Wandsworth, Lambeth and Southwark.

Southwark Council has consulted extensively on plans for the park. Working with the local community, Assemble architects and landscape architects, Local Works, designs were finalised earlier this year and the work is due to commence by the end of 2024.

Kentish Drovers

The Kentish Drovers is a former pub, dating back to the early Victorian period, located at the junction of Old Kent Road and Commercial Way.

The building has been Grade II Listed, largely thanks to the unique, curved mural which adorns the facade. Installed in the late 19C by Doulton’s of Lambeth (now known as Royal Doulton), the mural depicts a bucolic scene featuring drovers on horseback delivering their cattle to market (Old Kent Road was the route used by Kent’s farmers to reach Smithfields Market in London).

The council is committed to preserving and protecting the heritage of Old Kent Road while also delivering the new homes and infrastructure that the area needs. In this instance, S106 money will be used to renew this historic mural using a set of new, replica ceramic tiles.

The funding for both of these projects was released by Southwark Council at Planning Committee on 31 July (see the report for more detail).