Borough also requires developers to prioritise refurbishment over demolition
The borough that was home to Grenfell Tower has adopted a new local plan with stringent new fire safety rules.
The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea adopted its new plan after a meeting of the full council on Wednesday.
A review of the borough’s local plan had not been due to begin until this year, with the previous local plan having been adopted in 2019, but the council committed to completing the process early as part of its response to the Grenfell Tower tragedy.
The fire in North Kensington in 2017 killed 72 people.
Kensington and Chelsea’s new plan includes a requirement that all applications will need to have a planning fire safety strategy or fire statement submitted alongside the application.
Tall buildings of 30 metres or more must have a Qualitative Design Review panel report submitted with the planning application.
The council as planning authority will establish this review panel, which will consist of fire safety experts who will assess the means of escape proposals in the application.
Leader of Kensington and Chelsea Council, Cllr Elizabeth Campbell, said: “The Local Plan provides a firm foundation for the future of our shared place and makes sure that it works for all our communities.
“Our approach has evolved significantly over the last five years since the bereaved and survivors from Grenfell challenged us to become the best council for our communities.”
The plan also defines “tall” buildings for the first time as 21 metres in most of the borough or 30 metres in areas such as Knightsbridge and along Cromwell Road where the average building heights are already high.
>>See also: Grenfell Tower Inquiry’s final report to be published on 4 September
It also set a stepped trajectory for housebuilding to exceed the borough’s 10-year housing target of 4,480 homes, as set by the London Plan.
The borough set a target of 35% community housing on development creating new residential floorspace of 650 sq m or more.
Developers will also be required to design in energy savings measures and be net zero carbon in operation, using circular economy principles prioritising refurbishment over demolition.
More than 1,500 people contributed to to the consultation on the local plan between 2021 and 2023.
“Our plan is ambitious as we want to provide affordable housing and we want to protect the historic streets that make our borough one of the most liveable, diverse, and desirable areas of London attracting people from all over the world,” Campbell added.
The Grenfell Inquiry’s final report is due to be published in September.
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