Plans to close a beloved Biggin Hill children’s centre and move its services to another facility nearby have been flipped by Bromley Council.
The South London authority had announced its intention to close the Spitfire Youth Centre and move its activities to the Biggin Hill Children & Family Centre less than a mile away, but it has now revealed it intends to do the exact opposite.
A community group which formed to save the Spitfire Centre from potential closure said the new proposal threw up “more questions than answers”.
As part of a 2024 review of council-owned properties, Bromley Council decided the Spitfire Centre in Church Lane was too expensive to maintain and operate and so thought it best to move its youth and family services to the Biggin Hill Children & Family Centre in Sunningvale Avenue.
The council announced its intention to sell the Spitfire Centre in early 2025, sparking backlash from the Biggin Hill community which wanted the facility to remain open and the land not sold to potential developers. A near 2,500-strong petition signed by a fifth of the town’s population was presented to Bromley Council in May last year.
The South London authority responded to the petition saying the centre would close, its services would move to Sunningvale Avenue and the vacant property would be placed on the open market.
However, at a council meeting last October, Chris Hennis from the Spitfire Community Group (which presented the initial petition) asked the council to work with the Biggin Hill community and give the group time to raise the sufficient capital needed to purchase the centre.
Cllr Yvonne Bear, Bromley’s Executive Member for Renewal, Recreation & Housing, said the council was “more than happy” to continue conversations with the Spitfire Community Group about the potential sale and she gave her commitment to continue helping the group for as long as it was needed.
Nine months on and Bromley Council has now completely reversed its original plan, proposing to close the Biggin Hill Children & Family Centre and move its services to the Spitfire Youth Centre instead.
According to reports to be put before Bromley’s Executive next Wednesday (July 22), council officers surveyed the Sunningvale site and concluded there was not enough space to build the extension required for a co-located provision.
Officers believed the Spitfire site was more beneficial as a venue for youth services because it was close to local amenities such as the NHS Child Health Clinic, its a larger facility, it has more car parking space and it has better outdoor areas.
A small extension has been proposed which will be a “modest in-fill of the existing building footprint” and officers believe a planning application would be unlikely to be rejected or cause objection.
Both the council’s Property and Children & Youth Service teams advocate this new proposal. They said it will save money for the council once the Sunningvale site closes and is deemed surplus to requirements.
If Bromley’s Executive approves the report next week, council officers will begin consulting on the project and develop a planning application for the centre extension.
The Spitfire Community Group, now known as the Spitfire Community Project Community Interest Company (SCP CIC), said they welcomed the news but also admitted the proposal threw up “more questions than answers”.
On behalf of SCP CIC, Mr Hennis said: “At first glance, we welcome the decision to retain the Spitfire Youth Centre as a community building rather than dispose of the asset. However, we recognise that this proposal raises a number of important questions that need to be considered before its long-term impact can be fully understood.
Credit: Cameron Blackshaw.
“These include the future level of community access to the building, how wider community groups will be able to use the facility alongside the Family Centre, and what this proposal means for existing community users, as well as the staff, children and families who currently access services at the existing Family Centre. We are keen to understand how the needs of all those affected will be considered as part of any transition.
“Over the coming days, SCP CIC will be pulling together a considered response and a number of questions that we intend to raise with the London Borough of Bromley. We will, of course, keep the community updated as more information becomes available.
“In the meantime, we would welcome your views. Please feel free to share your thoughts with us by email at bi***************@***il.com. Your feedback will help inform our response.”
