The Lee Green consortium of community groups has called on London Square to reverse its plan to name the Leegate development Blackheath Gate.
In a letter to the firm, the Consortium Chair Jim Mallory said “We appreciate that, as a private company, you are free to name any development what you want, but given
its size and impact on the local community, we would have thought it might prove helpful for you to involve local people in its naming. As the name has appeared without notice, we assume there has been little if any consultation.”
Mr Mallory added ” Associations with Lee and Lee Green are paramount, not least because it is sited in Lee Green. We in Lee/Lee Green are fiercely proud to live in an area rich in its own history and one to which we hope we have contributed and wish to retain. We say that without wishing in any way to disparage either Blackheath or its residents, who can rightly be proud of their area which, of course, has a rich history, too, but it is a completely separate entity from Lee or Lee Green.”
The letter sets out some of the history of Lee dating back to Saxon times. It urges London Square to reconsider and carry out a consultation on the new names with the community.
And it warns the firm “By renaming it Blackheath Gate, London Square will successfully alienate most people who live in the Lee/Lee Green area. In reconsidering, you might manage some local buy-in to the place you are hoping to create.”
Lee Green Councillor James Rathbone has told the Consortium he agrees with the letter and is happy to have his name added to the signatories.
London Square has now said it will review the name.
This article has been updated.
Lee has a different post code to Blackheath so it’s not clear who the developer s trying to fool. and the proposed heights of the blocks will not enhance the area one scrap. i suggest that the developer employs a decent architect to make Lee Gate great again.
We have to be realistic about where the site is right now and what the area actually needs. Leegate has been neglected for decades and the name carries that association whether we like it or not. A regeneration project of this scale needs a fresh identity if it’s going to attract good businesses, investment and long-term footfall.
Blackheath is a recognised landmark and using the name isn’t “gentrification”, it’s simply aligning the development with something positive and well-known so the site can finally succeed. If the aim is to improve the area for residents, then giving it a stronger identity is a practical step toward that. Holding on to a name tied to decline won’t help the community move forward.
The apartments should sell for higher prices if South Blackheath becomes recognised as a replacement name.
Why not call the eyesore Greater Mayfair?
Then sell off half the development to absent overseas investors who want to legitimise their wealth from their other dubious business activities .
What these pretentious (allegedly) criminally affiliated property developers need to remember is Leegate was named after the Lee toll gate that until the 1860s was situated at the top of what is now Cambridge Drive. It was known as the ‘Lee Gate’ just as the New Cross toll gate was known as the ‘New Cross Gate’. If these scumbags had a development in those parts I’d daresay it’d be called ‘Severely West Dulwich’ or something? Or ‘Hatcham Village’ perhaps 🙄? So to reiterate ‘Blackheath Gate’ has absolutely no historical connection to this area and is an outrageously obvious attempt by these soulless individuals to gentrify this area to the detriment of the local residents. I can imagine many local estate agents creaning their miniscule love units at the prospect of selling properties in this new development. Hopefully a strong local opposition will quell these plans although I somehow doubt it as these people always seem to get their way in the end 💰💰💰💶 💷 💸.