Author: leemanorsoc

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Help Rebuild the Good Shepherd Church Wall

By James Murdoch, Churchwarden, The Good Shepherd, Lee

If you’ve been to the Good Shepherd in person in the past year, you must have noticed that our boundary wall is in a poor state and badly needs some attention. Along the side of Wantage Road a 4-metre section has fallen over. Other parts of the wall need urgent repair to stop them from collapsing too.

We need your help to make this happen.

We are blessed with this wonderful open lawn, which we love using for things like the Good Friday community event, and which is used by many other groups like the Scouts and Guides. But the state of the wall means the space is not secure for children’s activities, while fallen bricks could present a trip hazard to people walking along the pavement.

So the church has decided to rebuild the wall to make our space, and our local area, safer again.

Because of the age and structure of the wall, and because the church is in a Conservation Area, this does not come cheap. Rebuilding the wall and dealing with the foundations in Wantage Road will cost about £44,000 in total. There are additional repairs we’d like to do on the Handen Road side costing £9,000, but that’s not our initial focus and remains a stretch target.

We’ve used Good Shepherd Church funds to cover professional fees for around £5,000 to win the permissions, and the Church has been able to put aside a further £20,000 for the building work. As for the other £24,000, we hope to approach some Trusts for grants, but grants for a project like this are limited, and grant funders tend only to get involved in projects where there is already community support.

And so we’re asking for your help. We’ve set up a donation site at  https://gofund.me/a2d29be4 , and we’re asking you, our local community, to support the project as much or as little as you can.

The donation website has more details about the process and the costs, and a way to give by credit or debit card.

Very usefully, it also has a box you can tick to add Gift Aid to your donation, which raises our income by 25p from the tax man for every £1 given by you.

 You can find the page at https://gofund.me/a2d29be4 

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The Big Bed Rescue Grant is Confirmed

Great news!  Lewisham Council’s grant to rescue the big flower bed at the north end of Manor House Gardens has got final approval from the Mayor and Cabinet.

The bid for the NCIL grant was made jointly by the Lee Manor Society and the Friends of Manor House Gardens.

Glendale, who will be doing the initial work, have produced some draft ideas for how the bed could be laid out.  Discussions will be getting underway shortly.

Glendale’s draft ideas for the Big Bed Rescue

Once the work has been done, it will be up to volunteers to keep it maintained. Among others we will be relying on the brilliant support of the Lee Green WI team, who always turn up in force to help keep the Gardens looking so good. Here they are in action recently, clearing the bed next to the cafe.

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Leegate sold again – the third owner in four years

Leegate has been sold by Galliard Homes to London based developer London Square, the third owners in four years. Galliard had acquired the site in 2021 from St Modwen, and had secured planning consent for a major residential and retail development.

It is understood Galliard went cool on the project because of the difficulty in finding retail businesses to occupy the commercial space. It seems likely London Square will ask Lewisham Council to vary the plans to reduce the shopping space, and add more homes.

London Square says work will start on the site later this year.  Its website says: “London Square plans to deliver an attractive mixed use destination development, with high quality homes featuring communal areas in a landscaped setting with retail, leisure, restaurants, cafes, and a medical facility. The redevelopment will bring a new focus to the heart of Lee town centre in the London Borough of Lewisham.

“Acquired from Galliard Homes, there is currently planning in place for 562 homes, comprising 389 private and 173 affordable houses, with 4,538sqm of ground floor commercial space.   London Square will work with the London borough of Lewisham to increase the level of residential options in an area where there is a shortage of new build homes being delivered.”

It is London Square’s 14th purchase since being acquired by the Abu Dhabi based  company Aldar at the end of 2023.  It claims to have a strong track record in the area, having delivered an award-winning development in the centre of Greenwich, and also providing 100 per cent affordable homes on behalf of affordable registered provider Square Roots in Lewisham. 

Adam Lawrence, London Square’s Chief Executive Officer, said: “This acquisition will herald  a new chapter for Lee town centre, with much-needed homes and a new retail and leisure destination to attract the existing community and new residents. We look forward to working with the London Borough of Lewisham to get the re-development under way later this year.”

London Square website impressions of the development
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Sustainable Streets Team refuse to meet Lee Green residents to explain their parking restriction plans

Lewisham Council’s Sustainable Streets team has rejected the invitation from the Lee Manor Society to attend its next meeting, so it can brief residents directly about its proposals for new parking restrictions.

The Society invited the team to attend after they failed to turn up at the final Lee Green Assembly meeting last month, to the fury of residents who attended. The team is conducting consultations in three areas, Lee Green, Hither Green and Catford South.

It told the Society “We understand the importance of engaging with the community and apologise that officers were not available to attend the meeting on 6-Feb, but were able to provide a written briefing prior to the meeting.

“Unfortunately, our officers are not able to attend a further public meeting outside of the original scope of consultation which has now ended, and staff are now utilising the time to analyse the numerous responses received. We understand the level of interest from residents who have been consulted and intend to publish the outcome of the consultation for the Mayor and Cabinet committee meeting in May where a decision will be taken on the future direction of this scheme.”

The reply went on to outline their plans, which included possible Controlled Parking Zones between 9 AM and 5 PM Monday to Friday. . “The aims of the proposed scheme are to improve amenities for residents, along with additional added value measures such as more secure cycle storage, electric charging options, more greenery and to ensure residents can park closer to their homes. All such measures would introduce double yellow lines to junctions to allow better visibility and improve road safety.”

The team added “Please let the residents know that we are taking their concerns seriously and are committed to ensuring that their voices are included in the decision-making process.”

Charles Batchelor of the Lee Manor Society said “The failure of the council’s sustainable streets team to agree to a meeting with local residents is disappointing but not surprising. All too often in the recent past – Leegate being but one example – local views are completely ignored under the council’s formal consultation process.

“The sustainable streets programme, as currently planned, would see parking controls imposed throughout weekdays from 9am to 5pm at considerable inconvenience to residents, visitors, carers and tradespeople. The two-hour parking controls in effect on the west side of Burnt Ash Road have proved very effective in stopping parking by out-of-town commuters with a minimal impact on the lives of residents.

“The proposed all-day ban Monday to Friday under the present proposals appears to reflect an ideological commitment to controlling car use rather than any understanding of local parking and driving patterns. Or any concern for the views and convenience of local residents, the people this council is supposed to serve.

“A further ‘statutory consultation’  is due in the summer. Unfortunately ‘statutory’ tends to mean ‘we don’t want to do it but we are legally obliged’. Once plans have got that far the council is reluctant to change anything. The Society will nevertheless continue to press for a face-to-face meeting with the traffic planners.”