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Less than three weeks left to comment on new Leegate proposals

Lee Manor Society is reminding residents that they have less than three weeks to lodge comments on London Square’s latest proposals for Leegate.

You can give your views via the Council planning portal here. London Square is asking the Council to approve amendments to the existing planning consent originally granted to Galliard.

As set out in our story last month London Square is asking the Council to approve a number of changes under Section 73 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990.

These are:

  • 59 extra residential units, taking the total to 620
  • An increase in the amount of “affordable” housing from 36.2% to 46.3%.
  • The main tower to go to 17 storeys above ground, with no basement. This is just one storey fewer than in London Square’s previous proposal which it unveiled in May at the public exhibition.
  • No general parking at all, and only 21 residential Blue Badge parking spaces, and one commercial Blue Badge space.
  • Relocation of the medical centre to the ground floor of Block B and a reduction in the overall commercial space.
  • A revised energy strategy from individual Exhaust Air Source Heat Pumps to a Communal system.

London Square’s spokesman told the Lee Manor Society it’s expected the application will go before Lewisham’s Strategic Planning Committee before the end of this year.

The Society is planning to lodge an objection against the proposed increased height of the Leegate tower (from 14 to 17 storeys above ground). The Society argues this would be at odds with the adopted Local Plan for Lewisham which says that normally buildings in the Lee Green area should not be higher than 12 storeys. The Society says if the Council decides to ignore that it must show a material benefit to the community.

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Lewisham confirms wrongly issued PCNs will be automatically cancelled

Lewisham Council has confirmed that it will automatically cancel any PCNs wrongly issued as a result of the chaos caused by their new parking permit system.

In a notice on the Council website they say “If you have a valid School Street or LTN exemption permit but have received a Penalty Charge Notice (PCN), this will be cancelled automatically and you will be notified of the cancellation. If you have already made payment for a PCN received for this restriction and hold a valid School Street or LTN exemption permit, it will be refunded back into your account that you used to pay within the next few days.

If you haven’t received a refund within 5 working days, please contact the permit team via email lewishamparkingpermits@nslservices.co.uk, or telephone 020 8787 5397.”

In the meantime the lee Manor Society has received more complaints from motorists about the system. Carole Srih said “I have just tried to renew my parking permit but to no avail.
I know my password and user name works, it just doesn’t seem to work for the parking permits renewals. There is no access to a human or a chat bot to explain the problem.
So I’m at a loss as to what to do.”

Eva Bigalke said she had tried and failed to arrange visitor parking permits at the estate Paynell Court where she owns a flat which she rents out. She needs visitor parking permits for workmen to go in in to do repairs. . She was told only tenants can apply for visitor permits and the Council won’t amend the rules to allow the owner to apply, because “we must maintain the integrity of the scheme.”

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Lee Green Councillor intervenes in new parking permit system

Lee Green Councillor James Rathbone has met the Mayor of Lewisham to demand answers about the problems caused by the Borough’s new parking permit system.

Residents have complained that they are being wrongly issued parking tickets because the new system doesn’t seem to have recognised they have bought permits. Others say the user names they have been issued do not work, or that they are unable to buy visitor vouchers.

Cllr Rathbone has told motorists who contacted him that he wants the Mayor to get a proper resolution to the issue.

He told complainants ” The Council has been assured by the contractor that they have rectified the error which occurred during the migration to the new IT system and caused this to occur, but we will obviously have to wait and see whether the problem is truly fixed.”

Cllr Rathbone confirmed that the Council has instructed the contractor to carry out auto-cancellations of PCNs issued in error to remove the onus onto the residents to appeal through the usual process.

He added “I have asked officers what they will be doing to identify all residents affected by this, to make sure that they receive a suitable apology and in cases where invalid PCN’s were paid that refunds are issued. I have also agreed a process with the Director of Public Realm for any cases which come to my attention to be raised directly with his office and the Parking Services Manager to ensure that the individual case is resolved.”

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Invitation to a Lee Manor Society summer social


The Old Tigers Head Pub, Lee Green Crossroads,
Thurs 21 August from 7.30pm
We are arranging an informal meetup for all those interested in finding out about our current projects and activities and to meet others who care about current developments in the local area.
The meeting will be at the Old Tigers Head Pub from 7.30pm in the big room to the rear of the bar. It’s a drop-in session and members will be there to welcome you from 7.30pm onwards.

The Old Tiger’s Head is the longest established pub still in use in Lee – opened in 1743 and rebuilt in 19th Century – come and find out about its history. More photos of Lee in Victorian/ Early 20C will be on display as well as photos about the restoration and the reopening of the 18th Century Ice House in Manor House Gardens in 2000.

Come and hear the latest news about:

  • Current developments such as Leegate
  • Tree planting in Lee – current and future plans
  • Lee Manor Community Garden – how to get involved and grow your own
  • All welcome – hope to see you there