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London Square, the new owners of Leegate, are now considering raising the height of the tower at the Lee Green crossroads from 15 to 18 storeys.

This is despite having told the Lee Manor Society earlier this year that it had no plans to add further storeys.

The new proposal was revealed at an exhibition staged by London Square, at St Peter’s Church on Eltham Road.  It was attended by around 200 local residents.

Vanessa Jones of London Square explained that the design team felt it would be better to increase the size of the tower rather than of other parts of the development. London Square is committed to significantly increasing the total number of homes on the site from the original Galliard plan.   As we have reported here previously London Square has added 80 homes to the original plan, taking the total number to 640.  Of those 250 will be “affordable housing”, 150 for social rent and the rest available under shared ownership. Both will be run by the Clarion Housing Association.

The news of the proposal to increase the height of the tower was criticised by some visitors to the exhibition.  Jackie Buscher of Effingham Road said “I didn’t like 15 storeys, and now it’s 18 storeys. We need more affordable housing but I don’t like the fact that it’s going to be higher.”

Another visitor said “It’s appalling, absolutely appalling. And I think there’s absolutely no respect for the human race. They’re making it look like it’s a really nice landscape, and it’s not. It’s all about money.”

A resident of Weigall Road said : “I think it’s terrible. The last one was bad. This one’s even worse. It completely disfigures what Lee Green looks like, which is a real sense of community. There’ll be a great big skyscraper stuck in there.

There’s no ideal world – that’s fine – but in reality, people do have cars.” she added, referring to the decision not to have any parking on the development except “Blue Badge” spaces. ” I just think it’s the wrong thing to build there, and somebody’s going to be making a lot of money on something which is not really in the interest of the local community.”

Explanatory panels showing floor plans and images of how the development would look described the changes made to earlier proposals presented to the Lee Manor Society and local residents’ groups as ‘a range of adjustments to the Galliard proposals.’
In a panel on building heights, London Square stated: ‘In response to extensive pre-application discussions with Lewisham officers and a design review panel, the applicant is now testing an option of up to 18 storeys of building A1 [the corner building], an increase on the 15 storeys that have already been consented for this building.
‘The height of A1 will exceed the normally acceptable maximum building heights set out in policy and will therefore be assessed by officers on a case-by-case basis considering all planning benefits that the scheme will deliver. The planning application will be supported by a detailed assessment of visual and environmental impacts.
‘As was for the consented scheme, we believe the proposed changes will create a scheme which has considerable public benefits, including an increase in much needed affordable housing, London Square added. ‘It will ensure the scheme is deliverable, an important consideration after so many false starts. The plans will also bring forward a vibrant, exciting and cohesive new neighbourhood.’
 

However, others welcomed the plans. Andreas and Sandra who live nearby Leegate agreed they couldn’t wait for the development to be finished. “We want it to become a reality,” said Andreas. He has no worries about the height of the tower. “It’s quite modern and that’s what you want. I just want a nice place like you see in the pictures.”

Another resident said he feared that once an 18 storey tower is built, the next step would be a similarly sized block on the Sainsbury’s site on the other side of Burnt Ash Road.

London Square say they will digest the feedback resulting from the exhibition.  This summer they will be submitting a “section 73” application to Lewisham Council, asking for the original planning consent to be varied. 

It’s not clear whether London Square’s proposals could be considered to be minor changes to Galliard’s earlier plans, which could be covered by a Section 73 application, or whether they are so significant as to require a new full planning application

London Square’s other challenge is the relatively new Gateway 2 Building Safety Regulations. London Square will have to satisfy the authorities on a number of detailed points before they can start construction work. There is a huge backlog in schemes waiting for approval and many building firms say it is causing massive delays to their projects.

Nevertheless, London Square says it is aiming to start demolition of Leegate by the end of the year and is aiming to have the entire development finished by 2029 or 2030.

Residents can send their feedback to London Square via this website https://leegateregeneration.co.uk/

Meanwhile, in a reply to questions from Jim Mallory, chair of the Leegate Working Party, representing local residents’ groups, councillor James Walsh, council Cabinet Member for Inclusive Regeneration and Planning wrote: ‘I recognise your concerns around height, massing, sustainability and the principle of human-scale design. These will all be examined carefully in line with the relevant adopted and emerging policy frameworks – alongside borough-wide priorities such as the delivery of genuinely affordable housing.’