Lee Manor Society questions for Leegate Public Meeting

The Lee Manor Society has submitted five crucial questions about London Square’s planning application for Leegate to the online public meeting scheduled for Wednesday October 2nd. Here they are:

1. On what basis does the developer London Square consider that Lewisham Council should
   override the legally adopted Lewisham Local Plan (July 2025) which sets out in relation to the Leegate site (at Policy QD4) that ‘the maximum height of buildings shall not normally be more than 32.8 metres (10 storeys) to 39.2 metres (12 storeys)’.
2. The immediate built surroundings of the Leegate site are 2, 3 and 4 storey residential and
   commercial buildings. The three Leybridge Estate residential buildings, to the south-east of the Leegate site, are each 11-storeys high and are set back away from the Eltham Road by a
   minimum of 15 metres within a landscaped environment. The existing Leegate House is an 8-storey high building and is located immediately to the rear of the existing pavement on both Eltham Road and Burnt Ash Road. What effect does the developer London Square believe will be the consequences to the Ward of Lee Green, its residents and to the Lee Green Conservation Area to the construction of 17, 10 and 9-storey buildings tight to the back of the existing pavements of Eltham Road and Burnt Ash Road?
3. Why does the developer London Square consider that the Leegate site on the Lee Green
   crossroads require a 17-storey ‘statement’ building fronting the proposed development? Such a building could very easily blend far better into its site by being situated further back to the south-eastern side of the site leaving buildings fronting onto Eltham and Burnt Ash Roads being better able to address the lower height of the existing built surroundings immediately surrounding the Lee Green crossroads?
4. What does the developer London Square believe will be the consequences of providing around 620 new apartments without a single parking space for able-bodied residents of the development or a single parking space (again for able-bodied persons) seeking to deliver post and other daily services to the new residents’ apartments. Where for instance would a delivery vehicle legally park to deliver a fridge or a sofa?
5. The Galliards 563-apartment Leegate scheme approved by Lewisham Council in November 2024 was obviously considered by that developer to be a ‘viable’ proposal. The new developer London Square stated in its covering letter to DC/25/140113 that changes were required to the approved scheme in order for the development to remain ‘deliverable’. Consequently London Square proposed around 640 apartments (within the Public Consultation proposals in May/June 2025) and increased heights to most of the proposed buildings that make up the Leegate development, but subsequently cut this to 620 apartments within the current proposed Section 73 application. What exactly does London Square consider to be a ‘viable’ proposed scheme?