Tag: Leegate

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Lee Manor Society responds to Lewisham Council’s proposal for Lee Green crossroads

The Lee Manor Society has criticised Lewisham Council for several parts of its proposal to designate Lee Green crossroads an “Area of Special Local Character”. Although the Society welcomes the broad initiative, it has identified several failings in the document, which the Council published last year.

In its formal response to the Council,. the Society asks why the document doesn’t refer to the coming development at Leegate which it says will “dramatically affect the setting of the proposed ASLC.”

The Council’s proposal also says “sites in the immediate setting of the ASLC, including the Leegate Centre, Sainsbury’s and Stephen James car yard) should seek to enhance it by responding sensitively to the scale and grain of the historic context”’.

The Society told the Council “This is exactly what the currently approved Leegate Centre proposals have failed to do and it is a great shame that this document does not pick up on this fact and criticise Lewisham Council itself for its clear and obvious failing in this regard to the obvious detriment of this ASLC.” Sainsbury’s and the car yard could both be developed in the future, as is envisaged in the Lewisham Local Plan .

The Society’s detailed response also includes an improved map of the area (shown above) which sets it in the context of street names and landmarks. Many residents were baffled by the Council’s version.

Although the document talks about the impact of the railway on Lee, it makes no mention of the introduction of electric trams in the early 1900s. A new line was laid from Lewisham to Lee Green in 1907 which meant more people could afford to live in Lee and travel to work. Trams were eventually replaced by motor buses in 1952 and nothing remains of this history.

The photographs below show tram lines being installed at Lee Green in 1907 and one of the last journeys of the tram which passed through Lee, in 1952.

The Society also points out that the document’s reference to trees on Eltham Road and Burnt Ash Road, as being ‘of great importance’ to the setting of the proposed ASLC, neglects to mention that several mature trees will be lost to the Leegate development.

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Leegate – London Square site manager explains how the work will be carried out

London Square’s drawing of how the development will look from Burnt Ash Road

Victor Bellamy, the Senior Site Manager for London Square’s operations south of the river, is hugely enthusiastic about the Leegate development.  He says “It’s going to be absolutely stunning.”

A cynic might think ‘he would say that, wouldn’t he’?  And there are plenty of Lee residents who don’t agree and are appalled by the height of the main tower, and the overall design of the development.

Victor, however, is genuinely anxious to build good relations with the local community.  He and Aidan Pritchard, the Project Director, have offered to come to a public meeting in January so they can explain how the demolition and building phases of the development will be managed.

“I like to engage with local people, purely and simply because you find the lay of the land and you find out what’s going on,” Victor told the Lee Manor Society.  It was Victor who told his bosses the name Blackheath Gate would play badly in Lee. The firm is now reviewing it.  

Now that Lewisham planners have approved London Square’s new proposals for Leegate, Victor and his colleagues are working on the timeline for the development.

“Soft stripping” of easily removable items is already underway. Victor Bellamy expects scaffolding to start being erected in the next few days so the ‘hard demolition’ can get going. The existing buildings will be covered while the asbestos removal and demolition is carried out. He says there is actually very little asbestos in the site; mainly in the old toilets, but the site will be pressurised to ensure that asbestos can’t escape outside.

London Square is also in discussion with Transport for London about the fate of two trees which TfL planted and want preserved (as does the Lee Manor Society). We will aim to discover the outcome of those discussions.

The demolition team will start in the front corner at the Lee Green crossroads and work its way back. Victor expects demolition to be completed fairly quickly – by the spring – because the existing Leegate buildings are mostly single-skin and won’t put up much resistance. Much of the rubble will be crushed and kept for hardcore in the new development.

A major challenge is fears about water mains bursting once the buildings are demolished. “Obviously, if you’ve got a building site on top of a water pipe for 20 years, and you take it off, that’s going to expand and explode,” he says.  Thames Water are conducting tests at the moment to come up with solutions.

Electrical power to the site has already been diverted and BT are busy dealing with communications connections. There is already ground penetration drilling continuing, to confirm there is no WW2 ordnance remaining.

What about noise and disruption to local residents?  Working hours on the site will be 8 am to 6pm, Monday to Friday. If they work on Saturdays, they will finish by 1pm. Victor admits there will be noise, he is sorry but he can’t do anything about it.  There will be phone numbers on the gates for residents to call if there is an emergency.  

Lorries coming out of the site will have to go through wheel scrubs to reduce the amount of mud they take out onto the roads. 

At full tilt, there will be around 150 workers on the site. They will have parking inside the cordon so they don’t take up space on nearby roads (ironic when you consider that the residents of the finished development won’t get anywhere to park, apart from Blue Badge holders).

Once the demolition is underway London Square intends to erect a sales office on the corner at the Lee Green crossroads.

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New Leegate development is approved by Lewisham Planners

London Square has won permission from Lewisham planners for their plans for Leegate. The development of 620 homes, which includes a 17-storey tower at the Lee Green crossroads, was approved by the council’s Strategic Planning Committee.

The Committee overruled objectors, including the Lee Manor Society, Lee Forum and a Leyland Road resident Emma Warren, as well as Lee Green councillor James Rathbone. All argued that the proposed tower would be too high.

Lee Manor Society said although it welcomed the development, and the new homes it would bring, the unsightly 17-storey tower at the Lee Green crossroads would dominate and dwarf low-rise homes on its doorstep.

Cllr Rathbone highlighted London Square’s poor record of communication and consultation with Lee residents, including the firm’s sudden announcement that the development would be named Blackheath Gate, even though it is in Lee Green.

“Blackheath Gate was absolutely typical of this. It was a sudden announcement with no notification, no consultation, no input, which was subject to widespread mockery locally,” he said.

Although the naming decision is now on hold, Cllr Rathbone continued “It is just the latest example of a pattern of behaviour where they have made commitments to the local community about how they will listen, they will engage, they will talk to us, they will take our concerns into account. And then they’ve gone away and done something completely differently based upon whatever they wanted.”

Cllr Rathbone demanded the planners explain the exceptional circumstances to justify the 17-storey tower to the communities in Lee and Blackheath, as Lewisham’s Local Plan says buildings in Lee should normally be no more than 12 storeys.

He said residents were united in the belief that the block was too tall and over-dominant, and would fundamentally change the nature of where we live. The additional two storeys above the original Galliard plan, which was approved two years ago, will only add another 14 homes to the development.

An officer told the committee that although the tower doesn’t comply with the Lewisham Local Plan limit of 12 storeys, that had to be weighed against the public benefit of the scheme which included more significant provision of commercial floor space, housing and affordable housing.

Another councillor, Paul Bell, asked what additional GP provision would come with the development. Although there is a designated medical facility in the plans, an officer confirmed that the space would be leased at a commercial rent. There was no certainty it would be a GP surgery; it could house a dentist or physiotherapist.

Cllr Paul Bell told the meeting “This is a large number of housing units, which are going to have a huge impact on GP provision in the area. If a GP provider doesn’t go into that space because of cost, then it’s going to impact the community.”

Despite the concerns of councillors the committee agreed unanimously to allow the plans to go forward unaltered.

You can watch the whole planning meeting here.

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London Square will review the Blackheath Gate name

London Square has said it will review the name Blackheath Gate for the new Leegate development.

After a protest letter was sent by the Lee Green Consortium, representing 15 local community groups, London Square said it would review the comments with its marketing team, and in the meantime will remove the hoarding panel (pictured above) which has already been defaced,

Sean Gavin, Managing Director, South, of London Square, told the Consortium ” London Square recognises the importance of local heritage and identity, and we value constructive engagement with the community.”

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