Tag: Leegate

Posted on

Leegate: London Square wins latest round in bid to raise the height of the tower block

Lewisham Planners have approved the application by London Square to remove the wording in the existing planning consent which refers to a tower block of 15 storeys.

This is despite objections by the Lee Manor Society, the Blackheath Society, and the Lee Forum.

London Square has made clear that the application (under Section 96a of the Town & Country Planning Act 1990) was its first move towards getting permission to increase the height of the tower. At its exhibition for residents in May it announced it now wanted to make the tower 18 storeys high.

London Square argued that this initial change was “non-material” but the Lee Manor Society and other objectors said it was material because it was clearly a precursor to a bid to increase the height of the tower under a Section 73 application.

However, Lewisham planners said the effects of the amendments would not alter the substance of the development from that already granted permission. “As such, Officers consider that the non-material amendment procedure is the correct route for the alterations. Considering the above, Officers are satisfied the description change is non-material.”

The planning report also says: “Neighbour consultation is not required for s96a applications, however it is noted that 88 objections have been received from neighbours and local groups, including Lee Forum, Lee Manor Society and Blackheath Society. The objections mostly relate to the plans that were presented at a public exhibition which showed Building A1 had been increased by 3-storeys from the consented 15, in addition to height increases elsewhere. At the time of this report, Leegate proposals remained at pre-app stage, and the exhibition proposals had since been revised.”

You can read the full planning document here.

Meanwhile London Square has lodged a new application to change another condition of the original planning consent.  This time they want permission to start demolition without an approved scheme of floodplain storage mitigation.

Floodplain storage mitigation in urban development involves using floodplains to store excess water during storms, reducing flood risk in downstream areas. This can be achieved through various methods, including creating or restoring natural floodplains, constructing reservoirs, and implementing sustainable drainage systems.

Posted on

How often Leegate was bombed during WWII

The Leegate site, which is currently awaiting redevelopment, was pounded with German bombs during World War II, according to a fascinating report submitted to Lewisham Council.

It says there were 46 High Explosive bomb strikes within a 300-metre radius of the site.

The report, by the unexploded ordnance specialists Brimstone, adds “Two incendiary bomb ‘showers’ were also recorded within a 300m radius of the Site; one of these is partially recorded over the eastern extent of the Site.

“Furthermore, LCC bomb damage records structural clearance to a structure on Eltham Road in the north of the Site, with further structures in the south-western extent recorded as sustaining ‘general blast damage- not structural.’ The closest substantial damage within LCC mapping is approximately 20m west of the Site, where structures were ‘damaged beyond repair’”

The report is included in an application recently lodged by London Square to discharge a condition attached to the original planning consent for Leegate concerning possible UXBs – unexploded bombs.

The original condition said that “No demolition of structural elements of the existing buildings shall be carried out until an Unexploded Ordnance Threat Assessment has been completed, and (in the event that the Threat Assessment makes recommendations for further surveys and/or measures to protect the safety of the public, of future occupiers of the land and of workers on the site) then structural demolition shall be carried out fully in accordance with the recommendations of the Assessment(s).”

London Square is arguing that the risk of unexploded ordnance being found on the site is low to moderate and has proposed several mitigation measures if the requirement is dropped.

Brimstone’s report which you can read in full here is a treasure-trove for students of the history of Lee, and includes several wartime aerial photographs and maps of Leegate.

Posted on

Lee Manor Society files objection to Leegate Tower planning application

This article has been updated.

Lee Manor Society is lodging a formal objection to London Square’s planning application which would pave the way for a Leegate tower even higher than the 15 storeys already approved.

The Society has set out a series of reasons why Lewisham Council should reject the application. The full objection can be seen here.

Crucially, the Society argues the application to remove the 15-storey description of the tower, is not ‘non-material’. This is a technical, but vitally important aspect of the planning application.

The Society says that by removing the description it would lead to changes to the height of the proposed tower block, which would indeed be material because “it has the potential to adversely affect the amenity of neighbouring properties, including increased traffic due to an increase in residential units and of overshadowing.”

The objection points out that in their application, London Square’s agents say they have been ‘encouraged’ to test the height of the tower, known as Ai in the planning application.  

Their Public Consultation document states: ‘“Following meetings with Lewisham Council and the Design Review Panel, the team have been encouraged to test additional height at building A1. The current proposals would increase the height of A1 from 15 to 18 storeys‘”

That suggests Lewisham Council is at least partly complicit in the approach, despite the fact that its own ‘Local Plan’ (although not yet formally adopted) sets a normal upper limit for tall buildings of 12 storeys.

The Society also notes that London Square says it needs to raise the height of the tower above 15 storeys ‘to ensure the scheme remains deliverable.’

“So, the only objective reason provided by London Square appears to be that the current approved scheme is not viable,” says the objection.

It continues “It would be an incredibly incompetent developer who would spend serious amounts of money on purchasing a site with an extant Planning Approval that they knew full well to be unviable in meeting their own requirements.

“From this we can only surmise that London Square are simply ‘testing’ the limits of the current approved Application ref DC/22/126997 to garner more profit because they would not have purchased the rights to a development that was incapable of being achieved.”

The Society reminds Lewisham Council that when Galliard first proposed a 15- storey tower block there were numerous local objections. It argues that Lewisham Council should not denigrate the concern of a material change of height to being a non-material change by the removal of the words up to ‘15-storeys (including basement level) …’ from the Decision Notice because without those words there is no detailed description of the development proposals.

“What is clear to any reasonable person is that the height of the main tower Block A of the proposed Leegate development was a very material concern raised by numerous objections… the height of the Block A tower building was a matter of great concern to local residents throughout the previous (Galliard) planning application and is of no lesser concern now.

“To consider removing the text that relates in general to its overall height would simply be wrong and a dereliction of LBL’s responsibilities to its borough’s residents as this is clearly a material consideration of the proposed development.”

Posted on

London Square say Leegate Tower won’t cause wind problems

London Square says there should be no concerns about the wind effects of the proposed tower block, which may be as high as 18 storeys.

The developers were responding to a comment posted on this website by a Lee resident Tony Branton. Mr Branton, a retired architect, asked:

“Given the heights and close proximity of buildings in this high-density development, have modelling studies, including wind tunnel and fluid dynamics testing, been undertaken to determine the micro climate that will be created in high wind conditions? External high winds passing through the completed development and in between the buildings will be accelerated. This can create difficult conditions at street level due to the ‘downdraught effect’ and ‘channelling effect’ the new buildings are likely to create in windy conditions.

The higher the buildings are the worse this wind acceleration will be. The new residential tower will increase these effects particularly given its exposed location at the north west corner of the site development. Lee residents who have experienced accelerated high winds at street level at that corner, with the 8 storey existing office tower currently located there, should be aware that these are likely to increase. The more so with the latest proposal to increase the height of the residential tower to 18 storeys.

Predicted climate change is expected to lead to increased wind speeds in London, particularly during winter. The UK Climate Projections report (UKCP18) suggests that winter wind speeds will increase in the second half of the 21st century, and the frequency of winter storms will also increase. This is well within the expected lifespan of the proposed development.”

London Square has subsequently confirmed that the original planning submission was supported by a Wind Microclimate Assessment, which was included as part of the original Environmental Statement. The report, which you can read in full here, says:

“Following the introduction of the proposed development, wind conditions are predicted to meet the criteria for pedestrian safety and to be suitable, in terms of comfort, for existing and proposed uses.”

London Square says it will provide an updated report when it applies to Lewisham Council to increase the height of the tower to 18 storeys.