Tag: Lewisham Council

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.

Lewisham Council has finally published the minutes of an online public meeting about Leegate, which was held on October 2nd.

The minutes record that London Square at one stage considered a 20 storey tower block at the Lee Green crossroads, before eventually settling on 17 storeys. They also set out London Square’s argument for overriding the Lewisham Local Plan constraint on buildings higher than twelve storeys in Lee.

Mark Gibney, from London Square’s planning agents Montague Evans told the meeting:

“It’s not actually in policy. The policy sets out 10 to 12 storeys and says that buildings shall not normally be more than that height. There’s then lots of other policy around that – even if you had a building of 10 to 12 storeys, there is a requirement for a developer to undertake detailed analysis, which we undertook.

“Policy requires a comprehensive Townscape assessment and analysis of the impacts of the development on views on the sensitive receptions of the conservation areas, manor house gardens and surrounding streets. Galliard Homes did that assessment and submitted a 15-storey building, which the Council approved. Precedent for buildings over 12-storeys is established by that. However, that isn’t necessarily where it finishes because if you undertake the detailed assessment that we’ve talked about and you recognise that this is one of the best regeneration locations in this part of the borough identified as such by the Council, then it stands that there is potential for significant regeneration and significant
height.

“We did look at and test a lot of options including buildings up to around 20 storeys
and concluded that was probably too much and settled at the 17-storey approach.”

Adam West of the architects CZWG added “If you think about the design benefit of the taller building, it does improve the proportions of that building. We’ve worked hard at giving it a more slender appearance through the extra two storeys, but also by adjusting the balconies. So the idea of a taller building at this location is very much
seen as good practice in town planning terms .”

The online public meeting was attended by people who had submitted comments on London Square’s application to amend the planning consent originally granted to Galliard.”

You can read the full minutes here.

Lewisham planners will consider London Square’s application on November 18th.

This article has been updated.