Tag: Lewisham Council

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Lee Manor Society lodges comprehensive objection to Leegate proposals

Lee Manor Society has lodged a comprehensive objection to London Square’s proposals to amend the planning consent for Leegate.

In a 20 page document, Michael Haste, the Lee Manor Society Planning specialist and a retired architect, sets out a catalogue of reasons why the proposals should be rejected by Lewisham Planners.

You can read the full Lee Manor Society objection document here.

The key points are:

  • The proposal for the 17 storey Leegate Tower is in breach of the tall buildings height restrictions (12 storeys) as set out in the Lewisham Local Plan – and there is no over-riding material reason why it should be approved.
  • The numerous changes proposed by London Square cannot be characterised as “minor material amendments” as the developer claims. Lewisham Planners should treat them as material.
  • London Square’s proposal to increase the number the residential units on the site (an additional 59 taking the total to 620) is NOT a result of recent changes to fire and building regulations “but a direct result of the developer simply believing that Lewisham Council will not hold it to account and will agree with anything the developer wishes to construct irrespective of whether it constitutes over-development of the Leegate site or not.”
  • The proposed 2 and 3 bed flats above the fourth floor will not be suitable for families.
  • Some of the other proposed buildings are also in breach of the height limits in the Lewisham Local Plan and should also be rejected because of their unacceptable massing.
  • The absence of any parking for able-bodied residents will prevent normal deliveries and maintenance of the homes on the development. It will also put significant pressure on street parking in the immediate area.
  • The reduction in commercial floorspace will impact employment opportunities in the area.
  • The current proposals were not consulted on by London Square at its exhibition earlier in the summer.

The objection concludes that Lee Manor Society along with many of the residents of Lee Green and with amenity societies that represent the area, fully accepts the need for redevelopment of the Leegate site, but believes that such significant works must be carried out with full sensitivity to the local environment and the needs of Lee Green, not the needs of the developer to make profit over and above what a reasonable developer would seek to make.

Leegate will not become a place that people ‘want to visit and live in’ but will become an area where they may have little option but to live in if they simply want somewhere to live

Lee Manor Society Objection

If Lewisham Council approves the proposals it will not be helping ‘to provide a welcoming place where people will be able to live their best lives’ or ‘where generations will not only live but will thrive.’ Leegate will not become a place that people ‘want to visit and live in’ but will become an area where they may have little option but to live in if they simply want somewhere to live. It will not become a place where residents will ‘choose to stay’ and they will neither ‘enjoy a good quality of life or will love living in Lewisham.’

Michael Haste will be setting out details of the objection at the next meeting of the Society, on the evening of September 2nd. Full details of where and when can be found here: all are welcome.

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Deadline near for commenting on new Leegate proposals

The deadline for commenting on London Square’s application to vary the planning consent for Leegate is August 29th.

Full details of the proposals and how you can comment can be found in our recent story which you can read here.

The Lee Manor Society will be objecting on the basis that the proposals for a higher tower block exceed the provisions set out in the newly adopted Lewisham Local Plan as well as the clear guidance given with the Lewisham Tall Buildings Study Addendum. If approved, the proposals will also mean the removal of all able-bodied resident and commercial parking, which may put extra demand on parking around the site and in turn may then lead to new and unwanted CPZ’s.

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Lee Green Councillor intervenes in new parking permit system

Lee Green Councillor James Rathbone has met the Mayor of Lewisham to demand answers about the problems caused by the Borough’s new parking permit system.

Residents have complained that they are being wrongly issued parking tickets because the new system doesn’t seem to have recognised they have bought permits. Others say the user names they have been issued do not work, or that they are unable to buy visitor vouchers.

Cllr Rathbone has told motorists who contacted him that he wants the Mayor to get a proper resolution to the issue.

He told complainants ” The Council has been assured by the contractor that they have rectified the error which occurred during the migration to the new IT system and caused this to occur, but we will obviously have to wait and see whether the problem is truly fixed.”

Cllr Rathbone confirmed that the Council has instructed the contractor to carry out auto-cancellations of PCNs issued in error to remove the onus onto the residents to appeal through the usual process.

He added “I have asked officers what they will be doing to identify all residents affected by this, to make sure that they receive a suitable apology and in cases where invalid PCN’s were paid that refunds are issued. I have also agreed a process with the Director of Public Realm for any cases which come to my attention to be raised directly with his office and the Parking Services Manager to ensure that the individual case is resolved.”

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Lewisham admits its new parking permit system had “snagging issues”

The old parking voucher app

Lewisham Council has told the Lee Manor Society its new parking permit system had “snagging issues” but claimed they have since been resolved.

Several residents have complained about the system, which Lewisham has termed an upgrade. Christopher Nicolson posted on Facebook “Lewisham Council’s Parking system change has been a disaster. I am getting two false PCNs a day because they can’t seem to assign my live permit to my profile. I haven’t had a reply or response yet so they must be swamped in false positives.”

Other residents said the user name they had been assigned didn’t work or they had lost visitor vouchers which had been bought under the old system and had now vanished. A resident who rang the NSL phone number waited in a queue for several minutes before being cut off.

Lewisham Council told the Lee Manor Society “If any customers’ previously purchased vouchers have not migrated over to the new platform, we are happy to investigate and return them back to their account as we understand a minority of customers had similar issues. We will also look to cancel any PCNs incurred while we went through the system upgrade, provided it was where the resident would normally be expected to park with their permit.

“If people are experiencing issues we encourage them to contact us directly so we can investigate, at Lewishamparkingpermits@nsl.co.uk.”

Emails to this address get an automated response which says “Thank you for contacting Lewisham Parking Permits. We’re currently experiencing an exceptionally high volume of enquiries, and our team is working hard to respond to everyone as quickly as possible. You can expect to hear back from us within 72 hours, although it may take a little longer depending on the complexity of your query.”

If you are having problems with the new system please leave a reply below or email leemanorsociety@gmail.com