Tag: Lewisham Council

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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

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Blackheath fireworks will be back this year

Lewisham Council has announced that Blackheath Fireworks are coming back this year. The event will be held on Saturday 1 November 2025, from 4pm to 10.30pm.

It will be the first time the fireworks have been staged since 2017. Unlike in previous years it seems that visitors will have to buy tickets to get close to the display. The Council says more details will be announced in September.

The Council said “With support from a top events company, this year’s show will feature a show stopping fireworks display, entertainment, market stalls, and more. Event details will be announced in September. Watch this space!”

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Lewisham East MP to raise concerns about Leegate Tower with Lewisham Council

The Lewisham East MP Janet Daby is to take up worries about London Square’s plan to increase the height of the proposed Leegate Tower with Lewisham Council.

Ms Daby met representatives of local community groups, including the Lee Manor Society recently. She was told that there were concerns about both Lewisham Council’s and developer London Square’s commitment to transparency over the submission and consultation process of their recent Section 96A application and to ‘meaningful’ consultation with local residents.

Crucially Michael Haste, the Lee Manor Society planning expert and a retired architect flagged that by approving the recent removal of any reference to the heights of the proposed buildings at Leegate from the Planning Decision Notice (that Lewisham Council approved on 30th June 2025), the Council was now publicly stating that no developer in future would be required to provide any height information in any future Planning Application. Such information might now only be found in drawings and other documents making up a Planning Application.

The meeting was also attended by Sarah McMichael of the Lee Forum and former Councillor Jim Mallory, chair of the Lee Green Consortium, who raised other issues including the absence of general parking in the new development.

London Square says it doesn’t plan any residential parking except for Blue Badge spaces and two Car Clubs slots on Leyland Road. Ms Daby was told that London Square would be compelled by way of the agreed Section 106 Agreement (signed between Lewisham Council and Galliards) to enter into legally binding contracts with new Leegate residents to prevent them from even applying for CPZ parking permits in the area.

 It is expected that Ms Daby will pass on the residents’ concerns to Lewisham Council by letter.