New Interim Director of Planning at Lewisham Council

Lewisham Council has appointed an Interim Director of Planning as Emma Talbot, the council’s longstanding lead planner is to leave her position shortly. The news was revealed following a public question asked by the chair of the Bell Green Neighbourhood Forum, Julia Webb at the full council meeting on 12th July 2023. PUBLIC QUESTION NO. …

Lewisham Council and Bell Green Boundaries

Since Lewisham Council’s Director of Planning, Emma Talbot refused the application for the Bell Green Neighbourhood Area on 24th August 2022, this has sparked a debate about the ward boundaries and their construction. Interestingly, Lewisham Council has been re-warded by the Local Government Boundary Commission for England as recently as November 2020 and these new …

Bell Green Neighbourhood Plans ‘Refused’ by Lewisham Council

Lewisham Council’s Director of Planning, Emma Talbot has refused the application for the Bell Green Neighbourhood Area after a statutory consultation on the creation of a local Bell Green planning neighbourhood held between 26th May and 7th July 2022. A Neighbourhood Forum is an organisation or group empowered by the local authority to lead the …

Missing London Squares of Lewisham

A public outcry at the development of green spaces in London including Euston Square where local residents, the National Trust and the London Society opposed to the building a friends meeting house led to the creation of the Royal Commission on London Squares. The Royal Commission report says that “… The enclosures, particularly those which …

Cllr Alan Hall Response to Lewisham Council’s Local Plan

The Local Plan helps to ensure that planning decisions are made in the best interests of our neighbourhoods and communities. It provides a strategy for the Council and its partners to direct investment across Lewisham, recognising it is an integral part of London. It includes policies and guidelines that are used to determine planning applications. …

Lewisham says “Let’s Turn Up The Heat” In British Gas Dispute As Gas Workers Return To Their Livesey Hall

Cllr Alan Hall joined British Gas workers, local trade unionists and campaigners outside the historic gas workers’ Livesey Hall in Bell Green, Lower Sydenham. He said: “Let’s turn up the heat on British Gas.” The Livesey Memorial Hall was built in the north-west corner of the South Suburban Gas Company’s principal site at Bell Green, …

The Story Of The Racquet At The Bridge

The future of The Bridge Leisure Centre in Lower Sydenham looks bleak. Lewisham Council’s Mayor and cabinet approved plans not to reopen the leisure centre. The report added that the site has been running at losses of over £400,000 for many years although an element of the financial losses relate to the deterioration in the …

Urgent Action Needed To Tackle Homelessness Now

Cllr Alan Hall has joined housing campaigners, Shelter by writing to the Prime Minister Boris Johnson calling on the tory Government to take “urgent action to protect people at risk of being on the streets as a result of the pandemic.” This follows the tragic news that a homeless person sleeping rough at Bell Green, …

Demolition of Bell Green Gas Holders Approved

Lewisham Council has made the decision to approve the demolition of the Gas Holders at Bell Green, Lower Sydenham. A decision notice was posted on the Council’s website on 11th July here  Campaigners fighting to save the Bell Green gas holders (These Streets Belong to Us from Perry Vale and the Sydenham Society) expressed their regret …

Sydenham Society Object to Bell Green Gas Holders demolition and ask for an ‘Article 4’ Direction

The Sydenham Society have written an objection to the plans to demolish the locally listed Bell Green Gas Holders in Lower Sydenham. Following hot on the heels of the Victorian Society’s objection here, the Sydenham Society go further and request an Article 4 Direction by Lewisham Council. An Article 4 Direction would remove permitted development …