Catford Island Site Planning Consultation Launched

A leaflet and website have been published for local residents outlining the early development proposals for the Catford Island Site – this is the area in Catford where Plassy Road School once stood. Currently, there is a shopping area with a Lidl, bingo hall and some other retail outlets with a car park. The website …

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. …

Reverse The End Of Remote Meetings

The Minister for Local Government, Luke Hall MP has written to Local Authorities confirming that the Government intends to end the remote meetings by not renewing the emergency legislation that allowed them. The letter explains that extending the regulations to allow virtual meetings beyond May 7th would require primary legislation. Interestingly, in the letter the …

Catford Town Centre Framework – A Masterplan?

Lewisham Council has released their plans for a £500 million redevelopment of Catford and they are asking for comments and views. The aim is to inform the proposals that will be developed and any new buildings will have to conform to these plans. Hopefully, the Council will have learnt the lessons of the ill fated, …

Rishi Bows To Pressure – as Lewisham Council Agree Motion on Universal Credit

As Lewisham Council were debating keeping the £20 uplift to Universal Credit, news was breaking that the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak was bowing to public pressure and a “Tory backlash” resigning himself to continuing the uplift, despite warning it will cost £6billion a year according to the Mail online late Wednesday evening. In …

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 …

Convoys Wharf Plot 21 – The Plot Thickens

Lewisham Council’s long running planning saga around Convoys Wharf on the Deptford riverside has taken a mysterious twist. During a webinar event that was held on 1st December 2020, in place of a drop-in consultation event due to Coronavirus restrictions a number of options were put forward for plot 21 of the scheme. This phase …

Lewisham’s Amenity Societies’ Collective Concerns Over Planning Changes

On 16th September 2020, Lewisham Council’s Mayor & Cabinet agreed to a six month extension of temporary changes to the planning procedures for public participation in town planning. In the report it says: “By June 2020 a backlog of around 40 planning applications requiring determination by committee had built up. The Government has brought in …