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Bell Green tower blocks given go-ahead

On Tuesday October 22nd Lewisham’s Strategic Planning Committee gave planning consent for the controversial scheme to redevelop the former gasworks site at Lower Sydenham.

The Barratts development, which consists of three blocks ranging in height from six to 14 storeys, will provide 262 homes. The Sydenham Society, while not opposing the provision of much needed accommodation, objected to the scheme for the following reasons, among others:

  • lack of social & ‘affordable’ housing (only 37 homes out of 262 are available for those without a deposit) at a time when approximately 10,000 people are in temporary accommodation in Lewisham)
  • lack of a masterplan to coordinate development across the site
  • poor design of the flats
  • insufficient provision of family-sized accommodation
  • impact on the listed Livesey Memorial Hall
  • poor design of the public realm

In addition, Transport for London (TfL) had identified the following shortcomings in the scheme:

  • insufficient space allocated to external circulation. Resolving this would encroach on children’s play space
  • external service access is not resolved
  • the provision of access and Blue Badge parking bays is insufficient.

Local Ward councillors, the Bell Green Forum and the Sydenham Society urged members of the planning committee to refuse the scheme but after a break in the proceedings in which legal advice was taken the committee granted planning permission on a vote of 4 to 2.

The legal advice to the committee members was that the borough cannot refuse a scheme like this because it has not met its housing targets – where delivery is below 75 per cent, as in Lewisham’s case, a presumption in favour of granting planning permission applies to councils.

We are not the only ones complaining about the low quality of this scheme. The Council has also ignored its own Design Review Panel who commented: ‘This is a lost opportunity given the rich history of the site. The Panel felt that the massing and architectural strategy lacked conviction and a uniting concept and narrative which grew convincingly from the unique characteristics, history and context of this site.’

For a fuller report of the meeting go to this link at the South London Press.

South London Press article