Lewisham Regeneration | Lewisham | U/C

Mark Chandler

Residents angry about a high-rise development in the heart of Lewisham vented their frustrations at a public meeting last night (June 17).

Developers and council officers were accused of trying to turn the area into “another Croydon” with the plans, which include a 24-storey tower, commercial space and a new leisure centre at Loampit Vale.

The development, to be built by Barratt Homes in partnership with Lewisham Council, also includes 788 flats, 30 per cent of which will be affordable, and a public square.

It is claimed by the council that the development will “deliver an exciting future for Lewisham”.

But at a public meeting last night (June 18) in Lewisham Methodist Church, Albion Way, developers and council officers were quizzed by residents about everything from the state of Barratt’s finances to the type of lens they used to take photos of the site.

Rachel Mooney, 44, of Cliffview Road, told the planners: “Lewisham is unique and it’s very special.

“The thought of opening my window in the morning and just seeing high-rise after high-rise after high-rise - it’s simply soul destroying.”

Helen Mercer, 52, of Ermin Road, who has led previous protests against the Lewisham Gateway development, said: “If they were providing housing for the 18,000 on Lewisham’s housing register I’d find it harder to object but they’re not.

“They’re building high, I tell you why, to make a profit.”

She said: “It’s not providing the homes that Lewisham needs.”

Sola Awoberu, 30, a teacher from Waterway Avenue, Lewisham, said : “Tower blocks in places like Peckham, Southwark, Stockwell and Brixton are being knocked down due to the fact that there are too many people living in high-rise buildings.”

One other resident accused developers of attempting to build a “huge monolithic lump”.

But Barratt’s planning consultant Mark Gibney said the scheme would “not be viable” and would break planning guildeline if it did not involve high-rise buildings.

He said: “What this does is it brings in significant investment.

"There’s going to be lots of people living in parts of the borough where they don’t live at the moment.”

And Mr Gibney, a former resident of Kidbrooke’s Ferrier estate, denied claims that high rise blocks can divide communities.

He said: “The problems with other estates were quality of construction and quality of infrastructure.”

Concerns were also raised by 53-year-old Peter O’Reilly, of Overcliff Road, Brockley, about the increase of people who would live in the area when both this development and the Lewisham Gateway project are built, and the impact this would have on traffic.

And Ms Awoberu said that despite claims that 8,000 letters had been sent out telling people about the plans, she had been told nothing.

She said: “I live completely opposite where you’re planning on building this monstrosity. I didn’t know anything about this development.”

This is the second planning application to be submitted to the council, after initial plans were scrapped following a public consultation.

Changes to the scheme in response to comments from the public have included the reduction in the height of some of the buildings and a reduction in the number of flats from 819.

The plans could go to a Lewisham Council planning committee next month.

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fitz44 said:

Its street-facing facade is intended to act as an art installation in itself and is made of illuminated multicoloured glass panels backed by a smart LED lighting system.

Mike Lawless, the firm’s design director, said: “We became quite excited about the idea that the facade – which was always curved – could be made up of independent coloured glass panels.”

The team is now designing a system to allow the lights to be controlled by ambient noise and is also considering linking the lights to a mobile phone number which people could call to make them flicker.

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