An ‘eyesore’ South London shopping centre will finally be knocked down almost ten years after plans to bulldoze it were first revealed.
Over 500 homes in tower blocks up to fifteen storeys high will replace the Leegate Centre in Lee Green under proposals approved by Lewisham Council last week on Wednesday, July 19.
The redevelopment of the shopping precinct has been on the cards since original plans were first submitted to the council in 2015. But multiple proposals for the site have fallen through due to squabbles about the amount of cheap housing that should be included in any new development and last-minute u-turns from businesses interested in moving into the site.
The Galliard Homes plans that were approved by councillors yesterday include 173 affordable homes, of which 114 will be social rent and the other 50 shared ownership, where a person buys a percentage of a house and pays cheap rent on the remaining share.
A gym, medical centre and small supermarket are also expected to be included in the development which will be made up of three blocks surrounded by Burnt Ash Road, Eltham Road, Leyland Road and Carston Close.
Existing shops and residents will have to move out to make way for the redevelopment.
Business owners have been offered twelve month free rent if they return to the centre once the project is finished but few are expected to take up the offer.
Shop owners previously told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that the planned retail units would be too small and the rents too high.
Two local residents who spoke at the meeting also said they feared the proposed buildings were too tall and that the new homes would be too small and of poor quality.
Carole Hicks, from local preservation group Blackheath Society, said: “The plan has many flaws.
“The number of single aspect units stands at 40 per cent. That is over 200 homes, exclusively small one-bedroom units.
“This is not good enough. Those south facing units which are small, in a changing climate with 40 degree plus temperatures, with no through ventilation will be at risk of overheating.”
Nick Patton, also from Blackheath Society, said: “In our view the current application is not yet good enough. The proposal is too high because the tallest block is over 80 per cent higher than the existing.”
But another local resident, Andrew Fuller, said the development would be a huge improvement on the existing centre.
He said: “I think without any doubt Leegate as it has been for a long time is an eyesore. That’s why I would like the new development.
“People are worried the density is too much but unfortunately in this life there is no perfection.”
Michael Watson, from developer Galliard Homes, added: “The scheme before you this evening is the culmination of three years of hard work under challenging circumstances and I suspect testing the sanity of all involved, to present this evening this long overdue district centre regeneration.”
An all Labour Lewisham Council planning committee approved the plans unanimously.
