Lewisham planning 400 flats for Sydenham Road

[mosy]

The flaw in the reasoning is, to me, that ground floor shops are often one frontage room and a tiny back room plus maybe a basement. A translation of that is: lose a shop, gain a bedsit, which will barely make a dent in the housing need even if the whole high street were converted. If a huge swathe is to be demolished and rebuilt as high-density high-rise flats, objections or not, would anyone be surprised? I suppose those who don't use our local shops have a different view from those who do.

Also, demand for local shops and shop premises could well be different post covid (during which some shops failed), especially for prepared food outlets since new flexible working from home doesn't necessarily inspire a desire to be distracted by having to shop and cook, not to mention venues suitable for brief socialising.

One thing we know is that once shops are converted, they'll be gone for good. Do we really want just half a dozen "corner shops"? Those a pinprick in what is seemingly to become an increasingly high density residential expanse with restricted sunlight and minimal open space, despite having torn down many of the earlier versions of the 50's onwards but arguably whose additional volume occupancy would actually like there to be local shops and not just in a short run at one end of the high street.

Economically, a shop is productive being atop a pyramid of makers, suppliers, transporters, staff maybe, and benefits many customers. A small residence is inert. Is it really a good move to do away with shop premises?

[JRW]

I'm not against some carefully chosen shops being converted to residential, although I agree that many would only make dark, oppressive bedsits. For me, the important thing is that any such changes are considered in a strategic way.

Having decisions being made on a shop-by-shop basis will lead to conversions being peppered across different shopping parades. Far better to take a strategic view of the area, and consider where the shops should be protected, and if there are outlying groups that might be converted to acceptable quality accommodation.

Of course, this cannot be achieved without a neighbourhood plan, which would allow us to request any such priorities. l am still waiting for our councillors to progress the Bell Green Neighbourhood Forum proposal, but no joy.

[JGD]

In January 2021 Cllr Sue Hordijenko spoke to me in some detail about constituting a body that has its roots in Bellingham Ward. She expressed a firm view that the formation of such a body was essential and it was important that it then address the development of a master plan for Bell Green that was based on the views of residents there, gathered and collated through consultation.

At that time she indicated she had the support of Cllr Liam Curran and she anticipated having his expertise contribute to the formation and constitution of such a body.

As forum members here probably already know, Cllr Hordijenko's very sadly and very prematurely passed away.

This is a great loss to our ward and has caused this formation process to pause.

Activities have been re-focused on the short term on LB Lewisham's consultation exercise for the development of the Draft Local Plan. An exercise that would have been enhanced greatly had this ward body been extant and positioned to co-ordinate responses specifically for the Bell Green area.

It might be anticipated that once the deadline for submissions to the Local Plan has passed on 11 April 2021, activities around the formation of a Bellingham ward based body can resume and our elected members for Bellingham ward will be able to engage in that process.

[JRW]

All very true, JGD. Sadly, that deadline passing also means that we also miss the opportunity to contribute to the Lewisham Plan. Sigh.

I have posted on SE26.life my own proposal for the area boundaries. The general shape is approved by Councillors, but Liam expressed concerns about the SW sector, and has now gone silent. See what you think. I can't post it here myself, but if anyone else has the tech skills, it would be great to start a new thread on STF to discuss it.

[Pally]

Having decisions being made on a shop-by-shop basis will lead to conversions being peppered across different shopping parades. Far better to take a strategic view of the area, and consider where the shops should be protected, and if there are outlying groups that might be converted to acceptable quality accommodation.

Exactly!

[Clovers]

Seems the Audi garage has cleared out, could it be for this?

[Plantingpotting]

I feel very conflicted about this.
I realise that London needs more affordable housing, and Lewisham have certainly set their sights firmly on housing...but not much else it seems??

It's unsettling to see so many plans to shove up a load of flats, without any kind of social infrastructure strategy to underpin the local population growth...doctors surgeries are the first thought that comes to mind.

Whilst the retail park gets a lot of stick from some,these are the kinds of amenities that an area needs if it's going to be so densely residential.