Leegate centre redevelopment revised to 600 homes
Previous plans to demolish Leegate shopping centre for shops and housing are being altered after Galliard Homes purchased the site.
The tallest buildings are now above levels seen in previous proposals which have been ditched. I took a look at previous plans back in June 2018, which saw 393 homes. A previous plan in 2015 included an Asda removed by 2018. The number of homes is now up to around 600.
This is achieved by extending the main block facing a junction, and extending upwards another on the opposite corner of the plot beside Leybridge Estate. No change to the massing of the main tower appears evident to soften its appearance on a prominent corner spot. It will rise quite substantially over other buildings in the vicinity, with design that appears to somewhat lazily add floors without any other alterations.
The current post-war Leegate centre has seen shops close over a number of years as plans came and went without any building work.
Shop owners have often lacked certainty over their future as St Modwen sat on land for years before selling.
Whether Galliard can gain approval for 15 floors remains to be seen. Lewisham’s draft Local Plan does tacitly give the ok to some raising in height by suggesting 450 homes on this site, though 600 would mean heights rising in a number of areas:
By suggesting an indicative number of 450 homes – above levels seen in 2018 – this appears to go someway (but not all) to permitting any changes seen in a forthcoming application.
Transport is another issue to watch for. Will there be an increase in car parking above 2018 levels? Will nearby links be improved?
Galliard state 35 per cent will be “affordable”.
Information on a consultation being held can be seen here.
You’re hopeful about parking and traffic Murky, it’ll just cause more congestion but developers don’t care as long as there’s bigger profits and councils ok everything anyway. And the plans will change again to go up to 20 stories soon. We’ll need to go on holiday just to see the sky let alone sun. Don’t you ever get disillusioned featuring all these high rise future ghettoes- sorry ‘developments’ and still hoping for improvements?
LeeGate used to be such a vibrant shopping area (genuinely, not in the modern “it’s colourful just don’t get stabbed” modern usage). We still say “near the Woolworths” when talking to other locals. The Army surplus store was a total treasure, now only in memory. It’s a typical case of successive Council workers wanting to make their name by creating a development project. They made unpopular changes to force the area to fail economically to justify the claim that “regeneration” is needed. Of course it didn’t need a busy Asda opposite the Sainsbury’s and has been struggling for two decades now.
The council (now housing association) flats adjacent used to be considered an eyesore but the green space around them makes it look like an AONB compared to modern developments.
It’s all just pure greed. I was involved in the fight to stop the Kidbrooke Masterplan building on every available green space in the area. We were promised the end of the tower blocks. The London Plan at the time specified that high rise blocks would only be acceptable along the river front and around major transport hubs. Clearly Leegate needs redeveloping but the proposals are at odds with the character of the surrounding area.
Totally agree. We bulldozed all the high rise blocks from the 60’s.the only reason leegate declined was due to the landlords unaffordable rents. So sad that this will look like another lewisham. Which is so ugly flats just crammed in.
Six hundred homes seems like a lot on a not very big site and this will inevitably mean towers. However, Leegate is desparely sad and almost anything will be an improvement.
I agree Legate is in urgent need of regeneration. It is such a shame to see Leegate is such a state of decline. As Nuttin said Leegate used to be such a vibrant area and can be again with the right development of new homes and commercial space.
They will really struggle to deal with “rights of light” issues. Any neighbouring owners would be wise to investigate and object to infringement of their rights to light at an early stage!