No date for Leegate Shopping Centre redevelopment despite hopes it would start soon

Leegate Shopping Centre was initially built in 1967, and after years of potential development talks, plans to knock down the former shopping centre and replace it with a 15-storey tower block were approved in July 2023.

The work is expected to take over five years to complete and is anticipated to be completed by 2030.

The development overseen by Galliard Homes was, according to Charles Batchelor of the Lee Manor Society, “hoped” to commence this month.

However, in a meeting that took place this week on October 8, it was revealed that Lewisham Council has not yet issued full planning consent due to ongoing negotiations.

In a statement, Lewisham Council confirmed that planning permission for the development of Leegate Centre would be issued after a Section 106 agreement had been reached.

A Section 106 agreement establishes how money will be paid by the developer towards adding local value and infrastructure to the community by way of roads, schools or playing areas, in areas of new development.

Galliard said that it would be making contributions towards healthcare and education services following the redevelopment.

According to a spokesperson for Galliard, the Section 106 was initially planned to be agreed three months after Lewisham’s Planning Committee gave approval, however this was delayed because of pressure of work at Lewisham Council.

In the meeting, Galliard also confirmed that it was hoped that the original development timeline could be kept to, however demolition works are unable to start until the Section 106 agreement is signed.

Currently a few council and private tenants remain on the site of Leegate Centre, and Galliard confirmed it was “working with them” due to the nature of their leases.

In the meeting notes recorded by Lee Manor Society, Galliard representative Jonathan Bloom said: “Section 106 is the legal contract between us and the local authority in terms of what we’re looking to deliver, in terms of agreement on local labour, affordable housing, commercial splits, how the road management will work, if there are contributions that need to be made.

“So, it’s about us having to give back because we’re adding education and healthcare provision contributions. So, it is a very complex document, and they are getting more and more and more complex, particularly in London, so we are still looking to get that signed.

“Once we have that signed, we then get full planning consent. We are working, though, on the timelines that we originally gave in the update to get vacant possession over October, so that when we have the Section 106 signed and consent given, we can then look to progress with demolition and build up the site.”

In the meeting, Cllr James Rathbone said: “A Section 106 agreement is not something which is subject to consultation or community input or the community would like this particular clause.

“It’s simply not how a contract can be negotiated in any form.”

Talks also turned to traffic management plans for the area under development, which will be subject to a four-way agreement between Lewisham and Greenwich Councils, Transport for London (TFL) and Galliard.

The amount of parking required for the development will also be decided by City hall.

Jonathan Bloom from Galliard said: “I can’t remember the exact number off-hand, but we have to work with the London plan and what’s set by the London Mayor, and obviously they are pushing for zero car parking developments.

”We have a number of conditions that we will have to meet, and before we can even start on site, one of those conditions will be a traffic management plan that we will agree with the local authority to ensure that we can ease as much concern and congestion as possible.

“Obviously, it is a big site, but we’re not constantly bringing in equipment. It’s staged and phased over time.”

Charles Batchelor of the Lee Manor Society told News Shopper: “We were surprised to learn this week at our assembly meeting that they hadn’t yet reached an agreement with Galliard on a Section 106 and so that’s delaying the start of the work.

“We had expected them to start about now, October time.

“Although it’s a five-year project, they say it will take until 2030 to get it finished.

“We don’t know how long those talks will take.

“The trouble is planning departments are limited with money and staffing which could be delaying things.”

In a statement, Lewisham Council said that the Section 106 agreement was expected to be signed and completed within the next few weeks, although an exact date has not yet been confirmed.

A spokesperson for Lewisham Council said: “Planning permission for the redevelopment of the Leegate Centre will be issued once the S106 legal agreement has been completed and signed by the applicant, we expect this to complete in the next few weeks.

“The Council does not hold information regarding a planned construction start, however, before construction can commence, the applicant will need to discharge pre-commencement conditions which will require approval from the Local Planning Authority.”