Objections from more than 4,600 campaigners against a £1.5 billion redevelopment of Lewisham Shopping Centre have fallen on deaf ears due to the plan already being approved.
asserted
plan → fall → ears
Mayor of Lewisham, Liam Shrivastava, asked for a petition with thousands of backers to be heard at September’s full council meeting despite permission having been granted for the 1,700-home scheme to be delivered by developer Landsec Lewisham Limited.
Mr Shrivastava, leader of the Green-run local authority, wanted the petition to be debated even though it did not comply with the council’s own rules.
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it → ask → rules
Under council regulations, e-petitions must use Lewisham Council’s own system rather than external platforms, such as Change.org, which was used by Save Lewisham Shopping Centre campaigners.
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which → use → campaigners
Signatures and Lewisham addresses should be gathered directly via the council website, according to the local authority.
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Signatures → gather → authority
Faris Luke, from Lewisham People’s Assembly, was allowed to introduce the petition at Lewisham Council’s meeting on September 23, urging elected representatives to “reject Landsec’s plans”.
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Luke → allow → plans
But he was told that there was little that councillors could do given that Landsec had received legal permission to go ahead with its £1.5 billion scheme.
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Landsec → tell → scheme
Landsec was given planning permission in October, when the council was run by the Labour Party, for its plan to demolish the mall and the multi-storey car park, and replace it with tower blocks up to 35 storeys high.
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council → give → blocks
The redevelopment is being delivered in six phases and has a timeline spanning 10 years.
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redevelopment → deliver → years
It will see a total of 1,744 new homes built, which would include 98 social rent homes and 231 homes rented out at discounted market rates or made available to key workers.
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which → see → workers
All of the remaining homes will be private.
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All → remain → homes
Additionally, Landsec intends to build accommodation for 661 students and a 23-storey co-living block containing 445 homes, where residents share communal spaces such as kitchens and lounges.
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residents → intend → kitchens
The petition against it takes issue with the number of affordable homes incorporated in the Lewisham Shopping Centre plan.
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petition → take → plan
It argues that the approved plans “fail to meet the scale of local need”, providing only 4% of the total homes built for social rent when more than 10,500 people are on the borough’s social housing waiting list.
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people → argue → list
“The proposed demolition of Lewisham Shopping Centre for luxury flats is a blueprint for gentrification,” the petition says.
“It will displace our community, destroy a vital hub, and serve only the interests of corporate profit.”
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It → propose → profit
Mr Shrivastava has been outspoken about his concerns that the Lewisham Shopping Centre blueprint does not accommodate enough affordable homes.
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blueprint → accommodate → homes
He has suggested he could withhold using the council’s compulsory purchase powers (CPO) to support the development until the situation is addressed.
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situation → suggest → development
The day before full council, he posted on X: “When we’ve got over 11,000 people on the housing waiting list in Lewisham, 98 social homes is not going to cut it.
“
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homes → post → it
I’ve consistently said we need to see more social housing in the Lewisham Shopping Centre scheme, and I won’t use CPO powers unless that changes.”
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that → say → powers
At full council, Cllr Daniel Dream, Lewisham’s cabinet member for inclusive regeneration, planning and housing delivery, said the council “don’t have the power to simply block or reject a scheme that’s already been through planning approval”.
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that → say → approval
He said: “Some people might want that to be true, but it isn’t, and we need to be talking facts for the sake of everybody watching.”
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we → say → everybody
A motion put forward by the Lewisham Green Group noting the petition and recognising the importance of affordable housing in the borough was carried after a formal vote.
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motion → put → vote
The Aporia
