Infill Development at Valentine Court - Revised proposals

So I remember a couple of month ago, Lewisham council came round door to door asking opinion on new flats.
Everyone I have talked to has agreed that it would be a ridiculous idea and would cause more issues than we already have.
Just seen this morning the containers and portaloos and that they are going ahead with it.
Does anyone know if there’s anything we can do about this?
If you know valentine court you know there’s only small patches of green. It’s absolutely ridiculous to loose our only green and trees for more flats.

The containers have been on the site for over a year and are not related to building more homes, but are for a number of projects off-site. Those are due to be removed within the next 6 months.

The infill development project is still within the initial stages, and no formal planning permission has been submitted. They are planning to do that around May of this year last I was told, and we had a call with them late last year about the project. They want to demolish the caretakers building and the disused laundry building, as well as build on the green spaces. There are already 112 flats here and they’re looking to build 50 more, so that’s a 45% increase - which we think is ridiculous.

I uploaded a recording of the Zoom call to the Valentine Court Residents group on Facebook, and you’re welcome to join the conversation there as well. Anyone in the local area is welcome to!

They have also set-up a Commonplace site for the project: https://valentine.commonplace.is/

Building for Lewisham have now published their initial proposals of the infill development at Valentine Court. These can be accessed here.

A survey to submit any feedback can be accessed here and is open to all local residents.

There are more details available on the Commonplace website here along with virtual events to sign up to.

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Building for Lewisham have now published their revised proposals of the infill development at Valentine Court. These can be accessed here.

A survey to submit any feedback can be accessed here and is open to all local residents.

There are more details available on the Commonplace website here along with dates for in-person and virtual events.

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Infill development has been aggressively pursued in Southwark and Lewisham are following close behind. When you dig into this, it makes some grim reading
https://www.35percent.org/former-council-leader-slides-through-the-revolving-doors/
The artists impressions are insulting, community assets (the kids swing!) are replicated to provide an idyllic view of their proposals. They repeatedly used the silhouette of a stunning tree on our estate on promotional materials, which they subsequently cut down before planning permission was even granted. Awful to watch.

We back on to the Forest Estate where infill building of three houses and a small block is happening, it is right up against our boundary fence.

It has been pretty grim. Contractors have illegally entered our grounds to access the site, the pile driving for the foundations was unbearable and there is noise 5.5 days a week. The light to the flats at the back of our block will be permanently affected. When we originally objected the architects and planners hadn’t bothered to understand that most of the flats in our block are single aspect.

We have it easy compared to the Forest Estate residents who have had noise, lost parking spaces and heavy earth moving machinery in site for month.

Not to mention the loss of space.

Yeah, I’m totally noticing that in these proposals and arguably I think these revised proposals are worse than the original as they appear to have dropped their original ‘design principal’ of improving connectivity around the estate (north and south).

The revised proposals are just about placing some new blocks on the estate, wherever they can squeeze them in, and giving little back to residents as they remove most of their green space (and parking). The sketches are very misleading and I’m genuinely disappointed in how they have developed so far, and I’ll be making that clear next week!

Ugh, that sounds awful. I’m concerned about light loss but is that not what light surveys and the planning process are there for? How can they get away with a development that affects a single aspect property like that…

I’m understand the need for new homes, especially social homes, but they’re really trying to cram as much as possible in these relatively small spaces.

We did get after objecting and contacting the planners.

From the documents:

I’m pleased to see EV charging mentioned, though I wonder what proportion of spaces will have chargers and what speed they will be. ‘Reprovided’ seems a bit like a weasel-word though!

Also:

I’m not sure if I understand what this means or the rationale.

Overall though I’d be interested in the thoughts and opinions of the architects who first built these estates. I wonder what the pressures and considerations were at that time, and what value they put on the green areas against housing density. Perhaps they even thought they would be solving Lewisham’s housing crisis back then? I suppose it’s entirely possible they were limited by budget so couldn’t build more, and just kept the green areas for future development, though I’d like to hope they valued the green spaces and recognised their benefits to residents.

The green spaces were part of the overall development and regarded as the “garden” for the residents.

The last consultation on the infill development is due to come to an end next Wednesday 8th September.

If you haven’t already, please do complete the short online survey to provide your feedback - it’s open to everyone. The online virtual event was recorded and has also been uploaded to the Commonplace website.

Sadly if the Mais House experience is anything to go by, Lewisham won’t take any notice of the consultation results. But you’re right @robertjroy, we have to try.

Hi Marymck. I am one of a group of local residents that are opposing Lewisham Council over the proposed redevelopment of Valentine Court. We were enormously inspired by the effort that you led on here in holding the council to account in relation to Mais House. We’d be so keen to speak to you to see what we can learn from your experience.

I’ve only just joined this forum so not entirely sure how it works but I’d be really grateful if you’d let me know if you’re happy to speak with us and we can take it from there.

Thanks, Tom

Developers will often hire lobbying firms/comms agencies to help navigate political groups and the planning process (which is immensely political) - what to say to appeal to certain councillors on committees, what would the political group be seeking from Section 106 Agreements, etc. Those firms will be on the lookout for people who understand the planning system and understand local political dynamics across a region - who better to employ than ex-councillors.

I am not one to view private developers as evil or malevolent - nor do I think working for them is a sign of moral failing. However, I do understand that they are driven by the profit motive. It must be remembered that most local councils deliver a large chunk of their social homes through Section 106 Agreements with private developers.

I’ve been outspoken about awful regeneration programmes in Southwark from the 00s and I am glad that the blog you shared acknowledges how things have improved under the current administration. Fortunately, we now see Councils across London starting to build social housing again. In Lewisham, we say that any estate regeneration must lead to a net increase in social homes and I believe that is 100% right.

If my add some thoughts and some advice to this thread.

The price of land in London is extortionate and local authorities do not have funds available to buy new land to redevelop. Therefore, we need to look at the land we already own, which is designated for housing, which we can build on - this usually means estate infills. To build the social homes we need, estate regens and infills are absolutely necessary.

I am not familiar with the ins and outs of the Valentine Court scheme as it is in Perry Vale. But my suggestion is to work with Lewisham Homes to try and develop proposals with them - tell them what you like about the estate and what you think needs improving - do you need improved bins stores, would you like more cycle parking, does lighting need to be improved, can the numbers of trees be increased, can parking be better organised etc.

If you outright reject the principle of development in the location… Lewisham Homes would be within their rights to submit a planning application they believe is in line with planning policy and see what happens at committee. Be pragmatic, is my advice.

On Mais House, City of London reduced the size and bulk of the development based on resident feedback (which is a pretty big step, reducing the number of social homes built). The communal garden was kept ‘wild’ in nature, rather than making it overly ‘landscaped’ - the ball court was retained - a larger play space that was originally planned was scrapped - all based on resident feedback during the consultation and I should imagine other alterations were made.

Regarding the disruption that will come from infills, I understand that it is a pain but that is the reality of building in inner cities and in constrained sites. It is not ideal but is it worth not building those new social homes to avoid that disruption? Certainly not in my opinion, and I speak as someone who lives on an estate awaiting an infill development to commence.

Lewisham Labour stood on a manifesto commitment to build 1,000 new social homes in our term and this is the reality of trying to deliver that pledge. I understand that many residents won’t like it but this is what was voted for and we’re trying our best to deliver it.

Kind regards,

Leo

Personally, I think the plans for Valentine Court are some of the more sensible I have seen. I’m a bit concerned about the distance from block D to the existing most southern block, but as long as it meets with Lewisham’s own minimum distance policies, it seems reasonable. I’m glad they are no longer proposing the extension to overlook Fifield Path, which seems unfair to this row of houses.

I would like to see Lewisham offering some protection and enhancements to the tiny park on Westbourne Drive as part of this development.

However, I’m not directly impacted by these proposals, and I hope that any development does not adversely impact existing residents in Valentine Court (beyond the inevitable construction work).

You are right and not just ex councillors but also planning officers. But the potential for corruption is huge, especially in a council where there is only one party of councillors and no effective opposition. I think there is also some concern when the council is the applicant and the planning authority or where councillors and ex planning officers are directors of the company.

I don’t mean to imply any corruption in Lewisham but the system should be designed in such a way to prevent corruption rather than hoping that nobody in the planning department is offered a lucrative directorship after they leave their current role. Given the number of councils across the country it would be difficult to imagine that some cosy relationships did not exist between developers and the councils.

Leo, I appreciate the post but that’s an awful lot of text when actually the most important sentence you write is: “I am not familiar with the ins and outs of the Valentine Court scheme as it is in Perry Vale”!

Surely it’s wise to make oneself familiar before choosing to opine on a subject at such length!?

Hi Tom I’d be very happy to chat. I will PM you.

I’m unaware of the ins and outs of the Valentine Court “infill” so can’t comment directly but as Lewisham Homes/ council seem unable to manage their current stock of social housing (or offer even an adequate service to the boroughs residents) to a good standard I’m amazed they’re thinking of building more!

So before the new developments get started, are our current flat going to get the much needed work they require? Having brand new flats amongst the decaying ones is not a good look. You’re going to gentrify the estate, causing riffs between old tenants and the new.
Also has the councils looked into the abandoned flats scattered around SE? Why build new ones where they’re not wanted when you can just fix up the old ones???

Nice idea and maybe it will catch on. If only social media and even Parliament worked like that.

Good luck with your efforts to influence/ improve the Valentine Court plans - I thought Leo offered a few useful general tips.