Four apartment towers set to be built on site of former leisure centre
By Robert Firth, Local Democracy Reporter
A seven-storey apartment block will be built on the site of a former leisure centre.
Lewisham council has approved the construction of 102 new homes in four towers ranging from three storeys to seven storeys on land previously occupied by Ladywell Leisure Centre.
The building in Lewisham High Street was bulldozed in 2014 as a result of the opening of the nearby Glass Mill Leisure Centre on Loampit Vale.
Just under half of the new flats, 47, will be council homes. The other 55 homes will be available through shared ownership, where a person buys a share of a property and pays rent on the remaining amount.
Most of the new homes will be one or two bedroom properties, but 10 flats will have three bedrooms. A total of 11 of the properties will be wheelchair accessible.
The proposals also include plans for a small park and kids’ play area on the site and storage for 182 bikes. A council planning officer approved the plans using delegated powers, as the application received few objections.
The new homes are being built under the Labour-run council’s Building for Lewisham programme, which aims to build new cheap homes for some of the 10,500 people waiting for a council house in the borough.
The development, which the council has dubbed Ladywell Park Gardens, will sit to the rear of PLACE Ladywell, a £5million pop-up block providing temporary accommodation for 24 homeless families.
Under the council’s plans for the ex-leisure centre site, PLACE Ladywell, which was built between 2014 and 2016, will be redeveloped at a future date.
Damien Egan, mayor of Lewisham, said: “We are committed to building new homes across the borough to help tackle the housing crisis and help people on our housing waiting list.
“As well as delivering 47 high quality council homes for local residents, this development will also provide more shared ownership homes to help local people get onto the housing ladder.”
Pictured top: CGI of the proposed development looking towards Place Ladywell (Picture: Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios)