Lewisham councillor urges residents to give opinions on development plans in Catford

By Grainne Cuffe, Local Democracy Reporter

Lewisham’s cabinet member for housing and planning has urged residents to attend consultation events on the Catford Town Centre Framework. 

It comes after residents submitted public questions at full council on Wednesday about a lack of publicity around the events, with concerns raised that not many local residents know about it. 

Lewisham Council is planning to deliver thousands of new homes in Catford over the next ten to 15 years.  

Team Catford, leading public engagement on behalf of Lewisham council, is consulting with residents before the framework for the £500 million redevelopment is finalised. 

Local campaign group Catford Against Social Cleansing has previously urged the council to extend the consultation period. 

Ahead of the council meeting, CASC spokeswoman Cheryl McLeod asked the cabinet member for housing and planning Cllr Paul Bell to outline the dates for the consultation and the process for reviewing responses. 

Cllr Bell said: “This phase of consultation began on November 19, 2020 and will run until February 5, 2021.  

“This is a period of non-statutory consultation, which started with an initial website launch in mid-November, followed by two initial public information sessions on in early December alongside the distribution of a community newsletter to households. 

“While we had previously hoped to run face-to-face events in the New Year, the national lockdown restrictions mean this is not possible.  

“Instead, we are hosting a further eight public information sessions via Zoom throughout January and early February.  

“As the consultation concludes, all responses will be collated into a feedback report, which will form part of the documents shared with mayor and cabinet.” 

On the lack of publicity, Cllr Bell said Team Catford has organsied “hundreds of engagement events and held thousands of conversations with members of the local community”.  

“Over 2,700 views and ideas from local people have helped shape this latest draft of the Catford Town Centre Framework.  

“Covid-19 has made it difficult to hold face-to-face consultation sessions, but we are running ten public information sessions on Zoom for local people to find out more and ask questions of the project team.  

“You can sign up for one of the next events at www.teamcatford.com,” he said. 

Cllr Bell urged residents to get involved.  

He said: “Until February 5, 2021, we are encouraging everyone to share their response to this latest draft Framework Plan so it can then be finalised by the council in the spring.  

“It is important to note that this is not a planning application, which would be more prescriptive with a specific number of homes and resulting building heights to be delivered in a short timeframe.  

“Instead, the Framework Plan offers the opportunity for a measured consideration of wider growth over a longer timeframe.  

“It may well be several years, or even a decade, before planning applications come forward for these sites.  

“The Framework Plan should be considered as a collective vision – a tool for both the council and the community to shape any proposal in a way that balances the requirements for new, affordable homes, sensitive building design and is realistic in terms of the development potential of these sites,” he said.  

Cllr Bell said the exact height of any building is a level of detail that will emerge as individual planning applications come forward.  

“The Framework Plan does not propose 20-storey buildings, but presents a maximum height range of 17 to 20 storeys in a handful of locations,” he said.