One of the reasons the recent application to redevelop 87 Old Road was turned down was that any redevelopment of the south elevation would create a ‘right to light’ which would prejudice redevelopment of the Council depot on Old Road.

I’ve asked a question at tonight’s Full Council, which I’ve already received the answer to, which confirms that the Council has no plans at present to dispose of the depot, though it dsicloses that developers have approached the Council to enquire about its availability.

I’ve posted the full question and answer below.

LONDON BOROUGH OF LEWISHAM COUNCIL MEETING

28 NOVEMBER 2007

Question by Councillor Robson
of the Deputy Mayor

Question

What are the council’s intentions regarding the Council Depot on Old Road? Does the Council have any plans to dispose of the site? Has the Council been approached by, or had any discussions with, any third party regarding the site?

Reply

The Old Road Depot is currently fully utilised by the Environment Division with the borough-wide lumber and bag collection service being based there. The service has 46 members of staff and 13 vehicles operating from the site. It is also a back up site in the Council’s Business Continuity Plan. The Council has no plans to dispose of this site at the moment.

The only third party approaches that the Council has received have been enquiries regarding the site’s availability.

As residents in the immediate area are aware, I have been working with concerned local residents for some time now on enforcement action and planning applications concerning the former warehouse at 87 Old Road.

I’m really pleased that the latest application to turn the building into flats has been refused by the Council.

The application was refused for the following reasons:

• The development would lead to additional on-street parking in an already congested area which could be dangerous for pedestrians and road users
• Residential use, together with the proposed new windows, would lead to residents on Bankwell Road becoming overlooked, and losing privacy
• Any potential occupiers of the property would have a poor outlook and be subjected to noise and disturbance from nearby industrial units and the Council depot.
• The windows looking over the Council depot would prejudice any future redevelopment of that site.

Whilst I am pleased that the views of the many local residents who wrote in to oppose this application have been taken into account, I fear we have not heard the last of applications for this building. The owners may appeal this decision, and could still appeal against the enforcement action the Council has authorised to remove the windows they installed earlier this year. There is also the possibility of an entirely new application for the site.

I’ll keep an eye on the situation, but in the meantime local residents are really pleased that this unsuitable development’s been turned down.