On Tyson Road we had bat recordings taken from an adjoining property loaded up on You Tube and we also commissioned an independent expert to produce a bat report which was funded by local donations.

This report pointed out various defects in the developer's report.

Faced with two conflicting reports from two experts what the Planning Department should have done is commission their own report.

What did they do? They asked the developer's expert to comment on the independent report and then told the planning committee that it was satisfied that the developer's expert was correct.

So you see it isn't a level playing field.

If the planners want a development to go ahead you haven't got a cat's chance in hell of winning the planning argument.

In the days before Lewisham became a one party state if you could get local Councillor support you had a slim chance of success at the planning committee meeting. Now I am afraid if you aren't a Corbyn comrade even that option has gone.

I will dig out the details of the bat surveyor and pm them to you but to be honest I think you would be wasting your time. You could find a nesting dodo on the site and Lewisham's planners would still tell you that the best option would be to allow the development and relocate the bird to Catford.