Has anyone seen the planning application for 139 Sunderland Road? The want to pull down an existing Victorian house and replace it with a modern-style 4-storey apartment block with 11 flats!

The link to the application is http://acolnet.lewisham.gov.uk/LEWIS-XSL...mkey=54963

This seems to me to be totally out of keeping with the area. Any comments would be appreciated.

I am afraid this is typical of the planning applications that are being permitted. Look at Westbourne for example.
Seems to be current policy to fit as many units as possible into SE 23.
This is despite the fact that what employment we had is falling away.
Do you know if these 11 units are for sale or rent ?? If for sale surely wasting their time. If for rent they are saying thousands of Poles etc are going home so who is going to rent.
Sunderland Rd has some lovely Victorian properties and this is a real pity if it goes through. I suggest you write to your 3 councillors.

On the application it says the properties will be available for sale or also to rent. I suspect rental is the real purpose - to the council.

As you say there are some lovely Victorian properties - it's criminal to destroy them - especially to replace them with modern multi-family buildings.

They cite the flats on the corner of Normanton Road, and the proposed development at the corner of Aylward Rd & Sunderland Rd as precendents, and yet neither of those properties was a period dwelling - the Normanton Rd site was previously a garage/service centre, and the Ayldward Rd site was a horrible, pre-fab, post-war bomb-damage-replacement 2-storey maisonette, which is being replaced by two 2-story 2 bedreoom houses. I.E., they are pretty much replacing like-with-like, and not destroying a large, period family house with 11 modern flats!

Good Luck with your protest. I doubt if you will suceed but you never know unless you try.
I am baffled who can afford the rental market in SE 23
1 bedroom flats about GBP 800.00 per month
3 bedroom houses about 1250.00 per month
Who can afford these rents , it is beyond me.

Thanks.

Like I said, I suspect the intention is to rent them to the council - they can afford it as we read in the newspapers every day...

Brian, I'm curious to know why you doubt we will succeed in our protest - is this just natural cynicism or do you have greater knowledge in these type of applications/protests. I'm new (as a poster) to this forum, and not really sure how thesd things work.

Hello Rob
Maybe I am a bit of a cynic having seem a number of simalar properties given the OK.
However please do protest and I wish you the best of luck. I do strongly suggest you get your local councillors on side.
Not sure how the council can afford to pay to house all these people.
If the council is the main customer of renting local properties why do they not use their buying power to drive down rental costs.
Why are the council obliged to house all and sundry who land up in Se 23 homeless.??

Thanks Brian,
I will definitely get the local councillors involved. I'm in the process of collating as much information/comment etc as possible and I will then be writing to them. Hopefully other neighbours from all around will do the same.

Good Luck
I would protest but I think I am to far away and they would take no notice.
If you are in Perry Vale Ward suggest you google ( love Perry vale ) and local forum should come up. All 3 councillors seem to read that forum .

ok thanks - will do.

Another example of how these greedy poperty developers are destroying the face of Forest Hill. This is totally unacceptable and we should all object.

Perhaps I will then
Gingernuts I live in Dacres Rd , would they take any notice ???

I think the key to this planning application, if the claim is legitimate, is the structural damage and cost of repair that the design and access statement details.

It will certainly be a big factor.

The application claims that the current house needs considerable structural repairs (estimated at ?200,000 incl. VAT) because of subsidence. This seems excessive (a builder acquaintance tells me a whole new house could be built for less than that), and does not strike me as an adequate reason to knock the property down, and even less reason to then build something entirely different and out of character. The application states that this cost beacme came clear when the owner applied for a grant for repairs to the house, which I assume implies that he can?t afford the repairs himself (he has been told by the council that his contribution to the grant would be nil). If this is the case, how can he afford to demolish and rebuild?

Typically, buildings insurance covers the cost of subsidence repair (I myself had a subsidence problem a couple of years ago, which was repaired via my buildings insurance - and a subsequent increase to my premium), and if he doesn?t have adequate cover then that?s no reason to just knock the place down.

Even if the place is structurally unsound, replacing a single (albeit fairly large) family house with 11 flats housing 33 people is totally out of keeping with the area!

Why are the council obliged to house all and sundry who land up in Se 23 homeless.??

Because the bylaw by which SE23 has to be different from anywhere else only exists in your head?

thanks gingernuts and brian, your support would be appreciated.

When houses opposite me were demolished because they were damaged I discussed the situation with the case officer. He required the developer to replace them with similar buildings (even with similar windows) in order to preserve the characteristics of the neighbourhood.
I suggest you speak to the planning officer to ask about regulations concerning what can be done.

Thanks Sherwood, I'll investigate with the planning officer, although maybe I've misread it but it seems the council have already been involved in the proposal, which is worrying.

Contact the Forest Hill Society, speak to your neighbours, speak to the ward councillors. From recent experience if this is a truly awful development then the more you do the better. FHS can also point you in the right direction and if haven't joined then do it now. And PM me if you want to learn of other planning difficulties. Don't make any assumptions on how this will be dealt with by the local authority, planning law does not necessarily favour existing residents. See the Tewkesbury Avenue thread.

RobF - you should also contact the Forest Hill Society.