Thanks to Spross49 for pointing out the change in flat sizes - presumably to try to justify the reduced off street parking. The change has occurred at the 'Loft' level where the two 2 bedroom flats have been changed to one bedroom flats. Worryingly, it is clear that the basement level has been configured so that the 3 bedroom flat could easily become 2 one bedroom flats. The architect may have toyed with this idea because Flat 1 in the basement now has two 'Bedroom 1's' whereas they were correctly identified on the previous floor plans.

The balconies at the rear of the property also seem to have changed. Regardless of these changes, the application still represents a gross over development of totally inappropriate properties and needs to be firmly rejected. Certainly the changes are now so significant they should be reflected in a new application.

The communal parking spaces, within two metres of all bedroom windows for two flats on the ground floor, are really not suitably located.

The previous application provided 9 spaces, and it is reasonable to assume that most (i.e. more than 4) units in a development located here will own a car. If the land were flat this might not be the case, but Canonbie almost requires you to have a car if you expect to get shopping home.

Geoff Whitington (Lewisham planner) has been emailed asking whether the application is still valid but he needs to 'consult' his colleagues (no word yet).
BUT, I have just checked up on the planning application on Lewisham's website and have noticed that the description of the application has already been changed to fit the new drawings...? Has anyone else queried this with Lewisham?
Also the date for a decision is apparently 28 November...so when's the Public Meeting they are required to have if there are more than 10 letters? 70 letters received (counts as 30 against and 0 in favour) - WOW!!! BIG THANKS to everyone who has taken the trouble to write (and if you haven't, there's still time - by 1 Nov)
I decided to find out a bit more about FDR architects and under their 'news', guess what?!...yet another iteration of the design. So far this has not been put forward for planning! http://www.fdrarchitects.com/#/news

I've just checkd the website of the architects. Has Canonbie Road been flattened out? Or is the drawing designed to bamboozle LBC into agreeing to this over-the-top scheme?

Are we required to send new letters of objection following the amended plans, please can you advice as my objections remain unchanged?

One of the advantages of allowing the developer to amend plans during the consultation process is that all objections that have already been submitted still need to be considered. It also allows for the developer to make changes that might take account of local residents' concerns and make a development more appropriate.

As well as your current objections still standing, it is reasonable to add to your objection if there are more recent issues that cause concern - such as the parking to the front of the property.

The initial objection from the Forest Hill Society can be read here.

I have added to this:

And I suspect the drawings junegapi is pointing to are at a different location. Certainly the only documents for consideration by the council are available on the council website.

Even looking at the 3D plans submitted to LBC, on the LBC website, it looks as if Canonbie Road has just a gentle slope, not the steep hill that it really has.

The sketch on the FDR website must surely have been a 'first ideas' scribble. Not only is Canonbie Road flat, no 49 is the wrong way round. Worrying that they even considered 4 floors at the front though.

Planners decision on this is scheduled for Monday afternoon(28 Nov)...

While Monday is the target date I can see no indication that a decision will be reached then. Have you had a communication to this effect, or are you just going by the target date?

Lewisham's site implies that if there are more than 3 objections then the application will be referred to Committee. There appears to be 36 objections to this application, including TLERA and the Forest Hill Society. Maybe I am being naive but surely this won't go through on the nod? I had a look at agendas for upcoming planning meetings and can find no reference.

Who is responsible for requesting that a planning application goes to committee? I've always thought that it needs to be requested by a councillor - else it is a delegated decision made by the planning officer. Are there any councillors who think this application should be rejected?

Not according to the Lewisham website Triangle:

Who decides applications

Small-scale developments that comply with Council policy where up to two or no letters of objection have been received, are decided by senior planning officers under delegated powers. An application that has three or more written objections made will be reported to Committee. In practice the great majority of applications are dealt with under delegated powers.

Thanks.
But I wonder if "reported to committee" means it's actually heard and decided by committee - or whether it's another (inbetween) decision making process to decide if it should be presented (or not) to committee? Suppose it was just 3 objections? Interesting though... because it suggests that the majority of applications have fewer than 3 objections.

I agree that it is not entirely clear that this means there would be a formal meeting where public representation could be made. I was surprised to note that even if such a meeting took place that objectors would be represented by one person speaking for 5 minutes!! What happens where people object for different, but still valid, reasons?

I guess we can only wait and see....

Some councils give you as little as 3 minutes - although it's surprising how much you can say in that time. Preparation is important. The trick is to write down the key points you wish to make beforehand and then do a dummy run with a stopwatch. You need to pace yourself correctly - talk too fast and the committee will not have time to take in your points - talk too slow and you'll run out of time before you've said all you want to. When you have a group of people objecting for different reasons, you need to get together, decide on the key points you wish to make and then choose a representative.

All the salient points are meant to be included in the written submissions, therefore the councillors are meant to be able to make an informed decision based on this. However, both the developer and the objectors get 5 minutes to summarise the case, and the officers get as long as they want to make their recommendation understood.

As well as a representative of objectors it is worth asking a local councillor to speak, they may ask for permission from the committee to speak and can speak for longer than allowed for objectors. Coordination with the councillor(s) can ensure the reasons for objection are heard loud and clear.

Another tactic is to encourage councillors on the planning committee to ask you questions, there is not a formal limit on the length of responses to questions. A sympathetic question from one of the committee members can help you make your case to other members. However, you should not try to influence committee members prior to the meeting.

Don't expect a decision by the date the decision is due. More complicated applications are likely to take longer, especially when the planning department has been cutting staff in an already stretched department. Given that we are entering December I would not expect this application to go before committee before the end of the year - but I could be wrong. The officer recommendation is likely to available just 7-10 days prior to the planning committee meeting. Don't expect more time than this to prepare for the committee.

Has anyone heard any more on this?

According to an email conversation between my husband and the planner, he has rejected the application and is 'writing up his report'. But has been doing that for about 3 weeks now.

On the council website it still lists the application as undecided. I also saw a Lewisham council representative at the top of Canonbie road yesterday, taking photos looking down the hill towards the city, a view which would be partially obscured if the application were to go ahead. It may be unrelated, but I'm wondering if the refusal has been communicated to the applicant and they are trying to negotiate behind the scenes on a revised scheme?

Sounds like the planning officer is recommending refusal to the planning committee, who will make the actual decision. This is the normal process and if you have objected you 'should' get a letter telling you about the committee and letting you know what you should do if you want to speak at committee.

My understanding was that if the planning officer was of a mind to refuse the application, then he could do this under delegated powers regardless of the number of objections (waste of time and council's funds to send something to committee that neither the community nor the council think will be of benefit to the local area). It only has to go to committee if there have been an significant number of objections, but the planning officer still recommends approval.

In most places anything with more than 3 (or 6?) objections has to go to committee unless they think its a real waste of time. I would expect this to go to committee for members to be sure they are clear on the reasons for refusal, given the number of objections.