Image courtesy of Lewisham Gateway Developments Ltd/Oaker

Lewisham Gateway is a complex urban regeneration project in Lewisham town centre, south-east London. RPS Cottons Centre has been providing town planning advice to Lewisham Gateway Developments Limited (LGDL) for over three years, submitting a planning application on their behalf in April 2006.

The project took a significant step forward on Thursday 4 October when Lewisham Council resolved to grant planning permission for the scheme.

The Lewisham Gateway site lies at the heart of the town centre, located between the Riverdale shopping centre to the south and the Railway and Docklands Light Railway stations to the north. The site is currently occupied by a busy roundabout fed by the A20, A21 and A2211 roads and, hence, dominated by traffic.

The scheme will remove the roundabout, re-routing the roads around the perimeter of the site and creating a parcel of land that will accommodate up to 100,000 square metres of new floorspace. The scheme also involves the realignment of two rivers that cross the site and the relocation of the existing bus layover.

The built development will provide up to 800 flats, along with shops, cafes and restaurants, leisure and other commercial uses. In addition, the scheme will provide improvements to the public transport interchange, new public open space in the form of Confluence Place and St Stephen's Square, together with new water features.

RPS has played a crucial role in providing town planning and strategic advice to LGDL - a joint venture between Muse Developments Limited (formerly AMEC Developments Limited and now part of Morgan Sindall) and Taylor Wimpey Developments Limited.

The inherent complexities of the site have presented a series of challenges, which have been resolved through detailed pre and post-application discussions with the various stakeholders, including the London Borough of Lewisham, the Greater London Authority, Transport for London and the Environment Agency.

Although the proposals are still to be considered by the Greater London Authority and the Government Office for London, Lewisham Council's decision is a major step forward.

Lewisham Gateway is one of many strategic regeneration projects in London that the Cottons Centre is advising on. Others include Stratford City, King's Cross, Brent Cross, Wembley and Southall Gas Works.

Contact:
RPS London (Cottons Centre) - Planning & Development
T: + 44 (0) 20 7939 8046