Dear friends,
The residents from Geoffrey Road, SE4 in the Borough of Lewisham desperately need your support to save not only our road from over development (this is the 3rd in a space of less than 50 metres) dangerously high pollution and traffic already but also the rare wildlife and natural beauty along the railway line embankment the site is on.
The wildlife has been verified as being rare bats, birds, owls, insects, hedgehogs, badgers and plants all would be destroyed.
*There is still time to overrule this unjust judgement that 2 councillors passed on December 14th 2023 by showing Lewisham Council how many people with to see this judgment appealed.
WE NEED YOUR SIGNATURES TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE NOW
See our road and see the lack of space and destruction already done as Network Rail are cutting down trees as well for no reason, some over 70 years old.
NONE - of the proposed housing is affordable, it boast 8 luxury houses
✔️�CALL FOR ACTION
*Please Sign the petition today and share
*Please follow us on Instagram and twitter X @savethestables
*Please Contact Lewisham Council Planning and complain about this judgement
*If you live locally - hand out flyers all around Lewisham and South East London, just get in touch
Background
As residents we have been fighting to save this land since 2014 and seen many plans come and go. Lewisham Council know this and through clever planning 'sneaked' this through.
THE COUNCIL MEETING
The council meeting to discuss the stables development was rushed through with residents having only weeks to prepare an objective. It was attended by only 4 councillors in total;x1 - Cllr Jack Lavery who chaired the discussionx3 - Cllr Hilary Moore, Cllr John Muldoon and Cllr John Pashuoud
Only 2 votes were for the development passed this planthe other 2 councillors present abstained - WHY?
Was it because they didn't want to vote for something they hadn't had time to prepare for? Or something more sinister. The appeal wasn't properly heard and one of the voters was the 'chair' himself - how can that be fair - Cllr Jack Lavery.
*this is disgraceful.
The planning committee should have been cancelled until more of the council were present - x8 in total, and more time for the residents of Geoffrey road - around 50 of us who are actively fighting this have time to prepare a case.
WATCH the meeting: https://lewisham.public-i.tv/core/portal/webcast_interactive/821403
WHY ACT NOW?
We have to before the developers send in the diggers. They can at any moment destroy the wildlife and when they do - 'once it's GONE it's GONE' as Chris Packham said about HSB2...
We must appeal this NOW or loose our wildlife forever.
OTHER REASONS WHY WE MUST APPEAL THIS TERRIBLE JUDGEMENT
1. There are already X2 other major developments within 50 yards of each other in Geoffrey road, creating dangerous pollution levels, massive traffic and danger to people and pets crossing the road as everything gets run over.
2. It is an ecological disaster. As so many rare birds, bats, insects, badgers, hedgehogs and other creatures including reptiles! Many rare animals and plants have been found to live in this part of the embankment the demolition would destroy the equilibrium of the whole stretch of the embankment.
3. Lewisham has the highest levels of pollution already young children are dying. The Stables and the railway embankment help to mitigate this. This ill dangerous plan will lead to even more mature trees being felled, some over 70 years old. Already the orchard has been totally destroyed.
Network Rail are constantly cutting down the trees too for no reason. This is also a constant problem,
*This rare piece of biodiversity must be protected or it will be lost forever. We have the PEA report and the ecological report lists the importance of this once untouched piece of land. We must save it
4. By the council's own assessment, parking controls will be needed to mitigate the negative impacts of this development, likely to be needed on adjoining streets due to displacement. People can’t afford it and will either lose access to parking or will have less money to spend in local businesses.
5. The scheme is not part of Lewisham’s development plan and housing targets already met or planned to be met by other means, this scheme is not needed.
6. Over reliance on legal conditions to work around otherwise insoluble negative impacts. Mitigation of biodiversity loss heavily relies on viability of green roofs, is the council really going to monitor this? Bins will block pedestrians next to a busy and dangerous junction, privately run collection scheme cannot guarantee immediate retrieval as collection times vary. No fallback plan if this approach doesn’t work. Will lead to weekly complaints and potential for accidents.
7. Health and safety issues with infrequent but extreme noise levels due to braking trains have slipped through the cracks of the standardised noise assessment process. New residents would be at risk of instantaneous hearing damage if in their gardens at the wrong time, which would be illegal if in a workplace.
8. This decision process has been extremely rushed and lacks transparency at all levels
We have been in constant conversation with the councillors over the past 10 years, and all of last year to discuss this.
So far they have yet to respond to our May 2023 objections.
We have not been heard or listened to or replied to.
Your support is VITAL to saving our neighbourhood to those who HATE wildlife and just want profit for themselves supported by Lewisham Council.
Thank you,
we must ACT NOW
From everyone in Geoffrey Road, and our residents group
