Councillors in south London voted to reject a plan to build 802 homes because the tower block might cast a shadow over nearby houseboats.
Planning officers had already recommended RER London’s Deptford Reach development be rejected because of the effects on heritage views, its design and the lack of a legal agreement with the council.
However, Lewisham councillors on the strategic planning committee went further, inserting an additional reason for rejection relating to the impact of overshadowing on solar panels fitted to houseboats moored along Deptford Creek.
Officers had concluded the effect on the boats’ solar generation was not serious enough to warrant refusal, but the committee disagreed.
RER London’s proposal would see the existing college buildings demolished and replaced with eight blocks straddling Deptford Creek, which marks the boundary between Lewisham and Greenwich.
The tallest tower, at 30 storeys, would sit on the Lewisham side, while the highest Greenwich building would reach 19 storeys, having been scaled back from an original 24.
Lewisham’s portion comprised 548 homes across four buildings ranging from seven to 30 storeys, with Greenwich accounting for the remaining 254 units in four further blocks. Ground-floor space was earmarked for education, retail, food and drink, and workspace.
Just 24 of the 802 proposed homes would be classed as affordable, roughly three per cent by unit count, or five per cent measured by habitable room.
The proposals for RER London’s Deptford Reach have been rejected
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CZWG/RER LONDON VIA PLANNING DOCUMENTS
Despite the low affordable housing provision, Lewisham officers accepted the developer’s viability case after independent review on behalf of both councils and a separate assessment by the Greater London Authority.
The principal grounds for the recommended refusal centred instead on heritage and design concerns, reports The Greenwich Wire.
Officers found the scheme would inflict a “moderate degree of harm” on the Deptford High Street and St Paul’s Church Conservation Area, as well as Grade II-listed buildings at Tanners Hill.
The proposed 30-storey tower would appear as a “visually prominent and incongruous feature” across several key views.
Green Party leader Zack Polanski saw success with the party’s newly elected Mayor of Lewisham, Liam Shrivastava | GETTY
A second objection targeted the height and bulk of two buildings deemed an inappropriate response to the surrounding townscape.
The third ground cited the absence of a completed section 106 agreement to secure necessary planning obligations.
The houseboat community has long been established along Deptford Church Street, with residents relying on rooftop photovoltaic panels for their energy supply.
Claire Willis, a Green councillor for Rushey Green, proposed rejecting the scheme and adding a fourth objection on the lack of daylight to the houseboats, as well as the three other reasons.
The site was slated for the derelict Lewisham College
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She said: “Hearing from the residents and with my knowledge of canal boats as well, the roof is often used for light.
“So there might be solar panels or things might be grown on the roof of the boat, for example…because canal boats are small, you actually use the roof more than you would use outside space in other residences.”
Planning officers nonetheless maintained that the panels would still receive a “meaningful level” of solar radiation and that the reduction did not constitute sufficient justification for blocking the application.
Green councillors took a different view after hearing directly from a creek resident, adding the impact on the houseboats’ solar generation as a fourth formal reason for refusal, overruling their own officers’ assessment on the matter.
Greenwich’s planning board, which met earlier on Thursday evening at Woolwich Town Hall, chose to defer its decision on the borough’s portion of the scheme.
Chair Jeremy Fraser said he wanted to understand Lewisham’s position before proceeding, noting he was “unhappy hearing this application, which literally cannot go ahead because of the access road and so forth, until we understand the position of Lewisham”.
Greenwich officers had recommended approval of their half of the development, but the council will now need to reconsider in light of its neighbour’s refusal.