Local planning rules in Blackheath

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The Blackheath area straddles two London Boroughs - Lewisham and Greenwich - and the Society has good relations with both Boroughs. They work in slightly different ways which we outline below and both have comprehensive listings of current planning applications on their respective websites - www.lewisham.gov.uk and www.greenwich.gov.uk If you have received a notice of a local planning application and you wish to find out more, you are advised to log on to the Council's website; visit the local library where planning applications are available for inspection or contact the officer whose name will appear on their letter. If you write with your comments, you must always quote the application number which will be quoted on their letter. Failure to correctly reference your comments can result in delays and that might be critical if the deadline for comments is close If you are checking an application at a library, you will need a case reference number for Lewisham Borough applications whereas for Greenwich Borough applications you will need the application site address. If you have serious concerns about the plans and want to know if the Society has been consulted, please contact the Secretary in the first instance who will refer your enquiry to the relevant Committee member.
Planning Applications for the London Borough of Lewisham All planning applications in the Lewisham part of our area come before the Amenity Societies' Panel (ASP) which meets fortnightly and is clerked by one of the Council's Conservation Officers. The meetings are not open to the public. The Society has two representatives who attend alternate meetings. An average agenda comprises about 30 applications including proposed works to trees. The Panel's comments on all applications are reported to the case officers and are taken into account by officers (in delegated cases) and councillors in making their decisions. We also make direct comments in writing to the Council on the more difficult and/or sensitive proposals. In an effort to raise design standards, Lewisham Council also have a Design and Conservation Panel (DCP), again not open to the public, which meets once a month and considers major proposals throughout the borough. The Panel is drawn from a pool comprising local architects and ASP members, including one Blackheath Society representative. It is chaired by Councillor Terry Scott and clerked by planning officers. Many of the schemes are at a pre-application stage, sometimes involving a presentation by the applicants or their agents, and the panel's views and comments are used by officers in resisting unacceptable schemes or securing design improvements.
Planning Applications for the London Borough of Greenwich Planning applications in the Blackheath part of the borough covering the Blackheath Westcombe ward and the Middle Park Sutcliffe wards are considered by the Greenwich Conservation Group. This is a voluntary organisation made up of representatives of other amenity organisations such as ours and meetings are held on a monthly basis. Unlike Lewisham, the group has to rely on its representatives to organise the meetings and record the outcome. Although the group's limited membership is not fully representative of the borough as a whole, its views are recognised by the Council's officers. The Blackheath Society member acts as spokesperson for the group at the Council's various planning committee meetings and this also involves commenting on strategic planning matters, often outside our immediate area, such as in and around Greenwich town centre, the Greenwich Peninsula and Woolwich town centre. Given the massive amount of development planned for these areas, decisions taken could impact on our members and we are therefore well placed to assess any such impacts.
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