Planning Application submitted for 46 Ladywell Road

I'm pleased that the new owners of the former Nightwatch shop at 46 Ladywell Road have wasted no time in submitting a planning application:

"The construction of a two-storey rear extension in connection with the alteration and conversion of the rear part of the basement, ground and upper floors of 46 Ladywell SE13 to provide 2 one-bedroom self-contained maisonettes, together with the installation of a new shop front incorporating a separate entrance to the flats above and roof lights the front roof slope."

I think this will be the first planning application along Ladywell Road since the Ladywell Conservation Area came into affect, so it will be interesting to see whether officers insist on a higher quality shop front than many of those currently visible on the road. From the design and access statement it certainly sounds promising, with a commitment to installing a timber-framed new shop front and slate roof. I'm also pleased that they haven't applied for change of use but are sticking with A1 retail - we really don't want to lose any more units along Ladywell Road to non-retail uses.

I think this offers great potential to improve Ladywell Road and finally get rid of one of our longstanding blights. Having spent 4 years as a local councillor pushing for enforcement action to be bring this property back into use, this is one planning application I'm tempted to write in to support, now I'm not on a committee and can speak my mind!

The planning application number is DC/10/74347/X and you can view the details online here. Any comments should be sent to planning@lewisham.gov.uk.

(Hurrah!)

Anyone want to buy a shop on Ladywell Road?

Regular readers of this blog will know that we've been pushing for some time for action to bring the empty shops along Ladywell Road back into use. Well, fingers crossed, our persistant nagging, together with the invaluable work of LVIG over the last year in raising the profile of Ladywell Road, and the scrutiny work my committee carried out into how the Council deals with empty properties, may have resulted in some progress at long last.

One of the properties that was causing particular concern was 46 Ladywell Road, the former 'Nightwatch' shop, which has been in a poor state for many years, with a pigeon infestation due to a hole in the roof and a very dilapidated shop front. After a number of attempts the Council made contact with the owner and a notice was served to repair the property or the Council would carry out the works in default and place a charge on the property. Given the cost and scale of the repair works required, the owner has opted to sell.

The property has recently been placed with King Sturge and is likely to be auctioned on 7th October. Anyone interested in viewing the property should in the first instance contact Felix Riggs at the Blackheath branch on 020 70875327.

It needs someone with a fair amount of money to invest in repairing it as it's in a pretty poor state, but I'm told that quite a few people have already shown interest. (NB: the residents of Ladywell would really, really like a shop selling decent fresh food please, or maybe a dentist, not a fried chicken place, money transfer shop or betting shop please!)

The second property that has been empty an awfully long time is the 'Snack Bar' shop at 40 Ladywell Road, next door to Masons. Lewisham's empty homes officer has now made contact with the owners of this property, who apparently are also keen to sell. If you're interested, the best way to contact them is in writing to 40 Ladywell Road.

Meanwhile members of LVIG have been working hard to try and find a premises to open a community shop. There are looking either for a landlord willing to let their premises on favourable terms for the first few months, while the business gets established, or alternatively, a landlord willing to consider a Meanwhile use, until they find someone to let the unit at market rate. There has been a lot of talk locally and nationally about encouraging shop owners to let community groups etc rent their shops until the economy picks up and other businesses come along, and LVIG are busy putting a plan together in the hopes of being able to pilot such a scheme locally.

63a Loampit Hill: the long-running saga with this empty property continues. The Council is pursuing legal action to recover its costs on this building (around £22,000) and to bring it back into use. The previous owner died intestate and all attempts to contact his estate had failed, but since Council legal proceedings commenced, there have been signs of someone starting to clear the premises . . .

Empty Properties Recommendations

Lewisham's Sustainable Development Committee, which I chair, has this week published a report and recommendations following our scrutiny into the issues surrounding empty properties in the borough, an issue which is of course significant in Ladywell ward, and only likely to be exacerbated in the current economic climate. The full report can be viewed here. Our key recommendations were that:

• Council staff need to share information more effectively about empty properties, and use their full range of enforcement powers to bring them back into use, including compulsory purchase orders (CPOs) where necessary as a last resort.
  

• Owners of shop premises left empty by bankrupted businesses should be encouraged to make available to voluntary and community groups hungry for space, if commercial tenants are in short supply
• The Council's refuse collectors could act as the community's eyes and ears by reporting when bins are consistently not left out, alerting empty homes officers early
• There should be more publicity for residents about how to report empty or problematic properties and those with empty properties should be given more support in bringing them back into use.
• Businesses should be made aware of the empty commercial properties database
  

Lewisham isn't necessarily worse than other local authorities on dealing with empty properties, in fact it has had notable success with its use of Empty Dwelling Management Orders (EDMOs). However, our scrutiny found that is lagging behind neighbouring boroughs such as Bexley in its use of planning enforcement legislation, and Lambeth in its use of CPOs.

I will present the report to Mayor & Cabinet on behalf of the committee in a couple of weeks, and hopefully the Mayor will look at implementing some of our proposals.

As far as 'problem properties' in Ladywell ward are concerned, as ward councillors we are continuing to follow up with planning and environmental health to get enforcement action taken on a number of properties, in particular 46 Ladywell Road (the former Nightwatch shop) and 67a Loampit Hill (the old shop on the corner of Tyrwhitt Road). We are hopeful of some progress on both soon, after two years of pushing for action, but can't say more at this stage.

Name the derelict property #1

In a variation on Brockley Kate's I spy series, I bring you 'Name that derelict property', featuring a number of properties within Ladywell ward that have seen better days. Follow up post will then look at what can be done/is being done about them.

So, starting with an easy one . . . where is this property? Clue: owner probably isn't short of a bob or two.

Empty Properties - Your Views Sought

The letter below has this week gone out to amenities societies and action groups within the borough inviting them to contribute to the scrutiny on empty properties that my committee is carrying out this Autumn. I think I have a pretty good idea of the problematic properties in Ladywell, and indeed one or two of them may well be used as case studies for the investigation (!), but if you have anything you would like to contribute, please do. I'm particularly keen to look at how we are using our powers under planning and environmental health laws and how effective our carrots (shop improvement grants, grants to bring properties back in to use for social housing) and sticks (empty dwelling management orders etc) are compared to other local authorities

Dear Sir/Madam,

I am writing to let you know about a review of empty properties being carried out by Lewisham Council's Sustainable Development Select Committee. The Committee will be looking at how the council addresses the issue of empty homes and commercial properties in the borough, and what can be done to further reduce numbers.

As empty properties can be a blight on local areas - often leading to anti-social behaviour such as graffiti, fly-tipping and pest infestations - the Chair of the Committee (Councillor Sue Luxton) is keen to hear from local societies such as your own. Any contributions you wish to make to the review will be considered by the committee, along with a range of other evidence, when making their final recommendations. Contributions you may wish to make to the review might include:

• examples of empty properties (domestic or commercial) in your local area - particularly those which have become derelict or have led to anti-social behaviour such as those listed above;
• your experiences of how problem empty properties have been dealt with by the council; and
• the impact of empty properties on your neighbourhood.

Contributions can be made by email (joel.hartfield@lewisham.gov.uk) or by post to:

Joel Hartfield
Overview & Scrutiny
London Borough of Lewisham
2nd Floor Civic Suite
London SE6 4RU

If you don't feel you have anything to contribute to the review but would nevertheless like to attend the review sessions held in public, then they will take place at 7:30pm on the 2nd September and 7th October. Details of each meeting will be available on the council website around a week in advance of each meeting. The final report and recommendations are likely to be presented to the Mayor and Cabinet in November or December.

Further information on the work of the Sustainable Development Select Committee is available here.