A vet open seven days a week is planned for 7-9 Montpelier Vale, empty since 2020. Agents say no bar or restaurant took the space in more than two years.

A vet practice open seven days a week is planned for 7-9 Montpelier Vale in Blackheath Village, a four-storey building that has stood empty since 2020. The application, DC/26/145852, was validated by Lewisham Council on 2 November.

It would end the building’s life as a place to eat and drink. When it was last in use there was a restaurant on the ground floor, a nightclub in the basement and a wine bar on the first floor. That is according to the design statement filed with the application.

What is proposed

The design statement sets out the plan:

  • a vet practice for domestic pets, taking the whole building
  • core opening hours of 8am to 7pm, seven days a week
  • an out-of-hours emergency service from 7pm to 8am
  • the main rooms on the ground floor, which is level with the street
  • no changes to the outside of the building, which keeps its historic shopfront
  • waste collected from the street by a private contractor, with clinical waste collected from inside by a specialist contractor

The building is not listed. It sits in the Blackheath Conservation Area, where the council’s appraisal counts it as one that makes “a positive contribution”. The application does not name the vet business that would run it.

Why the owner says hospitality has not worked

Two letting agents have marketed the building. Their reports are on the planning file.

The first, CDG Leisure, was instructed in March 2022 to find a nightclub or bar operator. Its marketing report, dated 10 August 2026, says that after about 26 months the property “generated no operators who have completed a deal or even shown serious interest”. The asking rent was cut to “offers invited”, and the space was offered whole or split.

The agent blames costs. It says leisure and hospitality operators now find large premises “less appealing” because “the costs related have just got too high”. It adds that operators now have plenty of choice and favour units that are already fitted out.

A second agent, Acorn Commercial, began marketing the building in September 2025 for a wider range of uses. Its letter to the council lists email campaigns in September and October 2025 and January 2026, and listings on the main property portals.

The council has already given a steer

The applicant asked for pre-application advice earlier this year. The design statement quotes the council’s conclusion: “the principle of changing the use of the property from a nightclub/drinking establishment (Sui Generis) to Class E is acceptable, subject to the submission of appropriate marketing information at application stage.”

Officers also asked for a noise assessment. The one submitted covers plant noise and animal noise. It says both meet the council’s standards, provided a suitable door is fitted at the back of the basement.

This is not the first plan for the building. In October 2024 the council granted permission (DC/24/136455) for a restaurant on the ground floor, flats on the upper floors and a new mews office at the back. That scheme has not been built.

What it means for you

  • If you live near the village: a vet would bring daytime footfall and an overnight emergency service, rather than late-night bar trade. The noise report is on the planning file if you want to check what it assumes.
  • Parking: there is no parking on site. The street is in a controlled parking zone with two-hour pay bays, 9am to 7pm Monday to Saturday, according to the design statement.
  • To comment: use reference DC/26/145852 on the council’s planning search. The file shows neighbour letters sent on 3 November and a press advert on 11 November. The council’s target date for a decision is 28 December.

Planning decisions in the borough are now taken under new rules on which applications go to committee. Our guide to Lewisham planning applications explains how to comment and what happens next.

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