Lewisham Planning: 10-Objection Rule Ends on 31 October

From 31 October, a Lewisham planning application will no longer go to a committee of councillors just because ten neighbours object to it. A councillor’s objection will not send it there either.

Full Council approved the changes on Wednesday 23 September, according to the decision published on the council’s meeting page. The vote puts Lewisham in line with a national scheme set by the government, which every council in England must follow from that date.

What Lewisham has changed

Until now, Lewisham’s constitution sent an application to Planning Committee A or B in any of these cases (report to Council, 23 September 2026):

• ten or more valid objections
• one or more objections from a councillor
• a proposal that departs from the borough’s planning policies
• the Director of Planning thinking a committee should decide it
• the demolition of a building that is or was a pub
• an objection from an amenity society, through the Chairs’ Briefing

All of those automatic triggers have now been removed. The council’s report says they “no longer operate as automatic constitutional triggers for committee determination”. They can still count as reasons in the new test described below.

Councillors also agreed to merge Planning Committees A and B into one Planning Committee of ten members. The Strategic Planning Committee stays, for the largest schemes referred to the Mayor of London.

What the national rules say

The rules come from the Town and Country Planning (Discharge of Local Planning Authority Functions) (England) Regulations 2026, which come into force on 31 October 2026. They split applications into two schedules.

Schedule 1: officers must decide these. A committee cannot take them, however controversial. They include:

• householder applications, such as extensions, loft conversions and outbuildings
• minor residential schemes of one to nine homes on a site under 0.5 hectares
• minor commercial applications
• certificates of lawfulness, discharge of conditions and non-material amendments
• prior approvals under permitted development

Schedule 2: officers decide these unless a “gateway” test is met. This covers larger schemes, listed building consent and retrospective applications. One of two conditions must apply:

• the application raises an economic, social or environmental issue of significance to the local area, or
• it raises a significant planning matter, given the local plan and other material considerations

Even then, two people have to agree in writing. In Lewisham they are the Chief Planning Officer and the chair of the Planning Committee. If either says no, officers decide the application. The council’s report states there is “no right of appeal” against that gateway call.

Committees determining applications under the regulations can have no more than 13 members.

Applications already in the system

There is no protection for an application just because it was lodged earlier. The report says the new scheme covers any decision taken on or after 31 October, “including applications submitted before that date which remain undetermined”. An application already lined up for a committee will be reclassified and may be decided by officers instead.

Decisions made before 31 October are not affected. Planning Committee A still meets under the current rules on Thursday 8 October.

What it means for you

• Objecting still matters. The report says residents’ and councillors’ right to make representations “remains the same and is unaffected”. Officers have to weigh every relevant objection.
• Write about planning reasons, not numbers. A petition or a count of objections no longer triggers a committee hearing on its own. Objections that show a significant local issue are what can help an application pass the gateway test.
• Expect fewer chances to speak. Fewer applications will reach a committee, so fewer will have a public meeting where objectors and applicants can address councillors.
• Gateway decisions will be on the file. The council says each one will be recorded with reasons, kept on the planning file and published where appropriate.

The council has said it will publish a resident guide to the new arrangements before they start. You can follow applications near you on the planning register, and our Lewisham planning applications page explains how to find and comment on one.