The 4,615-name Save Lewisham Shopping Centre petition went to Full Council on 23 September, after the Mayor asked for it to be heard despite the council's own rules.

A petition against the Landsec redevelopment of Lewisham Shopping Centre was put before Full Council on Wednesday 23 September. It got there because the Mayor wanted it heard: the council’s own Monitoring Officer said the rules would normally have required it to be rejected.

The petition, “Save Lewisham Shopping Centre! Stop Gentrification in Lewisham!”, was started on change.org by Lewisham Peoples Assembly on 22 September 2025. It showed 4,615 signatures when we checked on 25 September (petition page).

Lewisham’s petition scheme says e-petitions “should use the Council’s system”, and it does not cover petitions gathered elsewhere. The report to Council from Jeremy Chambers, Director of Law and Corporate Governance, says the Monitoring Officer “would ordinarily be required to reject the petition as invalid”. It goes on: “However, following conversations with the Mayor, there is a desire for the Council to allow this petition to be debated” (Save Lewisham Shopping Centre Petition report, 23 September 2026).

The campaign told supporters to rally outside Lewisham Town Hall at 6.30pm before the 7.30pm meeting (petition update, 19 August 2026). Minutes of the meeting had not been published when this article went live, so what was said in the chamber, and any vote, will follow.

What the petition asks

The petition calls on the council to reject Landsec’s application. Its text says: “if the Lewisham Shopping Centre Redevelopment can’t secure 50% affordable housing, as clearly pointed out by the 2025 Lewisham local plan, then we will proudly reject these plans.”

The campaign’s own figures, which are its claims rather than the council’s, are that only 4% of the homes would be for social rent, against 10,694 households on the borough’s housing waiting list, and that rents in the scheme would start at £2,050 a month.

The permission already exists

The petition asks for a refusal of something that has already been granted. Lewisham’s Strategic Planning Committee resolved to approve the scheme on 16 October 2025 (Lewisham Council news). The decision notice for application DC/24/137871 was issued on 8 July 2026 (planning register).

The council’s own description of the £1.5 billion scheme, published at approval, includes:

  • around 1,700 homes, including 630 student units and co-living accommodation, with the majority built for renters
  • around 344 affordable homes, in a mix of social rent, London Living Rent and discounted key-worker housing
  • a 500-capacity community-led culture and live music venue and a not-for-profit community café
  • a new public park and meadow “the size of a Premier League football pitch”, three new squares and more than 300 trees
  • approximately 1,300 construction roles over ten years and up to 1,910 long-term jobs, with a £1.23 million local labour fund
  • £500,000 towards upgrades at Lewisham station and £1 million for public art
Facts panel: Lewisham Shopping Centre after the 23 September 2026 council meeting. 4,615 signatures on the Save Lewisham Shopping Centre petition; permission resolved 16 October 2025 and issued 8 July 2026; around 1,700 homes of which around 344 affordable; phase one approved in detail is 445 co-living homes and 119 build-to-rent homes; no timeline for a compulsory purchase order on Lewisham House and no current land-assembly talks with Landsec; the public realm and public access management plan has not yet been submitted
Where things stand after the 23 September meeting. Graphic by Lewisham News
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What the new administration said the same night

The Green administration elected in May inherited the committee’s resolution, and the decision notice was issued in July on its watch. Its position came out in written answers to public questions published with the agenda (Public Questions, 23 September 2026). Most were answered by Cllr Daniel Dream, cabinet member for inclusive regeneration, planning and housing delivery.

Social rent. Only phase one is approved in detail, and it “comprises 445 co-living homes and 119 build to rent homes”. Every later phase needs a reserved matters application setting out layout, design, housing mix and tenure. The approved mix requires half of the intermediate homes to be family-sized at London Living Rent. Cllr Dream wrote: “London Living Rent is an intermediate tenure, not social rent, and I do not consider the currently approved mix sufficient on its own to meet the scale of genuinely affordable and social rent need in this borough.” He said the viability review mechanisms in the legal agreement are “a tool this administration intends to use actively, not simply monitor”.

Lewisham House and compulsory purchase. “There are no current discussions with Landsec on land assembly to support the delivery of their scheme,” Cllr Dream wrote. No timeline has been set for a compulsory purchase order reaching the Mayor’s desk. “The Mayor has made clear that he will not use CPO powers unless he sees a significant increase in the level of social housing in the scheme.”

The Molesworth Street mural. It cannot be retained, because the building it is on is due for demolition. The legal agreement requires the developer to provide up to £1 million towards public art across the site.

Young people and the “third space”. Before the development can be occupied, Landsec must submit a Public Realm and Public Access Management Plan for the council’s approval, “and that Plan has not yet been submitted”. Cllr Dream said he intends to raise “how the Plan will specifically support young people’s continued, free use of these spaces”.

Policing. Cllr Shireen Asaw said the Met’s Lewisham town centre team has approximately 25 deployable officers “split over three leave lines”, with shifts running from 7am to 2am, and that there are no changes in policing patterns.

A social rent minimum. Cllr Dream was asked when Lewisham would set a minimum share of social rent in new schemes. He said the Local Plan already targets 50% affordable housing, with a 70/30 split between social rent and intermediate homes, subject to viability. He added that “a Local Plan target, however well evidenced, will always be tested against a viability case that can still be argued down”.

What it means for you

  • The petition cannot undo the permission. Planning permission is a legal decision, and the council cannot revisit it because of a petition. What the debate does is put the new administration’s stance on the record.
  • The real levers are the next applications. Each later phase comes back as a reserved matters application on housing mix and tenure, and the viability reviews can only push affordable housing up, not down. Those applications will appear on the council’s register; our Lewisham planning applications page explains how to comment.
  • Lewisham House is the pinch point. The council says it is not in land-assembly talks with Landsec and will not consider compulsory purchase without more social housing. The empty office block could shape the timetable for the later phases.
  • The public spaces plan is still open. Nothing has been submitted yet on how the new squares and park will be managed. There is still time to have a say on the rules for young people, buskers and market traders.
  • Market traders were promised a support plan during the works and more custom from higher visitor numbers, according to the council’s approval statement. We will report the detail when it is published.

We will update this article when the minutes of the 23 September meeting are published.

Sources