Rushey Green Fire: Council Plans to Rebuild Nursery by 2027

Lewisham Council plans to rebuild 41 Rushey Green, the Catford building that housed Rushey Green Nursery until a fire in January. Rebuilding work would run from March to December 2027.

Mayor and Cabinet will be asked to approve the plan on Wednesday 4 November. The report to the meeting says the work is “urgently required”. It says the council expects its insurers to pay for a like-for-like rebuild.

The fire

The fire broke out on the evening of Saturday 31 January. Eight fire engines and around 60 firefighters were called, London Fire Brigade said. Nearly half of the roof was destroyed. Nobody was hurt.

The Brigade took the first of 17 calls at 6.37pm, and the fire was under control at 9.25pm. Its cause was under investigation. The council’s report, written nine months later, still says “the cause of the fire is under investigation”.

The report says the water used to put the fire out appears to have caused “extensive further damage”. Whether the structure is damaged is still unknown. A scaffold, temporary roof and security measures are already in place.

A building with a history

The council’s report sets out the building’s past:

• it was opened by Queen Mary in 1918 as the Lewisham Municipal Maternity Home, with the council’s maternity and child welfare clinics
• the maternity home closed at the start of the Second World War in 1939
• it has been used as a nursery for more than 35 years
• before the fire, Rushey Green Nursery used rooms on all three floors and served up to 95 children

The building has three storeys, a basement and a two-storey coach house. It is not listed, but the report says it keeps “many original features”, including a spacious entrance hall and stairway.

The plan and the timetable

The report sets out four overlapping stages:

Cabinet is asked to give the surveyor’s contract, to specify and manage the work, to Anthony Patrick Associates for £379,762 including VAT. Four firms were asked to quote and two did. The report says the cost of that contract rose more than 20% above the first estimate “as more has been known about the extent of the works required”.

A building contractor would then be chosen by tender. The estimated cost of the building work is in a confidential appendix and has not been published.

Who pays

The report says the insurers will cover “all costs of like for like reinstatement”, subject to the policy terms and their agreement to the scope and cost. It says there is “no indication” that the insurers dispute liability.

There are two catches in the report:

• the plan depends on Full Council approving extra budget and extra insurance funding. If it does not, “the works of reinstatement would not be progressed”. Full Council next meets on Wednesday 25 November.
• if the council decides to do extra work while the building is open, beyond a like-for-like rebuild, that would come from its own capital reserves

The council has been without rent from the building since the fire. The report says it will “continue to be used as part of the Council’s commercial portfolio” once rebuilt. It does not say whether Rushey Green Nursery will return.

What it means for you

• Expect hoarding and scaffold on Rushey Green from November, as the site is made safe and stripped out. The report says working areas will be fenced and signed, with controlled access, to protect the operation of a neighbouring nursery.
• The building should not stand empty much longer if the plan is approved. The report warns that delay risks theft, vandalism, squatting and damage to the look of this part of Catford.
• You can watch the decision. Mayor and Cabinet meets at 6pm on 4 November at the Civic Suite. The agenda and papers are online.

We will report the decision, and Full Council’s vote on the budget, when they are published.