Lea Bridge Station development

 Lea Bridge Station redevelopment

Planning Officer's Report

Squeezed between the Lea Bridge station southbound platform and the newly-built Motion estate is a sloping piece of Council-owned land that, subject to planning permission, will accommodate both the new station entrance and a 20+-storey residential tower. This will involve considerable enabling works, excavation and landscaping due to the angle of the land's current surface.

It wasn't always like this: this part was raised in the early 2000s when the Lea Bridge Road/ Argall Way/ Orient Way junction was remodelled. While it will be more practical for Lea Bridge station to have an entrance, and while access to and from the northbound platform will no longer require the use of two lifts or staircases, the overall design is predicated on fitting in with a huge new tower that will be adjacent.

This week's Planning Committee should be challenged to send the officers' report back for further consideration taking into account the effect on Motion residents' views westwards (especially as they haven't been consulted) and bearing in mind the signs of London population decline (reported on another post). Motion estate is currently failing to meet occupation targets. The committee should seriously consider the increasing possibility of the Station Tower turning out to be an empty shell.

Given the great concern being expressed here and in email/ messenger exchanges, I'm proposing to WRITE FORMALLY TODAY to the Chair of the Growth Scrutiny Committee about a major lapse in the public consultation exercise regarding Lea Bridge Station Sites.

The Council's own regeneration plans for the sites were revealed in detail to the public in 2017 in this set of diagrams. The community in Lea Bridge has since challenged long and hard at this preposterous cluster of towers, and we have achieved some success in getting minor alterations.

Along the way we pointed out to Cllr Miller that the Motion Estate during this time was not yet built, but that when it was, the new residents would be affected by these proposals. It seems the Council has ignored the voice of Beck Square. I will write the letter as from Love Lea Bridge and would like to add 'plus Beck Square'. I WILL POST A DRAFT HERE SHORTLY. PLEASE COMMENT SUPPORT ETC IN THE MEANTIME.

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