UPDATE – 3rd March 2026
The planning decision was deferred on 26th January 2026 with the councillors stating that they did not have sufficient information to make a decision. This is great news as it shows we are being listened to. The developer and planning officers said there would be no impact on the local economy. 101 local businesses said otherwise. The councillors have asked for actual evidence.
We believe that the next planning meeting and the next stage of the battle won't take place until early summer 2026. Please continue to object to this destructive, unwanted and appallingly designed proposal. Objections will be considered through to the date of the next meeting.
Press section has been updated with the latest national and local coverage.
We have also added a section to the website on the harms to John Ball school. A lot of parents stand against this development. The school has objected to the application both directly and on behalf of parents. Reading this may help you understand why.
History - an Unwanted and Unsupported Planning Application
On 28th March 2025, Acorn Developments submitted a planning application to develop on the site of the Blackheath Station car park.
This development is neither wanted nor supported by the local community. Of the (unprecedented) 1,168 public comments submitted to the Lewisham Planning Portal for the initial application, 1,127 (over 96%) people came out against the development with just 30 (under 3%) in support.
A number of public figures and celebrities with a strong connection to the area have voiced their concerns about the planning application and have put their names to an open letter written by author and historian John Willis. Signatories range from Hollywood A-listers Jude Law and Dominic Cooper to music industry giants Mark Knopfler and Jools Holland to civic and political figures Sir Terry Waite and Dame Joan Ruddock.
More recently, 101 local businesses including the Blackheath Conservatoire and Blackheath Halls got together to submit to the council a letter of objection to the development proposal.
The campaign to stop the development has been featured on ITV London news as well as in numerous press outlets including The Independent, The Telegraph, The Architects Journal, The Sun, The Express, The Daily Mail, My London, Time Out and News Shopper.
To understand why this development is so bad for Blackheath see here.
