New round of consultation / opportunity to object again
There is currently a new round of public consultation underway. The official deadline is the 26th August 2026 but we have requested that this be extended the consultation period falls on a month when many people are away. In the past Lewisham planning have continued to accept representations up to approx. 10 days before the committee meeting. Having said this, better safe than sorry so if you want to object, please do so now. This page gives some guidance on how to object and some ideas on the topics you may want to cover.
Possible Committee dates
There are two possible dates for the next committee meeting where this could be heard. Planning Committee A meets on the 6th October 2026. Planning B meets on the 11th November 2026. At present we think the most likely is 6th October 2026.
Additional Reports and analysis
The previous committee deferred the decision and requested additional reports. These include two parking reports and the Farmers' Market Fire Safety Management Plan. With the publication of these documents, all of the additional reports requested by the Committee are now available for public review. The application documents can be viewed on Lewisham Council's planning portal:
The Blackheath Society, together with its independent advisers, is now reviewing these latest reports, alongside the previously published Economic Impact Assessment. To support their response, they have commissioned an independent visitor intercept survey and a telephone interview study of local businesses to provide robust evidence on how the station car park contributes to the vitality and economic health of Blackheath Village. This work will commence later this month, with the consultants' final report expected by 11 September.
John Ball School
A letter from over 300 parents, teachers and pupils was sent to the John Ball Governors on 14th July 2026 just before the end of the school year. The letter was also send to the Lewisham Planning Team to be registered as 300 formal objections since each signatory provided their name, address, contact and individual planning objection. You can read more about this here.
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.
