This site has not been maintained since June 2014, but hopefully the posts here serve as a useful archive for anyone wishing to know more about the redevelopment of Convoys Wharf.
Deptford Is concentrated on preserving the historical legacy of the former Deptford Royal Dockyard. With no chance of taming the new overseas owners' greed through opposition to an invasion of luxury towers, Deptford Is worked to emphasise the immense historical importance of a site that was already buried under concrete.
The developer was required to carry out the largest ever archaeological survey of a UK dockyard as part of pre-planning, and it revealed that this legacy could not be underestimated, as the published findings of the Museum of London revealed in late 2017. The astounding results of these investigations were known in 2014, so much so that the World Monuments Fund put the dockyard and Sayes Court Garden on their 'Watch List'.
Yet planning permission was consequently granted to bury it all 'in situ' under three towers of up to 48 storeys and average building heights of 12 storeys. Luckily, two projects promoted by Deptford Is to preserve some of the dockyard's heritage became part of the planning conditions, and they have continued since then to develop their long term plans for a presence on the site. For up-to-date information on The Lenox Project and Sayes Court, go to www.buildthelenox.org, and www.sayescourt.org.uk.
Since 2014, in order to fulfil their obligations within the permitted three years of obtaining outline permission, Hutchison Whampoa (now CK Property Holdings) have worked towards preparing the site for access to transport and utilities, but much of it is now completely overgrown. In 2017, they ran a public consultation on their detailed plans for building one single plot (out of eight) as a small part of the first of three phases.
At the time of writing, amidst reports that overseas investors have pulled out of London property investment because of fears over Brexit, the plans for this comparatively small plot have yet to be submitted to Lewisham Planning. The proposals do not contain any social housing.
Voice 4 Deptford has since been set up (following on from the work started by Convoys Wharf Community Group in 2014) to represent local people affected by the redevelopment and campaign for social housing on the site. To find out more, sign up for news at www.pepys.community/voice4deptford/.
