After many months of saying nothing, developer Hutchison Property Group – proposing redevelopment of the Convoys Wharf site in Deptford, Southeast London – has emerged with a newly established community facing developers team willing to meet and discuss the future of the site with Voice4Deptford (V4D).

Prior to this the Deptford community had been left completely in the dark as to what was happening with the site with rumours abound including; 

1. Financial viability

That the question of the financial viability of the proposed scheme had been called into question and that ‘adjustments to the scheme’ might be required? Presumably due to the regulatory changes following the Grenfell Tower fire that now requires new residential buildings over 18 meters in height to have a second staircase.

• Height and density

That the height of the high rise blocks that may have to be increased along with a greater density meaning more apartments to keep their profit margins at an acceptable level.

• 2014 Outline planning application

Word on the ground that it was unlikely that the original 2014 outline planning permission could be carried out due to time constraints. It had basically ‘timed out’ with the question arising as to whether the developer was going to bring forward a revised plan for the site to the local authority?

• Website

The developers Convoys Wharf website is now finally back up and running again after a prolonged absence along with its bland corporate message of keeping Deptford’s residents informed. 

• Community Forum

The developers ‘Community Forum’ had not been convened since October 2023 and its ‘regular newsletter’ seems to have been long lost in the post. 

• Cultural Steering Group

The ‘Cultural Steering Group’ arising from the Section 106 Agreement appeared to have lost itself up a cul-de-sac and had not met for some considerable time whilst continuing to remain a closed shop to the local Deptford community.

• Meanwhile use of the site

The developer decided that any ‘meanwhile use’ of the site should exclude the Deptford community and its fantastic artistic groups from putting forward any local ideas and projects for ‘meanwhile use’ on the site. Instead parachuting in an outside organisation to put on an ‘immersive’ event in the renamed ‘Deptford Storehouse’ on the site (a large shed on the site once used by Rupert Murdoch for newsprint storage) primarily intended for people attending from outside of Deptford and the local area encouraged by a review of the event in the Guardian newspaper.

So where are we now? 

Well Len Duvall, Chair of the London Assembly, and long-time supporter of the V4D campaign, hosted a meeting in early October at City Hall between V4D and the developers. 

The 90 minute meeting was productive, it witnessed the developers representatives opening statement that they was fully committed to developing the site and not selling it on; finally admitting that their engagement and general communication with the Deptford community had been “poor” and that they were looking to improve on this including more obvious community representation on the ‘cultural steering group’; that apart from only limited groundwork the marketing suite on the existing pier was almost completed. 

All this due to a number of factors; including increased construction and labour costs, changes to building regulations, the overall economic situation and the financial viability of the project. Amendments to the 2014 scheme with a new planning application would be made in the coming months that might include higher blocks.

In the discussion there was a commitment from the developer to share new ideas for the site, and for future meetings with V4D to discuss the future of the site including accepting the invitation to attend meetings to remind them that our alternative community vision for the site working with the Deptford community was still the best option. 

This meeting was followed by the developer offering a site visit, only the third time in approximately ten years the community has been allowed to enter the site, in mid-October at which the V4D, Lewisham councillors and MP, plus representatives of some of Deptford’s other community groups attended.

Since then developers representatives have since attended two further meetings in November with the V4D, firstly, a presentation of our master plan, a vision that has been revised in 2025 by working with UCL/Bartlett School of Urban Design students on a more progressive revised master plan. In addition to a second presentation of a Culture and Heritage Study at the Pepys Community Hub, Deptford, on a highly detailed Heritage & Culture Study to celebrate and protect the profound inheritance of the site whilst giving ideas and examples of what can be done in a highly creative and exciting manner again by UCL students.

So the communication channels have been reopened, meetings have happened, conversations are taking place, and there remains a hope that a positive and transparent working relationship is being established with the developer for the benefit of the Deptford community. Watch this space! Voice4Deptford Planning Group