Security guards in Lewisham

Which parts of Lewisham do we cover?

All of it, from Deptford and New Cross on the Thames side of the borough to Bellingham, Downham and Grove Park in the south.

Lewisham and Catford are the two major town centres. The council’s Local Plan, adopted in July 2025, wants Lewisham named a metropolitan centre in a future London Plan (Lewisham Council). The district centres are Deptford, Downham, Forest Hill, New Cross and New Cross Gate, and Sydenham, and the borough shares Blackheath and Lee Green with Greenwich (London Plan).

The London Plan points to significant redevelopment opportunities, especially around the stations. The New Cross, Lewisham and Catford Opportunity Area covers 818 hectares, and the GLA’s 2025 review found that, with the schemes already in the pipeline, it should exceed its ten-year capacity for homes (GLA). Along Deptford Creek, most of the pipeline in the Deptford Creek and Greenwich Riverside area is on the Lewisham side (GLA).

In Catford, the council has proposed a plan of practical improvements in place of parts of its 2021 town centre framework, including affordable homes and a new Goldsmiths campus (Lewisham Council).

Goldsmiths is in New Cross, less than five minutes’ walk from New Cross and New Cross Gate stations (Goldsmiths). Trinity Laban’s conservatoire is in Deptford, Lewisham College is at Deptford Bridge and on Lewisham Way, and University Hospital Lewisham is on Lewisham High Street.

Much of the borough’s industrial capacity is in two Strategic Industrial Locations: Surrey Canal Road, which continues into Southwark’s Old Kent Road industrial land, and Bromley Road, the A21, in the south of the borough.

What needs guarding in Lewisham?

Sites around the stations. Building work around Lewisham, Catford, New Cross and Deptford Creek needs construction site security for as long as it lasts, with an officer controlling the gate and patrols after the trades go home. Once a block near Lewisham station is finished, a concierge desk can take over the front door.

Market high streets. Lewisham’s street market trades every day (Lewisham Council), Catford’s runs Monday to Saturday on Catford Broadway, and Deptford’s fills the High Street on Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays. Shops alongside them can use retail security: officers in uniform who make theft less likely and back up staff on the shop floor.

Yards that serve central London. The Local Plan supports last-mile distribution and just-in-time servicing for the Central Activities Zone in Lewisham’s Strategic Industrial Locations, and it designates new industrial land at the Bermondsey Dive-Under. On Lewisham’s industrial estates, warehouse and industrial security covers gatehouse control, vehicle and driver checks, and yard patrols when a site closes.

Evenings out. The Local Plan steers evening and night-time activity to Catford, Lewisham, Blackheath and New Cross Gate, and on a more local scale to Deptford and Forest Hill. For venues and private functions in those centres, event security officers can handle the door, bag checks and queues.

Retail parks facing change. The plan supports redeveloping the out-of-centre retail parks at Bell Green and on Bromley Road, including for housing. Units at Bell Green or on Bromley Road that empty ahead of building work can be checked by mobile patrols at set or random times.

What affects a Lewisham security plan?

Market-day road closures. Deptford High Street is closed to traffic from 6am to 7pm on market days (Lewisham Council). Time deliveries and shift changes for nearby sites around the closure, and use traffic marshals where lorries have to cross pavements.

The South Circular stays where it is. With the chance of government funding to re-route the South Circular through Catford withdrawn, the council now proposes improvements within the existing road layout. Plan site access in Catford around the roads as they are today.

Homes beside workspace. Some land in the Surrey Canal Road industrial area, including sites on Trundleys Road, has been released so that homes can be built alongside employment space. Where a Surrey Canal Road site mixes the two, agree who your officers report to for each part.

No Bakerloo line yet. The GLA lists the extension of the Bakerloo line to Lewisham as unfunded, so plan for today’s stations rather than proposed ones.