Lewisham Council's Sustainable Development Committee will focus its efforts on the climate and ecological crisis, with a work programme for 2026-27 that explicitly links sustainability to housing.
The committee met on Thursday, July 16, 2026, to review proposed work programmes for its select committees, including the Sustainable Development Select Committee, chaired by Councillor Kate Anderson. Key areas of scrutiny will include the council's climate emergency response, renewable energy rollout, social housing decarbonisation, waste management, and biodiversity recovery.
Councillor James Rathbone recommended that all committees examine the administration's budget proposals in November and review their directorate-level risk registers to ensure comprehensive oversight of the council's challenges and vulnerabilities. The committee agreed the select committee work programmes in principle for the municipal year, acknowledging that these may be kept under review to respond to emerging issues.
In line with its commitment to tackling the housing crisis, the committee will be looking at sustainable approaches to tackling the housing crisis, so looking at affordable housing delivery and sort of development quality
in March 2027. The work programme states that sustainability in its true form is intertwined with housing,
indicating an intention to integrate these efforts, though specific details on how this integration will occur are not yet provided.
The committee's decisions can be found in the Public reports pack for the Overview and Scrutiny Committee meeting on 16th July 2026 Public reports pack 16th-Jul-2026 19.00 Overview and Scrutiny Committee.pdf.
