“Catford used to be a thriving shopping centre,” watchmaker Salih Mehmet said. “I even had to queue to get a stall here, but unfortunately it’s not a nice place anymore. It’s gone downhill rapidly.”
Salih is one of many traders and residents frustrated with the slow pace of regeneration across Catford. While Deptford, Brockley and other surrounding areas have improved substantially over the past decade, Catford has been jokingly referred to as ‘immune to gentrification’ due to its issues with anti-social behaviour and violent crime.
Lewisham Council has put part of this down to its lack of power to stop betting shops from opening in the area. A fifth gambling venue within a 400-metre radius is due to open in Catford despite Lewisham refusing the application earlier this year.
The national Planning Inspectorate overturned this decision on appeal due to a strict ‘aim to permit’ rule laid out in the Gambling Act. Prime Minister Andy Burnham has now vowed to give councils more control over the opening of vape shops and gambling centres, and is looking to scrap the ‘aim to permit’ rule.
This step has been welcomed by Lewisham Council and is pressuring the government to ensure in particular it gives authorities clear powers to resist gambling sites in already oversaturated areas.
“It feels like a real missed opportunity that this particular premises has ended up becoming yet another adult gaming centre in the town centre,” said Cllr Daniel Dream in response to the opening of Merkur Slots in Rushey Green.
“I understand the building has been empty for a few years, but this situation shouldn’t come down to an empty building or a gambling centre. This is a beautiful building on a prominent corner in the centre of Catford that used to be a bank.
“Nobody was happy the last time a gambling centre opened, because it was felt that we already had enough of them. We shouldn’t be getting decisions like this overturned. Local authorities need real power to make real decisions that stick.“
Lewisham Council could explore lowering business rates in Catford for small businesses that would attract people to the area, Cllr Dream added, as the authority pivots to prioritising footfall over generating income from rent.
“The Catford Centre is this remarkable, overlooked place,” he continued. “It’s something that people have laughed at recently, but if you picked up that place and you put it in Athens, it would be this well-loved municipal space.
“It feels like we’ve got this hidden gem that with a better kind of tactical arrangement to who we draw in, there’s an amazing story to be told.”
The current state of the Catford Centre is an indicator of the area’s struggles over recent years. Once a hub of independent shops, it now consists of a Tesco, Iceland, Savers, multiple charity shops and a collection of empty units.
But one beacon of hope in Catford’s regeneration is the success of Yoga House. Opened by local mum-of-three Kasia Blackwell in 2018, it has gone on to win a host of awards and expanded with the new Studio Strength site next door in July last year.
Despite her businesses currently being an outlier, Kasia believes Catford has a lot of potential and there are a lot of local people with amazing talents and offerings.
“It’s not really a destination for people at the moment,” she told MyLondon. “You wouldn’t say, ‘let me pop into the Catford Centre, because it’s got some nice stuff’.
“But if there were more things happening here, like independent shops, pop-up restaurants or anything new, it would be a little bit more attractive for people to come over. Another betting shop is not going to make that happen.”
Kasia believes the Catford Centre has suffered massively since the closure of its cinema in 2024. The site is due to reopen in autumn this year after its lease was taken over by the independent Castle in Hackney.
“It would be nice for local people to spend their money here if we could offer something better,” she continued.v“At the moment it’s like a vicious circle because if people don’t want to spend their money here, businesses won’t want to open up.
“This needs to change, there needs to be some incentives for independents who offer things that will improve the high street. I know Andy Burnham has spoken about business rates, but also a VAT reduction for places like mine would help.
“We don’t need a fifth gambling shop, there’s no shortage of them. But a nice place for the community to gather and be would be amazing.”
In lieu of other independent shops increasing footfall in Catford, Kasia said some of her predominantly female customers have been approached or made to feel threatened by people lurking around the nearby streets after dark. She believes safety needs to be improved by tackling anti-social behaviour if Catford is to become a destination for shoppers again.
In October last year the community was rocked by four stabbings which took place over just one week. It began with the death of 27-year-old Sanchini Thompson in Rushey Green on October 15, before other incidents took place in nearby Mountsfield Park and Canadian Avenue a few days later.
The week concluded with a 20-year-old man being knifed in the Catford Centre on October 21. Salih Mehmet, who has run his watch repair stall in the shopping centre for 40 years, believes these links to crime will make the town’s regeneration much more difficult.
“They can spend millions on the infrastructure, but if they don’t look into the general state of Catford, where the people in Catford are, the type of people that live in Catford, that frequent it on a regular basis, they’re never going to get anywhere,” he told MyLondon.
“A lot of the elderly people used to come here. I’ve still got a lot of my elderly customers that still make the effort to come down here and see me, but it’s not the same anymore, unfortunately
I wouldn’t start a new business here, let’s put it that way, because you’ll never have a chance.”
Despite his lack of faith in Catford improving, Salih agrees that making it harder for vape shops and gambling centres to open in the area would be a positive step.
“Small businesses are the only ones that are actually going to get in here and actually do any good,” he concluded. “The multinationals won’t touch Catford anymore, because they know what it’s like.”
Merkur Slots has been approached for a comment.
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