Nursery planned for Manor Avenue - public meeting

60 Manor Avenue, February 4th, 7pm

Developers are planning to turn the former United Services Club at 60 Manor Avenue into a nursery, providing places for 64 children. Some local residents have organised a campaign in protest at the scheme, which they fear could place severe demands on the local roads. A meeting will be held on site at 7pm tonight to discuss the situation.

Our natural inclination is to wish new enterprise and investment in Brockley well, especially when it provides facilities for young families. We also dislike the reflexive negativity that often infects local protest groups, which are often composed of the kinds of people who would have found fault with the invention of fire or the wheel had they been around at the time.

However, in this case, we believe the protestors have a point. Manor Avenue is ludicrously clogged with parked cars already and the roads surrounding the station are also increasingly jammed. They are right to raise concerns about the extra demand for parking likely to be created by the centre's 18 full-time staff and non-resident parents who may drive to Brockley in search of a nursery in zone 2.

We think the development also poses a wider question about parking around Brockley Station - a subject which we plan to return to in the near future.