Spoons hopes to add nine flats and a pub terrace to Brockley Barge

Wetherspoons has submitted plans to redevelop The Brockley Barge as a mixed use development, which would incorporate nine new apartments.

The plans would dramatically transform the structure of the pub (built in 1868) with the proposed residential apartments being positioned above the ground floor of the public house and extending to the south of the three-storey front façade of the building.

The internal layout retains the public house use at ground floor level with the enclosed beer garden to the rear and creates a new customer area on the first floor with access to the terrace. The first-floor terrace would be opened up to use by customers of the public house and will have a 1550mm high glass balustrade mounted behind the existing parapet.

The second floor of the public house would be for staff and will include toilets with changing facilities, store rooms, office space and a staff room.

This is an important one to get right. The Barge is central Brockley's only remaining pub and a focal point for the community. A terrace could be fun, but anything that compromises this community asset or spoils its clean lines is to be treated with caution.

BCer Cynthia writes: "I would love to know what readers think of these plans."

TfL proposes to trim 171 and 172 routes

TfL is proposing to shorten two Brockley bus routes as part of a rejigging designed to reduce central London congestion. 853 reports:

Route 171 from Catford Bus Garage and Brockley to Holborn would be cut back from Holborn to Elephant and Castle under the scheme.

And the 172 from Brockley Rise faces being trimmed back from Clerkenwell to Aldwych.

The scheme affects routes from across London, and also brings a permanent end for Routemaster services a step closer, proposing reducing the “heritage” services on route 15 along Fleet Street using the vintage vehicles to summer weekends and bank holidays only.

The consultation will start next month.

For the full article, click here. Thank you to Joe.

The Telegraph Hill Community Choir

The Telegraph Community Choir write:

We are a group of enthusiastic singers. We meet once a week on Tuesday evenings from 7.30 to 9pm at the Telegraph Pub on Dennett's Road.

We sing lots of rounds, and harmonies, on folk songs, sea shanties, pop, African and world folk, in fact, any songs with heart and soul. 

We are very mixed bunch, some of us have not sung since childhood, others are more seasoned singers. 

Our leader, Lizzie, has worked in music all her life, and sings professionally. She is also a music teacher, workshop leader, and songwriter. One of her songs was recently short listed in a big song competition in Scotland, and she has also composed for BBC TV. 

We are a fun, lively group, who welcome new people, we are expanding all the time. Please come along. Each session costs £6.

Click here for full details

Time is a flat circle

I've been sent two mysterious local circumferences that need explanation. The former is presumably the temporal shadow of the Hilly Fields bandstand, but what's the latter?

David asks: "I recently discovered that some of the shapes on Hilly Fields are the outlines of huts from WW2 but what is the rather large circle?"

Any ideas what this could be? Unearthed behind bramble and ivy on the Buckthorne Railway Cutting. @harbro @Eco_CP_Library @BrockleyCentral pic.twitter.com/KjgfYbyNmX

— Fourth Reserve (@FourthReserve) July 28, 2018

Purple Rain on Coulgate Street

Breakspears Mews Summer

BrocSoc calls community meeting to discuss Ashby Mews developments

Brockley Society Public Meeting - Ashby Mews – Gates and Resurfacing
Thursday 19 July 7.30pm
Myatt Garden School, Rokeby Road, SE4 1DF

Feelings have been running high about developments in Ashby Mews. BrocSoc has called a public meeting to discuss the issue. They say:

Locked gates recently installed at the Ashby Road end of Ashby Mews, SE4, followed by
resurfacing a stretch of the mews in tarmac have caused a significant number of residents
to contact Brockley Society to complain. We are holding a meeting to gauge local opinion,
explain the legal and planning ramifications and consider the next steps.

Everyone is welcome, whether you oppose or support the changes, simply walk through
the mews, or are just interested in the Brockley Conservation Area. Those responsible for
the gates and tarmac and those whose properties are affected are also welcome.

Brockley Society’s position is as follows:

1. Resurfacing the Mews in tarmac

Brockley’s mews are an integral part of the character of the Conservation Area. We view
black tarmac as inappropriate and believe it damages the character of the mews and may
also cause flooding or water seepage as no drainage is provided. Lewisham Planning
department is currently looking at enforcement. Planning and ownership in the mews is
very complex but we believe several solutions are worth exploring, including for this
section to remain resurfaced with a more sympathetic and sustainable topping material.

2. The Gates

The gates are inappropriate for the location: they are far too tall for gates on a public road
and contravene other guidelines in the Brockley Conservation Area. We believe they
should be reduced in height or removed entirely and replaced by a better “gallows” gate,
like those which exist in all Brockley’s other mews. The one currently in Ashby Mews,
behind the new gates, could have been modified.

3. The Right of Way

Ashby Mews is a private road. However, it is also a public right of way – and has been for
at least 120 years. This means the public have an established legal right to use the mews
as a footpath. Locked gates block the right of way. We believe that unimpeded pedestrian
and emergency vehicle access must be restored to the mews as soon as possible.

Brockley’s vibrant and open community has developed over many decades through the
work of Brockley Society, Brockley Open Studios, Brockley Cross Action Group and many
other community activities, campaigns and projects. Closing off a right of way and creating
a gated community is totally at odds with this.