Brockley Road: Rail against the machine

As we have written many times before, Brockley Central believes decluttering our streets is a key part of restoring their charm and character. And as we wrote here we believe there is a strong argument that Brockley Road's railings should be removed entirely - following the successful lead shown by boroughs like Hackney and Kensington & Chelsea.

We followed up on this issue with Cllr Alexander, who - together with BrocSoc and Brockley Cross Action Group - we dragged around Brockley Cross in the summer.

Here's what she said:

On the railings on Brockley Road, I've asked Highways Officers to draw up a list of barriers where we may be able to remove them without negative safety implications.

I was talking about pedestrian guard railings again today (for the third time this week in fact). I am becoming more and more determined to get rid of some of the unnecessary "stuff" that clutters up our street (especially the stuff where its purpose and function is less than clear!).

I met someone today that did a lot of the work in Hackney (a guy called John Dale from Urban Initiatives). He's promised to send me some information about the Mare Street initiative which might help me in my future discussions with officers on the subject. He says that there have been some really impressive results.

I'll also find out where we have got to on the Coulgate St parking issues and the possibility of removing that odd parking space near Brockley Cross.

We appreciate that not everyone who responded to our original article was convinced that removing the railings was a good idea, but if the evidence supports their removal, then we hope that will reassure people.