Application to renovate two Brockley Road shop fronts

The Holistic Centre (with van on pavement, natch) and the property targeted for redevelopment

The storage space that will be converted

The biggest of all Brockley Road's many eyesores -the Holistic Centre - could be renovated if an application to build six new flats on the corner of Cranfield Road and Brockley Road is approved. The application is for:

The construction of a two storey building on the site of the garages at the rear of 169-171 Brockley Road SE4, comprising 6, one bedroom, self-contained flats, associated landscaping and provision of a bicycle/refuse store, together with the renovation of the existing street elevations of Nos 169, 169a and 171 Brockley Road including the provision of new shopfronts.

The shops effected are the the Essence of India and the Holistic Centre. The plan is to replace the Holistic Centre's bent shutters with timber shop fronts and mesh shutters, in accordance with Conservation Area guidelines, which are ignored by many of the businesses operating on the high street. The building's UPVC window frames will be replaced by wooden ones and the bulky air conditioning units on the roof of the commercial units will go.

The entrance to four of the flats will open on to Harefield Mews, while two will open on to Cranfield Road.

This work, combined with the renovation of La Lanterna (currently making slow progress) and a commitment by Lewisham Council to invest (an admittedly minimal amount of money) to improve the pavement on that stretch, could at last give the parade it needs to capitalise on the arrival of the East London Line.