The New Cross + Deptford Free Film Festival 2018

The New Cross + Deptford Free Film Festival (NXDfff) returns for its seventh year this spring with 33 free film events, 3 bike powered screenings, 9 new venues, Q&A sessions, DJs and docs. Something for every member of the community.

Launch night is at Peckham's Brick Brewery with Get Out, a late license bar, street food and music.

This year the festival features three outdoor bike powered screenings, including Sing at Pepys Park, Nacho Libre at Telegraph Hill Upper Park and Pirates of the Carribean at Folkestone Gardens.

NXDFF also has a pre-release screening of locally shot film, SINK, followed by a Q&A with writer/director Mark Gillis. Shot in New Cross, Deptford and Brockley, the film has attracted Mark Rylance as an Associate Producer.

The festival closes at Buster Mantis with a music themed documentary called Beats of the Antanov. The film depicts the Sudanese conflict in the Blue Nile and Nuba Mountain regions, focusing in particular on the role of music in helping the affected communities to sustain themselves culturally and spiritually. Buster Mantis will host our last event and local DJ collective Bombotropics will provide global beats and melodies.

NXDfff is completely run by volunteers made up of local residents, students and community groups. NXDfff has a DIY ethos that encourages creative freedom: this year more than 30 people are curating film events with help and guidance from a core festival team.

For full details click here.

Microbrewery plan for empty New Cross bank

Plans have been submitted to redevelop the old bank next door to the Venue in New Cross. The developers envisage:

"The construction of extensions at lower ground, upper ground and first floor levels to the side and rear of 329-331 New Cross Road, SE14 in order to facilitate its use as a restaurant (Use Class A3), a bar (Use Class A4), including micro-brewery and cellarage, and flexible space (Use Class D1), together with the provision of a landscaped courtyard at upper ground floor level bounded by absorbent acoustic panels, changes to door and window openings and an acoustic enclosure to the condenser unit."

The bank occupies a key spot in New Cross and has been closed for decades.

Thanks to Gill for the spot.

Campaigners fight closure of New Cross Gate post office

Councillor Brenda Dacres has launched a petition to fight the proposed closure of New Cross Gate Crown Post Office. She writes:

"On the 10th January 2017 the Post Office Limited proposed to close 93 Post Offices. Among those they wish to close is New Cross Gate Crown Post Office located at 199/205 New Cross Road, SE14 5DH.

"New Cross Gate Crown Post Office provides a vital service to the local community and beyond, and to loose such services will gravely impact those who need this local post office most. Among those will be pensioners and vulnerable people. This is a high demand, busy and heavily utilised Crown Post Office.

"New Cross Gate Crown Post Office is located in a central location in New Cross, at a major public bus interchange, where for local savers there is no alternative banking facilities.  It is used by a wide demographic of ages for postal services, saving, making payments, currency, passports service, as well as many other key services. In this part of New Cross there is no other banking or saving institutions, which adds to reason why the Crown Post Office at New Cross Gate would be a severe loss."

To sign the petition, click here.

Chinese culture tasting, December 13

Brexit-proof yourself by learning about Chinese culture at the Goldsmiths Confucius Institute on December 13th. They say:

Are you interested in Chinese Culture? Have you been thinking about trying out Tai Chi, Chinese Dance, Calligraphy or Mandarin?

Goldsmiths Confucius Institute are holding a day of free Chinese Culture taster sessions on the 13th December.

Timetable for the day: 

Tai Chi 10.45-11:30

Calligraphy 12.00-12.45

Tai Chi 14.15-15.00 

Dance for Health & Wellbeing 15.15-16.00

Mandarin Chinese for beginners 16.00-16.45

Further details and tickets available here.

New Cross Night Tube debuts in December

TfL has announced that its successful Night Tube service will be extended to the East London Line between Dalston and New Cross Gate on Friday and Saturday nights, starting on December 15th. The plans were first revealed in July.

The service will allow people to travel throughout the night and connect with the equivalent Jubilee Line service at Canada Water.

The service will be extended to Highbury & Islington next year.

NHS considers closing Waldron Walk-in

The Waldron Health Centre, is an NHS centre built in 2008 next to New Cross station and home to the Amersham Vale Training Practice and the New Cross GP Led Walk-in.

As part of a consultation by NHS Lewisham Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), the option to close the Walk-in Centre is being explored. The CCG writes:

We want to improve urgent and non-urgent primary care across the borough and as part of this we are looking at the future of the NHS Walk-in Centre service, at the Waldron Health Centre in New Cross.

We think the way people access primary care services could be improved. People tell us the way it works currently is confusing, and means people are not always seen in the right care setting or at the right time, with some duplication of service elements.  

We are committed to improving access to GP appointments and advice. Our priority is making sure that primary care services are easy to use, joined up and focus on helping people stay well. In order to do this, we need to:

- Remove the overlap and duplication in the services
- Provide clear and straightforward messages to people on how to access urgent and non-urgent primary care
- Get better value for money for all of our population
- Improve the provision and access to GP services for all Lewisham residents

We now wish to consult with patients, the public and other key stakeholders on our proposals, which includes closing the Walk-in Centre in New Cross.

The consultation runs for 12 weeks from Tuesday 8 August 2017 until Monday 30 October 2017, closing at 5pm on that day.

Read our full consultation document here. And complete the survey here.

Ten minute plays at The London Theatre

Nick Mouton, from New Cross' fringe venue The London Theatre, writes:

The London Theatre, will be home to 'The Collective Collected', 16 new plays by the London-based group The 10 Minute a Month Playwriting Collective, from Tuesday 5th - Saturday 16th September.

During the fortnight-long showcase event, each week will see eight separate 10-minute new plays performed, covering a number of themes set by the Collective, such as foolishness, nightmares, ambush, divorce, space and jargon. There will be a variety of stories told across the 16 plays, including a Jewish resistant cell in Prague recruiting a new member; a woman trying to find her lost husband in Athens; and a group of friends travelling to France to watch England play in Euro 2016.

The 10 Minutes a Month Play Collective, which was established in 2016, is a monthly initiative to keep writers writing by setting a monthly theme as a basis for new 10-minute plays. As a result, up to 10 new plays are presented at a reading night each month covering a number of styles, be they comical, dramatic, historical or whimsical. This is the first time that the Collective’s plays have been fully performed and directed.

Andy Marchant, organiser of The 10 Minutes a Month Playwriting Collective, said: “When we started the Collective we weren’t too sure what to expect, but it has become a great platform for writers, old and new, to test themselves and create some exciting new work. As it’s an open group we have a fantastic mix of experienced writers rubbing shoulders with those who have never written a play before.”

For full details, click here.

The Marquis of Granby - past and present

This postcard of New Cross pub the Marquis of Granby in 1911 was unearthed by @se23LDN.

This new face for the pub was created in 2017 by Artmongers, paid for by Anthology.

New Cross Night Tube from December

The current Night Tube service

It's been heavily teased, but TfL have now confirmed that a 'Night Tube' service will be coming to the East London Line, stopping tantalisingly-close to Brockley. Until now, Canada Water was the closest station on offer. The Standard reports:

The capital’s 24-hour transport network was expanded again today after it was announced the London Overground will run through the night from December.

The East London route will operate all night on Fridays and Saturdays between New Cross Gate and Dalston Junction, then extended to Highbury & Islington next year.

It means passengers will be able to travel across even wider swathes of the capital 24-hours a day as it will also connect with Canada Water station on the Jubilee line.

The Marquis of Carabas

In July, local art collective Artmongers will complete the visual transformation of New Cross pub The Marquis of Granby, creating a mountainscape in the middle of the one-way system.

New Cross and Deptford Free Film Festival 2017: Opening Night

This year's festival kicks off on Friday, April 21, with an opening night party at the White Hart pub in New Cross, featuring a screening of John Favreau's gastro-comedy Chef. Entrance is free. There will be food and music.

Details of the opening night and the rest of the festival here.

1,400 new homes planned for New Cross Sainsbury's car park site

Outline plans have been developed to create between 1,000 and 1,500 new homes on the site of the New Cross Gate Sainsbury's.

Estates Gazette reports:

"Mount Anvil and Hyde Group have teamed up with Sainsbury’s to develop a scheme with a possible end value of £600m next to the Bakerloo Line extension at New Cross Gate.

"The pair are the preferred bidders for a potential 1,400- home redevelopment of the seven-acre site. They will form a joint venture with the retailer to rebuild the supermarket with thousands of flats above and alongside it...

"The site has previously had scoping proposals submitted for a scheme of around 400 homes... Mount Anvil has provided affordable percentages of around 35% on a number of its London schemes, including the 308-home Lexicon on City Road and its Dollar Bay scheme, which had an off-site commitment equating to 46% affordable."

The site is also the subject of a consultation regarding the possible location of a Bakerloo Line station, when the tube is extended to New Cross and Lewisham, but Sainsbury's says that the two projects are unconnected. David Mills, Head of Property Communications at Sainsbury's explains:

"We are working on plans with Mount Anvil and Hyde which will deliver new homes and an improved store, as well as act as a springboard for further investment in the area. We will be sharing our plans with the local community before submitting an application. The Bakerloo Line extension does not facilitate the development, this is something we will bring forward as a joint venture with our development partners.

"TfL have put forward a consultation document which identifies a new station on our land. We are continuing to discuss this with them, including other potential locations in the area for the station."

The fact that the Bakerloo Line will eventually connect with this site, relieving pressure on the East London Line and overland services, makes a scheme of this size more politically viable.

Nine Elms serves as a precedent for a large-format store as part of a mixed-use development

Sainsbury's are also keen to point out that the new supermarket will be of equivalent size to the existing store and point to the recent scheme in Nine Elms as an example of what could be delivered here. Mills adds:

"Our plans will deliver a new supermarket that offers the full Sainsbury’s range. We would make sure that there is continuity of trade as we redevelop the site.

"We’ve been delivering mixed-use schemes since 2009 and have recently opened new stores at Nine Elms and Fulham."

With thanks to Monkeyboy and 853Blog for the link.

Bakerloo station could lurk beneath Sainsbury's

TfL has launched its consultation for the Bakerloo Line extension to Lewisham and has revealed its preferred site for the New Cross stop lies underneath the enormous Sainsbury's car park, next to New Cross Gate station. They say:

"We propose to build a new station at New Cross Gate and have identified a preferred site. This is shown on the map below. The station would be below ground along the western side of the existing rail station. It would improve connectivity in this part of London by providing an interchange to London Overground, National Rail services and local bus routes.

"The size of the proposed site provides several opportunities for the project. It could allow soil to be taken away by train rather than using local roads. We could also start the tunnel machinery from this site."

TfL's plans also require a new shaft on Lewisham Way, opposite the Arthouse.

 

And they've cleared up the mystery of how a new station at Lewisham can be built among the planned new towers, which has been dogging BCers for some time. They have come up with the novel idea of putting it underground. The consultation notes:

"Our preferred site for the Bakerloo line station at Lewisham is shown on the map below.

"The station would be located on Thurston Road along the south western side of the existing National Rail station. It would improve connectivity by providing an interchange to National Rail and DLR services and access to the town centre.

"Extending to Lewisham would also provide an interchange to buses, helping to increase Lewisham’s role as a major transport hub in south east London."

The consultation papers note that the Sainsbury's could be taken out of action during the construction phase.

Bakerloo Extension: TfL to launch consultation on NXG and Lewisham tube stations

TfL will launch a public consultation later this year as part of detailed planning for the Bakerloo Line extension to Lewisham. The public will be asked to comment on plans for new tube stations in New Cross Gate and Lewisham.

A paper published in December states:

Following an initial public consultation on a proposed Bakerloo line extension (BLE) in autumn 2014 and a subsequent assessment of possible route options, an extension to Lewisham via the Old Kent Road and New Cross Gate has been identified as the preferred option. A second public consultation is now proposed as the next step towards delivering the BLE. The delivery of this extension was included in the Mayor’s manifesto and would support the delivery of significant numbers of new homes and jobs for London.

The consultation exercise would start in early 2017 and run for ten weeks. It would engage with the public and stakeholders on the options for locations of stations and ventilation/intervention shafts including the worksites at each. The consultation will include the relevant local authorities as well as engagement with stakeholders and landowners of sites affected.

The consultation will provide the opportunity for responses on each of the following parts of the route:

(a) Elephant and Castle station – an upgraded ticket hall and platform concourse is required to accommodate extension demand
(b) Old Kent Road 1 station – a new Tube station in the northern area of the Old Kent Road to serve the growth cluster in this part of the Opportunity Area
(c) Old Kent Road 2 station – a new Tube station in the southern area of the Old Kent Road to serve the second growth cluster in the Opportunity Area
(d) New Cross Gate station – a new Tube station providing interchange to the London Overground and National Rail services at the existing station
(e) Lewisham station – a new Tube station providing interchange to the National Rail and DLR services at the existing station
(f) Ventilation and intervention shafts – three shafts are proposed, one between Elephant and Castle and Old Kent Road 1 stations, one between New Cross Gate and Lewisham stations, and one at the line end overrun tunnels beyond Lewisham station

This provisional work indicates circa £1bn could be raised from [a range of sources including commercial development of the station sites, increased fare receipts, business rate levies, etc], covering roughly a third of the scheme costs. This is a positive start and we will further develop the approach to maximising funding from all available sources and investigating further potential land value capture options. As is common for infrastructure projects of this size and scale the funding for construction of the BLE will outlined in future revision of the TfL Business Plan.

Thank you to Monkeyboy for sending the details.

Eat a Rainbow, November 20

The Field team write:

Join us for our free official launch event for Eat a Rainbow, at 'The Field', New Cross. We will have pizza making, fruit & veg kebabs, a vegetable carving competition, kids activities and more!

We are a social enterprise that runs a low cost fruit and veg stall outside the Post Office on New Cross Road, supported by local people and run by volunteers.

We want to provide all people with fair access to seasonal fresh fruit and vegetable that will improve the health and wellbeing of people and families living in deprived communities in South London.

The Allotment closes

@BrockleyCentral Oh no!! Closing Down signs up at the Allotment in New Cross. A real loss for the neighbourhood. 😢

— Marshall Manson (@marshallmanson) October 24, 2016

Fresh produce store The Allotment is closing down after five years of heroic trading on New Cross Road. \After a spree of local openings, it's a pity to see a high-quality independent close.

Lewisham consults on two possible traveller locations

In keeping with a trend spotted by The Economist a while back, the Council is seeking to shove the problem to its borders. Lewisham Council writes:

"Lewisham Council is preparing a planning policy document called the Gypsy and Traveller Site(s) Local Plan. It will identify a site to meet the local accommodation needs of the borough’s travelling community.

"We have found that the travelling community needs at least six pitches in the borough over the next 15 years. Following our consultation in March/April 2016 on site search parameters and criteria for assessing sites, we are seeking feedback on two potential locations for a new residential site. Only one of these sites will be needed.

"The sites we are looking at are:

"New Cross Social Club and adjoining land in Hornshay Street, New Cross, SE15 1HB
Land next to Pool Court, Catford, SE6

"It’s important that we get your comments and suggestions about these sites. We will take into account your views when we make our final selection. You can comment until Wednesday 30 November 2016.

"To tell us what you think, please read the on-line consultation documents and then complete a short survey. www.lewisham.gov.uk/travellingcommunity"

The White Hart, 184 New Cross Road

Photo via their official Twitter

The new-look White Hart is open. Externally, the pub is little changed, but internally, it's undergone extensive renovation thanks to its new owners. It launched over the weekend, but the kitchen is not yet ready. Big and classically-styled, it looks like another strong addition to New Cross' bar scene.

Please post your reviews here.

Somerville Adventure Playground

Sue writes:

Somerville Youth and Play Provision on the border between New Cross and Peckham, is the only adventure playground in the area and has been maintained as a labour of love by local people for over 40 years. This weekend, after its latest refurbishment, it reopened to the public.

Somerville is a safe, supervised free access space for the entire community offering the young people of the area fantastic opportunities. This summer alone, Somerville has taken kids on sixteen off-site trips.

Under the stewardship of Bradley Cummings - who was a Somerville regular as a child - the ambition is to become a place where young people can learn vital skills for the future, discuss problems and issues they are facing and get much needed support in all areas of their lives.

For details click here.

Adventure X, November 19-20

Gaming festival AdventureX will be coming to Goldsmiths in November.

The UK's "only convention dedicated to narrative-driven gaming" is a free event bringing together developers & gamers with an interest in graphical adventures; interactive fiction; exploration games; visual novels.

Click here for more details or turn to page 345 to brandish your broadsword at the manticore.