Breakspears Mews Summer
Showing posts with label mews. Show all posts
Showing posts with label mews. Show all posts
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.
BrocSoc slams Ashby Mews changes
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| The tarmac-covered north end |
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| The southern end of Ashby Mews is untouched |
Brockley Society is aware of the installation of gates at the northern end of Ashby Mews and has advised initiating mews residents (frontagers) that:
- a retrospective planning application is needed
- otherwise LB Lewisham will start enforcement action as the gate is too high
- even though the Mews is privately owned, all mews frontagers along the whole length should have been consulted and a management strategy should have been agreed to ensure free access is maintained for pedestrians as well as delivery and emergency vehicles
Despite this advice being given to the organising mews residents it seems to have fallen on deaf ears as they have now had the mews access lane resurfaced early this week with black tarmacadam at the northern end.
As this destroys the rural character that is such a unique characteristic of the Conservation Area (CA), the Society has escalated its concern via Ward Councillors so as to extend the request to LB Lewisham:
- for enforcement to be investigated or
- to require that planning consent be obtained to stop this 'suburbanisation' threat
On this Brockley Society considers that:
- the resurfacing work fundamentally affects the status of this part of the CA such that it could be withdrawn
- other more suitable traditional solutions should have been considered via the Society to avoid this possibility
- as the work is defined as 'a hard surface' within the curtilage frontage of each property bordering the affected area then the Article 4 Direction protecting the CA should fully apply and the planning applications already granted/in consideration for bordering properties should be reappraised in view of this ill-considered change
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| In contrast to original reassurances, the pedestrian gate is now locked |
Fortress Ashby Mews
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| The gates go in |
This entrance to the mews has been cursed by constant fly-tipping over the years and the gates are a defense measure installed by residents.
I bow to no-one in my hatred for rubbish and fly-tipping and I can imagine how infuriating it must be to live with it year-after-year. Just walking past it regularly made me angry. I have also been on the receiving end of residents' exasperation - despite living nearby, I was once challenged while on a walk to state my business by one neighbour who suspected me of being a fly-tipper (though where about my person he thought I was stashing my load was unclear).
But Brockley's mews are a community asset and this was done without public consultation, nor reference to the Brockley Society, who are guardians of the conservation area. Some residents with rear-garden access to the mews say they were unaware of the plans. Rumours abound about when and how often pedestrian access will be available.
Restricting pedestrian access is a draconian measure to combat rubbish usually dumped by the van-load. It runs contrary to the communitarian spirit of Brockley or the stated intentions of the developers who have built homes in the mews. The gates are divisive in more ways than one: From the moment they were thrown up, I received emails from concerned locals who wished not to be named for fear of being dragged into a spat.
The Council and the police should have acted long ago to deal seriously with fly-tipping at this spot. There should have been a plan of action that dealt with the problem and stopped residents feeling the need to take matters into their own hands. But the plan should have been developed with the community. It’s a shame to have shut them out.
Brockley: Building the Dream
More4 show Building the Dream kicks off its new series with the story of Eryka and Sam, a Brockley couple who transformed a dilapidated Ashby Mews workshop into their dream home (or at least, I assume they did - the show is still unfolding).
The building is a live-work hybrid, which includes studio space for glass sculptor Eryka. They also have a DJ terrace. Why am I not friends with these people?
The show is available here.
Ashby Mews stable conversion planned
An application has been submitted to convert the site of a dilapidated stable to the rear of Upper Brockley Road into a live/work studio.
The building will be entirely demolished and the stable will be rebuilt with a handsome new extension bolted on as part of a wider redevelopment of the light industrial units in Ashby Mews.
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| The current 'studio' |
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| A model of the new building |
Wickham Mews Street Art - Part Three
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| Rodent's The Thinker |
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| If I knew what sort of bird this was, I could come up with a pun |
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| Carol Thatcher would approve |
Wickham Mews Street Art - Part Two
More street art from the Wickham Mews menagerie.
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| Hello fellow bees, how's the abdomen? Swollen with nectar, I trust? |
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| Beautiful feathered tyrant |
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| The Court of Owls |
Wickham Mews Street Art - Part One
"Old Man Coyote took this dirt and blew on it. He made the earth. It was fine and he was pleased. The ducks returned and were amazed."
- Old Man Coyote Creation Myth
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| Pigeon Street |
Turn left from Geoffrey Road and two inscrutable pigeons will act as your spirit guides as you travel through a verdant menagerie that has served as a testing ground for the artist's animalistic ambitions - the Mews of Dr Moreau.
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| Beautiful Animals this way |
Three more residential developments planned for Ashby Mews
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| Top to bottom: 111, 143, 153-155 UBR |
Buildings to the rear of 111 Upper Brockley Road, 143 Upper Brockley Road and 153-155 Upper Brockley Road.
Each of the projects is a modernist rebuild of dilapidated storage areas, with access from the mews.
Objectors to the development on the Manor Avenue side of the mews complained before it was approved that it would set a precedent for further development. They were right.
However, these three developments are fairly modest and could help to civilise a stretch of mews which remains a dumping ground, despite new gates being installed in an effort to curb anti-social behaviour.
The closing date to comment on these planning applications is October 27th.
The Pass Menagerie
With thanks to Woodenfingers.
Garage sale on Wickham Mews
This freehold workshop and garages are located in the heart of the Brockley conservation area, one of South East London’s most sought after locations. The workshop itself is currently trading as a gearbox and transmission specialist. After 30 years of trading the vendor has decided to sell this fully operational garage/workshop for retirement.
Someone please do something cool with it.
Ashby Mews studios approved
The plans, which will create two new two-storey homes and studio spaces along a cratered stretch of mews, had met some opposition from local residents, concerned about their gardens being overlooked. However, sympathetic development of Brockley's mews is the right way forward.
This scheme is of high-quality and should prevent the mews being treated as a dumping ground, as well as providing new homes and space for local enterprise.
Breakspears Mews Community Garden Project: Soup and Enthusiasm needed
Clare Cowen from BrocSoc writes:
We are getting a stage nearer to creating Breakspears Mews Community Garden! The rubbish will finally be cleared next week -- so we need serious help on Saturday and Sunday 9 and 10 March from "builders" and DIY enthusiasts with hard landscaping and filling the raised beds with soil.
Nursery bid for Ashby Road
The alteration and change of use of 1-3 Ashby Road SE4, from Offices (Use Class B1) to Nursery (Use Class D1) together with the construction of two skylights on the single storey roof, alterations to the north and west elevations, installation of boundary fence and gates to the front, associated landscaping and provision of bicycle stores and four car park spaces.
The building would create 77 places for 3 months-5 years-old kids. Zoom also plan to jazz up the exterior of the building, which they describe fairly as "rather dull and lacking any architectural merit."
Zoom's last attempt to build a nursery here was highly controversial. This should prove to be less-so, as the location is more sensitive and other mooted uses for this site have included a mental health facility.
Brockley Central said during the Manor Avenue saga that a nursery was clearly needed in the area, due to the fact that Brockley was attracting increasing numbers of young families. That was visibly true in 2009 - it's even more the case now.
With thanks to JPM for the tip-off.
Breakspears Mews developers appeal failed bid to build new units
Developers whose plans to knock down and redevelop garages on Breakspears Mews (which runs between Wickham and Breakspears Roads) were rejected have launched an appeal against the decision. The scheme is for:
The demolition of the garage building and shed at Ashby Garages, Breakspears Mews SE4 and the construction of a single storey building comprising 5 work units and a block of 7 garages, together with the provision of a bicycle store and bin storage.
The developers argue that they are doing nothing more than replacing old garages with new ones and that the site has always been used for workshops and storage. The Council refused the plans in May on the basis that they would increase traffic on an unpaved road and intensify commercial activity on site, to the detriment of local residents.
Local residents who want to register their opinion about the plans should contact Vicky Williams in Lewisham Council.
Live-work arts community proposed for Ashby Mews
A series of applications have been submitted to redevelop the former commercial units at the Ashby Road end of the mews, some of which were destroyed by fire in 2008 and have lain derelict ever since.
The Ashby Studios project would create a string of two-storey live/work spaces designed to provide studio space for artists.
The plan is the brainchild of local artist Jeff Lowe, who works out of one of the existing units. His studio would be have the west facing facade restored and a and another storey added, with an extension to include contemporary living accommodation, private courtyard and a non-residential store.
The Brockley Society is supportive of the principle of sensitive development of Brockley's mews, some of which have become dumping grounds for rubbish. However, the plans are opposed by some residents of Manor Avenue on the basis that the new units would overlook their back gardens.
The question of whether Brockley's mews are valid sites for development is one which has already been debated in principle before on this site, but it would be good to get the views of readers in light of this particular proposal.
Two local community gardening projects you can get involved with
Anne-Marie has been in touch about two brilliant local gardening projects:
I'm writing on behalf of two new community gardens local to Brockley, one in Breakspears Mews and the other is at Telegraph Hill Centre on Kitto Road.
Both spaces are right at the beginning of setting up their new community gardens and are appealing to local residents to join them for a couple of hours over the summer.
Breakspears Mews
Carol Hooper is the project manager setting up the Breakspears Mews garden, off Ashby Road.
She has helped master mind the removal of tonnes of illegally dumped material from the Mews. To celebrate the new garden, Jane is hosting an Olympics themed event on Saturday 14 July. There will be a bouncy castle and tug of war and other competitive events.
Breakspears Mews is about to be transformed! The immediate vicinity has been blighted for years by dumped rubbish, abandoned cars and hundreds of dumped tyres.
The Breakspears Mews Community Gardens Association is now working to transform it into a community garden for all to enjoy. Already scores of people have joined in the clean up.
Once cleared plans include food growing and fruit trees. Get in at the start of a new project!
The Association are hosting an Olympics-themed Open Day at the Mews for all the family on Saturday 14 July.
Kitto Road
A successful plant swap was help back in March and now the don'tre is inviting local volunteers to help turn an unloved piece of land into a beautiful and hopefully productive space for community use and enjoyment.
So if you dont have gardening space of your own or have a few hours free this summer, why not go along and help create something beautiful? Jane Hartley is the project manager, to find out more please call her on 020 7639 0214
Community clean up of Wickham Mews
Lewisham Council officer Colin Sandiford is organising a community clean-up of Wickham Mews on June 23rd as part of the P&G Capital Clean-Up, a partnership with the Mayor of London's office. The event will take place on June 23rd.
Work will involve clearing the pathways, litter picking, cutting back overgrown vegetation and removing graffiti & flyposting. No experience is necessary as full training and supervision will be given on the day. Equipment and refreshments will be provided.
Please register your attendance at this event in advance here.
Sandiford adds:
We'd also be happy to help organise any other local clean-ups if residents nominate any other local areas. We'll provide the necessary equipment and the removal of bags after the clean up.
Click here to organise another Brockley clean-up.
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