Brockley Bites - Planning Special

We have a round-up of local planning stories for you now, all of which are sourced from our readers, including one we almost plagiarised from a forum without knowing that the author was actually a BC regular...

Unit 5 - Ashby Mews

The building was demolished by the Council as a dangerous structure following the recent fire - it is now a charred heap. The owners, St Aidan Commercial Ltd, will be billed for this work. Lewisham Council will also be writing to them requesting clearance of the site and the erection of a hoarding to screen the vacant site and prevent dumping. They will be given a reasonable period of time to do this work.

United Services Club - Manor Avenue

This building will no longer be used as a club. Planning permission is needed for any other use. Lewisham Council will encourage the owners to restore it for residential use, rather than allow it to be converted to a church - a use that has been proposed but which is not considered suitable.

1-3 Ashby Road

Developers Ashby Healthcare had their appeals rejected for this site. They had wanted to convert the building in to a "care home" and had been refused permission.

Both appeals (Conservation Area Consent and Planning Permission) were dismissed. The main reason was the size and appearance of the building and its impact on the street scene in Ashby Road.

This will probably mean that a care home development, which according to the developer, was always dependent on scale, would not be viable and it is unlikely that we will see another application.

For those who say the planning system is prone to caving in the face of a persistent developer, this should be a satisfactory result.

The Seager Distillery, Deptford

The residential development plans, which include an 82 metre tower, have been re-submitted for planning approval to Lewisham Council. A revised application was already rejected last year but developers Galliard are back for another go, trying to squeeze more flats in to the low-rise portion.

It's been suggested by some local residents that this is not a suitable site for a "tall" building, which seems odd, given that this site is surrounded by fairly tall commercial and residential buildings and neighbours a high-level DLR crossing and a very wide road. Nonetheless, standing more than 20-storeys high, this will be considerably taller than anything else in the area.

The site has been cleared, ready for construction to begin.

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Thanks to JPM and Bolted.

Lewisham 2012

On Sunday, Lewisham celebrated London becoming the official Olympic Games Host City.

The London Olympic Handover Flag was raised by Mayor of Lewisham, Sir Steve Bullock, and Lewisham's prospective Paralympian Rebecca Harding, in Cornmill Gardens at exactly 2.30pm along with other London boroughs and regions around the UK.

Sir Steve said: “What a fantastic day and what a fantastic beginning to what promises to be a very exciting and challenging next 4 years.

“Britain has done brilliantly in this year’s Olympics in Beijing and I’m proud to say that Lewisham has made a valuable contribution to the winning team by way of Tasha Danvers who won a Bronze Medal in the 400 metre hurdles. Today we’re flying the flag not only for London but for Lewisham too!"

Lewisham is one of the five "Gateway Boroughs", which are those near the Olympic park, but not actually staging any events. This means that we're lumped together with Barking and Dagenham, Bexley, Havering and Redbridge as boroughs trying to market themselves as handy stopovers for international athletes.

The vision document produced by these Boroughs in 2006 is called "Next Stop 2012" and is a slightly odd mixture of inward-investment marketing pitch, training camp prospectus and feelgood exercise for local residents.

The Lewisham website also lists five key projects that are part of the Borough's preparations:

• refurbishing Ladywell Arena


• the development of the Downham Health and Leisure Centre


• improvements to Lewisham Town Centre


• the development of Convoys Wharf


• the regeneration of Deptford Station (10 minute connection to London Bridge).

Of these, there is seemingly no chance that Convoy's Wharf will be complete, while Lewisham Gateway looks like an increasingly remote prospect.

But the list ignores some of the developments that are guaranteed, including the re-opening of Wavelengths pool in Deptford (officially due this month), an increase in capacity on the DLR (lengthening trains to Lewisham from two to three carriages by 2010) and of course the East London Line, due 2010.

Sir Steve continued:

“I hope that everyone in the borough will enter into the full spirit of the Olympics and set themselves a goal to exercise more. Exercise has so many benefits and can really improve the quality of life. In Lewisham we’re working towards developing some excellent sport and leisure facilities for everyone to enjoy and I hope people will take full advantage of them.”

“In particular, my goal is to help Lewisham’s young people achieve their own goals and levels of sporting excellence. Of course, the majority will not go on to reach Olympic status but participating in sport can have great benefits in boosting personal confidence. This in itself helps them in so many other ways and improves their work and life chances.”

2012 is a long way away - so far, in fact, that one of our friends who works for LOCOG just handed in his notice because he realised he had relatively little to do and no chance of promotion for about four years. But nevertheless, the road to Lea Valley starts here! This begs the following questions:

1. What should Brockley do for 2012?

2. What will you be doing to mark the occasion?

Snake's on a train?

There are so many "cat missing" signs adorning Brockley lamp-posts that we've always been surprised no-one's ever sent us a request to help find their lost pets. Until now.

Friend of BC, Muireann writes:

One of my neighbours (near Crofton Park station, flats above shop parade on west side of Brockley road opposite Mr Lawrence) has lost his pet snake! 'Flea' escaped in the early hours of Tuesday through the front flat window and hopefully has not strayed too far. My neighbour stresses that while quite large, Flea is harmless and has no fangs, venom or anything dangerous to be afraid of. The council and the RSPCA have been informed, but if anyone sees Flea please call 07745 215457.

Whether the missing snake and the slew of missing cats are connected is not clear.

Brockley Central salutes: Greenwich

What would we do without our tourist-friendly neighbour?

Greenwich town centre itself has changed in recent years, selling some of its soul and caving in to chain bars and restaurants, pushing out our pie shops, but there is still much to be thankful for. When you’ve exhausted Brockley’s limited supply of restaurants, or you want something just that little bit more grown-up; when you fancy a spot of retail therapy but don’t want to get on a train, or want something a little more unique - there is always Greenwich. An abundance of facilities that we often long for in Brockley, and all only a brisk stroll away.

There is one part of Greenwich especially that makes us happy: Royal Hill. Still seemingly untouched by the commercial heart of Greenwich, a road that packs in pretty much every lazy weekend destination we could hope for. A decent café or two, numerous pubs including a great microbrewery, a butchers, a deli, even a cheese shop. All shamelessly middle class, perhaps, but so are Brockley’s latest additions.

At the weekend, we got to sample this side of Greenwich at its best. Without even touching the main market square, and hence avoiding the crowds, we managed to enjoy a cracking meal at our new favourite gastropub The Hill, and then take in Batman at the Picturehouse - a cinema where the staff are all enthusiastic about the films, the seats lean back properly, and you can take your drinks in from the bar. Perfect.

What are your favourite bits of Greenwich?

Crime in Brockley: Completely average

Via the Blackheath Bugle, BC has been checking out the Metropolitan Police's swanky new crime maps. (Follow the link, then put your postcode in to see the results for Brockley - sorry, we can't find a way of linking directly to the local map).

The vast swathes of yellow you'll see indicate that most of the area is totally and utterly average in its crime statistics. There's a spike in activity around Lewisham town centre, which is fairly predictable, and several parts of central Peckham are also 'red' zones. St Johns is apparently a low-crime area, as is Honour Oak Park, while the western side of Telegraph Hill, around Nunhead, is higher than average.

What do BC readers think - does this reflect your experience of crime in south-east London?

I spy ...

BC loves spotting little oddities when out and about locally, and we thought we'd share a few with you. To start with - who can guess where this is?

(No prize for the first correct answer unfortunately, other than the smug satisfaction of knowing you're right ...)

Hilly Fields Fun Fair this weekend

From Friday through to Sunday this weekend, Hilly Fields will be home to a small Fun Fair - the kind with bumper cars.

The fair will be open from 12pm to 7pm daily.