Man dies in Brockley Station incident

Earlier this evening, a man fell from a bridge at Brockley Station and was killed by a train. The incident forced the temporary closure of the station and major disruption to services from London Bridge.

An eyewitness who asked not to be named said:

I was on the platform at the time, very close to the impact. I suddenly heard a loud bang - looking up I saw a body in the air, having just been hit by one of the fast trains passing southwards through the station.

For a few seconds everyone was in shock - nobody really knew what to do. But the station staff acted pretty swiftly to call the police and clear the station. I commend them for doing as good a job as they could have done under those circumstances.

Reports suggest that the incident was a suicide, but this is unconfirmed. In any case, it is a tragedy.

Coming soon: Longhorn

The planned Crofton Park diner has revealed itself as Longhorn - an Italian-American diner that plans to offer vegetarian and Halal options to complement its meaty menu.

Its got a logo and website and everything. This is the real deal and very exciting news, adding to the growing pantheon of local eating and drinking options. They plan to open this month. Check them out here.

Thanks to Marshall for the heads-up.

How many deaths can you fit on a phonebooth?

Interested guerrilla take on the met police ads as seen in Brockley this morning. @BrockleyCentral pic.twitter.com/BS30ghTour

— Julie Seal (@JulieTheSeal) August 4, 2015

The original Brockley loop

London blogger IanVisits has unearthed a map, detailing a 1915 proposal to create an Outer Loop Railway, which would have radically decentralised London and connected Brockley with Tulse Hill and Blackheath.

The idea of an outer loop is still being mooted and Brockley is still in the loop, but it may be another hundred years before one materialises.

Plan to split Lewisham Southwark College nixed

FE Week reports that a plan by Southwark Council to take the Southwark portion of LeSoCo under local authority control has been blocked by the government's FE Commissioner. The site says:

The college announced today that commissioner Dr David Collins had thrown out a proposal from Southwark Borough Council last month to de-merge the college.

The council suggestion included taking on the Southwark provision and contracting it out.

It comes amid an area-based assessment of South East London’s FE and skills provision, consisting of two structure and prospects appraisals at Greenwich Community College and Lewisham Southwark after they were both served with inadequate Ofted ratings — the second in a row for Lewisham Southwark, which is currently in administered status.

Thanks to Daniel for the tip-off.

Coming soon: One Tree Hill

Honor Oak's impressive high street is about to get a new arrival, providing another local night out. Joe sent us this SE23 forum link, which includes details of a planning application for the conversion of Honor Oak Supermarket (66 Honor Oak Park) into a bar provisionally called One Tree Hill. The Council should support this one.

Crossy Road

A copy of the stakeholder consultation document. Thanks to We Are SE3.

TfL trying again to remove pedestrian crossings from Lewisham Way. Having withdrawn a bid to remove one crossing in 2011, it's now launched a consultation on the removal of two on the route between New Cross and Lewisham, to speed up car journey times. 

We can't see any justification for this. The number of pedestrian crossings is not excessive and the snarl-ups you get at either end are due to bottle necks in both town centres, while the recent installation of speed cameras at the junction of Lewisham Way and Wickham Road suggests excessive speeding remains a problem. 

We can't see any more details about this plan on the TfL website, but if anyone has any links, please share.