Homeview hearing tomorrow

Tomorrow night, Lewisham Councillors will meet to decide the fate of the former Homeview Video shop, which is currently targeted by Portland Bookmakers, who want to convert it in to yet another Brockley betting shop. The background to the application can be found here.


Unsurprisingly (given that the Magistrate for the first hearing received an "unprecedented" number of complaints), the letters of objection from local people were sufficient to trigger a licensing committee hearing where Councillors, rather than officers, will have the final say.


As we've said before, Brockley is beginning to prove that it has a future as a commercial centre beyond car dealerships, fried chicken and bookies. If an application on such a prime site is successful, it could be a major set back for Brockley Road's revitalisation. Sadly, the planning system seems to make little allowance for that kind of issue, although we hope that it matters to our elected representatives.


Fortunately, there is also a perfectly good and legitimate reason to reject the application too. Namely, its near-neighbour, which happens to be a rehabilitation centre for people suffering from addictions. Portland's stated unique selling point is that they aim to create a 'luxurious' ambiance that caters for a different breed of punter, which they claim is not well served by the current range of local bookies. In other words, Portland would represent a new form of temptation for people struggling with gambling addictions. The guidelines say that if a new bookmaker would put vulnerable people at increased risk then that constitutes the basis to reject a license application.

So, given there are both valid technical grounds to reject it and that to do so would be widely welcomed by the community, we hope that the Council rejects the application tomorrow night. We will, of course, report the result.

Hallowe'en in Brockley

'Flying Brockzilla' - by Asad

Last year, we didn't get a single Trick or Treater. This year, we haven't had any of the premature visits from costumeless chancers that we used to expect in our old neighbourhood.

Is that a reflection of the fact that families have been crowded out by professional couples or that Brockley's yummy mummies are frightened to let their kids out after dark, lest they encounter kids who consider hoods normal daywear?

In any case, we're not complaining, just curious. In the absence of monstrous kids, the Brockzilla project has provided plenty of local scares, as a quick visit to Howard's site will show.

There's also an honorary contribution to the pantheon of Brockley horrors by the Deptford Dame, whose ungodly creation can be found here, if you dare...

Degustation, Coulgate Street

12 Coulgate Street
SE4 2RW
http://www.degustation.co.uk/

Yes, we know it's not new news that Degustation is now open and there are lots of reader comments on here already, but soon, we will have a review section, where we will collect together information about local places to eat, drink and shop.

This story will be fleshed out when we've actually had a chance to shop there, but we wanted to create this now, so that any comments you have about the shop will get ported over to the new section, when it goes live.

So far, we understand that Augustin, the owner of Degustation, is very happy with the reception he's had from local people. Although we didn't doubt that would be the case for either this or Dandelion Blue, it's nice to have that confirmed. The shop has just received its license to serve alcohol, so there is now a selection of wines on sale and the range of produce is set to grow over the coming weeks.

Lewisham Safer Neighbourhoods Survey

The Met Police now have an online survey for residents of Lewisham to report local problems.

Oddly, the survey lumps together issues such as flytipping and poor streetlighting with crimes like sexual or racially-motivated assault. We'd hope that there are more appropriate vehicles for registering those kinds of problems than an internet survey, but the data will help the Safer Neighbourhood Teams in Lewisham, so worth doing if you have any ongoing concerns in your area.

Acceptable comment

To date, we have been incredibly impressed by the quality of posts that this blog generally receives and the responsible manner in which the vast majority of people have used the public platform that a blog gives them.

However, as the community of people using this site grows, it is important that we all continue to exercise this power sensibly. This issue is particularly important given the localised nature of the debate on this site - the people we discuss are often our friends and neighbours, rather than statesmen or celebrities.

We will apply the "Civility Enforced" standard, which is the closest thing that exists to a standard code of conduct for bloggers.

• We strive to post high quality, acceptable content, and we will delete unacceptable comments
• We define unacceptable comments as anything included (but not limited to) or linked to that is being used to abuse, harass, stalk, or threaten others is libelous or knowingly false, victimises an individual, infringes upon any copyright, trademark or trade secret of any third party, violates an obligation of confidentiality or violates the privacy of others
• We define and determine what is "unacceptable content" on a case-by-case basis, and our definitions are not limited to this list. If we delete a comment or link, you may email us for an explanation
• When someone who is publishing comments or blog postings that are offensive, we'll tell them so (privately, if possible) and ask them to publicly make amends, unless it is considered that doing so will only inflame or worsen the situation. If those published comments could be construed as a threat or of an illegal nature, and the perpetrator doesn't withdraw them and apologize, we will cooperate with local law enforcement regarding those comments and/or postings.
• Comments or posts that are deemed offensive will result in a request - private, if possible - that the commenter or poster make public amends, if practical. If those published comments could reasonably be viewed as illegal (threat or otherwise), we will report the comments and commenter to police.

The rule of thumb should be: don't say anything on the blog that you wouldn't say in person to the people you're talking about.

There is also a forum available, South East Central.

Thanks for your continued support and co-operation.

Things we realised at 3am this morning, between Forest Hill and Brockley

1. That it's actually a very long walk
2. That there aren't very many night buses
3. That the cliche about taxis not wanting to venture south of the river late at night still has some basis in fact
4. That Gogis does sometimes shut

The Tea Factory Gallery [Updated]

The Tea Factory Gallery is perhaps the most exciting development planned locally. The planning agreement struck between the Council and the developer guarantees the creation of a gallery space, which will be given rent free to the community for two years.

So, Brockley has two years to make it work - to create a financially sustainable business model which will enable it to pay its own way as a permanent facility.

Yesterday, we spoke to Andrew Carmichael, Director of the Creative Lewisham Agency (responsible for promoting the growth of Lewisham's creative industries) for an interview we hope to publish next week.

However, he gave us one piece of news that demanded immediate airing:

The gallery space is due for completion in Spring 2008 (when the Tea Factory is completed), at which point it will be nothing but an empty shell. How that shell is ultimately used is currently up for discussion and there will be a meeting in the evening of November 8th in Brockley to debate the issues. Anyone with an active interest in the gallery (including artists or people interested in running the gallery) is welcome to attend.

If you'd like to go, please email Andrew in advance to request a place.

And now, here's the official version, just sent out by Creative Lewisham, with some interesting new details...

The disused 1940’s tea and coffee factory is being converted by Michael Trentham Architects into 1440m2 mixed use space, which will consist of 4 commercial units at ground level, one of which will be a café, and 13 residential units above. Of the commercial units, the largest will be made available for use as a gallery. As yet no person or organisation has been appointed to operate the space and the meeting will be about how that process will be taken forward. Although the space will be rent free for two years it will have other operating costs and a good business plan and management structure will need to be put in place.

The Tea Factory is situated right in the heart of Brockley, beside the station and minutes away from the café’s and restaurants of Brockley Road. This is a great opportunity for local artists, arts organisations or other consortia to explore how this project could operate. Andrew Carmichael from the Creative Lewisham Agency will facilitate the meeting and Colin Yeates of DPS Property who owns the building will be present to answer questions.