Brockley Common: Two steps forward, one step back?

The council's contractor for the long-awaited Brockley Common works, Conways, has begun to clear the site today having installed a ramp and steps. The area around the station entrance has been left as bare soil, unplanted, and due to the previously-documented alleged asbestos problems the planned performance space has not been created.

The council's highways department is project-managing the scheme but the Brockley Cross Action Group have kept a close eye on progress and are very concerned about some aspects of the work.

These include the incomplete works, the lack of a completed footpath on the west side of Coulgate Street, the lack of greening/plants, the missing performance area, the missing corner stairs, the time and money allegedly spent on asbestos removal, and the lack of communication to the community about project progress (the only signs around the site were placed by the train company, not the council, according to BXAG).

BXAG are calling on the council to publish a project plan stating when the above will be completed.

Local residents who want to lobby Lewisham Council about this situation can email gill.redrup @lewisham.gov.uk (remove space).

In Bloom

Today, the Mayor of London launched a strategy to 'green' London, planting more trees and encouraging the development of roof gardens and living walls.

Whatever the substance of the report, the strategy is clearly the right one - not simply to cope with climate change, but also to improve quality of life in the city.

A walk down through Deptford to Greenwich last weekend provided a couple of examples of how dramatic the effect of some vigorous planting can be.

While this tower block has been transformed by a few pot plants, Oscar Street - just behind Tesco Metro on Lewisham Way - has clearly benefited from some collective action, as you can see on Streetview.

Every tree nests in a bouquet of flowers, every house has a hanging basket. The wheelie bins can't be hidden, so instead they're decorated. It's a triumph of collective action and it sure beats dog-poo stencils and double-parked cars:

Brockley Bites

Memphis, New Orleans and South London Film Night

The Old Police Station, Deptford, is proud to invite you to a special night of exhibitions, a fundraising auction and cocktail bar afterparty. Friday 31st July 2009 6-11pm.

114 Amersham Vale London SE14 6LG www.tempcontemp.co.uk/oldpolicestation.html

Transition Brockley

Brockley's Transition Town Group is meeting on Thursday 6 August at 7.00pm at St Andrew's Church. They'll be showing a film about "how Cuba survived peak oil." Fran writes:

"We are just starting up and the 3 tonne club (reducing carbon footprint), the swishing (swapping) and the films are some of our first events in Brockley. We are going to be promoting food growing too.

"We aim to suggest, encourage, facilitate and where necessary support initiatives in the area rather than Transition Brockley being the main activists."

The Talbot, Tyrwhitt Road

Finally, we can bring you official confirmation that The Talbot pub on Tyrwhitt Road is to be redeveloped by the people who brought us the excellent Prince Regent in Herne Hill.

A magnificent but badly neglected pub, its fate is something we have agonised over, ever since Brockley Central began. Its potential, in an area starved of high-quality pubs, has always been clear. Many great pub managers have tried to raise the funds to redevelop it, but have fallen just short. Now, we are delighted to bring you this letter from Felix Pearce, new owner of The Talbot:

We have just completed on the purchase of the freehold of the Talbot today at 10am. As you can imagine, these things take time to sort out, but we can now confirm that we are the very proud new owners of the Talbot SE4.

We will be starting a complete refurb of the pub next Monday 3rd. There will be a team of builders beginning a 3 month schedule of work that will include a new layout in the bar downstairs, a new trade kitchen, new loos and opening up the upstairs room. We are planning to have the pub up and running at the beginning of November 2009.

The Talbot will be keeping its name and will remain a local pub. We aim to turn the Talbot into a pub of exceptional quality for everyone. For anyone wishing to get a feel of what the new Talbot might be like, please pop down to the Prince Regent in Herne Hill where you will be most welcome. Come in for a bite to eat, try one of our real ales, try your luck at the weekly pub quiz, bring the whole family (and the dog!) for a Sunday lunch or come and check out the rooms upstairs. Alternatively you can have a look at our website – theprinceregent.co.uk.

It is our intention to create a pub that everyone in Brockley will be proud of and use regularly. I know that it has been a long time coming for all of you and that the three months extra wait will be like an eternity, but we hope that the wait will be worthwhile. I will update you as we go along.

Thanks for your patience.

We wish him the best of luck.

Brockley: A conspiracy of silence

The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist.
- The Usual Suspects

We have a friend staying with us at BCHQ, who opted to take the bus to Lewisham the other morning. Getting there was a simple matter of pointing her in the right direction on Lewisham Way and telling her to hail a bus. But getting back, she got a bit confused about which bus to take and which direction to head - no doubt, her head was still spinning from opening the box of delights that is Lewisham Shopping Centre.

She asked 6 different groups of people walking through the town centre how to get to Brockley. On a weekday morning in Lewisham, it's unlikely that any were tourists, but none of them knew where Brockley was, let alone how to get there. Defeated, she had to call us for help.

This is a conspiracy of silence that goes back generations, as Transpontine has shown. His site has evidence from the Pathe news archive, in which a 1917 film set in the heavily-built-up streets of Brockley, SE4 is attributed to Brockley, Suffolk (a tiny village, even to this day). In 1931, a "folding car" struggling up towards Telegraph Hill is attributed to Brockley, Somerset.

It's clear that by promoting Brockley, BC is messing with powers that it does not understand. We just have to figure out how all of this ties to the Knights Templar.

Brockley Station works: The end is nigh?

Local councillor Dean Walton has another update on the works to the station entrance and footbridge. The promise is now that the ramp will open by the end of next week, with the steps opening 'in the next few weeks'.

Dean makes the very good point that communication with local residents and station users about the progress of the works has been completely non-existent. It is a considerable inconvenience for some, and would have been good to see the contractors using a little bit of nous to win some brownie points with some basic information.

Can he fix it? Yes, he can ...

Fans of the Wickham Rd wall saga will be thrilled to hear that BC can bring glad tidings. As we all know, the wall comes under the auspices of Lewisham Council's housing PFI consortium. Surveyor Bill Chambers from consortium member Equipe, which is carrying out the works, has kindly answered a few of BC's questions about the project ...


Q. Obviously the initial problem with the wall was that it had partially collapsed; however the work now being undertaken seems to be considerably more significant than a simple re-build (laying foundations, etc). What was the thinking behind this?

A. It is a simple rebuild; the foundations are to ensure that the wall does not subside as before.


Q. What exactly do the current works involve, and how long are they expected to take? Do you have a planned completion date?

A. Normally for a simply rebuild no planning permission is required but for this one we were required to submit plans. This has been done and we now have permission to continue, and work will restart week commencing 27th July 2009. Work will be continuous to completion approximately 4 weeks if there are no unforeseen circumstances.


Q. What care is being taken to ensure the materials used are in keeping with the nature of the conservation area?

A. The conservation area planning officer has approve the materials being used and will be making regular visits to site.


Q. As a result of the works, the garden inside the wall has become bare earth. What condition will this area be left in once the works are complete?

A. The area will be levelled and seeded. The resulting grass will be maintained by Pinnacle grounds maintenance [part of the PFI consortium] provided that no fences are erected by residents.


Q. It has taken more than a year for this re-build to begin; can you explain or comment on why it has taken so long?

A. It was a simple matter of the funding of the project. Once this was in place work was started.


BC is thrilled to hear that the project should be finished by the end of August - the fact that it has taken around 18 months to sort out can clearly be firmly attributed to the vagaries of PFI contracting (on which BC has a fairly clear opinion, or at least this part of BC does ...). But PFI aside, this is good news at last.