Your Neighbourhood Matters
A Society for Forest Hill, London.
To contact the Society about our activities please email email@foresthillsociety.com
Support the Forest Hill Society - become a member today.
15 July 2014
Public Invite: Forest Hill Town Centre design workshop - vision 2023
28 June 2013
Friends of Mayow Park meeting
Are you a regular in Mayow Park? Would you like to find out more about activities and developments there? If so, the Friends of Mayow Park would like to see you at their General Meeting at 7pm on Tuesday, 9 July.
The meeting will be held at the Dacres Wood Nature Reserve Field Centre, which is a single storey building located up a driveway off Dacres Road, between Homefield House & Catling Close. The Field Centre is accessed through gates at the end of the driveway and turn left into building.
They are particularly keen to invite regular park users including dog walkers, sports groups, young people aged 16+, parents of young children and others to join them. For more information email: friendsofmayowpark@ymail.com
09 February 2013
People's Question Time, 7th March in Catford
People’s Question Time is a twice yearly event where members of the public can see the Mayor and London Assembly in person and ask questions on topics currently being discussed here on Talk London and more.
March's People's Question Time will take place at the Broadway Theatre, Catford and topics to be discussed will include growing London's economy, transport and environment, housing and policing and community safety.
You can apply for free tickets at the following link.
More details from http://talklondon.london.gov.uk/events/peoples-question-time-lewisham-7-march
Apply for tickets at http://talklondon.london.gov.uk/forms/thank-you?event=265
02 February 2013
Forest Hill Assembly - Wednesday 6th February 2013
We will also have the latest news concerning Lewisham Hospital, an update from SEE3 regarding the Portas Pilot, information about the Council's budget cuts and parking.
22 June 2012
General Meeting - Saturday 23rd June 2012
The meeting will start with a brief presentation from Fusion Lifestyle on the new pools in Forest Hill. The latest we have heard is that they will open on 9 July, but it may be later in July. Following the presentation will be a barbecue where you can enjoy meat or vegetarian option.
12 May 2010
May eNewsletter
Forest Hill Society’s next General Meeting will be on Thursday June 10th at the Hob, opposite Forest Hill Station. We’ll be getting an update from the Horniman Museum on their plans for the gardens then we’ll move on to Society business and an informal discussion of the key issues facing SE23. We look forward to seeing many of you there.
FOREST HILL STATION
Following the cosmetic upgrading of Forest Hill Station, the Society initiated contact between the station’s Delivery Manager, Alan Jessop-Peacock, and Shannon’s Garden Centre with a view to removing the plastic flowers and greening up the station. It has now been agreed that Shannon’s will plant up and maintain tubs of real plants on the platforms, once the station has supplied the containers. Meanwhile, the tubs either side of the station’s main entrance will be given new plants donated by Shannon’s. We hope the floral results will put a smile on your faces as you run for your trains.
EAST LONDON LINE
Trains start running on Sunday, May 23rd. There is a rumour (from TfL) that they will be giving away 10,000 free tickets on a first come/first served basis. If these plans go ahead, the tickets will be distributed across the ELL stations according to “ridership patterns.” Those with Annual/Monthly/Weekly travel cards will be able to collect a souvenir ticket, rather than a free ticket.
23 CLUB DOES THE EAST LONDON LINE
If you’d like to celebrate the ELL’s first operating day, then do join the 23 Club on Sunday, May 23rd as we ride the rails.
The plan is to meet on Platform One at 14:00 and catch the 14:11 from Forest Hill Station with Sydenham Society, enjoying their theatre performance on the way. They will be going to Dalston and back. But the 23 Club would like to recommend getting off at Hoxton Station at 14:36 for a visit to the fabulous Geffrye Museum (www.geffrye-museum.org.uk). Opening hours on Sundays & Bank Holiday Mondays are 12 - 5pm. Admission to the museum's eleven period rooms, special exhibitions and herb and period gardens is free. The restored historic almshouse, in the south wing of the museum buildings, will not be open.
24 August 2009
Forest Hill Conservation Area Consultation
Forest Hill Library, Dartmouth Road
15 May 2009
Minutes from the General Meeting - May 7th 2009
02 May 2009
General Meeting, Picnic, and the Pools
Most importantly, we have our General Meeting on 7th May at The Hob. This is a chance to discuss the major issues facing SE23 (I guess the Pools might crop up) and the way forward for the Forest Hill Society. If you’d like to become more actively involved in the Society’s work – in whatever capacity – do make yourself known to us at the meeting.
You should all have received a consultation form the Council asking for your views on the future of Forest Hill Pools. At the end of this email, we’ve included a message from Hilary, one of our representatives on the Stakeholder Group, explaining more about the Society’s position.
Monday 4th May - May Bank Holiday Revels on our own Millennium Green
The Forest Hill and Sydenham Societies are joining forces for the Bank Holiday on the 4th of May. We'll be celebrating spring with a day at a hidden green space on the border of Forest Hill and Sydenham - the Albion Millennium Green.
The Green, formerly a tennis club, was landscaped into an attractive, informal park at the turn of the century under a government scheme to develop 'Millennium Greens.’ Its entrance is at the end of Albion Villas Road (just off Sydenham Park Road), one of the prettiest streets in the area.
It's a haven for flowers and wildlife but it does need a little sprucing up. So we'll start the day with a group tidying up session and then savour the fruits of our labours with a picnic (please bring your own), games and traditional May Day activities for all the family.
So mark your diaries now. It'll be a great Bank Holiday day out - just around the corner.
Thursday 7th May - General Meeting. 7.30pm at The Hob pub opposite Forest Hill Station.
We’ll be upstairs and the bar will be open so there’ll be plenty of opportunity to socialise as well as take part in the more formal part of the evening. Doors open from 7pm. See you there.
Saturday 9th May – Dawn Chorus Walk, One Tree Hill - 5am
This is organised by the Friends of One Tree Hill. At this time of the year, the air is full of birdsong as each bird gets up in the morning. This annual, guided walk is an experience everyone should have at least once in their lives! So wrap up warmly and come and see how many different birds we can identify. Meet at 5 am at the gates to St. Augustine's Church, One Tree Hill, Honor Oak Park SE23. If you wish to find out more about the walk on their website
Saturday May 23 at 8pm – 23 Club
The Thai Orchard, 3 David’s Road SE23 3EP Phone 8291 3901. Please book directly with the restaurant making it clear you’re with the 23 Club or Forest Hill Society. We look forward to seeing you there.
FOREST HILL POOLS CONSULTATION STARTS
By now all of the households in Forest Hill, Perry Vale and Sydenham Wards should have received Lewisham Council’s latest questionnaire on the future of Forest Hill Pools.
This consultation is about whether people think that a pool is better in Dartmouth Road (with a bit of a wait) or Willow Way (which they think can be delivered sooner). It also asks questions about how often people use the pool and their age group etc.
If you have lost, recycled or someone else in your household has already filled in the printed questionnaire, then it is available to complete online.
The Society’s Forest Hill Pools Stakeholder Representatives are generally of the view that:
• A new pool should be built on the existing pools site as a way of helping regenerate the town centre and attract a wider range of shops and services; and
• That the pool should be delivered as soon as possible, and certainly much before the 2015 date that the Council set out in the questionnaire.
The Council says in the questionnaire that the Willow Way site can't be used to cross subsidise the pools on the Dartmouth Road site because housing is not going to be an acceptable use for this site, given its current designation as an employment site.
So this leaves us with a bit of a difficulty as neither of the options as they are presented in the questionnaire really meets the needs of Forest Hill. A number of the FHS Executive have been working to try and get the Council to reconsider the current options as they stand. The work that has been done indicates that it may be possible to redevelop Willow Way for live/work development or mixed uses including employment and that this development COULD then be used to cross subsidise a new swimming pool on the Dartmouth Road site. It may not meet the whole funding gap that has currently been identified but it may well go some way towards doing so. In that case, it may be possible to deliver a new pool on the current site much sooner than 2015.
We also think that if the responses to the questionnaire support the idea of a new pool on the current site then it may be possible to persuade the Mayor to reconsider the current options on the table and work to find a solution that delivers it sooner.
If anyone has any questions about the Pools project and the Council’s current consultation then please let us know. We are very keen that Forest Hill has a pool back soon and that it is in the best place for the majority of residents of this part of Lewisham and for the regeneration of our town centre.
10 August 2008
Pools Public Meeting - 21st August
Public Meeting 7pm Thursday 21 August at the Forest Hill Methodist Church and Centre on Normanton Rd SE23
As a recap - in February 2008 the Mayor of Lewisham approved the redevelopment of the Forest Hill Pools and Louise House site in order to bring new leisure facilities to the area. The Stakeholder Group (an inclusive Group of the key stakeholders including representatives from the Sydenham and Forest Hill Societies, swimmers, schools, residents and traders) held their first meeting in May. At the June meeting the group considered how we can redevelop the space next to Forest Hill's Grade II listed library and considered the feasibility and housing options from the consultants, HLM. The Council is currently consulting local residents on the three concepts that have been produced for the development of a new leisure centre including a six-lane 25-metre pool, learner pool and associated dry leisure and community facilities.
An exhibition was on display at People's Day on 12 July and the full exhibition was outside Forest Hill station on Friday and Saturday 18-19 July following the delivery of 20,000 flyers to homes in Forest Hill, Perry Vale and Sydenham wards. You can view the background papers and options online and take part in the survey at http://www.lewisham.gov.uk/foresthillpools. The exhibition was running at Forest Hill library until 8 August with residents providing feedback on the printed forms on the three options, range of facilities and other comments.
Focus groups are taking place with 'seldom heard groups' in accordance with the Council's consultation strategy, and further active consultation is taking place with local schools, businesses, and swimming clubs. Council officers have offered to meet with representatives from both the Forest Hill and Sydenham Societies in addition to their ongoing involvement with the Forest Hill Pools Stakeholder Group.
As an adjunct to the consultation programme a public meeting has been arranged for Thursday 21 August at the Forest Hill Methodist Church and Centre on Normanton Rd SE23. The meeting will run from 7pm to 9pm.
The evening will include a presentation on the background to the Mayor's decision and will give local residents the opportunity to speak to local councillors and leisure officers about the current proposals. The exhibition which details the three development options will be available, and Council staff will be present to answer queries and to gather feedback on the options that have been presented as part of the consultation.
The Stakeholder Group will be meeting at the end of August to review the feedback from the consultation. Comments from the Stakeholder Group will be included in the report to Mayor and Cabinet on 17 September which is an open meeting starting at 6.30pm at the Town Hall in Catford. The tender for the architects is running in parallel with the consultation so that work on the design can progress once the option is agreed.
We look forward to seeing you on 21 August. If you have any queries about the meeting please contact Hilary Renwick on 8314 6359 - hilary.renwick@lewisham.gov.uk or contact Cllr Chris Best or Cllr John Russell who will be co-chairing the public meeting.
03 May 2008
General Meeting - 7th May
Members and non-members are welcome.
10 October 2007
Further dates for your diary
Perry Vale ward meeting
There will be a Perry Vale Ward meeting hosted by the ward councillors, Susan Wise, John Paschoud and Alan Till to dicuss how ward members would like the next round of the Localities Fund to be spent. The £10,000 is funded by the Mayor Lewisham, Sir Steve Bullock, and the meeting will take place at St.George's Church (at the junction of Vancouver and Woolstone Roads SE23) on Monday, 29th October, at 7.30pm. All ward members welcome.
Rockbourne Youth Club - 25th Birthday
All members of the community, young and old, are invited to the 25th birthday of Rockbourne Youth Club. With information about the history of the club and current activities plus light refreshments.
20th October, 2-5pm, 41a Rockbourne Road, SE23 2DA
RSVP - Cerys: rockbourneyouthclub@gmail.com
The Lemon Grove - Coffee shop
News is coming in on se23.com that, after much waiting, a coffee shop will be opening on London Road. This is welcome news and we wish all new businesses in the area every success. More details here and on SE23.com as we hear them.
19 March 2007
Sydenham Society Public Meeting - Minutes from 14th March
The presentation I made about the petition and survey conducted by Forest Hill Society can be downloaded from here. The presentation made by Peter Field from TfL can be downloaded from here but this is a big file (6Mb) so it may take a few minutes.
17 March 2007
Dates for your diary
15th April 2pm, Devonshire Road Nature Reserve. Nick Pond, who’s responsible for nature conservation in Lewisham, will reveal the flora and fauna which inhabit this secluded spot. He’ll also give tips on encouraging biodiversity in our gardens. Meet in the classroom.
Forest Hill Society General Meeting
10th May 7.30 pm (doors open 7pm) – Christian Fellowship Centre, Honor Oak Road (opposite
Fairlawn School). Guest Speaker – Steve Bullock, Mayor of Lewisham.
Non-Forest Hill Society Events:
Forest Hill Day organised by the Forest Hill Traders Association.
10 June 2007, Horniman Gardens.
08 March 2007
Sydenham Society Public Meeting - Wednesday 14th March
Peter Field, Director of London Rail Development (the man in charge of ELR) will explain the new line and answer your questions.
Michael Abrahams, Chair of the Forest Hill Society, will be presenting the findings of the Forest Hill Society survey and petition.
Naborhood Centre (next to the post office), Sydenham Road, Wednesday 14th March 7.30pm
Organised by the Sydenham Society & supported by the London Borough of Lewisham.
03 January 2007
Local Meetings
There is a Forest Hill Ward Meeting hosted by the ward councillors on Monday 8th January at 7.30pm, Holy Trinity Church Hall, off Sydenham Park Road. More information can be found on se23.com. This meeting will focus on issues in the Forest Hill Ward and is primarily intended for residents in this council ward (although I am told other people will not be turned away!)
Later in January, on the Tuesday 30th January at 7:30pm there will be an Area Forum for all residents in Forest Hill, Perry Vale and Sydenham wards. This meeting will take place at St George's Church at the junction of Woolstone Road and Vancouver Road. More information can be found on the Lewisham Council website.