Letter to Southern Rail

Thank you for passing on this information [passenger counts at Forest Hill station]. What I do not see included (and what I do not believe was measured) was the flow of people onto or off the station from the Perry Vale entrance on the Southbound platform and Forest Hill. During peak hours this can be a significant number of people as I believe you have accepted (particularly in the evening peak).

At a recent General Meeting of the Forest Hill Society we listened to views of local people who make use of Forest Hill station and, while they were pleased that the gates would continue to be open after 3pm, there was an overwhelming feeling that shutting the Perry Vale entrance before 3pm was not in the interests of passengers. For many passengers heading south, towards Croydon and Victoria before 3pm this will mean they will need to use four sets of stairs to access platform 2, at a time when we are meant to be seeing improvements in accessibility. This retrograde step goes against accessibility improvements that are more widely planned on the railway.

There was also significant concern regarding the placement of two ticket inspectors on the southbound platform, as this will further slow down customers wishing the enter and exit the station between 3pm and 8pm. There were fears that such a large number of people queuing to get through the gate, whilst others are trying to move past them to access the footbridge, will lead to safety issues on a daily basis. Forest Hill is a very busy station with over half of people in the evenings using the Perry Vale exit and this will lead to congestion, and pushing, especially with new shelters for the ticket inspectors further restricting the flow of people. No safety assessment has taken place on this side of the station regarding the changes you plan to make, unlike the installation of the ticket barriers on in the ticket office which have been carefully subjected to the necessary tests.

We know that when the East London Line comes to Forest Hill in 2010 there will be Oyster barriers / posts at all entrances and exits to the station. If Southern Railways are not willing to implement a proper barrier or post at the Perry Vale entrance, then we believe no changes should be made until such time as TfL make plans for proper access to the station, with the gate on Perry Vale remaining open at all times until such plans are implemented. There is no reason to make life a misery for passengers in 2008 and 2009 prior to a better implementation in 2010.

I would like to thank you for the information provided in other communication that indicated that, as I requested, the Perry Vale exit will remain open and unmanned after 8pm (when the barriers at the ticket office will also remain open and unmanned). But in speaking to other local residents it is clear that there is strong feeling that this gate must remain open at all times throughout the day, whether manned or unmanned. This entrance provides import access to the station with only a single set of stairs to the southbound platform.

I hope you will also consider the health and safety implications of two ticket inspectors checking the tickets of over half the passengers at one of the busiest stations on your network, at a point in the middle of the station platform.

Until a new exit can be built to the Perry Vale Car Park, the best solution for the accessibility and safety of passengers at Forest Hill is to leave the gate open on the southbound platform, as it is at present.

Regards,
Michael Abrahams
Chair, Forest Hill Society

Copied to Jim Dowd MP, Len Duvall MLA, London Travelwatch and local councillors.

Garthorne Road Nature Reserve

10th May was a guided tour of Garthorne Road Nature Reserve. Below are a few photos from the area that is not normally open to the public.


Bitter Vetchling. A plant in the pea family which is rare in London. This is possibly the only site where they are found in Inner London.


A butterfly spotted beside the meadow.


Dave Smith, our guide for the morning, emerging from a field of Cow Parsley.


Giant Hogweed. A phototoxic plant found in small numbers in parts of the nature reserve. Contact with this plant can cause server itching in sunlight.

More photos on Flickr.

Presentation on the Pools from the General Meeting

This is the presentation by Steve Gough and Aileen Buckton from last nights general meeting.

General Meeting - 7th May

The Forest Hill Society will be having a General Meeting on Wednesday 7th May at 7:30pm (doors open 7pm) at Forest Hill School on Dacres Road. This will be a chance to discuss issues that you feel are important for the Forest Hill Society to address in the local area. We will have two guest speakers from Lewisham Council; Aileen Buckton, Executive Director for Community Services, and Steve Gough, Director of Programme Management and Property, who will be giving us the latest information on the rebuilding of Forest Hill Pools, one of the most important issues for the development of our town centre.

Members and non-members are welcome.

Craft Market in Forest Hill this weekend

There will be a Craft Market in the car park at Forest Hill station, Saturday 26th April 10am-3pm. Help support the idea of a craft market in the town centre by coming along, spending some money and maybe visit some of the other local shops and cafes/restaurants in the area. Weather is expected to be good!

On Sunday 27th April at 2pm our friends at the Tewkesbury Lodge Estate Residents Association will be hosting a public meeting in the Dutch Barn, Horniman Gardens. The plans for the Gardens will be available for viewing, and after a presentation from Museum staff, there will be an opportunity to ask questions. Refreshments will be available. Everyone welcome.

Good news for Rail Services

For over a year the Forest Hill Society has been campaigning against any reduction to services from Forest Hill to London Bridge. At the end of March the final version of the Route Utilisation Strategy was published and this document has included many of the recommendations put forward by the Society.

The final version of the RUS document can be viewed on the Network Rail website.

Highlights:

1. Same level of service to London Bridge from Forest Hill over the peak period.
2. Additional trains to London Bridge from Honor Oak Park (all services from Forest Hill will be stopping service).
3. Introduction of peak services to Victoria via Crystal Palace.
4. Early implementation of train lengthening, from the current 6-8 carriages in the peak up to 12 carriages. This is planned to be implemented by 2012.
5. 10 trains per hour on the East London Line (an increase from the 8 trains planned).
6. Thameslink services at peak times taking passengers from Forest Hill north of London Bridge. These services will start in 2015.

One note of caution, it is likely that between 2012 and 2015 there will be a reduction in services to London Bridge. This will be partially off set by longer trains and alternative routes via the East London Line, but it seems worthwhile to get ThamesLink services from our stations from 2015.

Thanks to the campaign we have been running we will get more trains, longer trains, and an increase in choice of destinations. All of these issues were identified in our submission to Network Rail, although we had not actually requested Thameslink trains stopping at Forest Hill. This is a welcome increase to services and good news for the people of Forest Hill.

Newsletter - March 08

The following 10 entries are taken from the March newsletter to members of the Forest Hill Society. Please feel free to comment on any of the articles and let us know what you think.

Chair's Report - April Newsletter

I am delighted that our next General Meeting on 7th May will be at Forest Hill School - my old school - which has been completely rebuilt over the last few years. It’s a specialist school for the performing arts and has some great new facilities so our general meeting will be a fantastic opportunity to see some of these and to join the discussions on what you feel is important in and around Forest Hill.

Two topics that are bound to crop up are the rail service and the pools. We’ve finally had information from Network Rail, which indicates there will no cut to peak rail services to London Bridge with the coming of the East London Line. We are pleased that our year long campaign on rail services has produced promising results and we will continue to monitor the situation with the re-franchising of the South Central network.

The report on the pools was published in early February with bad news for the existing building. The Forest Hill Society will be working with the council to make sure we have the best solution to swimming and other leisure services in the heart of Forest Hill.

This year we are continuing to focus on improving the town centres in Honor Oak and Forest Hill. This is not an easy task but one that clearly needs some attention. Do get involved!

Michael Abrahams
Chair, Forest Hill Society

Dates for your Diary

7th May – Forest Hill Society General Meeting.
Forest Hill School, Dacres Road. Doors open 7pm for light refreshments. Proceedings start at 7.30 pm.

25th May – Green Chain Walk – Sydenham Wells Park to One Tree Hill. 2pm, meet at the pond in Sydenham Wells Park. Walk led by Peter Frost of Friends of One Tree Hill.

Out and About

13th April - spring flower walk at 2.30 with Roy Vickery, Chairman of the South London Botanical Institute. Meet at the Crescent Wood Road entrance to Sydenham Wood.

28th June – Blythe Hill Fields Fun Day, starts 11am. There’ll be a live stage with music and performance from local groups, activities and field games for children and food and drink. The Forest Hill Society will have a stall with information about our activities and lots of our popular SE23 cakes to buy!

Forest Hill Pools to be Demolished

Plans to refurbish Forest Hill’s Victorian swimming pools have been scrapped. Instead, Lewisham’s Mayor now says that the existing pools and Louise House next door will be demolished and a new, two-pool facility will be built.

It’s been two years since the swimming pools were closed because of fears about the structural safety of the building. We were then told, after a consultation, that the Victorian building would be refurbished and reopened in 2009.

But it now seems that the intrusive survey, which convinced the Mayor that this option was feasible, was not intrusive enough. A detailed feasibility assessment now states that the two pool tanks have severe cracking across their entire width in three places and are leaking water at the rate of 3627m3 per annum.

Having considered various options (again), the Mayor now plans to demolish the pools and Louise House and build a modern replacement with a 25m pool and a learner pool. Other facilities will be incorporated and we expect the Council to listen to local opinions when deciding what exactly these facilities should be.

The Council has made a commitment to engage with local groups, such as the Forest Hill Society, as plans for the building proceed. It has also pledged to incorporate some of the existing architectural features from the current building such as the foundation stone. The Council says our new pool will be ready for us to dive into in the summer of 2010.

However, many people will mourn the destruction of both of Thomas Aldwinckle’s Victorian public buildings in Forest Hill.

We will press the council to seek advice from a conservation architect so that as much of the original facade as possible can be incorporated into the new building. It’s also very important that a historical report on the building be gathered before demolition so that Forest Hill Pools can be archived for the historical record.

Most importantly, we want a good quality building in this prominent site. When the Victorians built their public baths, they had a deep sense of civic pride and this was reflected in their grand designs. In the event of full or partial demolition we do not want to see a Victorian pastiche but neither do we want a modern non-descript shed. There are many examples of excellent modern civic buildings and we believe that SE23 deserves high architectural standards to compensate us for any loss of our Victorian heritage.

Whilst we regret the destruction of the Victorian baths, it’s worth remembering that in several areas they did not meet the needs of twenty-first century swimmers. Apart from general dilapidation, there is no disabled access and the changing facilities are poor and poorly located. Refurbishing the existing building would be a huge risk since it is highly likely more structural problems would emerge in coming years and we would simply be delaying the inevitable. But we would like the council to consider if it would be possible to save the facade of the existing pool building without compromising the facilities that will be available on the site.

It is obviously deeply frustrating that several years have been wasted and this two-pool, rebuild scheme was not offered as an option during the initial consultation. But the important thing now is to consult widely and ensure we get the building we want and that more people than ever – especially our local children - get the chance to enjoy swimming.

And by making our voices heard, we can make sure it’s not just a great sports facility but also a civic building that everyone can be proud of – swimmers and non-swimmers alike.