Speech to Mayor and Cabinet

Below is the text of the speech made to Mayor and Cabinet meeting on Wednesday by Hilary Satchwell on behalf of the Forest Hill Society:

1) I’m speaking as a representative of the Forest Hill Society, and with the backing of the Tewkesbury Lodge Estate Residents’ Association, the Sydenham Society and Save the Face of Forest Hill Pools. I’m happy that we’ve been able to find a common view on the latest proposals from the Council.

2) Thank you for a report that provides some new ideas. We are really glad you have restated that you want a pool in Forest Hill – we REALLY want one too! We want a pool IN Forest Hill. Forest Hill Town Centre feels as if it is dying as a result of the closure of the pool three years ago. The report says that Option 3 could give us a pool sooner, but we would lose of one of the town centre’s key ‘anchors’ as identified in the 2003 Urban Development Framework. We have to find a way around this problem. Rushing ahead with newly conceived option three cannot be right. If you consult with such a strong preference for Option three without fully exploring the alternatives we fear there will be another fiasco.

3) We very strongly support option 2, but not as a pipe-dream for 2015. We must work together to find a way of delivering this now. Option 2 has many benefits, including good design, retention of ‘civic’ use and the pools frontage. It would revitalise the town centre and protect employment. It has minimal impact on neighbours. Our online survey and other feedback shows that it is supported by the overwhelming majority of residents. We believe that this option not only has the support of the majority of Forest Hill residents but also Council Members and Officers. It has the support of the swimming lobby and the Heritage lobby. We can’t shelve this option for three years. Nobody can accept that a solution that was first presented to the stakeholders just 3 weeks ago can’t be delivered before 2015.

The location of the pools is really important. Willow Way is 600 metres further from the centre of Forest Hill and is in Sydenham. Its catchment area overlaps The Bridge and Crystal Palace but is further from Honor Oak, Perry Vale and East Dulwich, which have no modern swimming facilities. Less people in Lewisham would be within a kilometre of a swimming pool if you move the site to Willow Way. We are concerned that a pool in Willow Way would be hidden in a back street and further from a wide range of public transport. This location will not attract custom or support long term viability. Lewisham’s leisure strategy and national guidelines recognise the importance of town centre locations for the provision of leisure and we are lucky to have a great site on Dartmouth Road!

4) We understand the constraints of planning policy and the important principle of not losing employment land from the Borough. As presented, option 2 and option 3 create exactly the same number of jobs from the pools. There would be NO NET loss of employment under option 2, and possibly an increase, if Willow Way included live work, or commercial and residential uses. On the other hand, option 3 would seriously threaten jobs in the town centre as a result of relocation of the pool. This cannot be the intention – it does not make sense to quote planning policy against Option 2 when it would actually increase employment opportunities within the borough. The issue needs further consideration and thought so that Willow Way can be used to cross subsidise the proposals.

5) We are concerned that the planning constraints of option 3 on Willow Way have been understated. Gaining planning approval for a significant leisure use outside of a defined town centre is contrary to both Lewisham Council Policy and national planning policy statement 6 on Town Centres. At the same time, putting high density housing on the Pools site would materially affect the setting of 2 listed buildings. We haven’t had the privilege of seeing the planning advice received on the proposals but know that Planning isn’t usually such a black and white issue as has been presented.

6) We are also concerned that the problems of delivering housing on the Pools site have been grossly understated. Delivering 60 flats on an existing leisure site in the current economic downturn and against public opposition will be difficult. It must be easier to construct a robust and sensible argument for the delivery of a mixed use development on Willow Way and a New Pool on an existing leisure site in the Town Centre. Option 2 only requires an increased range of uses on one site whilst option 3 needs a change of use on both. Some employment on Willow Way and a new leisure facility on Dartmouth Road will regenerate the Town Centre. The benefits significantly outweigh the case for leisure employment only on Willow Way, more empty shops on Dartmouth Road and high risk, high density housing.

7) Option 3, as the only recommendation to be delivered in the short term in this report, is the wrong one. Issues are not being considered in the round and it is not yet quite the right time for another consultation. Both Option 2 in 2015 and option 3 in 2011 would kill the town centre at a time of great opportunity with the coming of the East London Line. Pursuing Option 3 raises significant issues including, without being melodramatic, the future of Forest Hill as a Town Centre.

8) When it is right time to consult please make sure that the consultation asks open, informative and useful questions. The answers will then be useful if something unforeseen happens. We need a consultation that provides useful information about what people want from the pools project, in addition to a response on specific options, if that is what you think you need. We don’t need a tick box form for the 2 ‘closed’ options. We want a much more participatory approach involving stakeholders and residents. We don’t need another closed consultation with stakeholders kept in the dark. Let’s work together on this to deliver a first class leisure facility on the Pools site as soon as we can.

9) We understand that there is a proposal being developed for an arts centre in Louise House and would like your support for it, at the very least by financially supporting a feasibility study. We need the creative and youth oriented activities in Forest Hill that this proposal could bring.

10) Please consider what the Community has said and find a way to make option 2 a reality in the short term. This is what the Community wants and this is what your Officers recognise is the best option. Waiting until 2012 to revisit the options is not acceptable. We have already waited three years.

Thank you.

Pearcefield Avenue Planning Application

Below is the text of an email sent to Lewisham Council planning department on behalf of the Forest Hill Society.

Re: Application DC/08/70576: 17 Pearcefield Avenue, SE23

In general we would welcome bringing a building back into use either as a commercial site, which this appears to have been, or for residential use. However, on this occasion there are a number of concerns that we have about this development that lead us to object to the application.

1. The key concern is overlooking. The building is approximately 10 metres from the nearest windows and adding a floor to this property looking in this direction would create problems with overlooking both in terms of the gardens and the neighbouring houses in Waldenshaw Road. The first floor window will look out directly into neighbouring gardens and towards their windows. For this reason the application should be rejected in line with council policy HSG 8 (e) "there should be no appreciable loss of privacy and amenity for adjoining houses and their back gardens".
   
   
2. There is very little amenity space in this development with just two small yards for a family house. This is contrary to council policy HSG 7 "The Council will seek in all new dwellings the provision of a readily accessible, secure, private and useable external space. Family dwellings should be provided with their own private garden area. Normally, a minimum garden depth of 9 metres will be required".
   
   
3. We are concerned that the reuse of the glass roof of this building, as well as the fact that this was built as a Victorian coach house, may result in a property that is costly to heat and environmentally inefficient. We would ask that the council consider if the design meets environmental guidelines or is contrary to policy HSG 5 "The Council will, therefore, only permit new residential development which: (e) would encourage energy and natural resource efficiency".

We hope that you will consider these concerns and other concerns expressed by local residents and reject this application.

After Pools and Polls, it's time for Poles

On Valentine's Day, could there be a more apt destination in south east London than the Horniman Museum?

Their latest exhibition starts on Saturday, all about Wycinanki - no, not a new web 2.0 social network, but the ancient Polish art of paper cutting. If you can't make it for Valentine's, then you have a while, as it's on until September. Could make a nice distraction over half term, and there are some children's workshops planned - see full details in the press release below.

Wycinanki: The Art of Polish Paper Cuts

Horniman Museum, Balcony Gallery. Free Admission
Saturday 14 February – 27 September 2009

This exhibition, curated by Justyna Pyz, brings together 50 examples of the Polish folk art, Wycinanki, from the Horniman Museum collection, part of which was acquired in1963 from the Ethnographic Museum, Warsaw. The collection was originally assembled by the Polish Minister of Culture and dates from the late 1950s. Several new works were commissioned by the Museum in 2008 as part of its fieldwork programme; these include works by renowned artists such as Apolonia Nowak and Czesława Kaczyńska from Kurpie region and Helena Miazek from Łowicz, whose heart design was commissioned to mark the exhibition’s opening on Valentine’s Day.

Perhaps modelled on traditional Jewish papercuts, Wycinanki originated as an inexpensive means of decorating the homes of Polish peasants and were popular from the mid 19th century. They were generally made by women using sheep-shearing scissors and any readily available paper and replaced each spring when homes were whitewashed. With the advent of communism, Wycinanki were promoted by the new administration as an example of non-bourgeois art and enjoyed enormous popularity along with other forms of folk art. With the collapse of communism Wycinanki were assimilated into the Polish tourist industry as a traditional craft, they are now however enjoying a resurgence of interest from more radical quarters. The design of the Polish pavilion for the Shanghai Expo 2010 is based on a Wycinanki pattern whilst British artist Robert Ryan’s work has brought paper cuts to a new audience.

Some of the designs on display depict everyday rural scenes; these are valuable documents of social history showing a disappearing way of life. One of the paper cuts shows peasant women using traditional flax brakes to make linen, a practice which has now died out. The collection also includes geometric designs which were popular decorations in many homes. Wycinanki were also made for religious festivals and family celebrations; these designs have a set iconography, for example, cockerels for Easter. The paper cuts on display are from two different regions: those from Łowicz are multi-coloured and made from multiple sheets whereas those from Kurpie are made from a single sheet of coloured paper. Justyna Pyz said: “This collection of Wycinanki is remarkably diverse and represents a fantastic opportunity to discover a folk art which has flourished and continues to develop in Poland and which influences artists worldwide.”

Families with children aged 3 and up will have the opportunity to participate in Saturday art and craft workshops on 21 and 28 February from 1.30pm – 2.15pm and 2.45pm – 3.30pm on both days. Free tickets are available half an hour before the session starts from the Information Desk. Children must be accompanied by an adult.

Hat Tip: Brockley Central

Forest Hill Society to back Option 2

The Forest Hill Society Executive met last night to consider their position on the pools options presented to stakeholders last week.

There was a very strong preference for option 2 which maximises the leisure offered and keeps swimming in the current location in Forest Hill. We are pleased that this plan includes the retention of the pools frontage and believe that it will benefit both Forest Hill town centre and the Kirkdale area where new housing could be built. We recognise that there will be some difficulty in building housing in the Willow Way site, but believe that a solution must be found to move forward with option 2.

Option 3 was particularly disliked as providing a pool in the wrong location, in a back road close to a commercial zone where large van use a narrow road. It is outside Forest Hill town centre, leaving the library isolated in a residential area and having a detrimental effect on retail on Dartmouth Road. The Willow Way site is also significantly further from train stations and main town centres leading to an increased use of cars to travel to the pool, where car parking in not readily available.

These views are supported by local residents who in a poll on SE23.com back option 2 by 75% to 20% for option 1, and less than 5% for option 3 (based on a total of 70 responses over 3 days).

The mayor and cabinet will be considering the options on 25th February. This meeting, at Lewisham Town Hall, is open to the public to observe and we hope that local people will show their support for swimming in Forest Hill and for option 2 by attending the meeting.

Update: The full response by the Forest Hill Society can be read here.

2009 Options for Forest Hill Pool

Over the last five months Lewisham Council have been working on a feasibility study for the possible options for the current site of Forest Hill Pools.

Details of the three options can be viewed at http://www2.lewisham.gov.uk/lbl/documents/stakeholder_briefing_050209.pdf

We would be very interested to hear your views in the comments section or via email: email@foresthillsociety.com

Picture is of just one of the possible options to be presented to Mayor and Cabinet on 25 February.

Honor Oak cemetery used as fly tip

The following report was broadcast by the BBC on 21st January

An investigation is underway after a south London council discovered that three cemeteries were being used to illegally dump building waste.

Southwark Council said what appears to be large amounts of builders' demolition rubbish has been deposited.

The three cemeteries are Camberwell Old, Camberwell New (known as Honor Oak) and Nunhead.

Council officials say some of the cemeteries now have contaminated soil, but no graves have been affected.

Annie Shepperd, chief executive of Southwark council, said the fly-tipping first came to light in December 2007.

"As soon as the council was aware of the scale and nature of the activity taking place we notified the appropriate regulatory body, the Environment Agency, which is now carrying out a criminal investigation into the events leading to the building material being deposited without permission."

Ms Shepperd said the areas used for burials are unaffected, but other, vacant land on the sites are now the subject of an industrial clean-up operation after contaminated soil was detected.

"No graves will be disturbed by this but when material is being removed areas of the cemetery will not be accessible to the public."

It is unclear how long the dumping has been going on, but the council said waste was found "well under the surface".

"This material appears to have been processed and dumped at our cemeteries as part of alleged criminal activities by individuals intent on avoiding landfill charges and for their personal gain."

The council has begun civil proceedings in the High Court against a company named Brixton Tipping Service Ltd, its owner and a former manager who worked for the council.

Brixton Tipping could not be reached for comment.

A council spokesman said the former employee was past retirement age and has since taken his retirement.

The Environment Agency investigation is ongoing, a council spokesman said.

Redberry Grove development approved

Despite the objections of the Forest Hill Society, the Sydenham Society, Councillor John Russell, and over 60 local residents, the planning committee tonight accepted the proposed development in Redberry Grove.

Only three of the councillors turned up to the planning meeting - John Paschoud, Sue Luxton, and Paul Maslin - the minimum number needed to hold the meeting.

Despite a number of good arguments put forward by Michael Abrahams on behalf of the objectors, and by John Russell as a ward councillor, there was little discussion from the committee of their reasonable objections.

Sue Luxton was most concerned about making the modern building the highest environmental sustainability rating of any building in Lewisham, something that the developer, to their credit, was happy to accept.

There was some concern about possible loss of biodiversity and Sue Luxton recommended that the decision was deferred until after a biodiversity report was completed. However, this was overruled by John Paschoud's casting vote as chair. What biodiversity has been lost we shall not know, despite evidence of deer close to the site from the 1990s. If you visit Albion Millennium Green please keep an eye out for deer the size of dogs hiding the bushes. And if you see one, take a photo and email it to us!

The councillors showed no concern for the Sydenham Park conservation area, not even discussing the effect this modern building will have on the character of the conservation area. Lewisham council policy towards conservation areas appears to be that any modern building is acceptable as long as it is energy efficient and we can expect to see more buildings of this type in some of our most historic streets (of which Redberry Grove is certainly one).

Despite the defeat it is worth noting that the local residents fought a good campaign against this development, to protect their streets, so worthy of conserving, and to protect the adjacent area of nature conservation.

Perry Vale Car Park Pedestrian Access

Press Release from Lewisham Council:
Lewisham Council is proposing to undertake pedestrian improvements at the entrance to the car park in Perry Vale.

These improvements will include creating a step free crossing for pedestrians at the entrance, which in turn will reduce speeds at which vehicles enter and exit the car park. In addition we also plan to improve the footway between the car park entrance and the bus stop outside Perystreete flats.

It is our intention to begin work on Monday 2nd February 2009, and this should be complete within a month.

The Forest Hill Society has been encouraging the council to make the Perry Vale Car Park more accessible. There are two reasons for this:
1) Better pedestrian access to Forest Hill sorting office
2) Potential enhancements to access to Forest Hill railway station

Ideally we would like the southbound platform to be extended south to allow direct access to the Perry Vale car park. This would provide step free access to this platform and would allow the area in front of the station to be regenerated as a town square.

None of this will happen overnight, but it is good to see Lewisham Council taking to initiative and removing another hurdle in the race for level access to the station on both sides.

Forest Hill Pools Stakeholders Update 21st January 2009

This isn't much of an update because the Council is keeping us pretty much in the dark about what's going on and trying to get information is proving very frustrating. But we wanted to let our members know what we have managed to glean.

In October the Council commissioned further feasibility work to examine how a two-pool leisure centre could be delivered for Forest Hill, taking into account the results of public consultation and the listing of Louise House. This further work was to include examination of how Louise House and possibly the old pool building frontage could be incorporated into a new scheme. It would also assess the potential for other community uses, the scope for housing cross subsidy, the timetable, and the revised costs and risks for the project. At that stage, a stakeholder meeting was planned for 22^nd January 2009.

The Forest Hill Society, along with the Sydenham Society and Save the Face of Forest Hill were not happy with the previous consultation process. We felt that there had been no opportunity for a two-way discussion.

As the autumn progressed, it became evident that the brief for the feasibility study was regarded as confidential. It seemed to us that excluding the community from the process of developing a brief was part of the reason that the plans presented in the summer were derailed so spectacularly. We approached local Councillors and officers for a meeting to discuss ideas we have for an innovative consultation event to draw up a brief which would then inform a design competition, as had been done elsewhere. This would provide real options for local stakeholders to consider, and does not have to be an expensive process. We had great difficulty in getting a meeting, but eventually it took place on the 8^th January 2009.

There was some initial disagreement about the purpose of the meeting, as the Council officers felt that they had been directed to hold the consultation in a particular way, and only really wanted to look at the sketch plans which a local architect had shared with the societies. These demonstrate that even with the retention of Louise House and the Pools frontage building, there is space on the site for two pools, changing and other facilities, along with some housing. It would still require demolition of the laundry block at the back of Louise House in order to have plant and chemicals access. This is not out of the question because even when a building is listed it can still be possible to change or demolish parts of the building, as long as a strong and comprehensive case is put forward for it - in this case focussed around the positive reuse and repair of the building for a community use.

It was eventually agreed that the Forest Hill Society, Sydenham Society, Save the Face of Forest Hill and any other stakeholders would be able to table items for the agenda at the next stakeholder meeting. Thus we will have a forum to bring up our ideas about the consultation process. However, the Council officers are not prepared to have a stakeholder meeting until the feasibility study has been completed, and this will not be by the 22^nd January date previously agreed but has be delayed to 5th Febuary. Yet again, the timetable slips.

If you have any ideas about how Louise House could be used, please email the Forest Hill Society representatives on the Stakeholder group:

hilary@foresthillsociety.com

penelope@foresthillsociety.com

Perry Vale Ward Assembly

Perry Vale Ward Assembly will take place next week:

Date: Thursday, 29 January 2009
Venue: Forest Hill Methodist Church, Normanton Road, London SE23 2DS
Map of location of meeting
Time: 7.30pm-9.30pm

Minutes from the previous meeting can be found here.

Perry Vale Ward is the area of SE23 south of Stanstead Road and East of the railway, a small part of the ward is in SE6. All residents from the area are welcome to attend this meeting.