Business Profile: The India Gate

David McKenzie from the Forest Hill Society met co-owner Amrit in his restaurant, The India Gate takeaway and dine-in restaurant. While David got down to his meal, Amrit answered some questions about taking over The India Gate, which is located at 47 London Road next to The Butchery.


Who owns the business and how long have you been open?It’s a one-off partnership between myself and the chef, Mr Mukti. We took over the restaurant in April 2014 and kept the name. However, the menu has been completely overhauled, offering a mix of Nepalese and Indian dishes.

Are you new to restaurants? No, I’ve got a lot of experience both managing and owning Indian restaurants. I moved here from Battersea where I owned a restaurant. Prior to this, I managed three restaurants in Crystal Palace.

Is takeaway/delivery or eat-in busier? At weekends, takeaway/ delivery is much busier though the restaurant is busy, too. Part of the strategy has been to do a lot of advertising online as well as in local newspapers. This advertising has driven a lot of business to our website (www.theindiagaterestaurant.co.uk), where orders receive a 20% discount.
(Certainly, on the night I was there, the restaurant was full but still had a relaxed atmosphere.)
What are your speciality dishes?• Pokhareli Duck: Pieces of marinated duck breast cooked in a Tandoor clay oven
• Jimbu Chicken: Chicken breast cooked in typical Nepalese style with Himalayan spices (Jimbu)
• Chicken Hyderabadi: A very hot combination of chicken and mincemeat in a Hyderabadi style of tangy sauce
• Lamb Xacuti: Lamb cooked with roasted aromatic fennel seeds, cloves, star anise, black pepper, and Goan spices in coconut sauce.

What’s the chef’s background? Mr Mukti grew up in Nepal where he was formally trained as a chef. Previously, he’d worked in Delhi and Ealing Broadway. He opened three restaurants in Dubai (which is where he and Amrit met) before moving to Forest Hill last year and when we took over The India Gate.

Why Forest Hill? As mentioned earlier, I used to live in Crystal Palace so I know the area well. While living in Battersea, Forest Hill started to become well known as an up and coming area and, with family still living locally, it made sense to move back here. The area is very busy with lots of passing trade and has a great feeling and vibe.

What are your future plans? 2015 will be a consolidation year here in Forest Hill before we look to expand next year.

Forest Hill Society Member’s Profile:Quetta Kaye, Chair, Environment Committee

Have you ever wondered who is responsible for the beautiful flowers and plants in the planters on the forecourt and platforms at Forest Hill station, the distribution of over a 100 plant-filled tubs outside businesses and shops last summer (supported by the Forest Hill traders), and planting bulbs in Horniman Triangle, to name but a few initiatives? Well, her name is Quetta Kaye!

As Chair of the Forest Hill Society’s Environment Committee, Quetta is the driving force behind many high-profile green initiatives in Forest Hill’s town centre and surrounding green spaces.

Quetta would be the first to say that she has not achieved this alone; she inspires a team of committed FHS members and other Forest Hill residents who volunteer when they can. She also works closely with local businesses in Forest Hill to support her. “If you don’t ask, you don’t get” is her motto when getting things done!

Quetta and her team’s hard labour has indeed borne fruit in the form of ‘Outstanding’ awards for Forest Hill from the Royal Horticultural Society’s ‘London in Bloom: It’s Your Neighbourhood’ category for the second year running in 2014!

Quetta is often asked about her unusual name, which is a diminutive of the name Jacquetta, a feminine form of the French Jacques. Originally from a small village on Dartmoor in Devon, Quetta moved with her parents when she was a child to the Kent coast. These rural surroundings and her appreciation of the open air have stayed with her and shaped her life ever since. From Kent, Quetta moved to North London to study and work but, contemplating having children, she ‘reluctantly’ moved to Forest Hill 40 years ago, where property prices were cheaper.

She was soon very pleasantly surprised by Forest Hill: the accessibility to green space, parks (particularly Horniman Triangle park), and even woodlands close by, in addition to her own garden. Added to this, Quetta was impressed with good local schools, the Horniman Museum and Gardens, the local swimming pool and library, and good transport links both into central London and to Kent. This all proved to be a happy place in which to bring up her three children.

Quetta spent an interesting period working in politics at the Houses of Parliament, as Personal Assistant to various backbench MPs. Quetta was also able to work from home before flexible working became mainstream whilst bringing up her young children in the late 1960’s and 70’s. When her youngest child started school, Quetta fulfilled a lifelong interest to study Archaeology at University. She was soon working on excavations in England but for the last 12 years has co-directed an excavation project on Carriacou Island in the Caribbean, during which time she completed a PhD, looking at aspects of pre-colonial Caribbean archaeology.

Quetta strongly believes that individuals can make a difference if enough of them do the same thing at the same time and stand up for what they believe in order to effect change. She believes that participation in community-led pressure groups, like the Forest Hill Society, is a great vehicle to improve the life of Forest Hill residents.

Quetta joined the Forest Hill Society after getting involved in the campaign against the closure of the Forest Hill swimming pool, where she met members of the Society. Quetta then attended an AGM where she volunteered to join the Environment Committee — a natural place for her, given her background — and became the Chair in 2009.

Quetta has plans for the coming year to win a third Outstanding award from the RHS (to qualify for the Champion of Champion award!), and plant hops on Platform 1 at Forest Hill station perhaps leading to the creation of a Forest Hill pint to rival Crystal Palace’s Palace Pint. This is a real step forward considering several years ago, Forest Hill station had plastic flowers hanging in baskets!

More broadly, Quetta is also keen to see improved signage in Forest Hill, the removal of some of the ugly street furniture, and more environmental initiatives such as working with Sydenham School’s girls who recently picked up five large bags of litter along Dartmouth Road in one hour! She is also keen to make better use of the car park in Perry Vale, behind Forest Hill station, suggesting that even a simple, sloped wheelchair access path from the car park onto Platform 2 would be a good start!

If this profile has inspired you to get involved or help make Forest Hill greener, please contact the Forest Hill Society now!

Article  by Helen Wicks (Communications Committee)

Everything's Going to Look Bloomin' Marvellous!

Quetta Kaye (Chair, Environment Committee) provided information for this report. See the Forest Hill Society’s website for updates, which will be posted when details become available.

Landscaping-improvement areas
Forest Hill station*: A working group is to be organised soon to tidy up the station’s platform and forecourt planters. This is in preparation for the Forest Hill Society’s entry for London in Bloom’s annual It’s Your Neighbourhood scheme, which is run by the RHS Britain in Bloom campaign. Judging takes place between 29th June-17th July, 2015.
Job Centre Plus, 32-34 Dartmouth Road: Before Christmas nearly 600 free bulbs supplied by the Metropolitan Public Gardens Association were planted beneath the trees in front of the Centre by volunteers.
Horniman Triangle play area*: On Thursday, 9th April from 11am-2pm, 30 hedgerow whips (young bare-root saplings) provided by the Woodland Trust are to be planted by Nature’s Gym and a general litter pick-up and tidying exercise is to be undertaken — volunteers are welcome! By early spring, 400 bulbs that were planted by volunteers in mid-December are expected to be blooming.
London Road pavement, opposite the Horniman Museum: Transport for London has advised us that two Indian Bean trees will soon be planted to fill in the gaps left by former trees.
London and Dartmouth Roads: The Edible High Road will continue its journey this year with local businesses sponsoring tubs of fragrant plants, adding vitality and interest to the town centre this summer. Each tub will comprise either a Bay tree, lavender or rosemary and be surrounded by Sanvitalia, a yellow trailing daisy-like plant. Potting-up day is planned for Saturday, 25th April (11:30am-3pm) at the Devonshire Road Nature Reserve, 170 Devonshire Road, with distribution planned for Saturday, 9th May (3-5pm). Volunteers are not just welcome, they are actively encouraged!

Hop growing in Forest Hill
The Forest Hill Society is encouraging people to plant easy-to-grow hops which, when ripe and harvested, can be combined with those of others as part of a community project to produce a local beer — perhaps even Forest Hill's own version of Crystal Palace’s Palace Pint?

Clutter clean-upTown centre: Plans are on-going, through campaigning work by the Society working with local businesses, but progress is slow, in tidying up the unsightly areas above and beside Forest Hill station’s underpass.

Long-term campaign
In the long term, we are working on an environmental campaign to consider car use in Forest Hill that will seek to address the problems of air pollution, noise, safety, and parking issues created by both through traffic and local traffic.

* Funding for plants and associated materials for these areas was awarded to the Forest Hill Society in November by the Forest Hill Assembly for the 2014-15 year, under the auspices of the Society’s Making Forest Hill Beautiful proposal.

Ward Assembly Funding 2014-15

At Forest Hill and Perry Vale Assembly meetings on 23rd and 27th November, respectively, local residents decided on how to spend the annual £12,500 Assembly Fund that each ward had been allocated for 2014-15 by Lewisham Council. Priorities for funding had already been identified at previous Assembly meetings: for the Forest Hill Assembly, these were youth engagement and provision, making Forest Hill more attractive, and community events and publicity; while for the Perry Vale Assembly the top priorities were the environment, roads and traffic, activities for younger people, antisocial behaviour and crime, and activities for the whole community.

At both Assembly meetings, residents were encouraged to talk to representatives of each of the groups who had submitted proposals for projects to be funded (up to max. £2,500) and completed by November 2015, and were then asked to mark each proposal out of 10. Based on the number of votes received (highest first), the following groups' projects were awarded a share of Assembly Funds.

Forest Hill projects• Crime Reduction Initiatives (CRI): Family Fun Day (£2,500)
• Lite-Waves Therapeutic Education: Re-Connect Programme at Platform 1 (£2,500)
• Lite-Waves Therapeutic Education: Therapeutic Art Project at Platform 1 (£2,500)
• Friends of Albion Millennium Green: Storage container (£2,475)
• Forest Hill Society: Making Forest Hill Beautiful (£600)
• Doopo Doopo CIC Art Hub And Gallery: Kelvin Grove Activities (£1,120)
• Sydenham Arts: Sydenham Arts Festival 2015 (£805*)

Perry Vale projects
• Grow Mayow: Beekeeping activities (£1,890)
• Dalmain Athletic Girl’s Football Project (£2,000)
• Safer Neighbourhood Team: Crime Prevention and Awareness Days (£1,584)
• Young Lewisham Project: Intergenerational Project Young Lewisham and Mind (£1,560)
• Sydenham Forest Hill Youth Forum: Consortium Development Project (£1,912)
• London Thunder: Community Basketball Project (£2,000)
• The Forest with the Big Hill: Storytelling Project (£300)
• Seniors: Young Enterprise Day (£1,254*)
* Projects that received partial funding.

It’s not too early to start thinking about a worthy cause or need that deserves support in 2016 since this funding is available only once per year.

For more info: www.lewisham.gov.uk/getinvolved/localassemblies/assembly-funding/Pages/Local-assembliesfunding.aspx
Article by John Wysocki, Newsletter Editor

Woodlands — Springing Back to Life!

Three of Forest Hill’s natural assets are relatively small pockets of woodlands located next to the railway line running between Honor Oak Park and Sydenham stations. These sites are open to the public, albeit on limited days in two cases, and are managed by dedicated groups of volunteers. Now that spring has arrived after winter’s lull, activities — as well as plants — at these sites are starting to show signs of renewed life.

Devonshire Road Nature Reserve (DRNR) abuts the west side of the railway line between Forest Hill and Honor Oak Park stations, and has been run by the Friends of Devonshire Road Nature Reserve (FDRNR) for 15 years now, who have been awarded a Green Pennant year after year.

Since October, the Friends have been doing tree and brushwood removal around the edges of the reserve’s meadows, and improving paths. Starting this spring, guided school visits — or ‘Muddy Boots’ sessions — will be offered to primary school children.

The Friends are in desperate need of someone to help run their website and with publicity, as well as to volunteer in general; for more info, see contact details below or attend the Friends’ annual general meeting on Sunday 22nd March.

DRNR is open to the public on the last Sunday of each month (currently between 2-5:30pm). 170 Devonshire Rd, SE23 3SZ.
For more info: www.devonshireroadnaturereserve.org

 

Albion Millennium Green (AMG) is situated on the west side of the railway line between Sydenham and Forest Hill stations. It is managed by the Friends of Albion Millennium Green, who organise a range of arts-related activities and plantmanagement work days throughout the year. After a winter break, work days, which occur on the second Saturday of each month, will start again in March.

At the Friends’ annual general meeting held on 21st February at Forest Hill Pools, activities and achievements in a very productive year were highlighted, including:
• Work carried out by volunteers that resulted in a Green Flag Award being awarded again.
• The AMG’s owner, the Albion Millennium Green Trust, a charitable trust, being revitalized at its AGM in November with the election of a new board of trustees.
• Also in November, the Friends being successfully awarded a Forest Hill Assembly grant for a much-needed 10-foot storage container, in order to securely house equipment and materials.

AMG is accessed year-round from Albion Villas Road, SE26 or the path adjacent to the railway line. For more info: www.amgfriends.org.uk

Dacres Wood Nature Reserve (DWNR) abuts the east side of the railway line between Forest Hill and Sydenham stations, and is run by the Friends of Dacres Wood Nature Reserve (FoDWNR) committee.

Having closed for the winter months, the Friends group is planning to re-open the reserve to the public on 28th March for regular last-Saturday-of-the-month open days. A variety of outdoor sessions and activities, including nature trail days, will then be offered in the spring for pre-school children and school children aged 5-plus.

The Friends group is looking for more volunteers to help on open days, plan and run events, or even join the committee.

DWNR is situated behind Homefield House, Dacres Estate,Dacres Road, SE23 2NZ. Its main entrance is at the end of Honeyfield Mews, which is off Dacres Road and just south of Catling Close. For more info: dacreswood.org.uk.

Article by John Wysocki, Newsletter Editor

Local Dates for your Diary

Forest Hill Society’s Edible High Road, potting-up day: Sat 25th April, 11.30am-3pm. Devonshire Road Nature Reserve, 170 Devonshire Rd.

Forest Hill Society’s Edible High Road, distribution day: Sat 9th May, 3-5pm. Devonshire Road Nature Reserve, 170 Devonshire Rd.

Havelock Walk Open Studios: Sat 9th-Sun 10th & Sat 16th-Sun 17th May, 11am-6pm. Part of Artists’ Open House, Dulwich Festival 2015. For all participating SE23 artists and venues, see www.dulwichfestival.co.uk/openhouse

Forest Hill Society’s Edible High Road, launch day: Sat 16th May, 2.30pm. Forest Hill station forecourt.

WEEKLY
Horniman Farmers’ Market: Every Sat 9am-1:30pm, Horniman Gardens’ bandstand.

MONTHLY
Dacres Wood Nature Reserve: Open to the public on the last Saturday of each month, 1-4pm. 28th March, 25th April, 30th May. Behind Dacres Estate, Dacres Road.

Devonshire Road Nature Reserve: Open to the public on the last Sunday of each month, 2-5:30pm. 29th March, 26th April, 31st May. 170 Devonshire Road.

Funding awarded for improvements in Dartmouth Road

The bid for £113,000 from the Mayor of London’s High Street Fund has been successful. The bid was submitted by SEE3, V22, and Lewisham Council with the support of the Forest Hill society.

The funding will help improve public space on Dartmouth Road and will help to develop a long-term cultural strategy. Plans include animating the underused spaces outside Forest Hill library, Louise House and Forest Hill pools, to ensure they are a key feature of the place.

V22 have also received Arts Council funding to renovate the old laundry at Louise House and the rear garden. The plan is that in a year from now there will be an integrated space around the library, Louise House and the pools that will provide a welcoming area for a range of events, markets and other community activities.

This grant adds to the £600,000 from Transport for London for pedestrian and road improvements from the library to the junction with the South Circular. The initial concept design work is now underway to see how the public realm can be improved with views being sought on areas such as parking arrangements.

More details from the South London Press.

Local History Talk - Wednesday 25th March

The Forest Hill Society has organised a Local history talk by Steve Grindlay following the publication of his new book ‘Sydenham & Forest Hill Through Time’.

The talk will take place on Wednesday 25th March, 7:30pm. At The Hob pub (opposite Forest Hill Station). Entry is free to members and non-members.

Steve is a great speaker and his talks are always illuminating and well attended. If you want to know anything about the history of Forest Hill you should come along.

Life is better in South London

Talk London have produced a survey of Londoners with over 3,600 people taking part. This paints a positive picture of many aspects of London Life, but particularly in South London.

They provide data divided by area of London and the results in South London stand out in a few areas. Below are a few of the areas where South London stands out. It shows that South Londoners like their local area more than other Londoners like their area - only Central Londoners come close to the 83% satisfaction rate. South London is more than 7 percentage points ahead as a pleasant place to live.

South Londoners feel safer walking in their local areas both during the day and at night, during the day this is up at 95%. They see the best relations between different ethnic and religious communities, and more generally they see local people working together to make the place better.

However, on the issue of roads South Londoners see less improvement and investment than other areas of London. 47% of South Londoners have seen no improvement in roads 'circling outer London' (there was not an options to say it has got worse) and only 10% have seen any reduction in congestion - less than any other part of London (again there was not an option to say it has got worse).

Question	Response	Central	East	South	West	North
How satisfied or dissatisfied are you with your local area as a place to live?	Very or Fairly satisfied:	82.1%	69.8%	82.7%	69.5%	72.5%
My local area is a pleasant place to live	Agree:	76.3%	69.1%	83.6%	70.3%	74.2%
There are good relations between different ethnic and religious communities in my local area	Agree:	51.7%	51.3%	57.1%	51.9%	55.5%
People in my local area work together to improve the neighbourhood	Agree:	37.0%	37.3%	41.6%	38.2%	37.7%
How safe do you feel walking alone in your local area during the day	Very or quite safe:	90.6%	91.4%	95.1%	88.6%	88.1%
How safe do you feel walking alone in your local area during the evening	Very or quite safe:	62.8%	55.2%	69.5%	55.7%	58.5%

Question	Response	Central	East	South	West	North
Thinking about how you get around London, have you noticed any improvement in roads, and if so how much? - Road routes circling outer London	not at all:	27.1%	36.5%	47.5%	41.4%	44.8%
Thinking about how you get around London, have you noticed any improvement in roads, and if so how much? - Road congestion	A lot or a little:	14.8%	14.2%	10.4%	15.6%	15.4%

All figures come from the London Datastore.

Planning Application: M&Co application by Morrisons

The Forest Hill Society have written to oppose the application from Morrisons Supermarkets to convert M&Co on London Road. Below are the details of our objection:

I write on behalf of the Forest Hill Society to object to planning application DC/14/89770 for alterations to the shop front and side access arrangements at 10-12 London Road, Forest Hill, SE23 3HF. 

We understand that planning permission is not required for the change from the current A1 retail use of this property to the use of the proposed supermarket.  However, this application raises a number of important issues about this proposal that we believe will be detrimental to the function and operation of the shopping area of Forest Hill.  We believe that the Council should be extremely concerned about the highways and servicing impacts that will arise directly from the proposals within this application in that they facilitate a much more servicing intensive use that conflicts directly with the surrounding streets and pedestrian users. No information on servicing, deliveries or refuse arrangements is included with this application.

The proposal in this application includes changes to the side access into this building from Havelock Walk, partly for access to the upper floors but this also gives access to the main store area "for access and means of escape for ground floor retail unit".  We are concerned that this change to the side access may be intended to be used for servicing and for deliveries for the new supermarket and that both Havelock Walk, and this busy stretch of London Road is highly unsuited to this arrangement or possibility.   Another concern that we have is that the new set back doorway onto this edge creates a hidden space and may facilitate crime and antisocial behavior in this area.

No information is provided in this application to explain how the regular heavy servicing necessary for a supermarket use will be accommodated on this busy corner of the South Circular and TFL red route.  The proposed changes to the building to not make it clear how this will work or whether they intend to use the front or side access for servicing.  It is also not clear where deliveries are to be stored before they go on the shop floor.   If the existing service bays are to be used that are along London Road 20m or so away then this will mean trolleying deliveries from this point into the store on a very regular basis.  We would like to understand whether TFL have been asked to comment on the impact this may have on the adjacent bus stops.

No obvious space is provided within the new internal layout for storage, refuse or the other paraphernalia that goes with smaller supermarkets and which if not properly planned for end up on the street causing a nuisance to pedestrians and other town centre users (there is a particular current problem with this at the small Tesco Store on Kirkdale/Willow Way which causes problems for pedestrians and other users as well as looking unattractive). This is one of the busiest and most congested corners of Forest Hill already with bus stops, vehicular traffic, servicing bays, road crossings and many shop units.  This corner cannot cope with the amount of bins that are already located here and any more will cause considerable harm.   At the very least we would expect a planning condition that prevented the locating or storing of trolleys for deliveries or store use, bins or other items outside of the store on the public highway.   The current shop frontage has a set back doorway which at least allows those entering the shop to shelter from the busy street.  The new shop front arrangements do not allow this.

We are of the view that there is no need for an additional cash point in this location as there are at least 5 others within 50m of this point.  This is a busy and narrow area of the pavement given its use and location and this will just add to the congestion.  We would disagree with the applicant's statement that the pavement is wide in this location. 

Our last concern is about the design of the shop front itself and whilst these changes are not extensive we are concerned that they do not enhance the character or appearance of the Conservation Area.  This is therefore a missed opportunity to improve the area and particularly this building which is one of the least attractive in the town centre but in a highly visible location.  

In summary, our objections to this application are:

• Lack of clarity over servicing and refuse proposals and arrangements that come about as a direct result of the proposed changes in this application;
• The purpose of the enlarged side entrance included within this application and its impact on Havelock Walk;
• The design of the new access onto Havelock Walk and the potentially dangerous set back area along the alley way;
• Impact on the street scene of additional servicing vehicles along London Road;
• Impact on access to and the operation of Havelock Walk (which is entirely unsuitable for large vehicles or lorries);
• The missed opportunity to enhance this building and this part of the Conservation Area; and
• There is no need for an additional cash point machine in this location.

We hope that you will be able to refuse this application until acceptable proposals for servicing the new use are established that will minimise any impacts on this important corner of the town centre.  We believe that any servicing proposals should be widely discussed prior to any application being approved so that the traders, shoppers and other users of the town centre can understand their impact and have a chance to comment on them.