V22 Louise House: Community Consultation

Thursday 3 September 2015, 4.30–7pm V22 Louise House

 

V22 LOUISE HOUSE
V22 Foundation is delighted to invite you to an open discussion session for proposed renovations at Louise House, Forest Hill. Louise House is a Grade II listed building. Originally a Victorian Girls' Industrial Home, it now houses fifteen artists’ studios in the main building and we are planning a range of initiatives for the garden and rear of the property.


V22 Foundation has received funding from the Mayor of London’s High Street Fund and Arts Council England Small Capital funding in 2015/16 for the redevelopment of the property. With this funding we are able to:
- renovate the rear building as an exhibition space, community studio, café and events space and provide a community garden;
- redesign and build the front garden to form a single space in combination with the Forest Hill Library and Pools.
All of these ideas have come about through our discussions with the local community and we now want to invite all interested parties, from Forest Hill, and our V22 art audiences, and further afield to join us in finalising the plans.

For further information see V22 website.

Portas Pilot/SEE3 Town Team Meeting

Portas Pilot/SEE3 Town Team Meeting

Thursday 3rd September, 7-8.30pm Forest Hill Pools


The Portas Pilot/SEE3 Town Team meets once a quarter in the community room at Forest Hill Pools, Dartmouth Road. Meetings are open to all – from local residents who love their locality to budding entrepreneurs, local traders and aspiring market stall-holders. Particularly welcome are those with experience in bid-writing, who can help forge SEE3’s next stage of development. One of the main agenda items on September 3rd will be the presentation of the latest designs for the frontage of Louise House and Forest Hill Pools. Come along and join in!

Lark in the Park

Fun and games in Mayow Park on Saturday 18th July

Dartmouth Road Consultation Feedback

 Following the publication of the consultation document by Lewisham Council regarding improvements to Dartmouth Road, the Forest Hill Society has responded with some of our concerns and priorities around the scheme.

• Welcome more parking and longer parking times
• Welcome more / better positioned bus stops serving the town centre
• Welcome opportunity to reduce street clutter
• Wish to see double yellow lines for the north section of Dartmouth Road, and improved parking enforcement
• Concern over pedestrian priority crossings with unclear enforcement measures
• Would like to see improvements for cyclists around Forest Hill

The full text of the response can be read here.

Festival in the Forest - Sunday 5th July

Climate Change: a wake-up call

The Forest Hill Society

Invite you to a talk by local author Dr David Cotton

Climate Change: a wake-up call

Wednesday 17th June at 7:30pm

 
Upstairs at The Hob pub, opposite Forest Hill Station

Dr Cotton has spent the last eight years researching these really important questions:

• Why do we have a Climate and how has it changed?
• What role has human race played in these changes?
• What will happen if we continue burning fossil fuels?
• Will we be able to produce enough renewable energy in the future?

Friend of the Horniman - Art Exhibition, 6-7 June

Pop-up Park Posionous to Pets

Pop-up gardens, musical vegetables and the most dangerous garden for cats and dogs – all this and more is on offer at the Horniman Museum and Gardens for the Chelsea Fringe festival.

The Forest Hill venue, which already boasts 16 acres of stunning Gardens, is switching up a horticultural gear for the festival, creating not one but three pop-up gardens. The stunning temporary displays include a botanical drawing recreated using more than 3,000 bedding plants (Anatomy of a Flower), a mass planting of sunflowers (Sunseekers) and a border designed as a banquet for bees, butterflies and other pollinating creatures (Planting for Pollinators). Themed around the Horniman’s indoor Plantastic exhibition and designed by Head of Horticulture Wes Shaw and his team, all three pop-up Gardens are free to visit and open on 30 May. 

Highlights of the Gardens Festival for families on Sunday 7 June include live music from the London Vegetable Orchestra, the chance to make your own carrot recorder or cucumber trumpet, and storytelling in the Gardens. Visitors can also enjoy a tour of the Horniman’s sundials, make a seed bomb, and create a sun-printed artwork using flowers, leaves and branches.

The Horniman is also hosting MORE TH>N who are creating a ‘dangerous garden’ full of plants and flowers that are all poisonous to pet cats and dogs, to raise awareness and encourage pet owners to be responsible at home. The world’s most dangerous garden for cats and dogs will contain all manner of plants and flowers from British gardens that are toxic to our furry friends. MORE TH>N’s garden is free to visit and is open to the public (no pets allowed in the garden, but can be left outside) from Thursday 4 June until Sunday 14 June.

Forest Hill Fiver Fest Weekend

Planning Applications: Hamilton Lodge and 118 Canonbie

Planning applications have been submitted to turn 118 Canonbie Road and Hamilton Lodge, on Honor Oak Road into hostels for homeless families. This will provide accommodation for up to 100 individuals. Details of the applications can be viewed at: DC/15/91664 and DC/15/91663 

Below is the response from the Forest Hill Society to the planning application:

 

We write on behalf of the Forest Hill Society about the above applications at Hamilton Lodge, Honor Oak Road and Canonbie Road in Forest Hill. This letter relates to both of these applications and should be considered in relation to both of them.

We have no objection to the principle of these applications and understand that short term family accommodation is much needed across the borough for its residents.  However, we are concerned about some of the supporting material with these applications and the quality of the accommodation, and we would like the Council to ensure that what is promised goes on to be delivered.

• We are concerned by the quality of accommodation, specifically the sizes of some of the family rooms and the proximity to shared bathrooms. Whilst we appreciate this accommodation may well be better than much of the available alternative short term family accommodation think that you do need to carefully consider whether it is acceptable for families to live in this way for six months at a time.  There is no provision for communal internal space in either block.

• We do have some concerns about the overall number of bed spaces across the two sites and worry that this is more people than it is sensible to house in buildings of this size.

• The same PTAL rating is incorrectly used for both of the sites as it is based on a single location rather than the specific location of each site. The Canonbie Road Application has a PTAL rating of 2 and this may impact on its acceptability for this proposed use.  

• There is no sunlight and daylight report and whilst we appreciate that this is for a short term use a couple of the rooms look like they would be very dark and we are concerned for the quality of life for those living there for up to 6 months at a time, and particularly children.

• We would like to ensure that any planning permission does actually limit each families stay in the building to 26 weeks as we would be VERY concerned about families living in this accommodation for any longer periods.  This accommodation is not suitable for permanent residential use as it does not conform with policy or the London Housing Design Guide.