We all have a dream list in our head of how things might develop. The South Circular finally tunnelled away or maybe a direct line to the coast. Fun to think about but never happening. This thread is for the stuff that could genuinely change in the next 12 months if enough people push for it, or the council/local businesses just get round to it. Nothing needing a nine-figure budget or an act of Parliament!
A few categories to get your mind going:
High street & shops - Forest Hill has plenty of empty commercial units. What would you actually want to see fill them?
Transport & parking - bus routes, crossings, cycle lanes, station access. What would you change?
Green space & environment- the Horniman fringes, that stretch of pavement that always floods?
Community & events - markets, pop-ups, things that get people out. What would you actually get out of bed for?
I thought you said this was about things that could actually happen… Then said the Perry Vale crossing.
I’m not against it at all, but think it is one of the things that has been talked about for so long and pushed back, it would be a feat to see it happen. Sight lines have always been the concern, not to mention how much it would actually be used.
For my wish list…
The return of Finches, bigger and better than ever. The old Co-op site finally be built on. Fly tipping definitely tackled, a re think of the traffic flow through the Dartmouth /London Rd section. A box junction outside the fire station, and the broken up speed humps and road surface on Sunderland and South Roads sorted out.
We always talk about the South circular in a tunnel but it might be easier to take the train line underground between sydenham and new Cross gate.
The station could be moved to the south circular bridge and the south circular go straight through to Perry Vale at ground level.
A number of nature reserves could be joined up along the route, for example Devonshire Road and Garthorne Road and with a new cycle superhighway following the train line through these green spaces. In other places there would be plenty of room for new housing on top of the railway - for example Clyde Vale. And the Perry Vale car park would be a 1 min walk from the swimming pool.
I would also open a new version of the Eden Project on the site of the Crystal Palace - much more convenient for visitors than stuck in Cornwall.
Move the 122 bus stop in Dartmouth Road outside the dentist to outside One Stop/Sylvan Post to relieve the traffic jams when the 122 stops outside right by the lights.
Demolish the part of William Hill that pokes out reducing pedestrian access.
Sainsbury’s to reinstate the rear entrance to the car park and have more smaller trollies’.
Restrict e-bike parking on the retail side of London Road while part of the pavement on the other side of the road is allocated to e-bike/scooter parking. It’s wide enough compared to the other side of the road.
Improve public transport from Bell Green and the old Fire Station end of Perry Vale. The 356 is too irregular and it’s easier to reach Sydenham or Catford on the 75 than it is to reach the town centre.
I fear you’re right on the crossing - seems we will have to endure poor crossings on both sides of the station.
The return of finches would be fantastic! To be honest I would be all for part pedestrianisation of the Perry Vale Road from Piazza della Cucina to Morley’s but I think that’s far too ambitious for the scope of this thread being a years time.
I would sincerely hope at the very least the road/speed humps would be fixed
Is there scope to shave anything off the leading corner of headroom at both ends of the subway?
In order to achieve the correct gradient, whilst meeting headroom constraints, how far back into the footpath of Perry Vale and beyond the building line of W H Smiths would the ramp need to extend?
It’s a conundrum that needs to be addressed and solved because getting from one side of the station to the other for people in wheelchairs and using buggies is a ludicrous palava and totally unacceptable.
The pavements in the ‘town centre’ are a disgusting unhygienic demoralising feature. Could we have them cleaned occasionally? In many areas of London this work is regular scheduled standard maintenance.
The replacement of all the dead or missing street trees that have been ‘disappeared’ for various often dubious reasons and never replaced, along with a recognition that they are a huge asset to our environment and quality of life rather than a just net cost to the council..
Perfectly achievable in 12 months and an investment rather than a cost.
Yes station access is an issue, I see so many people struggling with prams. I imagine this kind of thing could only be fixed be a full revamp of the station?
Agree, I posted about this in local group chat suggesting we washed it with mops and buckets like they do in Southern Europe I was told off for h&s reasons, of course, but everybody agreed that the pavement is really gross. Between that and the absence of tree canopies on that side of Dartmouth road, walking and shopping there was not a pleasant experience during the past heatwaves. It’s definitely something either the council or localshop association should look into.
Longstanding Empty commercial unit handed to community lead projects. For example theold Boots would make an amazing art/community centre. The street level space is large and has lots more room upstairs.
So I read that Forest Hill is a pilot area for the high street rental auctions that were in the levelling up act. It’s meant to force long vacant commercial properties back into active use. Perhaps some of the new additions to the high street were beneficiaries of this - I don’t know. But it sounds as though this might address what you want - it’s just a question of what kind of shops open given the opportunity
I would be delighted if the simple stuff could be done well: cleaning the streets and pavements, weeding, collecting the bins properly, enforcing rules about getting bins off the pavements and back within property boundaries, more street bins (and emptying them!), getting rid of the mystery caravans that have appeared in Perry Vale ward, snipers on rooftops to shoot flytippers, litterers, dog owners who don’t pick up poo (OK, not that last one). More trees and green areas and seating would be lovely too, but if ‘we’ can’t look after what we’ve already got, and get the basics right, I’m not sure that the area will much benefit. If a nicely planted seating area just becomes a space for street drinkers to leave their empties, it’s not really a net gain, is it?
I was told off for h&s reasons, of course, but everybody agreed that the pavement is really gross. Between that and the absence of tree canopies on that side of Dartmouth road, walking and shopping there was not a pleasant experience during the past heatwaves. It’s definitely something either the council or localshop association should look into.