The old Boots premises has just had planning consent granted for 2 flats upstairs so I would expect that the owners will be wanting to get the works done and all of the units either let or sold asap.
Similarly, the old Indian restaurant premises at No.61a has recently got consent to convert part of it into residential, whilst retaining a very good size commercial shop and basement.
That’s great news, I look forward to seeing those flats put to good use. Do we know by any chance who purchased the lot? I’m really hoping is not an asset management fund..
I would like to see some of the uneven paving slabs sorted out around London road mainly but theres a fair few on Dartmouth rd too-They really are a trip hazard.
I would also love to see decent use made of the empty shops-even if only as pop-ups for small local buisnesses/artists/makers etc-There is so much talent and creativity in the area it would nice to show it outside of the “Artists Open House” weekends.
Perhaps a ‘swap-shop’ Or freecycle shop would be welcome,
I’d love a Local Pharmacy again because nearest are a 15 min walk or bus ride away from the station area.
The 12 Bus to run to Forest Hill/OR the 176 to go back to running to Oxford Circus.
I PERSONALLY wish there was more interesting social events available Book Clubs (Ok I know there’s one)Choir’s, Walking Groups,architecture or wildlife walks etc etc especially ones in the daytime, affordable one day courses (or longer)Or 2 hour classes where people can mend, do life drawing,discussion groups etc..not just for over 60’s but for those between jobs, work from home but need to get out and socialise.
I’m sure I’ll think of more..
Discourse Architecture’s 2016 ‘A Vision for Forest Hill’
Opening this link brings up a warning - but I opened it and it was fine on my Firefox browser
Incidentally, and further to my recent post, it has a step-free subway. But while I’m on that subject again, what is this building being used for?
To achieve these things on our wish list we need elected representatives at every level (Councillors, Local Mayor, MP’s, GLA Rep’s, City Mayor) who fight tooth and claw for our interests, willing to make themselves unpopular if necessary. Two examples: be willing to challenge established work practices at the Town Hall 2) publicly oppose the Government’s policies when detrimental to the constituency e.g. channelling all aircraft flight paths into narrow corridors of intensive noise.
Not a direct enhancement to the town centre, but I would dearly love to see the direct train link to East Croydon reinstated. I never understood how Southern could just change the terms of its franchise and remove routes!
Is this pie-in-the-sky or achievable?
I understand that on big stuff like a station revamp (which I think is too costly and too long a time horizon for this thread) but surely we don’t need that level of attention to get things like pavements cleaned every few months or speed humps fixed?
I think we might do, but happy to be proved wrong.
an addition…
It would I’m sure be an enormous benefit to many if they went back to our southern trains terminating at Charing X…If not every train every other then..
It would really help locals going for a west end evening out and those working in retail and hospitality or construction in central london.
Especially as the Overground trains southbound often stop running before the usual ‘last train’
It’s a frequent problem unaddressed by TFL , how often passengers get stranded because of cancellations of those very important last trains.
Crossing at back of station ,been talked about for years!! Why such a problem?
I believe the main reason given has been sight lines are insufficient to meet current guidelines.
My other thing would be the reluctance of the majority to use it. When a temporary one was installed it indeed was useful for some, but not the majority especially people arriving by train.
There are three big issues I see for Forest Hill, traffic/crossings/pedestrians, trains and keeping our residential roads residential.
The last of those is probably the one where we have the greatest chance of making a real difference over the next couple of years.
Forest Hill has some wonderful green, tree-lined residential streets, but I don’t think we’ve really addressed the increasing use of residential roads for parking and through traffic. That brings congestion, parking pressure and additional traffic into streets where people live.
I think we need to look at how we rebalance those competing demands and put the needs and quality of life of local residents first.
My wish would be strictly enforced parking areas for ebikes with any ebike left outside those areas confiscated and Lime/Forest having to pay a huge fine ,say £1,000, to get it back. They would no doubt pass that fine on to the inconsiderate scrote that just dumped it on the pavement and the current dangerous chaos would soon stop.
There were efforts worked up a few years ago to rebuild the Peckham rye lido. Sadly the crowdfunded feasibility scheme didn’t come to anything but I do wonder if Southwark might be persuaded to pick up and continue with those proposals.
I saw a council worker jet washing graffiti away in mayow park yesterday with a machine on a pickup truck. So clearly the council has jet washing facilities. I wonder if @FHCllrs could consider asking for that asset to be put to good use jet washing the mucky pavements after the rain free summer?
The Council does currently have the power to seize bikes that are left parked outside designated pays for more than 24 hours - and the operators then have to pay to get them back. But it’s not clear to me how effective of a deterrent this is and whether these powers are actually used in practice.
Under the current MoU between ebike operators and the Council, operators are supposed to issue fines / suspend users to deter inappropriate parking. My concern, personally, is that there just isn’t enough of an incentive for them to actually do so; I suspect it’s more profitable for them to prioritise retaining frequent service users over issuing fines.
To my mind, the issue here is that the current MoU doesn’t have any mechanism to compel transparency and data reporting from the operators on incident rates and the fines they’re issuing in response. I’ve submitted a question on this - around what data we actually have access to here, and whether we could revise the MoU - for consideration at the next full council meeting.
More details on current ebike policies here: Lewisham Council - Council announces new agreement with e-bike operators
Yes - Council last year agreed to run a small-scale High Street Rental Auction pilot in Forest Hill at the beginning of 2026 (using the new powers that were granted to Councils in 2024).
I’ve just put in a question for the full council meeting, coming up in a few weeks, requesting an update on the results of that pilot and any plans for expansion. I’ll post a dedicated thread about it here on SE23 Rocks when I have that data back, as I’d love to get input from the community regarding how we can best use those auctions to shape our high street moving forward.
Thanks for your prompt response, however, I think my wish included sufficient incentive for both the council and the operators.
Just from my personal meanderings around Forest Hill and Sydenham it would be pretty easy for a Council team to pick up 50 of these bikes per day which at £1,000 each should be enough incentive for the operators to act swiftly, provide a nice bit of income for the Council and lead to safer streets for us pedestrians. Everyone’s a winner.
