The damage to the high street has already been done, largely due to a change in social behaviour, which was accelerated by the opening of the SavaCentre. The question is, how do we make Sydenham a thriving and vibrant place? If you look around at the high streets that are vibrant and thriving, they are not filled with shops as of yesteryear. As much as I would like to have a choice of butchers / fishmongers here, I know that this is not going to happen. The successful areas are a mix of; boutique shops, coffee shops, bars, as well a few of the usual that we have here. The successful high streets do not compete with the out of town stores, they offer something different. This development will not solve any problems in itself, but it will provide more facilities in Sydenham and encourage more local spend. That in turn, along with other improvement (such as Sydenham Societies new station entrance / Cobbs corner development), would encourage other to open up in Sydenham.
Lastly, I'm sorry to disappoint, but I have nothing to do with the current local government. If I did get involved, it would be with one of the opposition parties rather than as an independent campaigning on a specific issue. My comment was more along the lines of Socrates, as he once said “It is the curse of a wise man to be ruled by lesser men”.
Sydenham Road - The Future?
Sydenham Road regeneration
The kinds of business that Kster identifies as being part of a 21st-century successful high street (bars, boutiques etc) are more than likely to beat a hasty retreat from Sydenham in its current state - from the pathetic Cobbs Corner roundabout to the uneven, chewing gum-stained pavements and battered and wonky railings (to say nothing of the never-ending roadworks). You would have to be deeply committed to sink your money into Sydenham at the moment - all the shopkeepers are saying that footfall has never been so low - just look at the comments made by Geraldine Cox from the Kirkdale Bookshop when she spoke at the planning meeting on July 14 (in the Bell Green report). Yes, the Sydenham Society has great ideas for the station entrance and has put forward a brilliant plan for the Sydenham Gateway. But until the Council get behind these ideas with some serious money/resources then they are unlikely to materialise.
sydenham shopping
Just taking a quick comparison of Sydenham high street and Penge high street... Penge has a remarkably large Sainsbury's, large iceland - but still has many other shops and quite a vibrant cafe/pavement life. Sydenham has Somerfields, and quite a "dead" pavement life .
At a simple glance [ apologies if this annoys by over-simplifying ] this appears to me to be because Penge high street has narrow pavements in some parts and very wide pavements in others - allowing for a real development of visual presence for shops and cafes.
The result is for people "passing through" - the temptation to stop is greater, as the street is not just "shop fronts". Once a potential customer stops in the area, the potential for shopping is greater.
Taking this one step further, a suggestion could be to remove parking from one side of sydenham high street (I vote the side opposite Somerfields) and make the pavement much wider. Then, the council could negotiate terms to allow cafe/shop front presence on the pavement more (controlled to some extent to avoid pavement blockades).
I believe this would _really_ improve the area, allowing the shops to be more eye catching - then clearly marked "free parking" (Girton road) would mean that people would think "hey, looks interesting, and it's free to stop and have a quick look around"...
[ and the clearly marked free parking could help with the resulting reduction in high street bays - which I think make the street ugly - cars lined up - I don't see the shops as I drive by - currently hidden by cars. ]
thoughts?
At a simple glance [ apologies if this annoys by over-simplifying ] this appears to me to be because Penge high street has narrow pavements in some parts and very wide pavements in others - allowing for a real development of visual presence for shops and cafes.
The result is for people "passing through" - the temptation to stop is greater, as the street is not just "shop fronts". Once a potential customer stops in the area, the potential for shopping is greater.
Taking this one step further, a suggestion could be to remove parking from one side of sydenham high street (I vote the side opposite Somerfields) and make the pavement much wider. Then, the council could negotiate terms to allow cafe/shop front presence on the pavement more (controlled to some extent to avoid pavement blockades).
I believe this would _really_ improve the area, allowing the shops to be more eye catching - then clearly marked "free parking" (Girton road) would mean that people would think "hey, looks interesting, and it's free to stop and have a quick look around"...
[ and the clearly marked free parking could help with the resulting reduction in high street bays - which I think make the street ugly - cars lined up - I don't see the shops as I drive by - currently hidden by cars. ]
thoughts?
Dave - I think that this is one of the most thoughtful and original contributions that I've read on this site.
Whatever our views on Bell Green's expansion, all of us can hopefully agree that one major contibution to the revival of our high street is that we need to see the structure of Sydenham Road - pavements, street furniture, parking, bus/rail interchanges etc very much improved. Then new dynamic businesses will want to come to the area.
Your idea to widen the pedestrian area on the "station side" of the road is an excellent idea which would greatly help to make the street more "people friendly".
Lewisham have applied for a grant of £1.75m to carry out a facelift for Sydenham Road. If they get the cash, then let's make sure that we are all involved in its planning. The disastrous "improvements" we've endured over the last ten years have just made matters worse.
If the grant isn't forthcoming, we've got to press our councillors to ensure that the money is found by hook or by crook. AND the money for the Sydenham Gateway proposal. With an election year coming up this is something we can all unite around.
Whatever our views on Bell Green's expansion, all of us can hopefully agree that one major contibution to the revival of our high street is that we need to see the structure of Sydenham Road - pavements, street furniture, parking, bus/rail interchanges etc very much improved. Then new dynamic businesses will want to come to the area.
Your idea to widen the pedestrian area on the "station side" of the road is an excellent idea which would greatly help to make the street more "people friendly".
Lewisham have applied for a grant of £1.75m to carry out a facelift for Sydenham Road. If they get the cash, then let's make sure that we are all involved in its planning. The disastrous "improvements" we've endured over the last ten years have just made matters worse.
If the grant isn't forthcoming, we've got to press our councillors to ensure that the money is found by hook or by crook. AND the money for the Sydenham Gateway proposal. With an election year coming up this is something we can all unite around.
The £1.75m bid to improve Sydenham Road has been made to Transport for London by Lewisham. It is third in line after two other bids submitted by Lewisham Council. No 1 is a £1m contribution to improvements to the "Kender Triangle" in New Cross and No 2 a £1.3m bid to create a "Civic Square" in front of the council offices in Catford (part of the scheme to divert the south circular "behind" Laurence House).
It's difficult to say whether the Sydenham bid will be successful - but having two others prioritised before it isn't going to help.
If you want to apply pressure to support the bid why not get in touch with your local councillors (no really, I'm not joking!)or Len Duvall our representative at the GLA?
It's difficult to say whether the Sydenham bid will be successful - but having two others prioritised before it isn't going to help.
If you want to apply pressure to support the bid why not get in touch with your local councillors (no really, I'm not joking!)or Len Duvall our representative at the GLA?
havent posted for a while ..been a resident for about ten years ..as i have matured i have tried to use local shops , but it was too late the fish and butchers went ..its terrible , furthermore in another thread it was stated that sydenham is full of young professionals ..so where are the cafe bars etc etc ..i generally go to lorship lane which i think is excellent -its diverse and has a mixture of cool bars , a (clean) somerfield and even an organic buthers...i walked past the greyhound earlier this month and witnessed some grotesque behaviour..im really losing faith in this town ..but im still pround to be a sydenhamite