High Street banners

[Pally]

Who can decide that the banners are not worth the money ...lr do people think they are?

[leenewham]

Banners can be really useful for advertising local events, such as the arts festival or other seasonal events. Poorly designed ones, like the ones we currently have which aren't really fit for purpose, are a waste of money.

[mosy]

Who can decide that the banners are not worth the money ...lr do people think they are?

If I'm not mistaken that would be SEE3 as the Saturday market and the pnk and white stripe logos are their creation.

<-- Per Chris Best when I asked why the banners were so un-eyecatching when she attended one of the first markets. I also asked why the big sign on the estate agents' railings didn't point to the Girton Road (free) car park for passing motorists who might want to stop or even drive here deliberately. That was a long time ago though.

[prince]

Back to the banners again.

After the recent wind the said banners are hanging on for dear life by a thread.

Can we please get rid of these once and for all. While I am sure the sentiment was sincere, I am afraid they are of a very poor design and are not fit for purpose. They now make the high street look a total mess.

[mosy]

Why not contact Chris Best directly? Email: cllr_chris.best@lewisham.gov.uk Perhaps let us know if you do please.

I seem to recall her saying that they tended to be fixed when Skanska were on site doing something else, but if they are advertising the market I'm not even sure if it's open during these initial cold months of the year.

It does seem pointless having tatty banners for no good reason (not that there is ever a good reason for having tatty banners).

[Chris Best]

Yes I did ask Skanska to put on stronger ties when the Christmas lights were taken down - this didn't happen so I am chasing. The banners we put up last year are perforated to let the wind through and do have the same colour as the previous banners that were solid. So on both points they are not doing the job we want.

It is unlikely that the Sydenham Market will restart on the 2nd Saturday of the month so those banners need to come down - if the view is that all the banners need to come down then we can ask Skanska to remove rather than refix.

[sydres]

Question 1. Why has it taken 4 months for the Council to realise that skanska didn't fix the banners as originally requested last October?

Question 2. Having commissioned a set of banners that blew away previously why did the Council not demand second time round that skanska fix the banners more securely?

Question 3. Why does it take so long to get a response from skanska?

I like the idea of banners but get fed up seeing money literally blown away in the wind.

[Chris Best]

Hello syd res - in answer to your points we did know that the banners needed refixing with more secure ties. The plan was to do this when the Christmas lights went up in November - and when this didn't happen when the lights were being taken down in January. As I have said previously the street columns are under the control of Skanska and they need to programme in the work with the availability of the workforce and cherry picker.

Learning from the problems with the first set of banners SEE3 commissioned the second set with perforations taking technical advice from the printer and asking Skanska for more secure ties.

The Sydenham Assembly meeting on Tuesday 7 March will have a round table topic on the high street so hope you can come along and join in the conversation on plans for the future,

[sydres]

So it's all skanska's fault then and nothing to do with the fact that the Council have contracted out work they have no apparent control over?

[Chris Best]

The high street banners were commissioned by SEE3 - a small group of volunteers who worked on the design and printing. Lewisham Council gave permission for the banners to be put up on the lamp posts and were involved in the liaison with Skanska. The responsibility for getting Skanska back to fix the ties rests with SEE3 and I am taking views on whether to refit or remove.

[sydres]

Chris - apologies for directing my frustration at the Council, clearly this is a multi-layered problem. So if Skanska had two clear opportunities to fix the signs securely then why did the work not get carried out? I find it hard to believe that their workload has not allowed them a single opportunity in the last four months to fix the banners. Are they being paid for this service? Who is monitoring them?

Having seen banners in Penge, Herne Hill and other surrounding areas, I find it surprising that in Sydenham we seem unable to design and maintain high street signage correctly.

Why doesn't the Council take responsibility and cut out the SEE3 layer of 'management'?

[scottlawrencelondon]

So the banners are still loose despite being told that they were going to be fastened when the xmas lights went up.

2017 - 3rd set of banners commissioned and blown loose by wind......and repeat.

Yes looks terrible right now

[Kingfisher78]

Chris - apologies for directing my frustration at the Council, clearly this is a multi-layered problem. So if Skanska had two clear opportunities to fix the signs securely then why did the work not get carried out? I find it hard to believe that their workload has not allowed them a single opportunity in the last four months to fix the banners. Are they being paid for this service? Who is monitoring them?

Having seen banners in Penge, Herne Hill and other surrounding areas, I find it surprising that in Sydenham we seem unable to design and maintain high street signage correctly.

Could not agree with you any more Sydres!

I will add that these banners should not be refixed. Though they looked attractive in the beginning, they are now clearly faded and worn.

[leenewham]

There is one company that is better than any other at high street banners and most councils we have worked with on banner designs seem to use them. We don't use anyone else.

The company who we use is Baymedia. They did the Olympic ones, The Tour De France, Westfield, Herne Hill etc
Simple and colourful works really well.

The materials they use are sustainable too!

http://www.baymedia.co.uk/herne-hill-re ... community/

https://twitter.com/BayMediaWW/status/7 ... 72/photo/1

https://twitter.com/BayMediaWW/status/7 ... 89/photo/1

Based on costs for last year, to print and install they were £149 per banner onto existing brackets, but they want to use their own bracket system due to wind loading. They aren't the cheapest but they are the best I've seen by far.

Banners work best when they are REALLY SIMPLE and colourful. Design is key and they work together.

I've posted about this before and I've emailed Chris and See 3 about banner design in the past, but it's a bit like bashing your head against a brick wall! Lewisham council has ridiculous procurement issues too, which is often anti small business and infuriating.

Projects like this really should be controlled and monitored locally. Councils have enough on their plates. But with local cllrs being pretty powerful in the local authority and the 'traders' group AND see3, I'm surprised they haven't been able to sort this out.

It's ok for Chris to pass the blame onto Skanska, but if they can't do the job, the council should get someone else who can. Unless of course, they have signed a contract with Skanska which prohibits them from doing so, in which case the councils also at fault for signing such a tight contract.

[sydres]

Shame when good advice seems to fall on deaf ears despite numerous attempts.

If the cost is high, why don't we do the signs in phases along the high street? Better to have a few that work well and look good than a lot that look tatty.

[Pally]

Chris ...you say that the market is unlikely to return???

[coll]

Slightly off subject but similar situation. Skanska were responsible for changing the lanterns in the Thorpes. They did all the roads but Princethorpe. I contacted them asking why and was told something about not having any of the new ones in stock. They then replaced the lanterns like-for-like for the ones that have been there for years - leaving Princthrope having completely different street lamps then the rest of the surrounding streets. Nothing seems to have been done about this. Often it feels like apathy - similar to the banners - if its not priority for some it doesn't seem to happen.

[JRobinson]

not about the banners, but following on about apathy from Skanska - when the new lights were installed around the Mayow Park area I complained to Lewisham, that the column was higher up, and brighter, and shining through my bedroom window. they told me I should contact Skanska, which I duly did. I got a reply saying that they'd come out and put a shade on it to divert the light. this didn't happen. a year later I enquired again as to the status of my previous request - no reply. This was several years ago now, and I since put up thicker darker curtains.
I work for a local london borough, and the attitude is the same all over - if someone is shouting loudest they get the most attention to sort out whatever problem they have.
if we're not complaining to Lewisham/Skanska about it, is it really that big an issue? If we all complained on masse, we'd probably get a quick responce.

[monkeyarms]

Chris ...you say that the market is unlikely to return???

Would anyone even notice if they didn't?

[Pally]

Probably not but it is such a shame tat what could have developed into a really good event like so many other local markets has just faded away! Other markets run by specialist companies seem to succeed ...why has that not happened in Sydenham?
I know on this forum that companies have been suggested but I have not seen a response to those suggestions , but may have missed them. we have the spaces developed in Sydenham but nothing much happening in them because the market just never took off. Its a shame