Is there ever any good news for Sydenham.?

[Whiftoff]

Good review in the standard tonight. Sydenham is a booming independent cafe hotspot apparently!

[leenewham]

The branding and sign at Pengetout are superb, leenewham, well done.

Thankyou. It's had good feedback so far Lots of work but fairly cheap to do.

[Sydenham Syd]

Good review in the standard tonight. Sydenham is a booming independent cafe hotspot apparently!

Can you send the link please? I can't find it on the ES website

[Whiftoff]

It's was in last nights standard. I've got a photo on my phone but can't work out how to upload on this forum.

[gillyjp]

Thanks a million gillyjp for planting those flowers - why cant we all do this instead of moaning?
I bought a box of eight pansies for £1.99 last week, not really breaking the bank is it. Lets all buy
a box and do a bit of gardening around the area - I claim my patch will be the two fairly young trees
on Kirkdale junc Thorpewood Ave - they are surrounded by weeds. Come on whats wrong with you!!!!
Anyone got an idea for their patch?

Thank you Sherlomi - fingers crossed we may have just started something!! I must say it does feel a little weird when people are walking by and we have our forks and troughs out sorting out the weeds and planting bulbs but generally people are lovely and it definitely does seem to bring a smile to the faces of passers by. We definitely need to get round there to have another weeding session soon.

Looking forward to seeing your 'patch' take shape and add some colour to that area. I hope others are inspired to do their bit - as you say it doesn't break the bank and even if some of us do a little bit of guerilla gardening, it may just cheer Sydenham up and make it a nicer place to return home to. I must say we've had our eye on the rather drab roundabout as that definitely needs a splash of colour however that may just be a health and safety issue!

[Bovine Juice]

Good review in the standard tonight. Sydenham is a booming independent cafe hotspot apparently!

Can you send the link please? I can't find it on the ES website

That article was a little odd. It also called Lewisham a cafe hotspot too. It went on to describe how Sydenham was now seeing lots of new bars opening...

[angela53]

This should be link for the ES article

http://www.homesandproperty.co.uk/prope ... 09031.html

[Tom1]

The ES article is at http://www.homesandproperty.co.uk/prope ... 09031.html

No doubt it was cobbled together in five minutes, like most of their articles!

[alowersyd]

Looking through this forum I am struck by how little good news about our area we see lately. There seems to be plenty of bad news - Budgen replacing Co-op, Budgens being awful, closing and possibly nothing to go in the unit, the Orb retail unit becoming another estate agent, Namaste looking awful, little movement on the Greyhound, Beer Rebellion closing, Street Banners looking rubbish, reduced bus and train services.....
Where's the good news?

The closure of a few places is only a concern if there is no other investment going on. Be patient, the area is leaving its past and finding a new exciting identity. It won't happen over night and it won't be another generikit Forest Hill / Crystal Palace. It will be uniquely Sydenham.

Private investment and development happening right now

• >Development of three brand new retail units with courtyard flats at the mid of the high street
  >Estate agents moving in because the area is seen as a viable commutable part of London to live in
  >Massive housing development in Lower Sydenham
  >Three other housing / retail developments either awaiting planning or with planning consent along the high street
  >Old housing stock being refurbished by developers

In terms of transport:

• >Over 4 million people used Sydenham station last year. That's 18% more than the previous year and the highest since stats have been published.
  >Overground services have been increased during later hours
  >25% increase in space on the overground trains (extra carriage now on EVERY train)
  >TfL planning to increase overground services to 6 trains per hour on Crystal Palace brand and likely West Croydon too. >That's 18 trains per hour when including Southern - that beats many tube branches.
  >Bus service changes are constantly reviewed by TfL. The 176 is a hangover route from when transport in the area was worse.
  >Changes to Southern service patterns are by no means concrete - no removal of services have been confirmed. That's why there was a consultation - so be positive!
  >Longer term TfL are extending the Bakerloo out to Lewisham and deliberating aligning the completion of the work to make a conversion of the Hayes line via Lower Sydenham straightforward in the future (once Bromley's MP grows up)
  >Future Bakerloo line Lower Sydenham station will likely be moved to Southend Lane / edge of Bell Green retail park

[owlwise]

Yes, Sydenham got a mention in Homes and Property this week

http://www.homesandproperty.co.uk/prope ... 09031.html

[Hissing Syd]

Gillyjp - I passed your handwork outside The Greyhound two nights ago. It looks lovely, thank you.

Sherlomi - good on you too and thanks for the rallying cry. Not much time here, but will think on and try and find a spot to do same.

To the original poster (sorry I'm being lazy and can't be bothered to scroll back for your name!), I do take your point, but there's lots to be positive about. The bad stuff inevitably tends to be discussed more than the good - partly human nature, partly the way internet chatter goes.

I heard recently there is a new Waffle House coming somewhere in Upper Sydenham?

En route to Sainsbury, what used to be a dilapidated glazier's and some tired-looking flats are now being re-developed into what appears to be quite a smart-looking building, fingers crossed. Also hopeful for the new builds coming on the high street.

Plus the much-vaunted Greyhound regeneration now seems to be proceeding apace! And today the sun is shining on Sydenham - hurray!

[alywin]

>Estate agents moving in because the area is seen as a viable commutable part of London to live in

You think that's a good thing? The place is already overrun with estate agents, and certain of them have been artificially inflating prices for the past few years, thereby making flats unaffordable for first-time buyers and beyond.

• >Over 4 million people used Sydenham station last year. That's 18% more than the previous year and the highest since stats have been published.

Really? I'd be interested to know to what extent the Southern strikes have been a contributing factor - people travelling to stations where they know there will be *some* trains - and possibly as far down the line as practicable (the service reducing considerably south of Sydenham).

[leenewham]

It won't happen over night and it won't be another generikit Forest Hill / Crystal Palace. It will be uniquely Sydenham.

A applaud the good news you posted, but who do you think Crystal Palace andForest Hill are 'identikit' and what leads you to believe Sydenham will be 'unique'?

I don't understand this. All high streets have varying degrees of individuality (which I see as being unique, independent shops) and some degree of identikit (generic corporate brands). Some high streets are very unique, like Camden, Portabello Road, Charring Cross (when it was mainly book shops), Totnes etc.

This leads to what sort of high street do people want or expect Sydenham will evolve into? It all hinges on what shops move into the empty shops.

The good news is that empty shops are an opportunity. More than at any other time in the last 10 years I've lived here, Sydenham Road has the opportunity to evolve due to these empty shops. If ever there was a time for a pop-up shop or shop front improvement scheme, it's now!

[Timbo79]

I would add ignition brewery to the list of good news about Sydenham. Meet them in Bob last night, I'd not heard of it before... it's a not for profit enterprise that aims to produce a great product while providing much needed skilled employment for people with learning difficulties.

I wholeheartedly applaud both the concept and the end product, both the beers they are selling in Bob. It's fantastic to have an enterprise like this locally. Let's hope they get tge go ahead for their tap room.

[Timbo79]

Some more good news... Waffle Station on Kirkdale has opened, bringing an empty unit back into use. Think it opened on sat but they don't seem to have publicised their launch. Ate there on sun eve, the food was good treat sort of stuff and pretty reasonable, think it makes a great addition to the area.

[mosy]

Sounds good Timbo79. Whereabouts is Waffle Station pls?

[sherlomi]

Mosy - It's opposite Tesco Express in Kirkdale a couple of doors from the chemist