New shop opening?

[Syddders]

Does anyone know what the old boiler shop on the corner of the high st and Tannsfeld Rd is going to be? New windows and lots of internal work happening.

[JMLF]

No idea but would be good/nice to know! A small restaurant I think would work perfectly on the high street - wishful thinking but a small Thai, Tapas, Mexican or other would be amazing. The corner St Christopher’s and the large double unit opposite Pure Gym both have change of license applications (or at least did recently) to restaurant use but suspect as nothing doing for a while maybe the change of use has been done as wishful thinking for the unit owner to try and get people in as place opposite pure gym has been empty for a good while and St Christopher’s on the corner is I think meant to be a short term thing

[CATLADY]

No idea but would be good/nice to know! A small restaurant I think would work perfectly on the high street - wishful thinking but a small Thai, Tapas, Mexican or other would be amazing. The corner St Christopher’s and the large double unit opposite Pure Gym both have change of license applications (or at least did recently) to restaurant use but suspect as nothing doing for a while maybe the change of use has been done as wishful thinking for the unit owner to try and get people in as place opposite pure gym has been empty for a good while and St Christopher’s on the corner is I think meant to be a short term thing

Just passed by quickly - Music shop ? Or is that the original signage that has been revealed??

[Syddders]

That’s the original sign. Nice though!

[Michael Viner]

Great! Thanks for letting us know-sometimes old shop signs are only revealed for a matter of hours before being covered up again/replaced,so I popped down this morning to have a look and take some photos.Yes, it's 'Treble Clef' (formerly 'The Record Forum') Sydenham's premier record shop of the 1970's and 80's .The sign 'only' dates from the early 1980's (must admit I was hoping for a 50's 'Record Forum' sign -it began as The Record Forum in 1956 and changed it's name to Treble Clef in 1972) but is very nice,though,and brings back lots of memories,as I'm sure it will for many of a certain age as they pass by! I used to go in here quite a lot in the late 70's &early 80's. The sign is in fine condition,too.
The sign says 'New and Second Hand'; they only began stocking second-hand records around 1981 or 82' ;I remember their first s/h stock and regret leaving an original 1964 copy of 'The Fabulous Ronettes Featuring Veronica' LP as I could'nt afford it at the time (still only a teenager then!)

Treble Clef changed it's name again to 'Sound Store' about 1990 ,closing not long after that

[RJM]

There's an application in to build a small house in place of the storage space behind the shophttps://planning.lewisham.gov.uk/online ... APR_103458 by New Hill Limited, which I assume is a developer. Previous applications to turn the old boiler shop into flats have been refused. I couldn't find a change of use application, but I might just have missed it.

I was trying to remember what else was there, so looked it up on Google StreetView and found an interesting quirk - if you get the right angle (looking at it from Tannsfeld Road) the image is apparently from 2012 and shows "Car Zone" with an 0181 phone number. Then turn the corner on StreetView and it's 2014 and the boiler shop!

[JMLF]

Great! Thanks for letting us know-sometimes old shop signs are only revealed for a matter of hours before being covered up again/replaced,so I popped down this morning to have a look and take some photos.Yes, it's 'Treble Clef' (formerly 'The Record Forum') Sydenham's premier record shop of the 1970's and 80's .The sign 'only' dates from the early 1980's (must admit I was hoping for a 50's 'Record Forum' sign -it began as The Record Forum in 1956 and changed it's name to Treble Clef in 1972) but is very nice,though,and brings back lots of memories,as I'm sure it will for many of a certain age as they pass by! I used to go in here quite a lot in the late 70's &early 80's. The sign is in fine condition,too.
The sign says 'New and Second Hand'; they only began stocking second-hand records around 1981 or 82' ;I remember their first s/h stock and regret leaving an original 1964 copy of 'The Fabulous Ronettes Featuring Veronica' LP as I could'nt afford it at the time (still only a teenager then!)

Treble Clef changed it's name again to 'Sound Store' about 1990 ,closing not long after that

There was a pretty neat fonted “Logic” sign briefly on view when snappy snaps (I think) was having it’s shop front changed - not sure if you managed to get a look at that as seems you have an interest! No idea what type of shop that was as only been in Syd for a mere 5-6 years!

[Michael Viner]

Sorry,I missed the 'Logic' sign during the Snappy Snaps renovation and have no recollection of a shop with that name or logo.I walk down Sydenham Rd. most days at some point but Sods' Law being what it is the one day in the week you don't is sometimes the day when one of these signs briefly appears eg. I missed a great Victorian/Edwardian one when the off-licence at 3 Sydenham Rd.near Sydenham Station was being renovated last year.Someone put it up on Facebook but I can't find it on the internet now-perhaps they can put it up here,if they read this

[JMLF]

Someone on another forum posted what they think the plan is with supporting link to the Lewisham website -

https://planning.lewisham.gov.uk/online ... APR_103458

DC/20/115540 | The conversion and additional storey to the existing storage building to the rear of 56 Sydenham Road, SE26, to provide a one-bedroom dwellinghouse and associated refuse and cycle storage and elevational alterations to the side and rear elevation of 56 Sydenham Road. | 56 SYDENHAM ROAD, LONDON, SE26 5QF

If this is the case it’s a bit of a joke in my opinion as the high street already has 8-10 empty units (if counting from opposite Puregym down to the Poodle Club) and dragonfly yoga for example were told that they had to provide retail within the shop at street level to support the aesthetic and usefulness of the unit to passers by.

Not necessarily saying it’s anyone’s fault but although we do have some great stuff on our high street, we have far more empty units (many of which are empty/unused consistently for years) then nearby places like Forest Hill and Penge (why is that?) and no-one higher up seems to be doing anything to try and support this from an outsiders point of view (ie: supporting favourable business rates for new businesses, a project to support unit owners to re-do their shutters - a small thing to make units more appealing to prospective renters etc..)

[RJM]

JMLF, that's the same application I posted very slightly upthread.

[JMLF]

Apologies - somehow missed that in the thread - I guess there may be the possibility that the whole area is “number 56” and the shop may still stand as a shop (being as you have not seen a change in use and the residence may just be the area behind the shop)

[RJM]

The whole thing seems to be "number 56", and one of the sections of the plan has the area fronting Sydenham Road still marked as retail. The permission paperwork is for the building at the back, but there's definitely no change of use included. in fact, the form even says:
"There is no proposed change of use space to the primary retail area and therefore it is not likely that this application will not harm the sustainability of the shopping area but rather aid the local retailers as the new residents will undoubtedly make use of various commercial facilities"

I absolutely agree that more needs to be done to promote the empty units on the High Street though. It seems a bit puzzling that it isn't, surely it would only make it more desirable?

[Syddders]

The fact the owner of the retail unit has paid for new windows and frames means it must be staying as a retail unit no? i.e. if it was to become a flat you’d be building walls, not installing windows.

It may be that, in a sluggish market with lots of available stock on the high st, he/she has decided to get it to a perfect condition for a retailer to move straight in. The estate agency board still says ‘To Let’...

Pretty sure the planning application is only for the disused garage out the back.

[alywin]

Not necessarily saying it’s anyone’s fault but although we do have some great stuff on our high street, we have far more empty units (many of which are empty/unused consistently for years) then nearby places like Forest Hill and Penge (why is that?)

From my experience of walking down Penge High Street, could I suggest that part of it might be because Sydenham has rather more shop units than Penge? That's certainly how it feels, anyway.

[JGD]

And the winner is.......

A Nail Bar as tweeted this morning by @Sydenhamphotos

https://twitter.com/Sydenhamphotos/stat ... 60512?s=20

[admin]

Alywin:

From my experience of walking down Penge High Street, could I suggest that part of it might be because Sydenham has rather more shop units than Penge? That's certainly how it feels, anyway.

Penge lost a lot of it's shops in Maple Road after the market closed - that used to be a thriving shopping area at one time, maybe that's the reason. There are - I know - a few shops in maple Rd but it's mainly cafes and takeaways.

[simon]

Does anyone know if change of use is needed for a nail bar from a boiler shop?

[JGD]

Does anyone know if change of use is needed for a nail bar from a boiler shop?

Not sure for which category of Nail Bar a Change of Use would be required.