Lewisham nighttime economy consultation - have your say!!

[JMLF]

Copied from a post from Councillor Liam Curran:

Fun, culture and enjoyment in the evening are all part of what makes an area a great place to live in and I love seeing the growth of good venues and things to do in Sydenham of a night-time. The resurrection of the lively landmark Greyhound Pub at Cobbs Corner and the arrival of the thriving comedy venue The Poodle Club show that the improvement is real.

However, we are all aware of the difficulties faced by High Streets in general and so Lewisham Council are conducting a thorough review and consultation of how we can develop our night-time economy. We are in the early stages of this work, and we want to hear from residents, businesses, employees and visitors to help develop a shared “vision” for Lewisham’s evening and night time economy strategy.
You can read about the consultation and make your submissions here: Lewisham Night Time Economy Consultation - https://consultation.lewisham.gov.uk/cu ... e-economy/ The Deadline is 18th December.

[mosy]

Will there be anyone speaking on behalf of teens and younger adults for whom there's virtually nowhere to go for entertainment or passing time that doesn't come with entry or other fees & unaffordable costs?

[John H]

Will there be anyone speaking on behalf of teens and younger adults for whom there's virtually nowhere to go for entertainment or passing time that doesn't come with entry or other fees & unaffordable costs?

There are scouts troups…

There is The Bridge

There are numerous youth clubs.

There are schools. There are libraries... There are church choirs....

There are parks.... two of the largest parks in London within a stone's throw. Parks are free.

There are football and athletic training facilities.... DOZENS of them!

Nothing is free and nothing ever was. If parents will not encourage their offsprings to create their own entertainment then why should everyone else? We had to.

[Sideofham]

We need pubs, kebab shops and knocking shops, not necessarily in that order.
Also more 24 hour opening times for kitchen appliance type outlets for the non male type people.

[topofthehill]

Unlimited tennis is available at Wells Park and Mayow Park for £35 per year if you buy a season ticket. Not sure if their courts are floodlit, but if so £2 extra per hour. Coaching is available.

Sydenham Tennis Club has numerous activities besides tennis and are currently fundraising with the aim of, inter alia, making the venue a community hub.

[monkeyarms]

"I love seeing the growth of good venues and things to do in Sydenham of a night-time. The resurrection of the lively landmark Greyhound Pub at Cobbs Corner and the arrival of the thriving comedy venue The Poodle Club show that the improvement is real."

What with the Ignition Brewery too, hopefully this will suggest to enterprising types in the bar/street food/craft beer sector that Sydenham is an option.

I still think the good councillor's statement seems a little hyperbolical ("I love the growth of good venues and things to do in Sydenham of a night-time" - growth being an extremely relative term here), but these are all undoubtedly encouraging things.

[JMLF]

Indeed monkeyarms - with mamma dough due to open and Nando’s being unsurprisingly successful I think there is definitely gaps for further evening venues to benefit all. Off top of my head I think another family friendly dinner spot or higher end or niche dinner venue (like if on hoof did evenings or a pop-up supper club type of thing run at ignition’s Space in the week, cherry and ice or other). The other thing off the top of my head that might work well is a small bar focussing in cocktails/spirits with decor/music more in line with the younger crowd maybe - I.e: 18-30. I know that’s a bit of an arbitrary number but especially for the young 18 plus crowd I think there could be something that appeals and would be successful. I’m not that age or have a family so no real idea but feel those areas are gaps where businesses could do well.

[monkeyarms]

Yes JMLF, that's the sort of thing that definitely would do well. You see a lot of it in Brixton, Boxpark Croydon and in Tooting's covered market now. Of the 3 recent additions to Sydnenham's high street - Nandos, Greyhound and Ignition - it's Ignition that strikes me as the closest to that; it's the most easily replicable and so the most interesting in some ways. The closest yet to something actually cool.

I also think Sydenham is lacking in event-friendly spaces. Yes, there is theatre in the Sydenham Centre, yes, there is standup in the Poodle, but there's a big void where live music should be. Before anyone points this out I have indeed noticed the Golden Lion does live music, and St Barts hosts occasional classical concerts but that's not really the sort of thing i'm thinking of: I'm thinking of the singer-songwriter/jazz/soul/open-mic type gigs that are a staple of thriving bars right across London (and which Picturehouse cinemas often do very well). Cherry & Ice has dabbled in this kind of thing in the past but rather half-heartedly. Are there any Sydenham venues where that could happen? I wonder if Ignition might consider it ... or possibly upstairs at the Greyhound?

[sugahill cafe]

We've been putting on music nights live & DJ based events for the past couple of years infact we have an evening of Vintage Reggae sounds tomorrow evening (Saturday 17th) 7-11pm & it's a free event .

[MagmaTimes]

there's a big void where live music should be. Before anyone points this out I have indeed noticed the Golden Lion does live music, and St Barts hosts occasional classical concerts but that's not really the sort of thing i'm thinking of: I'm thinking of the singer-songwriter/jazz/soul/open-mic type gigs that are a staple of thriving bars right across London (and which Picturehouse cinemas often do very well). Cherry & Ice has dabbled in this kind of thing in the past but rather half-heartedly. Are there any Sydenham venues where that could happen? I wonder if Ignition might consider it ... or possibly upstairs at the Greyhound?

On the Hoof and Cobbs Corner Cafe have both had evening live music events similar in style to those you've mentioned. I can't say for sure but I got the impression that they weren't exactly heaving in terms of numbers....

[monkeyarms]

Yes I noticed one or two of those. I don’t think they were particularly well promoted though as I recall the on the hoof ones were a buy a ticket and eat a sit down meal kind of thing. Good examples of how not to do things perhaps (tho as it happens I think the on the hoof ones were successful enough to be repeated a few times) What picturehouse cinemas and the antic chain do is more successful. I think i’ll Make some enquiries with ignition

[marymck]

There is the rather underpublicized TNG (The Next Generation) youth centre on Wells Park Road (between the currently closed Talma pub and Wells Park). Not the easiest of people to get a reply from (at least I never managed it, so gave up trying a year or so back), but a huge amount of money was spent on this useful space, the design and naming of which was, I believe, led by local young people. It has huge potential and it would be lovely to think it was being used and enjoyed. Perhaps someone who knows more about it could post on here?

Sadly, the Youth First website (of which TNG is a part) seems to be rather out of date. The latest "news" item was from July and when you click on Events you just get a series of headers of activities, without any detail. There is I think supposed to be a "girls' night", but I can't see when that is. When it opened it was going to hold events for people of all ages and the café was to be open to all - I don't know if that ever happened, because no one ever replied to my messages.

Anyway, for what it's worth, here is the website ...

https://www.youthfirst.org.uk/lewisham/ ... ity-centre

If the Talma ever reopens that will be a very useful boost for the social life of that corner of Sydenham (Talma/TNG/park).

It would be great if Kelvin Grove School (and indeed all our local schools) opened up their facilities for the wider community in the evenings and out of term time. We did have the great Kirkdale Institute but, as with other facilities, lack of advertising by the Council of what is out there led to predictable under use and an attempt to sell off community (i.e. local tax payer) owned facilities. Luckily at least this was "saved" and converted to primary school use.

But if we're really serious about a night time economy we need to save our pubs. It took 10 years of battling to get the Greyhound rebuilt and reopened and many said a pub wouldn't be utilised - eg it should just be a public square (like Venner and Queensthorpe). The Windmill is due to be rebuilt as a bar - but sadly with the developers insistent that there will be no music in the new version of a pub that was known for its live music events. We've lost lots of our social gathering spaces. Forest Hill's popular All In One (the Foresters as was) is the latest under threat of demolition. The current proposal for the All In One is a tall hotel block occupying the entire footprint and with, what i fear could be a soulless, hotel bar replacing a well loved "local" with garden. Yes we need hotels, but there are other sites that come at less of a cost to community life. (Indeed we wait years for a hotel and then, like buses, two appear to be coming over the horizon for Forest Hill!)

We have a Thai restaurant on Kirkdale that's been closed and boarded up for more than 15 years! It's a corner location, with a large pavement curtilage. The perfect place for a cafe or bar. I would dearly love to see Lewisham Council respond to years of pressure on that one! Not to mention the Black Hole by the zebra crossing, which would make a good space for bar, cafe or restaurant. All of this will complement Kirkdale's excellent 161 Food+Drink, a Japanese restaurant, the trad Fox's pub (Fox and Hounds as was) and the Brick, with its regular lively music events. All these spaces are already busy of an evening. Cental Kirkdale is Sydenham's original high street and is on the brink of once again being a lively hub of evening activity.