Sydenham Mural

[owlwise]

What ever happened about this? Wherever I go, be it Catford, Brockley, Forest Hill, Crystal Palace, everywhere, they have murals except for Sydenham.

[danmarwil]

I think the way it ended was no agreement on design, location or how it would be funded and potentially the Sydenham Society using their influence to block anything that they didn't agree with but I'm not 100% on that last part.

[JGD]

I think the way it ended was no agreement on design, location or how it would be funded

Forum member JMLF expended a lot of effort and led a significant piece of work to produce a design, put fund-raising into place and conducted meaningful discussions about the proposed location for the mural.

He ran a design competition and some excellent proposals emerged from local artists.

He secured the co-operation of local business to assist in collection of public contributions that would have paid for the mural.

He led on debate about location and whilst one site begun to emerge as a potential winner, several sites had been under consideration.

Your comments on SydSoc are not far off the mark - reports emerged of their unwillingness to expend effort on the mural whilst they contested the proposed demolition of the gas-holders in Bell Green - you know that redundant pile of scrap iron that you could not see from Sydenham.

SydSoc lost the gas-holders - despite being offered more than one compromise - and would have better used their time supporting the mural.

[danmarwil]

I remember all the work JMLF put in & if he reads this thread, then I appreciate his effort.

Was the final design or location ever unanimously agreed on though?

[JGD]

In simple terms - it was never clear whether the location was finally agreed. Others will perhaps have better recall.

In that area around the bridge over the railway, there are always questions about matters related to Conservation Areas, compounded by precisely who owned what portion of wall. I have some recall a planning officer had expressed a view but cannot recall whether the opinion was supportive of the mural or not.

The submissions were of good quality but finality was always going to be driven by location and perhaps, for that reason, there was no formal declaration of what the winning design was.

The gable wall of Property World that faces in the direction of Cobbs Corner had existing and historic large scale painted signage (albeit redundant and tagged) that despite technical access complexities was always the best and most prominent of display locations (to visitors coming into Sydenham from that direction).

I am pretty certain that whatever difficulty arose around site selection at that time, the Property World gable was not a prime candidate on the list.

Perhaps it should be.

[owlwise]

So, what is the relevance of Sydenham Society today if all they do is hold Sydenham back from progressing?
Why is it that Sydenham always looks like the poor cousin of Brockley, Honor Oak and Penge?

If Sydenham Society is always putting a spanner in the works and stopping the area from moving with the times and generally preventing the area from keeping up with what other localities in Sydenham's immediate surroundings are able to achieve, then what can locals do about it to change this?

[JRW]

There are certainly some great mural opportunities on Sydenham Road. If you look down the hill from outside the PFC, there is a blank wall separating the Post Office from the Sydenham centre. It would be great to see a mural there, to promote the Ignition taproom.

[JRW]

The gable wall of Property World that faces in the direction of Cobbs Corner had existing and historic large scale painted signage (albeit redundant and tagged) that despite technical access complexities was always the best and most prominent of display locations (to visitors coming into Sydenham from that direction).

I am pretty certain that whatever difficulty arose around site selection at that time, the Property World gable was not a prime candidate on the list.

Perhaps it should be.

I totally agree with JGD here. I'd rather hold out a bit longer for the right site, where it will look amazing, rather than compromise on an unsatisfactory location. We simply don't have a suitable landscape-format flat surface, long enough to have a "Sydenham" sign to match those other examples. Having said that, last thing I heard was that Lionel was doing something on the railway bridge. Have I got that wrong?

[Pally]

I think JMLF eventually got sick of the whole thing because of no decision/agreement being reached..I seem to remember a lot of debate on location etc.
I agree re holding out for a great site but there is a danger that without compromise it will never happen and people like JMLF will be lost to opportunities for this and other developments in Sydenham. Another very enthusiastic contributor disappeared for the same reason (but has now moved house anyway so no longer available)