Many thanks for the comments.

I had a look at the Forest Hill urban design framework documents. They look good and it's difficult to disagree with much of what they say.

It's a shame it wasn't implemented. It's a shame local shops weren't given the guidance on shop fronts or that changes that broke guidelines aren't policed. It's a shame our town centre manager hasn't played a stronger role in making this happen.

More generally about local high streets: It's a shame a lot of small signage companies create graphics by untrained 'graphic designers' who think anything that comes out of a computer is design, it's a shame that signwriting is a dying art, where trained painters create work of skill, beautifully crafted,it's a shame a lot of shop owners have to put roller shutters on their shop fronts making out high streets look like riot zones at night or replace original shop fronts with expensive generic metal or plastic ones. It's a shame that if you try to improve standards of design and appearance of shop fronts some think you are trying to make everything expensive when a clean, well considered, nicely designed, simple shop front of a business would not only help it's business, but help give the whole area a lift and help change the perception of an area, it's a shame a lot of business owners don't realize this, that how people perceive their business is important, that the most visible part of any town centre are the shop fronts and that ultimately a lot of people judge an area on the appearance of the shop fronts and therefore these shops can actively define an area. Not the pavements, not the bollards, not the traffic lights, not the seating, not the plastic hanging baskets on the train platforms.

But that's just my opinion. Am I wrong? What do you think?