SE23.com - The Official Forum for Forest Hill & Honor Oak, London SE23
Online since 2002   11,000+ members   72,000+ posts

Home | SE23 Topics | Businesses & Services | Wider Topics | Offered/Wanted/Lost/Found | About SE23.com | Advertising | Contact | |
 Armstrong & Co Solicitors



Post Reply  Post Topic 
A Cinema for Crystal Palace?
Author Message
ivor


Posts: 20
Joined: Jun 2009
Post: #1
09-07-2009 01:42 PM

Although this is not directly a Forest Hill issue, I hope there will be lots of people in the area who will support this petition.

The old Bingo Hall on Church Road, Crystal Palace, came up for sale recently and an Evangelical Church outbid the group who run the Brixton Ritzy and Clapham Picture House. This petition is to defeat the Church's planning application for a 'change of use' for the building, in the hope that it will become a cinema instead. I hope you agree that this would be a much needed resource in Crystal Palace and outlying areas. Please sign!

http://www.petitiononline.com/acfcp

Find all posts by this user Quote this message in a reply
SophieBee


Posts: 46
Joined: Oct 2007
Post: #2
09-07-2009 06:07 PM

You have my support. Would be a fantastic addition to the area, which we already visit every so often because of all the nice bars and restaurants. A cinema on top of this would be great, particularly as we are unlikely to see one in SE23 any time soon.

Visit this user's website Find all posts by this user Quote this message in a reply
Rikke


Posts: 17
Joined: Jan 2007
Post: #3
10-07-2009 03:34 PM

Yes a cinema would be great, have supported the online petition in the hope they will not get a licence to change the use of the building. Keep us posted as to what happens.

Find all posts by this user Quote this message in a reply
roz


Posts: 1,796
Joined: Mar 2005
Post: #4
10-07-2009 06:02 PM

It sounds good but there will be traffic generation and parking implications and this should also be factored into the equation and needs to be dealt with somehow. (One of the major issues that defeated the multiplex aspirations of Bromley Council not long ago!) There is absolutely no real evening parking in Crystal Palace (the park closes, as does Sainsburys car park, unless this operates on extended hours ). I know people will say take the bus however thats not realistic for many people and not what really happens. At least Brixton and Clapham are densely populated areas with already excellent public transport links. If like me you've ever stood in the rain on Crystal Palace Parade on a cold February evening at 11pm waiting for the 122 bus, you will perhaps know what I mean!

Find all posts by this user Quote this message in a reply
psyche9


Posts: 73
Joined: May 2008
Post: #5
11-07-2009 06:04 AM

I stand at that bus stop in all kinds of weather, and really don't see what the problem is.

Find all posts by this user Quote this message in a reply
roz


Posts: 1,796
Joined: Mar 2005
Post: #6
11-07-2009 08:48 AM

For 30 minutes late in the evening? Good on you then, you're clearly a lot tougher than I am. I don't like finishing a nice evening standing in the cold and wet or even sitting through a lovely meal dreading getting home on public transport. I don't see the point in going out if you have to worry about all of that as it renders the whole evening's enjoyment void. But then thats just me.

Find all posts by this user Quote this message in a reply
sandy


Posts: 191
Joined: Oct 2006
Post: #7
11-07-2009 02:02 PM

What about the train? CP is only a couple of stops from HOP or FH. We often eat at CP and can have a drink of wine without worrying about drinking and driving. On potential audience (moving away from an SE23 perspective) CP is a busy nodal point for bus routes e.g. from West Norwood, Sydenham, Beckenham etc and Brixton and Clapham (especially the latter) are not much easier to park in.

Find all posts by this user Quote this message in a reply
PackOfDusters


Posts: 30
Joined: Nov 2007
Post: #8
11-07-2009 05:23 PM

I would be overjoyed if Picturehouses opened a cinema in CP! At the moment I end up getting the P4 to the Ritzy, so something much closer to home would be wonderful.

I see your point about parking Roz, but the Ritzy does very well without any parking nearby to speak of. CP is really well served by buses (as is Brixton) and as sandy has mentioned it's also only a couple of stops on the train. I don't quite understand why getting a bus isn't a realistic option. I know that getting around by public transport is something that some people just 'don't do', but I've never really understood why. But then I don't have a car, so I suppose I've no choice!

Find all posts by this user Quote this message in a reply
sydenhamcentral


Posts: 269
Joined: Mar 2008
Post: #9
12-07-2009 02:26 PM

Yep, a cinema there would be fantastic. I don't have a problem with the parking. There are lots of other successful cinemas in the same situation.

Certainly it would be better than a happy clappy church and would serve a far wider portion of the population (and how would the people from the happy clappy church get there anyway??!!).

Fingers crossed it will happen!

Find all posts by this user Quote this message in a reply
psyche9


Posts: 73
Joined: May 2008
Post: #10
13-07-2009 05:35 AM

I think once you get a car (we've got one but I don't drive) you do tend to base your social life around it more - because, yes, it is convenient, warm, and nice to take your world with on the way. I notice how that (tendency to think 'can I drive to x, y or z?') happened to us after we got a car in our early 30s, so I try to resist ... and as a non-driver I've always bussed it, so never really got out the habit like my husband did.

Most young people I know in London are non-drivers and majority of the audience in places like the Ritzy seem to be the under 30s, so I don't think that is much of an issue.

Find all posts by this user Quote this message in a reply
PVP


Posts: 271
Joined: Mar 2005
Post: #11
14-07-2009 12:21 PM

If parking limited, then the church would create the kind of chaos we see outside the old snooker hall on Sundays. Maybe it is the 11th commandment, though may park anywhere at all if going to church on the sabbath....

Find all posts by this user Quote this message in a reply
roz


Posts: 1,796
Joined: Mar 2005
Post: #12
14-07-2009 02:36 PM

I have to say that although I am an atheist who is very critical of religious institutions and although, bus or car allowing, it would be nice to have a replica of the Ritzy in Crystal Palace, I don't feel comfortable in supporting this petition to try and thwart the plans of this particular religious group.
I just think its a bit mean to be honest. Whether a change of use would be granted or not will largely be dictated by planning policy and a petition won't help much as I see it.
If a church or a cinema there will probably still be the same planning issues resulting from attracting people to the building and a religious establishment is more likely to be the less offensive and disruptive option in strict planning terms. However if this is already designated an employment site then it could be argued that a cinema would provide more than the church. Was this building ever a cinema, as many bingo houses tend to be?

I think this action could be read as simply a tug of war between what is very probably a black-led religious group and the overall white Ritzy loving middle classes, (myself included in the latter category).

Find all posts by this user Quote this message in a reply
ivor


Posts: 20
Joined: Jun 2009
Post: #13
14-07-2009 06:44 PM

The most recent information on the campaign and background information on the old bingo hall can be found at:

http://www.campaign.picture-palace.org/

Find all posts by this user Quote this message in a reply
ForestGump


Posts: 202
Joined: Jan 2008
Post: #14
15-07-2009 07:45 AM

Re going by train....the station is on a very steep hill, take hill climbing boots.

There used to be two cinemas on Church Road almost next door to each other. This one became a bingo hall, the other possibly the same or a car showroom.

In Sept 2005 Lewisham's Mayor,Sir Bullock was reportedly extremely angry and said it was "absurd" when the ABC Catford was given permission to become a church.

In that case there were also objections but not on planning issues but on the grounds the church was connected with the child abuse victim Victoria Climbi?.

Quote:
Members of the Finsbury Park-based Pentecostal organisation appeared as witnesses at the trial of Victoria Climbi?'s great aunt, Marie Therese Kouao, and her boyfriend Carl Manning.


The thing about the cinema's in Church Rd was the 49 bus which was a trolley bus and the toy shop opposite that had a model railway in the window, which was coin operated.

Oddly I was last night I was talking about 'Robin Hood: Men In Tights' in connection with Michael Jackson and remember sitting through the original butch 'Robin Hood' twice at Crystal Palace.

One of them used to have a Sunday afternoon session aimed at teens, where chart songs were played with the bouncing ball over the words.

There's a campaign in Hither Green at the moment to try and save an old cinema building and use it for community use such as theatre and other arty stuff.

Find all posts by this user Quote this message in a reply
sydenhamcentral


Posts: 269
Joined: Mar 2008
Post: #15
15-07-2009 02:54 PM

Roz, please have a look at the website for the campaign to open it as a cinema.

Originally it was the Rialto Cinema, then the Granada cinema. It was a rather grand cinema in its day.

It then reopened as the Granada Bingo hall before being taken over by Gala Bingo, which it remained until very recently.

It has never been a church.

So I'm not sure where the planning issues come from. It was a cinema, it is a cinema building (and potentially quite a nice one).

I will be preparing a 'what if' on this soon. Check out http://www.whatifsydenham.wordpress.com soon to find out what it COULD look like.

Find all posts by this user Quote this message in a reply

Friends of Blythe Hill Fields


Possibly Related Topics ...
Topic: Author Replies: Views: Last Post
  Disposal of Crystal Palace Park - comments by 6th April samuelsen 0 1,742 03-04-2023 01:18 PM
Last Post: samuelsen
  Threat again to residental development at Crystal Palace Park Herbparis 0 3,539 02-03-2020 12:47 PM
Last Post: Herbparis
  Crystal Palace videos from the Londonist Ligersaur 6 7,691 06-04-2016 11:28 AM
Last Post: Ligersaur
  Primary School for Crystal Palace Park michael 1 4,478 15-10-2014 12:52 PM
Last Post: rshdunlop
  Jurassic Park to come to Crystal Palace michael 3 5,628 01-04-2014 07:09 PM
Last Post: Ponyboy
  Crystal Palace Park Project: drop-in sessions this Satuday Tim Lund 8 8,438 25-02-2014 01:11 PM
Last Post: michael
  Petition to save Crystal Palace park from development P1971 7 8,143 31-01-2014 06:18 PM
Last Post: Tim Lund
  Deacon Blue music video filmed in Crystal Palace david.lathwell 0 4,268 07-11-2012 05:22 PM
Last Post: david.lathwell
  Search lights on Crystal Palace transmitter nottinghillbilly 6 8,392 21-04-2012 08:01 AM
Last Post: shzl400
  Crystal Palace One O Clock Club may close Jane2 1 5,523 21-01-2012 09:59 PM
Last Post: roz
  What if the Crystal Palace Cinema... sydenhamcentral 19 22,185 11-09-2011 08:22 PM
Last Post: sydenhamcentral
  New Crystal Palace Craft Market Becca 0 3,626 28-07-2011 03:34 PM
Last Post: Becca
  Trams to Crystal Palace? michael 6 8,615 28-03-2011 03:23 PM
Last Post: Zimmerman
  Crystal Palace Park gemmar 19 20,024 22-01-2011 12:59 PM
Last Post: brian
  The Alma, Crystal Palace soulrider 0 3,711 26-05-2009 10:53 AM
Last Post: soulrider