SE23 Forum

I'll start. FHSoc makes an amazing contribution to the area!

It only happens when we have burst watermains, but I'd love to see London Road closed off once a year to give residents and shoppers a rest from the traffic caused by being on the South Circular.

A cinema instead of a weatherspoons

I've said this before, but...

Flat clean pavements!

Even though I am fully abled, the number of concrete pavement blocks that stick up a few cm's do catch me out from time to time and it makes it look pretty scruffy.

I'd second that, Benderish. Dartmouth Road especially needs new pavements and kerbs. It would make such a difference.

A good Greengrocers selling fruit as well.
Or a decent food shop like SMBS on Lordship Lane.
The Weatherspoons to close and become a cinema/arts centre.

A house price crash, please.

Selfishly speaking my requests would be a health food shop, Japanese restaurant and an upgrade for the Horniman Triangle playground, along the lines of Goose Green playground.

Keep the post's coming! I'll pass on any info to relevant parties that might be able to make some suggestion's happen.

Health food shop deffo!!!!

I'd like a good sit-in licensed pizza place - more Franco Manca than Pizza Express.

I'd also like to see a few more town noticeboards to advertise some of the stuff that Totally Local is doing. I know there's one at the station but it might be good to have one around the Wetherspoon's or at the bus stop opposite Sainsburys etc just to remind you what else is around while you're there. If they were near bus stops then you have a captive audience with potentially time to read them!

A 'map' on them highlighting interesting shops would be good (a bit like a mall guide) just to remind us all that they are there. As an example, I keep thinking I should go into Finches one time that I'm down in the centre just for a wander and see if they have anything interesting. But I haven't been there this year yet. But since I'm not making a journey just to go, I forget about it while I head up Dartmouth Road - and then generally remember one day when I am running for a train and see their advertising bike at the station.

Nottinghillbilly, Hillstop and Applespider thank's for your post's, I'll pass this information on. Applespider FH trader's and SEE3 are working together to get Totally Locally shop map's on the High Street, I'll keep you posted.

Definitely a clean up all round but especially Dartmouth Road which is very scruffy - new pavements and kerbs, better parking zones, some trees, and just a damn good clean. Good clean up around the station. Get rid of those horrid eye sore painted hoardings. Wetherspoons - don't know what to suggest - better it is in use than all those years when it was empty but it isn't very attractive. Better shops - food, fish, clothes, gifts, furniture, etc. Bring back the post office! Tidy up lighting and signage. Better Christmas lights - they are dismal.

I agree with everything Rob says. The centre needs a general tidy up and more trees. The look and feel is not representative of what forest hill actually has to offer. Also I think more time and energy needs to go into the perry vale area which needs considerable improvement. It has so much potential and is lagging behind the centre of FH.

A complete rebuild of the traffic islands next to the station. In comparison to the Dartmouth Road island by Barclays, it can't handle the amount of passengers heading to the rail station and back during the peaks, not to mention the constant jumping across the road when vehicles have right of way as people have missed their train due to the phasing of the lights which give cars more time.

A little more short-term (30 minutes) car parking space on Dartmouth Road.

I'd third that, rshdunlop.

Good pavements make such a difference.

Look at how popular Oxford Street is in Big London. People come from all over the world to shop there.

We could do the same.

And we are just a short hop away by the Jube Tube and the Gingerline. And far from the madding crowd's ignoble strife.

You and me, Southlonder, need to sit down together and write a letter to a Mister Timothy Randall Martin and see if we can get him on-board.

He is this bloke that I sometimes see in The City on Gracechurch Street.

Just last month he hosted the AGM of J D Wetherspoon plc, as he is the current Chairman. This little shindig was just down the road from my temporary orifice in The City at The Crosse Keys.

I didn't get a chance to say G'day to him at The Crosse Keys as I was stuffing my face with free food and drink but he actively encourages people to get in contact with him with business ideas.

His little firm now runs hotels as well as pubs.

Why not cinemas?

It works well enough for Picturehouse cinemas (City Screen Ltd) which is now owned by Cineworld Plc.

They serve well priced food and drinkies at their cinemas across the capital.

So….
Town planning:

Make Dartmouth Road one way. This should flow into the town centre so that people stuck at the lights look at the shops and think 'I might pop in there' rather than gunning it as they flee the S Circ.
Do new pavements at the same time.
Good point re traffic islands made by another poster.
Sell off a bit of the Perry Vale car park and develop (I'll get back to this - there are challenges re access). Use funds to:
Pedestrianise the Perry Vale triangle by EJ Carpets.
Make Perry Vale one way from the car park to the A205 (traffic flowing into the South Circular again)
Build a new, modern (fit for purpose) railway station building.
Transfer the cab company into this building which stops cabs waiting and causing traffic issues on PV.
Encourage Wetherspoons to do up the frontage of the Capitol - there are trees growing out of it for goodness sake.

Transport:

Get two more ELL trains in rush hour going through as a priority.
Support additional train/ overground capacity at other stations in the borough which will alleviate the FH/HOP line - 4 trains an hour through Crofton Park as a priority. Additional capacity through Catford Bridge & Lower Sydenham as well.

Broaden offering so that additional footfall at weekend and evenings:

V22 at Louise House - engage to have events/ access at the weekends to drive footfall along Dartmouth Road.
Cinema - build a new, purpose built cinema - at PV car park.
Broaden the restaurant offering - I'm imagining small and quirky - somewhere to go before going into town, or to pop in on a work night - Japanese would be welcome; something like Banana Tree Canteen maybe and I would love a decent burger offering.
A number of shops could then open later at night to meet demand of those coming home from work - that is a big difference between here and other parts of London.

Shops (some mentioned already):

General DIY store (like Sydenham DIY)
Beauty parlour (like Neroli) - they always have nice interiors and stay open later so add to evening offering.
Picture framer (the guy in HOP retired, so a gap there)
Health food store
Launderette
Decent wine shop/off licence
Kid's clothing store I think could work here.
I'd love a women's clothing store - somewhere 30-40 yr old women who work could go to get work clothes without ever having to go into a Shopping Mall or Oxford Street - but not sure it would survive here yet. I don't think a man's one would!
Another charity shop - bear with me - that is solely for books (I'd like a bookshop, but I don't think it would survive).
Greengrocer

There's a few thoughts for now!

I concur re the exterior of Weatherspoons; the state of it is very poor and as a listed building far more should be done to maintain it, especially in light of the FTSE company that owns it. Also the building's shabby appearance is not a good advertisement for the town centre in general.

The thing is all these shops ( well most of them ) were there in days gone by and ended up closing down