To follow up on some of the other questions...

‘Predominantly positive' comes from a few things, for example the original Facebook post which had over 80% likes compared to dislikes, more likes than any of our other Instagram posts and plenty of new followers there and on Twitter too. The second follow up post already has nearly 40 likes overnight and only 3 'grumpy' faces. Obviously that’s none of that is scientific, but it’s had a massive positive response relative to anything else we’ve done recently. If you’re seeing primarily negative feedback then that’s because social media works in this way ‘Most Relevant’ will ship you a stream of comments that you want to see ditto especially on NextDoor where the poll was written by someone with clear objections to the scheme - it’s easy to game polls online, of course, using skewed wording, even bots, and in fact even our Facebook page has attracted comments from as far afield as Tunbridge Wells, other profiles have no bios, no friends etc. This makes it difficult to be scientific about things. Even on here it's fairly anonymous so you don't know who's really commenting or what their intentions are. FHSoc executive members have to deal with regular personally targeted abuse on social media too.

On the flip side, we’ve listened to feedback, this mostly relates to the width of the entrance/exit and we agree that in a final solution, widening it will solve issues raised regarding ease of access. Ditto a proper turning circle on one side of the forecourt with a crossing. This means that half the forecourt would be for cars, the other half for the majority of station users i.e pedestrians. Separating people from cars as much as possible is not something most people will argue with, so long as the cars have a similar turning space in the redesign, you’ll be able to drive in, turn and drive out. Obviously this wasn’t the case with the trial as we would not have been able to make permanent changes to the layout for a temporary scheme. We stress again, the trial had limited scope and is not the final proposed solution. Many comments suggested the station was closed to people with disabilities, this is simply not true, no matter how many times it gets repeated.

Regarding the sign outside the station, as noted above we have proposed an early end to the trial BUT we need to discuss that with station management and TfL - we will sort out logistics with them.

As for the toilet, we have commented that this is an issue for the Council and Network Rail and is not part of the trial. We’ve repeatedly stated that we support in principle new public facilities, but this is not in our remit. The toilet has not worked for years and yet people are now concerned about it. It needs to be gone from that location in order to provide space for motorists to turn around.

In terms of cost/budget questions, the planters cost around £7k all in. They can be wheeled around wherever needed for other regular events like the Carol Singing, Station Planting, and Plant Giveaways. The Green High Road project was part of the NCIL funding grant and cost a further £2k net. Note that community infrastructure levy is collected from developers to improve the community in which they’re building - it is not ‘taxpayers’ money. We have about £8 left for Phase 2, if not we will look for other ideas. It will not be enough for a new loo. £18k is the overall budget approved, that is not, as has been falsely reported, what has been spent.

Finally, we have however had a number of emails, especially from families with young children who think the scheme is a huge improvement in safety for their young ones. Here are a couple just from this morning:

“I just wanted to drop a note to thank you for organising the excellent change to the station car park. I agree with the comment in the newsletter re young children: with 1 and 4 year old this makes a huge difference and we’d love to see it become permanent.”

“We live in Forest Hill and have two daughters, aged 7 and 4. We have loved the pedestrianisation of the area in front of the station. We all feel so much safer both entering the station (having crossed the South Circular at the lights) and leaving the station. It is an absolute joy not to have to worry about cars (at least until we reach the lights….)”

We can make this work for everyone.