The stakeholders group was set up by the consultants for lewisham and has now met twice.
I have asked for the consultants or Lewisham officers to attend the ward assembly (I believe they have attended two such public meetings to hear views from the wider public). It was on the agenda of the last ward assembly as well although the consultants were not present (but then nor were any recent contributors on this thread). It was a waste of time at the latest ward assembly since no plans were displayed and the councillor was left to tell the group all the things that will not happen.

The stakeholders group is meant to tell them if they are heading in the right direction and includes representatives from Forest Hill Traders Association, Forest Hill Society, councillors, and others who I hope can at least begin to provide constructive input into the process.

There is a role for the stakeholders, there is a role for surveys of local shops and residents (apparently 1000 leaflets were distributed and 25 responses received), and there is a role for public meetings to discuss these issues.

Personally I'm disappointed that the loading bays need to be on the same side of the road as the shops. I don't think this is necessary and is poor use of the space, as mentioned by anotherjohn. This morning I saw The Butchery loading their van on the other side of the south circular. If they can do it , I'm sure dartmouth road shop keepers could too.

But there are some positives and I would point in particular to a bus stop for dartmouth road shops and double yellow line on more of the road. The parking, particularly on Sunday (when it is legal) ruins the high street and makes driving round Forest Hill extremely time consuming. I'm pleased that the council are trying to improve this because the current situation is not acceptable.

This post was last modified: 22-03-2016 12:54 AM by michael.