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Forest Hill Town Centre Management
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brian


Posts: 2,002
Joined: Apr 2005
Post: #21
01-11-2008 11:20 AM

Michael I broadly agree and great you have a meeting arranged.
Not sure The Blue Mountain moved from SE 23 to 26 , surely at least 5 years in between. Also the Blue Mountain on Devonshire Rd had a terrible location.
I agree 100% about the pool. I am now going once a week to the nice purpose built pool in Beckenham , much better than the old structure we had , or have. I think we need to bite the bullet and get a pool at the earliest opportunity. As much as I like historic buildings the pool and Louise House are not worth saving at the expense of the delay in getting a decent pool.

Re Fancy dress shop . Do we know why it moved ? Was it that rents cheaper in Kirkdale or was it another reason.?

Good Luck with the Meeting.

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reverendlionelblair


Posts: 47
Joined: Apr 2008
Post: #22
01-11-2008 01:42 PM

Not to besmirch their name but I always found Provender quite pretentious, eye-wateringly expensive and with fairly bland and uninspiring food.

Dartmouth Road is not in terminal decline, at least there are some shops on it rather than at the other end of London Road where there are virtually none. This scheme to shut down all the shops and move them to the centre sounds expensive and unworkable. Plus Dartmouth Road has the library and, one day despite the protestations of a group seemingly determined to defend the crumbling edifice of Forest Hill pools, will have an operating swimming pool which should bring some footfall and trade back.

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nevermodern


Posts: 653
Joined: Feb 2007
Post: #23
02-11-2008 12:32 AM

in what sense are there virtually no shops at the end of london road?

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reverendlionelblair


Posts: 47
Joined: Apr 2008
Post: #24
02-11-2008 08:50 AM

There are a lot of closed shops; Blockbuster, Mcdonalds, the estate agents, the restaurant (Acer?), the corner shop. Its fairly bleak.

You have MK One, the Launderette, the charity shop, Barclays, its not exactly the focal point of the high street. Just because an over-priced organic food shop has closed down doesn't mean that the rest of Dartmouth Road is not viable as a place for shopping.

Whereas Dartmouth Road has lots of shops, albeit a large number of alcohol sellers, you can cross it, it has a number of public amenities on it and its closer to my house. Plus if you were to use the Post Office shop for a cafe it could be really nice.

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nevermodern


Posts: 653
Joined: Feb 2007
Post: #25
02-11-2008 10:36 AM

Equally as many empty shops on Dartmouth Road, to be honest. Our two lovely cafes are at very end of London Road.

It needs a bit of joined up thinking from the retailers, the horniman, and the council (with as much money as Sydenham are getting to tart up their part of the manor - why aren't we getting the same?)

And the reopening of the pools.

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Smiler


Posts: 21
Joined: Jun 2008
Post: #26
02-11-2008 09:10 PM

Brian wrote;

"The Bird in The Hand does not help Dartmouth Rd. I am sure people are put of entering a few shops either side"

Utter nonsense.

The road too hell is paved with good intentions. I am afraid those residents who have sort to maintain the architectural fabric of Forest Hill at the cost of regeneration will in the coming years reap what they have sown, or will they? I expect they will move on and leave the rest of us in the mire.

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sydenhamcentral


Posts: 269
Joined: Mar 2008
Post: #27
06-11-2008 01:38 PM

1. Regarding the pools, even if they had been bulldosed already, they still wouldn't have opened before 2010 AND If the council had properly maintained the building it WOULD STILL BE OPEN.

2. Regrading Julie Sutch, Roz says "she does appear to have quite a high profile and active presence".

This is misleading. Her name is mentioned in Sydenham forums out of sheer frustration. From my conversation with traders in Sydenham she spends her little time in Sydenham telling people to move A boards outside their shops. Shops have opened in Sydenham clearly breaking council guidelines on shop signage and yet she has done nothing to enforce council policy.

She has also been ill recently and I guess she doesnt have a deputy as there is no-one to cover her. I'm sure we wish her a swift recovery so she can work on behalf of us ALL.

As Barry said before, there is no strategy in place for either Sydenham or Forest Hill town centres which is what BOTH dearly need. I suggest this is a priority for both Forest Hill and Sydenham and there is no reason why both can't work with the council to get one in place. You can't JUST rely on the council to do everything, sometimes you have to be more proactive.

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blushingsnail


Posts: 371
Joined: Dec 2005
Post: #28
06-11-2008 03:34 PM

Oh but there is a town centre strategy: http://www.lewisham.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/...rategy.pdf

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brian


Posts: 2,002
Joined: Apr 2005
Post: #29
07-11-2008 04:07 PM

I am fairly certain that both Syd and FH had no strategy in the 1950's but there was a great range of shops , including in Sydenham a lovely department store.

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sydenhamcentral


Posts: 269
Joined: Mar 2008
Post: #30
09-11-2008 12:42 AM

There isn't a town centre policy.

There is a document called a town centre policy but it says stuff like this:

"Footfall in the Town Centre is an important factor in determining its vitality. This is useful to traders and essential to all potential investors, this can be measured from visits to businesses via door clickers, etc."

Basically they are going to gather a lot of information. Great strategy.

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Gep


Posts: 60
Joined: Aug 2007
Post: #31
09-11-2008 03:29 PM

That's such a pity! They were making brilliant apple strudels at the Provender. I have to say I'm guilty as well since I've probably been only twice a year. Like most people leaving on the Perry Vale side of Forest Hill, I rarely go to the "town centre" assuming that means Dartmouth road. I propose to knock down the horrible Forest Hill Central and build a square with restaurant and shops around it.

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Jane


Posts: 52
Joined: Jan 2007
Post: #32
21-11-2008 12:15 PM

Anyone know what is replacing Provender? There is a sign up saying cafe/bistro to open soon.

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MrGrumpy


Posts: 17
Joined: Oct 2008
Post: #33
24-11-2008 06:54 PM

Dear Michael,

An earlier post of yours said that a meeting had been called by Julie Sutch with your organisation (and others) to discuss the ailing town centre.

I was wondering what the outcomes of that meeting were?

Thanks

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michael


Posts: 3,255
Joined: Mar 2005
Post: #34
24-11-2008 09:47 PM

I am pleased to say the meeting did happen but I was not present. Peter, the chair of the FH Society was present.

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MrGrumpy


Posts: 17
Joined: Oct 2008
Post: #35
01-12-2008 08:02 PM

Thanks Michael. Does Peter visit this forum? I'd be very interested to hear what happened at the meeting...

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Anotherjohn


Posts: 376
Joined: May 2005
Post: #36
02-12-2008 05:41 PM

Mr Grumpy wrote : 'I'd be very interested to hear what happened at the meeting... '

Me too! Is there anyone who can give us that information please?

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michael


Posts: 3,255
Joined: Mar 2005
Post: #37
03-12-2008 12:13 PM

Peter has asked me to respond on his behalf:
It was a first meeting and we look forward to many more in the future, we plan to have regular meetings and if members have issues that they would like me to bring up - in a constructive way, I would be happy to do this.

A lot of what Julie does is behind the scenes and to make a real difference we need the Forest Hill Society and local residents to support her rather than criticise her on public forums (as has happened in the past) - let's try and work together!

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nevermodern


Posts: 653
Joined: Feb 2007
Post: #38
03-12-2008 01:07 PM

I can feel my Forest Hill Society membership lapsing as I type...Huh

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vipes


Posts: 145
Joined: Oct 2006
Post: #39
03-12-2008 02:33 PM

"let's try and work together!" Well, as a "public forum" used principally by a couple of thousand residents who pay her wages why does Julie Sutch choose not to use this site as a way to easily communicate her vision for the town centre and perhaps to respond to some of suggestions on here. Which are driven my anxiety caused by its steady demise. If that's criticism that deeply offends her then maybe she's in the wrong job.

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MrGrumpy


Posts: 17
Joined: Oct 2008
Post: #40
03-12-2008 02:55 PM

Couldn't agree more, Vipes. Whatever work is being undertaken behind-the-scenes will inevitably be undervalued if no effort is taken to keep the public informed of progress/initiatives etc. I'm sure Julie Sutch is perfectly pleasant and no-one has anything against her personally, but if she fails to engage with the people that matter, they're bound to begin thinking that she's not doing her job particularly diligently.

Michael - thanks for conveying Peter's response (even if it wasn't particularly helpful). Perhaps Peter could sign up to the se23.com forum; surely the Chairman of the Forest Hill Society should have visibility of these issues being discussed, and ideally provide input/feedback to important developments.

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