The Launderette has to my knowledge been in this location for well over 40 years and so must be one of the oldest businesses in the town centre.

I moved to Forest Hill in 1968 and was a regular user for many years. I think it used to cost 2/6d for a wash and 6d for the dryer in those days. I remember after decimalisation they changed the dryers to use 2p pieces and lots of the regulars realised that a 2p was the same size as the old halfpenny and had a lot of cheap drys (until we ran out of halfpennies).

There were, I think 3 or 4 Launderettes in those days. There was one in the row of shops between Sainsburys and Waldenshaw road which had coin operated Dry Cleaning machines. You could do several pairs of trousers and a couple of jackets for £1. There were a couple of others along Dartmouth Road.

I think its a bit sad that some people think that its an eyesore. At least as Roz says it provides a needed service, and its better being an 'eyesore' than yet another Estate Agent or Coffee shop that opens and closes within a few months.

An eyesore equals run down perception
Rundown perception equals people stay away
People stay away equals shops closing due to lack of custom
Shops closing due to lack of custom equals a lifeless highstreet

It's not rocket science.

...and it doesn't take much to have a bit of pride and smarten up a shop front

I'm sure if the laundrette had been better maintained with a clean, tidy frontage, we would be mourning its loss a lot more. I'd be happy to see another laundrette there if it was given a facelift.

If what has been said is true - that there can be little reason for the council to reject planning permission for change of use - then there seems not to be much that we can do. In it's current state the laundrette is an eyesore, on a prime location in the centre of Forest Hill it looks awful, but there would be nothing wrong with having a really smart laundrette if only someone could take it over and do it up. Laundrettes are very useful; we have a new deli at 49 Dartmouth Road and how many coffee shops can a town centre sustain? Make it into a state of the art laundrette ("My Beautiful Laundrette") I say, and let it stay in the middle of the town so all those people getting off the trains can pick up their clean things on the way home.
Quetta

We have just finished a Launderette in Brentford near Hounslow. This is the before:


This was the after (it's the actual thing, not photoshop, the sign is based on clothes care labels):


Launderettes can look good and an asset to the high street. There are a few across London that look fantastic.

This is such a prime site I hope it becomes something worthy of Forest Hill. Can someone sprinkle of magic dust in Sydenham, Forest Hill seems to have lots of it. This is our latest shop, and it looks ****.

I think a really smart laundrette would be a positive asset on that site, because such a thing is relatively rare. People would notice it, much more than a coffee shop or a boutique. It would be worthy of comment, that's for sure.

I've confirmed with the planning department at Lewisham council that a launderette is considered 'sui generis', so planning permission would be required to convert this property into an estate agent (A2). However, there is no specific protection for 'sui generis' (unlike A1 in a core shopping area).

It does look likely, according to the rumours I hear, that Pedder will be moving to this site, presumably subject to planning permission.

The other sad rumour is that St Davids coffee shop is likely to close in the next few weeks, unless somebody would like to take over this business. [Seperate topic here -admin]

The rumour that the Forest Hill Society is going to set up a launderette are not true as far as I'm aware. But if anybody would be interested in setting up a launderette in one of the empty shops, we would be happy to provide any advice we can (email@foresthillsociety.com)

An application has been made to turn the launderette into an estate agent. The Forest Hill Society has objected to this application and you can read the details at: http://www.freewebs.com/foresthill/plann...20road.pdf

There is also a petition in local shops (Berries and Sugar Mountain, I believe) which you can sign if you agree that it is inappropriate to convert the only launderette in Forest Hill town centre into an estate agent.

Out of interest, does anyone know if it is Pedders that are trying to move into this unit?? If so, i wonder if they are planning to give up the corner unit that they occupy now on London Road if they are successful in the application ....being quite near the Butchery, that'd make a nice spot for someone...

Yes Red67 it is Pedders. Some lovely locals have offered to paint the facade to make it look nice if it stays a launderette. Petition at mine to save the launderette if you want to sign it. Hope I'm allowed to post this!

This is a shame. Does anyone know how much the rent is on this unit? What other options are there for this unit?

Tersie,
I don't have the answer to your question other than the estate agent is the only option currently on the table, but if you would like to open a launderette in Forest Hill there are a number of other units that might have lower rents but would be perfect for a launderette, just look at the remaining empty shops on Dartmouth Road. If you would like the details of the landlords Richard from the Forest Hill Society, and the SEE3 team have many useful contacts.

Rather have an estate agent than a laundrette. There's a nice laundrette in kirkdale village less than 5 mins away. If pedders want to spruce up a tired unit in full view of every Visitor to the Hill then good luck to them. Someone else may be able to start a trading business in the unit they vacate. Feel sorry or them, fancy tying to invest in forest hill!

Deano. Is that 5 minutes in the car? I can assure you that Kirkdale is not 5 mins away with a big bag of washing and no car. The point I made months back on this forum is there is a large part of the community who have absolute no need for an estate agent, we aren't going anywhere, what we need is a laundrette that is used by us 1 - 2 times a week, this needs to be in our local town centre.
Agreed it could do with a lick of paint. Personally I would look more favorably on a town centre greeting me with an everyday public facility than a multitude of estate agents, that doesn't tell me this is a community with people here for the long term.
Anyway, the signs are up to say it closes for it's last wash on March 30 so that valuable facility will be gone. It's a shame.

I counted five estate agents within 100 metres of this location. The nearest launderette is about 1000 metres away.

BMqpr and Deano I don't even think you could drive to the Kirkdale launderette from FH launderette in 5 minutes never mind walk with your laundry. Take traffic and parking into consideration, got to be more like 15 mins driving and parking. I have quite a few pensioner customers that can't walk that far without laundry, never mind with. They have also told me they will have to get on a bus with heavy trolleys to do their washing. Just hope someone nice is on the bus to help them on and off. Please sign the petition if you want our launderette to stay.

I do feel very sorry for old people who find it tricky to get out at the best of times and who will now have to travel further. Clearly running a laundrette is just not viable any more. That doesn't mean we have to petition to keep it and to prevent pedder from taking it over. I've driven the journey lots of times. It is 2 minutes by car. Park on willow way and a 2 minute walk. It's a bit different if you are a pensioner I grant.

On this rare occasion I really don't agree with FHS's objection. Launderett's seem increasingly not to be viable. I have no issue with Pedder relocating and tidying up one of the most prominent locations in the centre. It's also unlikely that another estate agent will move into their existing unit and hopefully the recent trent of a diverse new business opening up will continue.

Have to agree with Herbert here. I don't disagree that a laundrette is a "nice to have" but if it's not commercially viable then no petition in the world is going to save it.

Yes as much as there may be a need for the laundrette, clearly it's not getting the necessary custom to keep it afloat which seems to suggest therefore that there is not the demand (I appreciate it's very tricky for those people that need this service).

While it would be nice to have something more exciting than an estate agent, is it really realistic to think that there's going to be some snazzy new shop there? But perhaps I am being very pessimistic considering all the new things that are opening?

A new shop would be great but please not another charity shop. There are already two on London Rd and another on Dartmouth Road. While these are good to have for the local community and I regularly support them, I don't think we need another one. What is the moral position for FH Society on objecting to the opening of a charity shop?!