Thanks for everyone's posts - they are a salient reminder of why I dislike community forums.

Better for who? Young middle-class commuters who, when they start to earn more money, leave Forest Hill? Or poorer families who have lived here a number of years and cannot exert that kind of choice?

I propose the launderette gets turned into a Costa or Cafe Nerro. They serve a decent cup of coffee and competition between all these cafes would be good for consumers.

I have lived in Forest Hill from 1974 to 1984 and again from 2003 to now. Forest Hill used to have a deli where Acorn Estate Agents is - my mum would buy tins of hummous from there (this was exotic in the 70's). That closed. Provender on Dartmouth Road closed and that had been around for ages. I don't want to discourage small business owners but you must remember that something like 50% of ventures fold within
the first year and 90% within the first three years.

michael, you seem to have some sort of agenda as to how Forest Hill should look. I have one too. I want Forest Hill to remain the way it is, where people of all classes and backgrounds come into contact with one another. I like the mix of transience and permanence that the place embodies. To me that is what a community is: difference, not some agglomeration of the like-minded.

My assumption is that those who bray most loudly for a deli are those who can't afford to buy in East Dulwich. East Dulwich is generally dreadful (SMBS excepted), full of mediocre bars and that godawful Jojo Maman Bebe shop (Mothercare at thrice the price).

There seems to be this view that "gentrification" of areas can continue though more delicatessens, cafes and fishmongers. Well, the party is over, the property bubble is deflating and I suspect that Forest Hill will remain static for as long as mortgages for first time buyers are hard to get.

The other point I tried to make in my original post was that someone, who has served this community well for many years (better than this website and all the delis other than Provender) is losing her job. If you do own a business in Forest Hill you should employ Gwen - she is a grafter. That, in my mind, would be a gesture of appreciation from this community.