I emailed Cllr Feakes about this recently. He said he had been chasing the Council for some time about the monies and will provide an update in their eFocus email newsletter (I think you can subscribe by emailing forest.hill@lwplibdems.org.uk) or thier next hard copy newsletter, depending on when they hear any news.

In his email he also mentions that he has been talking to the Horniman Museum & Gardens about their possible involvement in using the Triangle with a view to some benfits in terms of activities and also access/parking problems. He also mentioned that there is some consideration of there being some sort of food/drinks outlet.

I'd certainly not want to see the Triangle turned into a giant car park for the museum.

'Activities' sounds intriguing and I'll be interested to find out what kind of activities these might be.

As for a food/drink outlet, I know there are nice, seemingly successful cafes in Dulwich Park and Peckham Rye Park, but I suspect the Triangle is far too small to support any kind of outlet unless the museum closed its cafe, and I'd rather the cafe be kept inside the museum and the Triangle monies be focussed on improving the Triangle as a play park for kids.

I do have a new idea though. How about creating a 'splash area' similar to the one in Sydenham Wells Park. In that park there are a couple of fountain-like devices that kids (and adults) can run through and get wet, and these are obviously very popular and lots of fun. As I understand it, the concrete circle in the Triangle used to be a paddling pool (presumably closed down due to risk of drowning). There's an article in the latest Southwark Life magazine mentioning how such a splash zone is going to be constructed in Peckham Rye Park next summer to replace an old paddling pool. The changes are going to cost ?125k. That's obviously a lot more than the ?40k but I see no reason why some of the ?1m from the DCSF fund should not also be allocated to the Triangle, as it's such a high profile and popular spot, being just opposite the museum.

First and foremost though, I'd much rather see some simple improvements delivered rapidly (by next summer, ideally) rather than there being several years of indecision and inactivity. Perhaps a phased approach can be taken, delivering improvements over a number of years, if necessary.

Does anyone else have any ideas of views on the use of this money?

Original posting about the ?40k for doing up the Triangle:
http://www.se23.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=78

Recent thread about ?1m of DCSF funding to be spent on transformation and creation of 20-25 play areas in Lewisham:
http://www.se23.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=825

Discussion of dogs in the Horniman Gardens and Triangle:
http://www.se23.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=741