Peckham town centre historic restorations

[ibilly99]

Good luck but Peckham being the new Shoreditch is stretching reality somewhat - however nothing ventured nothing gained - if they had kept the Canal basin we wouyld be onto a winner

http://www.netxposure.net/DesktopModules/PortalStore/Files/StoreImages/1/PackageImages/London_PeckhamCanal_369-385.gif

[skyblue]

Ibilly99. I agree re shoreditch. Your photo is wonderful. It is awful how peckham has been ignored. Does any know what is going to happen to the eagle wharf old whiten timber site? Would be an excellent community arts space.

[ibilly99]

http://www.nothingtoseehere.net/2006/10/the_lost_canals_of_peckham_lon.html

[Eileen]

skyblue Wrote:

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> Ibilly99. I agree re shoreditch. Your photo is

> wonderful. It is awful how peckham has been

> ignored. Does any know what is going to happen to

> the eagle wharf old whiten timber site? Would be

> an excellent community arts space.

Hi Skyblue - this is just the kind of question which will get some form of answer at the exhibition from 4pm before the meeting at 7pm on 14th March, or if there is time during the meeting. Whitten Timber?s old site is in the PNAAP (Area Action Plan) now out for formal consultation and there will be a council officer there to talk to people about all those details and with much material from the PNAAP.

I do encourage anyone who has any questions about the planning of individual sites or any policy matters about the future of Peckham to try to come to the exhibition as it is a rare chance to talk to officers about such things. I will be there and will be happy to talk also about the history of several sites in the town centre that I have been personally involved with over the last 35 years, including that one...

[Eileen]

skyblue Wrote:

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> Eileen you are doing amazing things. Did you read

> that the new York times has said Peckham is

> London's 'cool kid hide out'. The piece in last

> Fridays evening standard about shoreditch

> mentioned Peckham too. Rye lane is in need of a

> rework- the train station square should help

> massively and the east london line will too ( as

> an aside I think that the number of bookmakers in

> any area should be limited. The hope pub on rye

> lane turning into a bookies was terrible.)

Thanks for this. Do you have a web link for the New York Times article? It would be great to get that for the website.

I agree so much about the bookmakers. They need to be controlled. People are trying to raise this up the political agenda - our own Lane ward councillor Rowenna Davis being one of them, see here. All of us who want to stop the gambling industry giants ruining peoples' lives, and not paying their fair share of tax to pay for the damaging consequences of their deadly product, I hope you will support the campaign.

[Eileen]

ibilly99 Wrote:

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> Good luck but Peckham being the new Shoreditch is

> stretching reality somewhat - however nothing

> ventured nothing gained - if they had kept the

> Canal basin we wouyld be onto a winner

>

I was told long ago that the canal got filled in in 1972 - just the year before I came to Peckham, and 3 years before the Peckham Society was started. The Peckham Society was born out of a campaign to stop the demolition of Clifton Crescent the wonderful terrace off Asylum Road that you can see from the rail line. It was the residents around there that saved it and started the Peckham Society.

I was recruited just after that in 1975 and got sucked into all this local activity... My baptism of fire was in the 5 year campaign through the Peckham Action Group (PAG) 1977 - 1982 (PAG set up by the Peckham Society) against the demolition of the whole of the north side of Peckham High St. I have often thought that maybe the canal wouldn?t have been filled in if the Peckham Society had been started a few years earlier.

It was PAG that first suggested that the green walkway, which by then existed in place of the canal, was opened up into the High St for a continuous walk. The path to that was blocked at that time by the then location of part of Whitten's timber and the whole of Abbey Rose builders? merchants. Abbey Rose was relocated to Consort Road, and Whitten?s moved to the side and extended their business on the old Eagle Wharf site, now recently demolished.

[skyblue]

Hi Eileen there is a link to the article on the Peckham Page of the south central forum - which I have only recently discovered. I will try to come along on the 14th and I also fully support the campaign to control the numbers bookmakers. (The article mentions the gowlett as a great pub too). A thought re empty shops instead of horrid hoardings- I saw in Margate recently that local art students had created great designs - certainly lifted the streets that were suffering in the downturn. Could help tidy up here too?

[taper]

Here's the link

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/04/magazine/explaining-londoners.html?_r=3

Dalston is a better analog for the way Peckaham is going. Rough as hell, mixed population, lots of young arty types; and all the better for it.

[ibilly99]

If Peckhma goes upmarket which is the next up and coming sh&thole to replace it ?

[Eileen]

ibilly99 Wrote:

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> If Peckhma goes upmarket which is the next up and

> coming sh&thole to replace it ?

With Peckham's very mixed housing tenure, it's not likely that 'Peckham' will go up market. We have a great opportunity to keep our mixed demographics and improve the quality of our collective public spaces for the benefit of us all, haven't we?

[Eileen]

ibilly99 Wrote:

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> If Peckhma goes upmarket...

Hi ibilly & all - In Bar Story this evening, as I was dishing out flyers for the event on Wed 14th March (from 4pm exhibition, 7-9pm meeting), a comment was that the improvements we are seeking would lead to gentrification (bad). This came from some young (young to me?) people who live in private rented flats here in Peckham. Their point is that the landlords are putting up the rents in anticipation of the East London Line (ELL) coming in December, pricing out the kinds of people I was talking to. As a long time house owner in this area (1970s? vintage) I have no recent experience of the private rented market, but I am not surprised at what they said.

The question is what on earth can we do about this? It is what the political policies on so called affordable housing have failed to get to grips with. It will not be surprising if the arrival of the East London Line pushes up property values, as they are said to have risen in the areas that got the first ELL extension two years ago. I can?t see that our community initiated attempts to improve the area and realise its potential has led to this as they haven?t had an effect yet. But maybe they will exacerbate that effect.

I?d be interested to hear other views on this. It is also a topic that can be raised at the meeting on 14th March.

[taper]

Eileen

People who drink in Bar Story are part of Peckham's gentrification, not victims of it.

What you're campaigning for with the station is unalloyed good news, as is the arrival of the ELL. Peckham and surrounding areas are full of cheap housing and social housing. My guess is the people you spoke to are interested in a certain type of housing in a limited area of Peckham. If the can't afford the rent west of Peckham Rye, then they'll need to move east or north.

[ibilly99]

Sadly London has up anchored from the rest of the country and given demogarphics,low interstes rates and QE rents and house prices are being pushed up to unaffordable and would have thought unsustainable levels. It is always the artists and bohemians who attracted by unfashionable and cheap areas are the spearhead for a vibrant,funky environment which is the foundation stone of gentrification. Not a lot you can do in a free market capatilist society except keep on doing your good work. Peckham Rye is the new East Dulwich and East Dulwich is the new Notting Hill and we're all going to the moon via Dalston.

[Eileen]

Hi ? is anyone who has been following this thread coming to the exhibition or meeting tomorrow Wed 14th March? It would be great if you could post something up here afterwards so we can develop the discussion. And also say hello when you are there if you don?t mind losing your anonymity...

Reminder of details:

WEDNESDAY 14th MARCH 2012

7pm - 9pm meeting

from 4pm drop-in exhibition about major new developments agreed or proposed for the town centre

at the CLF Art Cafe, Bussey building, 133 Rye Lane.

Refreshments

[Cllr Rowenna Davis]

Thanks very much to Eileen for flagging the High Streets First campaign, which I helped start to give people a say over the number of betting shops in their area.

Here is a link to a map of all the betting shops in Southwark - there are 77 in total - quite a sight!

If you support the campaign, please do sign the petition here and pass it on.

My email address is [email protected] if you want to get more involved.

[Eileen]

just a reminder =

the exhibition opens at 4pm today: come for as short or long a time as you like. We have displays about

* latest information about the station restoration

* the Council's planning policies for Peckham through the draft PNAAP - lots of interesting stuff and an officer on hand to explain, and discuss.

* Peckham Vision's travelling accumulating material about local history and the ideas about different parts of the town centre

* Information from the team pulling ideas together for a Southwark Council backed bid for a (Mary) Portas pilot

* Peckham Society bookstall

and more ...

The meeting starts at 7pm, and will have some presentations and time for questions and discussion. Come and meet other Peckham town centre enthusiasts.

The event is in the CLF Art Caf?, first floor of the Bussey building, entrance from 133 Rye Lane opposite Blenheim Grove. Light refreshments are on sale.

Do please say hello if you come!

[charliecharlie]

Brilliant thread and all very inspiring... the photos of the staircase are amazing... fantastic work Eileen.

Will come to exhibition at 4.00 as can't come this evening sadly

xxCC

http://images.mirror.co.uk/upl/m4/aug2011/4/8/post-it-notes-on-a-wall-in-peckham-pic-twitter-via-xmisstaix-782855107.jpg

[skyblue]

Morning Eileen I am sorry that I couldn't make last night I hope that it went well. Would you let us know what happened and any news re eagle wharf? Many thanks

[Eileen]

skyblue Wrote:

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> Morning Eileen I am sorry that I couldn't make

> last night I hope that it went well. Would you

> let us know what happened and any news re eagle

> wharf? Many thanks

There was a steady stream of people to the exhibition from 4pm growing in numbers till the room was crowded and standing room only by the time 7pm came. We think there were over 200 there. So it is all a bit of a haze to me. I hope others who were there and reading this thread will give their own response to your question.

Any tech savvy readers of this - If you tweet please can you tweet about the meeting as well, mentioning #Peckham ?

The energy and enthusiasm from the community was great and seemed to impress the senior people from the Council, and the rail companies who were there, about local commitment to Peckham town centre. Let's hope that continues to make a difference to what they do with their big property interests in the town centre and their respective powers to improve things, and also improve their ways of working with active local people.

On Eagle wharf the Council's preferred option for this site can be seen in the PNAAP:

* click on http://www.southwark.gov.uk/downloads/download/2959/peckham_and_nunhead_aap_preferred_option

* then click on top line: Peckham and Nunhead Area Action Plan Preferred Option February 2012 (52.29 MB PDF).

In the PNAAP go to

* Eagle Wharf pages 150-151 in the website pdf version, in Appendix B: Schedule of proposals sites PNAAP 10.

[Bluerevolution]

Very good meeting, as said-standing room only- The history was fantastic