Deptford events coming up...

The big event this weekend is the London Marathon on Sunday which Crossfielders can watch from the end of the road – unless they're running of course. Get down to Creek Road at around 9.15am to see the elite runners or catch the charity runners from 11ish. But before that, there's...

New Cross & Deptford Free Film Festival 
Friday 24th April – Sunday 3rd May 
37 free films in 17 different venues over 10 days, run by volunteers with more than 40 people curating events. Most of the larger venues or most popular films are already booked up (the first night in particular), but check to see what's left at the website – some events can't be booked so it's first come, first served. One such film we would recommend for loyal Deptfordians is Hide and Seek, a children's film shot in Deptford in 1972, showing on Wednesday 29th at the Big Red Pizzeria (but don't be fooled, it'll be in the container in their back yard, not in the pizzeria itself). Otherwise see you in the queue at the Job Centre on 3rd May...

Deptford Food Festival
Saturday 25th April, 9am–5.30pm, Giffin Square 
The first of what is now to be a weekly street food market. The Deptford Dame points out this is the third time it's been tried and fears there may still be not enough demand to make it worthwhile for the traders themselves. Not being an evening event, it's certainly not as trendy an event as Lewisham Model Market which returned to Lewisham High Street last week, but as a food-orientated attraction it's not as poncey as the Deptford Brunch Club and you can do a bit of shopping as well.

Co-incidentally, The Secret History of Our Streets – featuring Deptford High Street in the first episode – is being repeated on BBC4 (catch it on i-Player). The documentary uses film footage from Hide and Seek (see the Film Festival above), funnily enough. When Secret History was first broadcast in 2012 it caused controversy locally. We had our own critical opinion of the episode's inaccuracies (here, here and here) having originally helped contribute to its making in 2011. Also see Deptford Misc's take on it. But it's worth watching to hear how Deptford High Street was once the "Oxford Street of south London".

That reminds us of the meeting held back in early February at The Albany for shopkeepers and market traders, convened by local councillors (who all happen to be Lewisham Labour) to discuss how to increase trade in the high street (or rather, combat the decrease). Traders think business is lost because of parking charges – it's free to park on a Saturday after 1pm but they'd like free all day parking ("like what you get at supermarkets"). Maybe the new Asda can pay for the free parking...

Another demand was for public toilets–  the Lounge was built on the site of the previous public loos and doesn't open until 10am. Most demands were led by People Before Profit (in an open attack on the Labour councillors); PB4P touched on a subject that was of no interest to legitimate businesses when they called for an end to frequent harassment from the UK Border Police.

Everyone present thought better signage was needed and one lady shopkeeper bravely suggested that the 47 bus takes a detour (presumably up Frankham Street and down Giffin Street) which is a brilliant but probably impractical idea. The Chair of the High Street Traders Association – who got the anchor removed and to which most traders do not belong – suggested French foods or farmer's markets in Giffin Square. So here you are! Not French cheeses, but lovely street food! Make the most of it! Naturally, you'll be walking or catching the bus to our famous high street, since there's still no all-day free parking. That's probably just as well since Deptford Church Street is usually gridlocked on Saturdays with people trying to get to Surrey Quays and Lewisham shopping centres – or Millwall FC at home...

London Design Festival in Deptford

The London Design Festival is an annual event which both celebrates and promotes London as the "design capital of the world". It starts tomorrow 13th September and runs till the 21st. Check out events all over the city at the LDF website.

Three local events include:

The Living Installation in Giffin Square
Sat 13th September, 9am-4pm
Local designer Linda Florence will create a 60s living room in the square and fill it with stuff she's sourced in Deptford Market and the high street. More info at deptfordhighstreet.com and thelivinginstallationdeptford.tumblr.com

The Intertidal Cinema at Deptford Creek
Sat 13th 9.30-10.15pm, Sun 14th 9.40-10.40pm, Mon 15th 10.15-11pm
Hannah Fasching shows two films she has made about Deptford which overlay local peoples' narratives onto scenes of its architecture and landscape. Both can be viewed from the Ha'Penny Hatch footpath – one film is screened in an arch and another is cleverly projected onto the river bed.

Contemporary Craft & Art Weekend at Greenwich Market
Sat & Sun 13th & 14th September, 10am-5.30pm
Designers and makers will be demonstrating their crafts, including rag rug making, ironmongery, furniture making. For more info see Meet the Makers. Plus up to 80 designer makers in the market and exhibitions at the surrounding galleries.

Local Christmas markets, Friday 6th – Saturday 8th

Art Hub Studios Art & Design Fair

Friday 6th December, 4-9pm

Saturday & Sunday 7th & 8th December, 12-5pm

Art Hub Gallery, 5-9 Creekside, SE8 4SA

Buy direct from the artists and designers: Textiles, Jewellery, Glassware, Furniture, Art, Ceramics, Prints, Hand-crafted gifts, T-shirts – plus mulled wine and music! 

FREE ENTRY

If, on a Winter's Day – Deptford Society Christmas Market

Saturday 7th December, 10am-4.30pm

Deptford Lounge, Giffin Square, Deptford High Street

The recently formed Deptford Society (sign up to their mailing list here) hosts its first event in collaboration with The Albany and Deptford Lounge. Featuring the monthly Giffin Square Food Fair, live music from Heart of Steel and Tidemill Academy school choir, performance art from Something Human, cooking demos outside Codfathers (11am-2pm) and interactive art installations along the high street.  

Plus local heritage project Build The Lenox will be showing off their restored 17th century ship's cannon, along with displays about Deptford's Royal Dockyard, 

the Deptford Shanty Crew will sing bawdy songs at 2pm, 

followed by talks about Deptford Dockyard from maritime historian  

Richard Endsor and children's novelist and black history expert S I Martin.

Also pick up a free glass of mulled wine when you join the Deptford Society!

Cockpit Arts Christmas Open Studios

Friday 6th December, 11am-9pm (FREE ENTRY), 

Saturday & Sunday 7th & 8th December, 11-6pm (£3 entry)

Cockpit Arts, 18-22 Creekside SE8 3DZ

165+ designer-makers, gifts, kids workshops, demonstrations, 

live music, mulled wine & festive fare.

More details at www.cockpitarts.com/shopping-events

APT Christmas Parlour

Friday 6th December, 6-8pm

Saturday & Sunday 7th & 8th December, 1-5pm

APT Gallery, 6 Creekside SE8 4SA

Drawings, paintings, prints & sculptures by APT artists + cards and jewellery

Little Nan's Christmas Market with Cocktails

Saturday 7th December, 12-6pm

Little Nan's Bar, Deptford Broadway

Featuring gifts, textiles, home objects, bags, clothes, vintage garb, hoodies & Ts, 

Little Nan's Hampers, plus cocktails & treats in the bar.

Coming up...

Deptford Wives Vintage Christmas & Craft Market

Saturday & Sunday 14th & 15th December, 10.30am-4pm

Albany, Douglas Way SE8 4AG

Ceramics, classy vintage items, jewellery, decorations, arts & crafts, leatherwork, T-shirts

Xmas Extravganza at New Cross Learning
Sunday 15th December, 1–7.30pm
Puppets, stories, Santa, jazz + surprise guests...and the NXL AGM somewhere in it all...

Leave the van - there's nowhere left to park it!

A bit of a transportation post for a change.

BIKE HANGARS

LCC, the London Cycling Campaign have just sent me this:

Dear Supporter,
In Lambeth, the council have recently rolled out 40, Dutch made, on-street bike lockers. The lockers offer a secure option for people to park their bike. They can store 6 bicycles, and only take up the space of half a car parking bay.

Great News!

Lewisham Council have expressed a real interest in placing a number of Bikehangars throughout the borough, but they want to find out where they are needed.

Do you want a Bikehangar near you? Then let Lewisham Council know where. They are interested in hearing about locations on-street or on private commercial land.

REQUEST A BIKEHANGAR NEAR YOU 

Bikehangars are likely to be installed where demand is greatest and your response will help identify possible locations. Please ensure that you reply by the 27th September 2013, when the public consultation is due to close.

Do you know anyone else who would like a Bikehangar near them?  We would like to hear from them too, so please forward this email to as many Lewisham cyclists as possible. Thank you!

Best wishes
London Cycling Campaign and Cyclehoop

Knowing that the editor of this blog has recently had a bike stolen from the estate and having recently recuperated and returned a stolen bike to a Crossfields resident, I know that there may be other people interested in some form of secure outdoor bike locking.  I've seen these in Wandsworth and they may be of use to plenty of others on the estate.

If you'd like a safe place to lock your bike, use this address to nominate a place (you don't have to be an LCC member to request adequate cycle facilities) click HERE.

MUSICAL INTERLUDE

A couple of old faces on this Deptford Market song - with an in-depth review of Westfield shopping centre at the end.



CYCLE ROUTES

Just a couple of shots around the estate this morning showing how the council contractors and the council use cycle lanes.  The van behind is a Lewisham council one.

 
...and illegal parking on NCN21 in Copperas Street

The street is on the borders between Lewisham and Greenwich council.  I think that locals have discovered that as it's way beyond either council's range of interest they can simply ignore the road markings.  And it's worth betting that they don't even know who's responsible for enforcing no parking.  This route is part of the National Cycling Network and has become dangerous for cyclists because, at the Greenwich end, with the vehicles having taken up 2/3rds of the road they then need the other 1/3rd to drive on.

Deptford High Street improvements

We've been meaning to write about this for ages, but never got round to it: how Lewisham Council intends to spend the £1.5m awarded by the Mayor of London's Outer London Fund to make improvements to the southern end of Deptford High Street.

Now there's a drop-in event at Deptford Lounge on Wednesday 17 October (4-7pm) for you to find out for yourselves.

You can read more on Lewisham's website. Also see Deptford Dame and Brockley Central. On the council website you can also fill in a survey that asks "What would encourage you to shop more often at Deptford High Street and Deptford Market?" and, having declared that the anchor is to be moved from its present position, ends with the question "Where do you think it should go?"

The Deptford Dame says there is a very obvious place to put the anchor – in the new skate park at Giffin Square (the kids can skate around it). She also points out that the plans show some nice new low-level seating, so the drinking community will still have a spot to perch.

Whilst new lighting, better electrical connections, more trees and new drainage are all improvements to be welcomed, other plans may be less so. New paving will obviously improve the look of the place, but how many times must we get new paving, for it only to look dirty and terrible within a few weeks? Just look at Douglas Way now, it's absolutely filthy. The new paving in Giffin Square is already stained and never cleaned. And within days of being laid, new paving by the main road was being dug up by utilities whose obligation to return it as found was not enforced by the council with any vigour. Not to mention the paving already in the high street which has been filled in for years with tarmac by Lewisham themselves (as is most of the paving elsewhere in the borough).

And what is the point of new paving when there is no proper cleaning up (ie jet washing) after the three-day-a-week market? What is the point of new lighting when the lighting is never properly maintained? What is the point of new trees when they are left to die? (see Frankham Street).

Ongoing maintenance of the high street is sadly lacking. Fancy new stall canopies and outdoor art exhibitions are not going to hide the fact.

Another fine example of how all this new stuff just goes to wrack and ruin within months is Deptford Station, which some have said is "approaching dereliction before it is even fully finished". The spanking new surfaces are showing the results of six months of neglect, with dirt, dust and pigeon droppings, staining from spillages on flooring and glass, leaks in the roof, dead pigeon feathers, a shattered glass panel (due to steel tension rather than vandalism), a smell of fish, and the lifts stinking of urine (no toilets, alas!).

The rapidly declining state of the new station is thanks to Network Rail or South Eastern's neglect, rather than Lewisham Council's, but goes to show that without cleaning and maintenance, there's not much chance of new public spaces looking – and feeling – good for long.

Update 17/10/12 (edited 18/10/12):

From the mini exhibition this evening we gather that the team working on the Deptford High Street Improvement Scheme have given a lot of consideration to the issues raised above and in our comments section.

Some points to note are:

• The anchor will be moved from the top of the high street, but Giffin and Douglas Squares are not considered appropriate new homes for it since both are used (or will be) for the market and as event spaces. Due to popular demand, however, the "cherished landmark" will not be returned to Chatham Dockyard (from whence it came 20 years ago), but kept in storage until it can be accommodated somewhere. We forgot to ask where the "storage" is – it could well be Chatham. Not a very satisfactory solution for those who have come to regard the anchor as the only visible sign of Deptford's maritime heritage.

• The low seating featured in the architectural drawings will not go ahead. There will be no fixed seating since this attracts street drinkers. Never mind that the late night betting community are not worried about sitting down. The team are considering the idea of having a kiosk (or sort of pop-up cafe) that might sell hot drinks etc and which will have non-fixed seating that will be put away at night. Quite why anyone would want to sit outside by the busy A2 for a coffee is beyond this author. And where are they going to store the furniture? The bloke who runs the Wimpy wasn't too happy about the idea either.

• Some shop keepers who were concerned about losing much of their shop frontage as the market space is widened will be variously appeased. Some of the more historic shopfronts have been identified to receive improvements, though we're not sure what this means.

• The council have entered into a joint PFI (Private Finance Initiative) with Croydon Council which will involve the renewal of all street lighting in the borough and the long term maintenance of its lighting stock for 25 years.

• In a time of cost cutting, the chances of ongoing maintenance of new paving etc is too much to hope for. Since there is no money to maintain what is already in place, it is felt that this opportunity to renew the dilapidated street is better than nothing.

Other issues dealt with include business waste, parking, traffic flow, the market's future storage needs, and ideas for pulling in shoppers. A forum will be set up consisting of various stakeholders and residents.

The team are also working with the police, local organisations and charities to address the issues of street drinking, antisocial behaviour, betting shops, drug dealing and the alarming increase in rough sleeping and homelessness.

 

High Street Lament

One of our readers has been emailing us (and other bloggers) for a while about certain developments on Deptford High Street, which is, if you didn't know, a Conservation Zone. Listed below are some of the issues he has raised that counteract and negate all the efforts being made to rejuvenate our high street or honour the designation "Conservation Zone". Included at the end of the post is New Cross (also a Conservation Zone). The Queen of Shops, Mary Portas, could make a whole telly series out of it...


124 Deptford High Street (the old Job Centre)

Our reader's latest lament is over the plan for a massive Poundland at the old Job Centre site, which is currently being built by McDonald Egan. We first reported on the job centre redevelopment in August 2010 and later in July 2011, and the arrival of Poundland was confirmed in August 2011. It appears McDonald Egan could not find tenants for the two previously planned restaurant/bars and this was the best they could do. They always had the option for retail, covering themselves, since it was hard to imagine two restaurant bars competing with each other (though this is an ideal business model apparently – the more the merrier, competition and all that)...

Talking of which, with six or seven pound shops already this side of the railway, one would have thought greater efforts might have been made to attract a less downbeat retail tenant to greet visitors as they emerge from the brand new station in the not so distant future. As the Deptford Dame points out in her latest post, McDonald Egan threw in the towel before any of the new improvements (Douglas Way, the Deptford Lounge, Giffin Square and a brand new station) had begun construction – not to mention the potential Richard Rogers development at the Deptford Project... Read more in the Dame's post 'The Future of the High Street?' here.

Perhaps the developers think Poundland will trump all the other pound shops and run them out of business, leaving the way clear for some bright entrepreneurs to start new and interesting enterprises in their place. Joking (it is unlikely that McDonald Egan think beyond their bank balance)! But already, Seneer, who runs Danny's Pound Land further down the street, told the South London Press before Christmas that he was approached by Poundland to change the name of his shop – with a threat of trademark infringement!

Meanwhile our reader would like everyone to object to the nasty generic shopfront design proposed by Poundland which, if you've a mind to (as Dame Joan Ruddock would say) you can do here (application DC/12/79286/FT – deadline 20th March).

104 Deptford High Street / Giffin Square

Another proposal that has our reader in fits of despair has also been covered by the Deptford Dame recently. In this case a previously submitted and fairly attractive building design has been replaced by one of unutterable blandness, made more horrible by the inclusion of yet another mural by the awful Artmongers, who seem able to do no wrong with Lewisham despite their ghastly mural on Deptford Broadway. The development will back onto the fish shop on the corner of the job centre parade and face onto Giffin Square – so it will be quite a main feature in our enjoyment of the (yet to be finished) square.

Incidentally, the square itself was extremely compromised from its original design – an ampitheatre was envisaged but someone forgot to look into the major drainage problems, and even now, a BT phone box cannot be removed from the resulting compromise (sorry no drawings). We have never seen anyone in the BT phonebox (unlike the one down near Tescos which is used for smoking crack). Anyway, here is what was previously proposed for the new development overlooking the square:

Again, read more details in the Deptford Dame's post 'Giffin Square/104 Deptford High Street'. If you're in the mood to object, the planning application and drawings can be found here (application DC/11/78353/X).


Paving and shopfronts in the Conservation Zone

The main issue that drives our reader to the point of madness is what is allowed to happen to already existing structures in the high street – a Conservation Zone, remember.

For instance, street paving is dug up by utility companies and not reinstated properly (which they are obliged to do within six months but often do not). Soon after the York paving was laid at the corner of Douglas Way, Southern Gas had dug it up and filled it in with tarmac. OK, they've got time to sort it out, but other places such as on Tanners Hill have been unresolved for three years. There appears to be no enforcement and our pavements everywhere are a patchwork of tarmac where paving stones were once laid. Lewisham's reaction to uneven paving is TARMAC before any citizen falls over and litigation can be brought (see our recent post Filling A Hole).

Meanwhile, shopfronts are altered without permission, and guidelines drawn up to maintain the character of the high street are ignored by unscrupulous and uncaring businesses. The more often owners are allowed to get away with unauthorised alterations, says our reader, the more it will happen – making a mockery of the Conservation Area status.

The planning department have stated that "Taking enforcement action can be a long drawn out process and cannot produce ‘quick fixes’...It is not an offence to carry out development without first obtaining planning permission for it. In line with Central Government guidance – PPG18 entitled ‘Enforcing Planning Control’ and Circular 10/97... states that the Local Planning Authority should first attempt to resolve breaches of planning control informally through negotiation with the land owner or developer... The land owner or developer has the right to apply for retrospective planning permission. It would be considered ‘unreasonable’ to issue an enforcement notice (unless the development was about to become ’time barred’) whilst a planning application was in the process of being considered..."

It seems that enforcement might result in appeal with the possibility that costs may be awarded against the council for 'unreasonable' behaviour. There are loopholes in our planning laws that cash-strapped councils are unable to plug.

Paddy Power's alterations to the Deptford Arms is just one of many flagrant abuses of Conservation Area guidelines. In this case, "authorisation for the service of an enforcement notice is being sought". In the case of 37 Deptford High Street, which Abermarle & Bond altered before planning consent was granted, we are told that "informal negotiations are underway to resolve the issue" – in actuality, a "retrospective" planning application was submitted and approved after the alterations took place and before that statement was offered.

You may wonder in some cases, do our public servants have no backbone?  Our reader suggests there should be an "at risk" register for Conservation Areas like Deptford High Street, which, he says, faces a "slow and painful death" (presently, there is only an "at risk" register for specific buildings).

He would also like to see an "amenity group" made up of local people, who could contribute as a panel (expert or not) to advise against the sort of poor design that is proposed for Giffin Square and lobby on all sorts of fronts for a better environment. Perhaps it is only locals who understand the "essence" of what makes the area special, who "get" the gritty grunginess, yet still demand some standards to be met.

A difficult call. Why, for instance, insist on paving to be properly replaced when it is already stained to beyond buggery within a couple of weeks of installation by daily life and commerce and local business tenants and street traders who don't live here, who don't understand nor give a shit what mess happens outside their shop or after they have put away their stall. Go on, replace the paving and see how filthy the rest of the paving is in comparison and expose how it is NEVER CLEANED by the local authority, who will simply replace it all in ten years time when the big funding comes round again.

Rumour has it the lovely paving we were given for the south of the high street, what, 10 years ago (?), now pockmarked with tarmac and filthy as hell, is to be replaced by new paving, courtesy of a big grant from Boris (watch this space or the Deptford Dame for news), and rumour also has it the rest of the high street may get paved with money coming from a Convoys Wharf deal (no way!).

What's the bloody point of all this new paving when utilities dig it up and aren't fined, and traders don't clean up after themselves, and the local authority NEVER washes it. How do we compare to most European cities? Surely we can find a solution (including a cleaning solution that works on York stone) that allows real life to take place and makes housekeeping easy? Despite this local authority neglect, can the problem be solved with Pride?

Back to that picture of the tarmac outside the new barbers (above) – look at the walls, the shop keeper can't even be arsed to finish the paintwork they started, but the inside sure looks nice. Perhaps, with many of the high street's shops being run by people from places like war-torn Afghanistan among other life experiences, this is not surprising. In this case it was quite amusing to see the outside being painted in darkness (with no street light – there has been no proper lighting here since the square renovations started two or three months ago) in order that they could open on the day they'd chosen at the beginning of December – much like the much wealthier Abermarle & Bond (who met their own target a month before they had official permission to).

Can Pride can be tackled at all, as long as south of the railway Deptford High Street is part of New Cross Ward, and the north is part of Evelyn Ward? Presently there is a Divide and Rule democratic status in Deptford and this cannot help it help itself. How can the street have a strong identity when it is administered in this way, in two halves? And where is our Town Manager? (Answer: Cut, a year before The Cuts).

The areas mentioned above are in New Cross Ward, and with its local police stationed in New Cross Gate (as rarely seen as the cops in the north of the street who are based in Surrey Quays), it seems pertinent to mention another area that is sadly lacking in charm, despite the efforts of quite a few individual businesses to breathe life into the area...

Finally, New Cross Road...

In addition to the issues raised by our reader, we were drawn to Brockley Central's recent post regarding the pitiful state of much of the property on New Cross Road. The culprit here is not a faceless anonymous owner but possibly the single largest owner of property in SE14 – Goldsmiths College, who are failing miserably to maintain the many empty buildings they own on the main A2 road and roads off it. The entire area along the main road is a Conservation Zone.

Says Brockley Central guest poster, Isobel, "all the efforts made by the Council, local businesses and community groups to regenerate New Cross are effectively being undermined by this neglect". She's started an e-petition to pressurise Goldsmiths to do something about it. Sign the petition here.

Perhaps "our reader" needs to do the same – start a petition to save our high street?

London Open House

It's London Open House this weekend 17 & 18 September. There is so much going on (770 venues) that trying to find things on the website is quite a daunting prospect. Narrowing the search down to Lewisham produces a list of 25 venues in the borough. See here, or pop over to the Deptford Dame who has highlighted a few. There are another 26 venues/tours in Greenwich.

We were quite intrigued by the tour of Deptford Town Centre landscapes – the bumpf says of the Deptford Market revamp: "In the space of a few months market trade is up with locals now enjoying an enhanced and welcoming space including strategically placed seating, lighting and tree planting." Not a word about the agonisingly long time it took, the amount of trade stall holders lost during that time, how the brand new paving is now as dirty as it was before, or how the stall holders are using the space contrary to how the designers envisaged...Still, the two parks are now very very nice – for that we may be glad!

STOP Betfred - Deadline for petition

The hearing for BetFred's Betting Licence application for the old Halifax premises at 93-95 Deptford High Street is next Wednesday 9th Feb at the Town Hall. Afterwards it will be the 8th betting shop on the high street, or not. And the sixth within a 150m cluster, and the 11th within the vicinity of the high street, or not.

There are only 3 or 4 days left for you to sign your objection, if you haven't already. You can sign against Betfred online or do it on paper in the high street at Kim's newsagents, Ralph's grocers (High Street Flowers), Sight Centre opticians, Deptford Project train café, Albany Café, and Deptford Deli.

The closer you live to the high street the more urgently we need your signature, but please sign anyway if you visit the high street regularly.

If you're signing online, please also sign the national petition here. It took over 600,000 signatures to bring the government's proposed sell-off of our national woodlands to media attention which in turn led to it being debated in parliament, instead of it being slipped through without notice.

If you thinking signing the local petition will make no difference, that is even more reason to sign the national one, which demands a change in the 2005 Gambling Act to give councils and communities all over the country more power to SAY NO to betting shops opening up where there are already enough. Pass it on to your friends and relatives in other parts of the UK. Unlike the local objection to Betfred, the national petition can go on and on...

SAY YES to boarded up shop fronts if that's what it takes to get rid of these Multi Millionaire Tax Dodging Off-shore Banking Parasites that are deliberately targeting poor communities and making them even poorer...

Deptford on BBC news - the £10 austerity wedding dress

Deptford featured big at 6am yesterday morning as journalist and milliner Mary Jane Baxter set herself the challenge of designing a stylish wedding dress for no more than ten pounds for BBC News...

Option 1: the second hand market on Douglas Way...See Peter shouting in the background whilst Mary Jane rummages in Carey's Collections and finds a dress.
Option 2: Sew your own – at Peter & Joan's!
Option 3: Sense charity shop...

See it here on i-Player (while stocks last)