Brockley Common
BROCKLEY COMMON PLANTING PROJECT: A THANK YOU!
On behalf of the Brockley Cross Action Group (BXAG) and the wider community I would like to thank all of the volunteers who attended the 4 planting days over the weekends of the15/16 May & 22/23 May 2010 and made this ambitious project such a great success! Without all the hard work of the many volunteers we would not have achieved our goal of completing the planting inside 4 days, but thanks to a good turnout every day the result never looked in doubt! We had just over 55 adults and about 10 children in total attend over the 2 weekends, with at least 20 people turning up every day. We planted about 1500 shrubs & herbaceous perennials, making this easily the biggest planting project BXAG has so far undertaken!
The planting of Brockley Common by local volunteers has been important for many reasons. The community came together to create something long lasting and beautiful that we can all be proud of. People have shown a willingness to get involved and take responsibility for an area of public land which through BXAG we will now look after and maintain in the future - we can watch our creation grow and thrive! The project generated good community spirit (there was a lot of banter & laughter among all the work!) and helped to empower local people to make a contribution that will enhance people’s everyday lives. Feedback from people since the project was completed has been really positive!
The completion of this phase of the works was also crucial to the Common. Lewisham Council had no more money left for Brockley Common after the construction of the steps, ramp & paving works, especially after the additional expenditure used to deal with soil contamination on the site. It was up to the local community to step in and make the difference – which we did in some style! The community planting is very much in line with BXAG’s original vision to create a community public open space with a strong sense of community ownership.
A project like this is a partnership and would not happen without the support & contribution of many people & organisations. In particular I would like to thank:
- The Brockley Assembly and the Lewisham Mayor’s fund, who gave us a grant of £7848 towards the project costs.
- Local businesses and individual members of the community who donated £5000 to the project through BXAG’s fundraising activities.
- Joan Ruddock MP who has actively supported Brockley Common for many years and made sure it happened.
- Our local Councillors past & present, notably Dean Walton & Darren Johnson and our newest Councillor Vicky Foxcroft (who came to help us on the first weekend).
- Turning Point for providing a secure storage area for the plants and a water supply.
- The staff at Brockley Station for their support and for allowing us to use their water supply.
- Lewisham Envirowork who carried out vital preparation prior to the planting.
Looking ahead we now have a summer of maintenance to ensure the planting becomes established – we will need to water & weed the new planting. Please look out of posters & updates which will give dates for future maintenance visits – please come along and help!
Finally to say thank you properly BXAG will be organising a PARTY later in the summer to thank all the community volunteers, not just from Brockley Common but from our earlier planting projects on Mantle Road and Wickham Estate, who have helped make (parts of) Brockley beautiful! We will keep you posted!
Thank you!
Background...
This ambitious £350,000 project will transform the wasted
railway land bordering Coulgate Street and the station approach. It will provide public
access again to the land around the station for the first time in decades.
It will provide a new recommended grade ramp up to the ticket hall and pedestrian bridge
that links the two halves of our community. It will extend the magic of the experimental
flower bed already completed outside platform 2 and provide a new performance space and
water feature.
We hope to make a small start this Autumn with improving the wild-life element of the
scheme. However, we have a long way to go fundraising-wise:
For the latest fundraising figure follow [this link...] Can you help, want to know more?
The detailed plan for the Brockley Common project has been produced by Rupert King and the drawings by Chris Woods. The drawings are now available from [this link...]
For a summary of progress follow [this link...]
For the first time in over 150 years local people were
able to walk on Brockley Common again - legitimately! The Pictures tell it
all, (see below) a simple community gathering in early September on ancient
common land. A drum call provided by Victoria Gater and Stuart Woodin
heralded the opening of phase 1 by Joan Ruddock MP who spoke
enthusiastically of the work of the Brockley Commoners and the importance of
all the partners continuing to work together well to secure phase 2. Dr
Burnheart Gloss provided entertainment to all and quite co-incidentally set
out his performance area in, yes you’ve guessed, exactly the area where a
permanent performance space is to be built!
The Brockley Commoners meet regularly as a sub-group of BXAG. In addition to
Brockley Common itself we are also setting our sites on other wasted areas
around Brockley - particularly around Mantle Road. Phone 020 8691 3887
(Stuart) for further information. The latest developments on the Common are
always on the agenda of the monthly BCAG meetings at Tea Leaf Arts Gallery
(Endwell Road), held every second Wednesday of the month.
Phase 1 was was funded the the Government’s Living Spaces Programme with
additional help from Lewisham Council
Chris Woods has researched a fascinating history of Brockley Common. If you
have any knowledge of what went on here during the 1950’s-80’s please let us
know! [download history].
Click on the photos to view full size
Local School Involvement
John Stainer primary school have been involved in this project from the outset, providing a venue for our meetings and also developing a Structure Making Project involving the whole school. In this children will use the self seeded sapplings harvested from the Brockley Common clearance to make shelters of all shapes and sizes. This will give them experience of working with nature, wood and how traditional people used to lived in homes such as the 'bender tents'. Merlyn Peter from Forest Hill will be supervising the project.
Click on the photos for a full size version
The first bundle of poles were collected from the site on the 24th February 2006. The pictures show the childrens School Council doing the donkey work!”.