Brockley Cross Walkabout: For nearly 3 hours Brockley Cross had the undivided attention of key players in Lewisham Council in the form of a walkabout and de-brief in Toads Mouth. The whole patch was carefully walked - from station to our 'High Street' (Brockley Road), down to Brockley Cross where we took our life in hands to navigate the 5 roads in an clockwise direction to return to the stretch of shops between Cranfield and Harefield where we spent some time examining a large puddle, the old and unnecessary railings and the unhelpful parking restrictions. It was a sobering and cold tour! Personally, I had a horrible sense of déjà vu, but it was a useful and necessary thing to do. As a community we have to keep reminding Lewisham Council that we have a very poor public realm, significant road safety issues and lots of ideas as to what might be done. Unfortunately, the money Lewisham has applied for from TfL has been spread quite thinly and with regards to Brockley Cross itself, it isn't going to go very far - we won't  be getting rid of the hated 1950s double roundabout arrangement which was an experiment that was never removed.

Some interesting facts emerged - Brockley/Brockley Cross, with its 75 shops is only classed as a 'local centre' and competes for resources with Lewisham's more important 'district' centres (e.g. New Cross, Sydenham, Lee Green). Across the borough the backlog of public realm/highways/pavement works needed is about £150m - compared with its annual budget of just under £3m. In other words unless Lewisham can tap extra funds little more than pothole filling and urgent resurfacing is done in any one year. No wonder we  have terrible pavements.
 
Both Heidi Alexander (cabinet member for regeneration) and  Darien Goodwin (Head of Highways) agreed some things could and should be done as a matter of priority. For example the railings, parking time review, upgrading pavement between Cranfield and  Harefield, more drop kerbs and raised tables in the road and crucially slowing traffic more effectively before it reaches the Toads Mouth junction, where 2 tragic road deaths has made it clear to the council that something further needs to be done here. The Action group pushed hard for any improvements or changes to be set within the context of an urban design strategy - and not just done because a bit more money has been found. We also questioned whether more consultation shouldn't be done with local people on priorities for a large 5 year PFI programme for new street lights. We took them to the old concrete lamp post stuck in the middle of the pavement in Brockley Cross which Ian (BXAG committee member) asked to be moved. Ian is blind and has a close working knowledge of this lamp post and the difficulty of navigating Brockley.  On behalf of Charlie Hedges (BXAG Trustee), Rupert King (BXAG Acting Chair), Michelle (TMToo) and myself we would like to thank the above plus Darren Johnson (local Green councillor), Julie Sutch (Town Centre manager), and Ian Plowright, (Transport Policy Officer) for coming down and we look forward very much to seeing small and not so small improvements appearing over 2010/11.
Stuart (BXAG committee member)

Action Group Challenge a Key Planning Document and Call for High Level Station Case to be Re-Examined!
The Action Group has recently commented on Lewisham’s draft ‘Core Strategy’. This is a key planning document that is now due to be sent to the Secretary of State for independent examination and adoption.  This document, if approved is going to steer the future of Brockley Cross and the wider area for the next 15 years. Lewisham Council has assembled a huge evidence base to justify its future planning policy. As always there are the expected core regenerations areas – New Cross Gate, Deptford and also Lewisham Gateway (i.e. Central Lewisham). Brockley Cross itself is one of just three  ‘Local Hubs’ to be designated which is good news and a testament to the Action Group’s long campaign to highlight the needs and potential of the area. The central aim of the hub is to manage an area’s ‘identity and distinctiveness in order to achieve an overall upgrade in the urban environment and amenity’.

Whilst welcoming this designation, we have challenged the lack of analysis of the effect of the East London Line  (and reduction of Southern Rail services) on Brockley and indeed the whole West Lewisham corridor along its route. We feel the market, economic, transport, social and environmental effects have been significantly under-estimated. Although this corridor isn’t designated in the Core Strategy as a regeneration area, we think it will be a corridor of significant and relatively fast change which, without sound planning mechanisms could take us all by surprise. In particular we are worried about more and more family homes being broken up into flats and the continuing crowding on the trains. We think there is a now very strong case for re-examining the case for the Brockley High Level station providing fast trains to Victoria.
 

Neighbour Watch: Brockley has enjoyed a lower than average crime level for some years, major incidents are a rarity and petty crime seems to make the news in the local papers for a lack of anything more substantial to report. The Brockley Police Safer Neighbourhood Team (SNT) are keen to discover if residents would like to have Neighbourhood Watch schemes in the area. These have proved both popular and effective elsewhere when set up and managed by the residents themselves.

The advantages of setting up and participating in a Neighbourhood Watch scheme are even lower levels of burglary, car thefts, vandalism and anti-social behaviour. The development of a better community spirit (how many of your neighbours to you know?). A significant reduction in the cost of your house insurance. Increased police presence in the area giving a greater sense of security, particularly important to elderly or vunerable people.

For more information about setting up a Neighbourhood Watch scheme in your road visit www.direct.gov.uk/neighbourhoodpolicing