Forest Hill: the next 20 years
Twenty years ago a group of neighbours set up the Forest Hill Society to give our area a stronger voice. To mark our anniversary, we're inviting members new and old to help us create a vision of what the next twenty years should look like.
Join us at Stanstead Lodge on Saturday 17 October, from 2pm to 5pm. It's an afternoon for members, neighbours and families, and for anyone who cares about SE23. Do bring a friend.
What's happening
Doors open at 2pm with refreshments and our Community Board, where local groups will share what they do. We've invited many neighbouring civic societies, friends-of groups for our parks and green spaces, environmental and transport groups, as well as SE23.rocks and many will leave a flier for you to take home, so it's a good chance to find out who's doing what nearby.
After a quick look back over twenty years of the Society we'll hear from our guest speakers about their vision for Lewisham, and Forest Hill within it, over the next two decades. Our speakers will be the Mayor of Lewisham, Liam Shrivastava, and Ellie Reeves MP as well as a representative of the Horniman Museum, which is marking its own 125th anniversary this year. There will even be time for your local questions afterwards.
We will conclude this section with news about a vision for Forest Hill town centre and the area around the station that the Society has put together and is pursuing. It's a project we think could shape the heart of Forest Hill for decades, and we'd like members to hear about it and have their own say.
Your turn
From 4pm the afternoon belongs to you. We'll break into groups around themed tables to come up with ideas for the short, medium and long term improvement of our neighbourhoods:
Getting around Forest Hill: Our connections and access
Shopping in Forest Hill: Our high streets
Growing old in Forest Hill: Community and services
Growing up in Forest Hill: Education and socialising
Living in Forest Hill: Neighbourhoods and green spaces
Going out in Forest Hill: Culture, arts and community life
Each table will have a few questions to get things going; what is there for a 14-year-old to do on a Saturday afternoon? Where does someone in their 80s meet new people? Should Forest Hill have a permanent market, and if so, where? You'll get to write your group's ideas on Vision Cards, and at 4.45pm we'll walk round and share them, with a few read out aloud.
What you create will go to create a Vision Document that will help to guide the Society's campaigning for the future, a vision we will ensure is shared with local councillors and Lewisham Council as well. If you've ever wanted a real say in how Forest Hill changes, this is it.
Come along
We'd love to see you there, and we hope you'll leave having met at least one person you didn't know before.
See you on the 17th.
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