Treading a New Path in the Horniman Triangle

Last autumn, the Forest Hill Society proposed a scheme to the Forest Hill Ward Assembly to provide a new path across the Horniman Triangle Park (across the South Circular from Horniman Gardens). This path would link the Sydenham Rise entrance and café to the park’s play area.

For many years the absence of a path has made the field difficult to cross, particularly with buggies. After severe rainfall the field would become very muddy and difficult to cross, but it was not always obvious until too late!

With the support of the Forest Hill Ward Assembly, Lewisham Council and Glendale, a path has now been installed, making it easier to cross the field in all weathers.

Suddenly, the park seems that little bit smaller (but in a good way) with the café and toilets much easier to access. Hopefully the path will endure the ravages of Forest Hill winters and provide easier access for many years to come.

If you have other ideas about ways to improve Forest Hill please get in touch — we can work together to make them happen!

Ward Assemblies

This month ward assemblies will be voting on how to spend money in the local community. Competition this year has been greater than normal, so your vote counts for the projects that you would like to see in the local area.

Forest Hill Ward AssemblySaturday, 15th October, 2pm
Venue: Forest Hill Pools

Crofton Park Ward AssemblyTuesday, 18th October, 7pm
Beecroft Garden School, Beecroft Road, SE4 2BS

Perry Vale Ward AssemblyWednesday, 19th October, 7pm
Venue: TBC

Ward Assembly Funding 2014-15

At Forest Hill and Perry Vale Assembly meetings on 23rd and 27th November, respectively, local residents decided on how to spend the annual £12,500 Assembly Fund that each ward had been allocated for 2014-15 by Lewisham Council. Priorities for funding had already been identified at previous Assembly meetings: for the Forest Hill Assembly, these were youth engagement and provision, making Forest Hill more attractive, and community events and publicity; while for the Perry Vale Assembly the top priorities were the environment, roads and traffic, activities for younger people, antisocial behaviour and crime, and activities for the whole community.

At both Assembly meetings, residents were encouraged to talk to representatives of each of the groups who had submitted proposals for projects to be funded (up to max. £2,500) and completed by November 2015, and were then asked to mark each proposal out of 10. Based on the number of votes received (highest first), the following groups' projects were awarded a share of Assembly Funds.

Forest Hill projects• Crime Reduction Initiatives (CRI): Family Fun Day (£2,500)
• Lite-Waves Therapeutic Education: Re-Connect Programme at Platform 1 (£2,500)
• Lite-Waves Therapeutic Education: Therapeutic Art Project at Platform 1 (£2,500)
• Friends of Albion Millennium Green: Storage container (£2,475)
• Forest Hill Society: Making Forest Hill Beautiful (£600)
• Doopo Doopo CIC Art Hub And Gallery: Kelvin Grove Activities (£1,120)
• Sydenham Arts: Sydenham Arts Festival 2015 (£805*)

Perry Vale projects
• Grow Mayow: Beekeeping activities (£1,890)
• Dalmain Athletic Girl’s Football Project (£2,000)
• Safer Neighbourhood Team: Crime Prevention and Awareness Days (£1,584)
• Young Lewisham Project: Intergenerational Project Young Lewisham and Mind (£1,560)
• Sydenham Forest Hill Youth Forum: Consortium Development Project (£1,912)
• London Thunder: Community Basketball Project (£2,000)
• The Forest with the Big Hill: Storytelling Project (£300)
• Seniors: Young Enterprise Day (£1,254*)
* Projects that received partial funding.

It’s not too early to start thinking about a worthy cause or need that deserves support in 2016 since this funding is available only once per year.

For more info: www.lewisham.gov.uk/getinvolved/localassemblies/assembly-funding/Pages/Local-assembliesfunding.aspx
Article by John Wysocki, Newsletter Editor

Ward Assemblies

Ward assemblies are an important way to have your say on developments in the local area and are a good opportunity to meet your local councillors.

Crofton Park Ward - Saturday 21st June, 10am, St. Saviour's Church Hall, Brockley Rise (see http://goo.gl/maps/Xj7yQ)
Forest Hill Ward - Sunday 13th July, 1:30pm, Forest Hill Pools, Dartmouth Road
Perry Vale Ward - Tuesday 15th July, 7pm, Rockbourne Youth Club

Ward Assemblies in Perry Vale and Forest Hill

There are two ward assemblies next week around SE23:
To the west of the railway is the Forest Hill Ward Assembly on Tuesday, 11 March from 7pm.
It is taking place at Sydenham School, Dartmouth Rd, London SE26 4RD.


To the east of the railway is the Perry Vale Ward Assembly on Wednesday, 12th March from 7pm at Methodist Church, Normanton Street SE23 2DS.

These are great opportunities to hear what is going on in the local area, and have your say on local issues.

A Colourful High Street

Last year the Forest Hill Society was awarded funding from the Forest Hill Ward Assembly to improve the look of some of the empty shops on the high street. It took us a while to find the right way to do this as empty shops inconveniently started opening as successful businesses up and down the high street.

But the first makeover has now been completed and what was a boarded up and burnt out bakery now has a picture of a friendly Walrus and some Papilio hornimani or 'Horniman Butterflies'.

 

We want the high street to be a fun place to be with surprises on every corner.We also want to bring a taste of the Horniman to the high street. We are currently looking for further empty shop fronts for more Horniman imagery to brighten up the high street. But more than anything else, we would love somebody to take on this unit, which needs a lot of work to bring it back into use as a retail unit.

Forest Hill Assembly - Wednesday 6th February 2013

There is a Forest Hill Assembly next Wednesday from 7.30pm at Honor Oak Christian Fellowship, 39 Honor Oak Road, SE23 3SH.

At this Assembly we will have in attendance Chief Inspector Stuart Bell who is in charge of Neighbourhood Policing in Lewisham, he will be able to tell you about the future of Sydenham Police Station, update you on important changes to neighbourhood policing and of course talk about any policing issues that you may have.

We will also have the latest news concerning Lewisham Hospital, an update from SEE3 regarding the Portas Pilot, information about the Council's budget cuts and parking.

 

The Forest Hill Assembly is organised by Lewisham council for the Forest Hill ward (west of the railway, between Kirkdale and Honor Oak Park)

New swings for Horniman Triangle

Last June, bids were requested for the Forest Hill ward's Assembly Fund.

Various people suggested on local forums that the Horniman Triangle could do with some swings, especially for the younger children. Unfortunately, nobody followed through and no application was received by the Co-ordinating Committee at their initial review. It was agreed, however, that the Forest Hill Society could submit a bid as it was felt that the need was there.

The Forest Hill Society therefore visited play parks throughout London and researched suppliers before putting in a last minute bid. This was successful and £9,500 was allocated from a combination of the Assembly Fund and Localities Fund. The Council agreed that they would deliver the project, which allowed the monies to go further as we would not have to pay VAT on the equipment.

The swings have now been installed and will hopefully provide many hours of enjoyment in the years to come. A big thank you to all those involved in this project.

The Forest Hill Society bid on four projects from the Forest Hill Assembly. These were:
Weatherproof Games in the Park
Horniman Theme for Empty Shops
Town Centre Planting Scheme and
Swings for Horniman Triangle.

Other projects which received funding from the Forest Hill Assembly Fund were:

Platform One

Safety Rulez – Part II: A Community Cohesion Project working with 12 girls aged 13-15 currently facing difficulties at school

Friends of Albion Millennium Green

Wildlife Hedgerow, Fencing and 8 New Fruit Trees for Community Orchard Open Air Theatre Millennium Green

Ageing Well in Lewisham

Arts Befriending Group and Theatre project-to help isolated older people

Centrepoint

Healthy Living Workshops, teaching and encouraging cooking, nutrition and gardening

Sydenham and Forest Hill Youth Forum

Youth forum workshops, training young people to fundraise for our organisation

Friends of Devonshire Road Nature Reserve

New Green Oak Shelter for the Devonshire Road Nature Reserve

Kirkdale Village Traders Association

Kirkdale Village Beautification

Horniman Museum

Busy Bees - Sessions for under fives and parents, at the Horniman Museum

Date for your Diary

Sun 23 Oct 11am-3pm: Open Day at Dacres Wood Nature Reserve
Sun 30th Oct - 2:30pm : Spring Bulb Planting at Forest Hill Station

Sat 5th Nov - Sun 6th Nov, 8pm-8pm: Man Digs Pond, Albion Millennium Green

Weds 12 Oct 7pm: Perry Vale Ward Assembly, Forest Hill School, Dacres Road, SE23 2XN
Tues 1 Nov 7.30pm: Forest Hill Ward Assembly, (venue TBC)
Weds 9 Nov 7pm: Crofton Park Ward Assembly (venue TBC)

Success at Assembly!

We are happy to report some excellent news following our campaigning! The Forest Hill Local Assembly voted to fund 13 projects across the ward and the Forest Hill Society was lucky enough to receive funding for all four of our proposals - totalling just under £19,000. Two projects will improve the Horniman Triangle play park: the addition of two new sets of equipment; swings for the young and games tables for all ages. The games tables will allow park users to play table tennis on sturdy outdoor tables.

The two other projects improve the town centre. We’ll be able to continue the flower planting around the station and opposite the Horniman Museum. The funding will also allow us to maintain the planting and expand the scheme to other locations in the town centre, as well as improve watering facilities at the station, to make maintenance much easier. The final project will target empty shop fronts in the town centre and use them to display large images from the Horniman collection, brightening up the town centre and providing a visual link between the town centre and the Horniman Museum.

A great result for us, and for the community. Well done to the Society members and SE23 people who worked so hard to develop and submit these bids.

Forest Hill Street Clutter Report

The Forest Hill Ward Assembly commissioned a report on the state of the high street and street clutter which will be submitted to the Lewisham Mayor and Cabinet, requesting analysis and action to address the poor state of the Dartmouth Road and London Road.

With 25% of retail units now closed in Forest Hill town centre, urgent attention is required to improve the high street. This is a great time to be looking at ways to improve the high street so that shops can benefit best from the East London Line Extension in May and the new swimming pool in 2012.

You can read the full report here.

DATES FOR YOUR DIARY

AGM

Thursday, 15th October at 7.30pm

upstairs at The Hob opp. Forest Hill Station.

Guest Speaker from Transport for London.

Croydon Canal Bicentenary Celebrations.

Saturday, 24th October, 11am at Sydenham Station.

see below for further details

Forest Hill Ward Assembly

Wednesday, 7th October 7.30-9.30pm

Living Springs International Church, 8-10 Devonshire Road, SE23 3TJ

Perry Vale Ward Assembly

Thursday, 15th October 7.30-9.30pm

Forest Hill Methodist Church, Normanton Street, London SE23 2DS.

23 CLUB

(book direct with restaurant mentioning 23 Club/FHSoc)

Saturday, 24th October at approximately 2pm: Dartmouth Arms. PLEASE NOTE THE CHANGE OF DATE as we come together with the Sydenham Society for the Croydon Canal bicentenary celebrations.

7 Dartmouth Road, SE23 3HN, 8488 3117

Monday, 23rd November at 8pm : Honor Oak Pub.

1 St. German's Road, Forest Hill, London, SE23 1RH.

Tel 8690 8606

Forest Hill Society eNewsletter - 21st March

A busy week in Forest Hill with the 23 Club, the Ward Assembly, and a visit to possibly the last section of canal in Forest Hill!

'23 Club' at The Old Bank – This Monday, 23^rd March, 8pm

This Italian restaurant is situated close to Honor Oak Park Station. Booking is not necessary for this evening but do look out for other SE23 Club members. The Old Bank, 76-78 Honor Oak Park, SE23 1DY, Phone 8291 1738

View Larger Map

Dacres Wood – Sunday, 29^th March, 2pm (BST)

As British Summer Time begins (at last) join us for a fantastic opportunity to take a look round this site which is not normally accessible to the public. As well as interesting flora and fauna, you will see one of the last surviving parts of the Croydon Canal. The tour will be led by Alona Sheridan and the local historian, Steve Grindlay. Sturdy shoes and appropriate outdoor clothes are recommended.

Meet in the grassy area in front of the reserve gates, (junction of Silverdale and Dacres Road).

View Larger Map

Forest Hill Pools

Over the next few months the council will be consulting about the future of the Forest Hill swimming pool. At present they are proposing two options;

1. Move the pool to Willow Way SE26 in 2011 and sell off the existing site for housing, or
2. Put the project on hold until 2012 before looking again at Option 2 (new build on existing site, retain Victorian frontage, cross subsidise from Willow Way) with possible delivery in 2015.

The Forest Hill Society favour the development of Work/Live units on the Willow Way to help fund a pool development on the existing site, but want this to happen considerably sooner than 2015. A petition has been put together which supports 'Keeping Swimming in Forest Hill ' which you may wish to sign at http://keepswimming.notlong.com. We understand that this petition has already collected over 170 signatures online and well over 1,000 on paper. More about this campaign group can be found at http://ksfh.notlong.com/

Forest Hill Ward Assembly - Wednesday 25th March, 7:30pm

The Forest Hill Ward Assembly is an opportunity for residents living in Forest Hill ward to discuss issues that effect the local area, including the pools which is one of the items on the agenda. Further details of the Assembly can be found on the council website.

Venue: Living Springs International Church, 8-10 Devonshire Road , London SE23 3TJ (see Google StreetView)

Forest Hill Ward Assembly

The 3rd Forest Hill Ward Assembly will be held on Wednesday 25th March at 7pm at the Living Springs International Church, 8-10 Devonshire Road (opposite the Hob), to discuss the £50,000 Mayor's Fund and the Forest Hill Pools.

The priorities for the Mayor's Fund are: Town Centre (empty shops), Youth Provision, Parking and Traffic Development, Lack of Community Facilities and Environmental Issues.

A local resident will be present to speak about the possibility of transforming Louise House into an Arts Centre and Theatre. This would also be a good opportunity for anyone wanting to put forward their views about the pools to speak to Councillors.

DATES FOR YOUR DIARY

Wednesday 15th October The Forest Hill Society’s Annual General Meeting at The Hob pub, 7 Devonshire Road, opposite Forest Hill Station. Doors open at 7pm, proceedings get underway at 7.30pm. This will be an opportunity to discuss the key issues affecting SE23 and to elect the Executive Committee. There will be a bar!

Tuesday 23rd September
The 23 Club at Yune, 25 Dartmouth Road at 8pm.
Thursday 23rd October
The 23 Club at the Honor Oak Tandoori, 57-59 Honor Oak Park at 8pm.
(see the 23 Club article for more information)

Ward Assemblies:
Forest Hill - 24th September, 7pm, Holy Trinity Church Hall, Trinity Path, Sydenham Park, SE26 4EA
Perry Vale - 2nd October, 7:30pm, Forest Hill School Dacres Road, SE23 2XN

Local Ward Assemblies

Forest Hill Ward Assembly
Date: Tuesday 20 May 2008
Venue: Living Springs International Church, 8-10 Devonshire Road, Forest Hill, SE23 3TJ
Map of location of meeting (next to the station)
Time: 7:30pm to 9:30pm


Perry Vale Ward Assembly
Date: Monday 2 June 2008
Venue: Perry Rise Baptist Church, Perry Rise, SE23 2QL
Map of location of meeting
Time: 7:00pm to 9:00pm


Crofton Park Ward Assembly
Date: Wednesday 2 July 2008
Venue: St Hildas Church Hall, Brockley Road, SE4 2DG
Map of location of meeting
Time: 7:30pm to 9:30pm

And don't forgot next Sunday, 25th May, is the Forest Hill Society Green Chain Walk. More details in the previous posting.