Forest Hill Station meeting with Southern Railway

On Thursday members of the FH and Sydenham Society met with representatives from Network Rail and Southern Railway at Forest Hill station. We were discussing the current state of the railway station and some issues that we have with the current station. The main areas we explored were:

1. The footbridge. There are plans to refurbish this. Particularly to remove the graffiti.

2. The new timetable - SR agreed to find out details of whether direct trains to London Bridge were to be cut once the East London line extension is built. If trains are to be cut would the Victoria "loop" (from London Bridge to Victoria) survive?

3. Entrance and steps from Platform - SR would look at whether they could widen the entrance from the platform, provide better lighting and resurface the area particularly at the base of the steps and onto Perry Rise.

4. The underpass. SR would discover who owned this area - themselves, Lewisham Council or Network Rail. In the meantime, we agreed that it would be a good idea to organise an on-site meeting between the FH Society and the Forest Hill / Perry Vale Councilors to specifically discuss the underpass and its refurbishment.

I am confident that meetings like this are a great way for FH Society to make a difference to the local area.

Article in Local Press

Catford and Lewisham News Shopper have an article about the start of the Forest Hill Society: Residents want to improve town

VOCAL residents are moving from an internet chatroom to the council chamber to try to make their town a "better place".

People from Forest Hill have not been shy in expressing opinions on their neighbourhood via the SE23 website in recent months.

Now they have decided to set up their own residents' group called the Forest Hill Society in a bid to turn their words into actions.

Founder Michael Abrahams says his group will work with the council and other groups to improve facilities in Forest Hill.
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