Sydenham Town Forum

Much as I think the school is an eyesore, and the builders/school authorities taking the mickey, what result can be expected from the planning process? Apart from the cladding and windows, which might feasibly be changed, the rest of the breaches are fundamental - the building is too tall (compared ...

I don’t mind where the rat run is blocked off, and your idea makes sense in terms of allowing some space for shoppers to park. However, I doubt that just doing that would deter the Hexagon people and others - they park in KPR all day so they don’t care about being able to get out into Sydenham Road....

It’s either upper or lower in my book - upper is anywhere above the Mayow Road/Sydenham Road junction.

That’s because there is no such plan - it’s merely a pipe dream based on the idea that what worked in King’s Cross will work in Sydenham. It doesn’t take a genius to work out why the plan is not transferable - building inside gas holders (or rebuilding them around blocks of flats) would add very sig...

The owner swore blind that he was going to sort the bin problem when it reverted to private tenants (as opposed to social housing). This was of course complete nonsense. No doubt the new building opposite will have the same issues - which was part of the objections to it, along with lack of parking ...

There’s one hovering over Lower Sydenham this afternoon - more than likely looking for a nicked car or robbers on scooters.

I saw a blazing row between a driver and one of the builders the other day. In some ways though I have sympathy with the builders - there isn’t any space on the side of the road they need to unload from anyway, so suspending the parking bays on the other side makes no difference. Added to which, man...

Hi - have you got a source for your ‘most of the trees are infected’ assertion? There are only three large trees left and none of them are jelly-like. You are right that cars get covered in stuff falling from the trees - and bird crap when the fruits are out and the pigeons come to feed (which does ...

We’ve seen it too, and the kids were rapt all the way through. Have been to all their kids’ shows - Jack and the Beanstalk is still my personal favourite (we went twice) but they’ve all been good. Heard good stuff about the adult ones too, but never been. On prominence - the Spontaneous shows are pr...

Broken Shaman - I think it really depends on what you see as positive developments. Personally I would rather housing is built on derelict land than it be left derelict - the interventions by Syd Soc seem to have the opposite effect. If you look at the quotes above from some of their planning submis...

Well, panic over - major work turns out to mean minor trim, at least in this case (was worried given that last time the whole tree went in the wood chipper).

Well in that case at least one of the other ones is for the chop - let’s see.

Hopefully that’s the case here too then, but last time they completely removed the tree, stump and all, and this is the wrong time of year to prune cherry - should be done in the summer to avoid disease (unlike other trees).

It matters where Syd Soc members live because they don’t live next to or even anywhere near the consequences of their objections/interventions. So I live next to a bomb site because a bunch of Nimbies from up the hill object to a development that isn’t for the most part even visible from the main ro...

Yep, it’s completely cynical - they hung signs on the trees today for work that will take place tomorrow, leaving no time for any objections. So unless I take the day off tomorrow and tie myself to the trees it’s a done deal.

The three remaining mature cherry trees in Knighton Park Road are marked for destruction - ‘major tree works’ taking place tomorrow. No doubt we’ll get some skinny twigs to replace them. Our three bone idle and entitled councillors won’t be getting my vote in a few weeks.

Those comments are outrageous, particularly considering some of the utter carbuncles that grace Sydenham - still, as long as the Thorpes are preserved in aspic and a bunch of architecturally worthless gas holders aren’t knocked down so that something as low rent as Aldi doesn’t go up, never mind if ...

I can walk from my house just off Perry Rise to Sydenham station in just under 15 minutes, and generally choose that over the bus (exception is if I'm coming home late), but I'm both able-bodied and fairly fit - lots of people aren't. Forest Hill is busy between 8/8.30am though - Sydenham is often ...

Ok, point taken re: buses from Lower Sydenham up, but Bell Green to Sydenham station is 20 mins walk max, so assuming you’re reasonably able bodied that might be a better bet? (From where I am I will pretty much always walk to the station faster than the bus at peak rush hour time.) As above though,...

Re: infrastructure, I agree to some extent, though I think the main pressure locally is on GP services (it’s impossible to get an appointment, though that’s true in many places). Schools have been expanded significantly, at primary level at least - the ‘Outstanding’ ones are oversubscribed but that ...