With all the discussions regardings the Town Center proposal and the state of the "High Street," I have decided to undertake a personal project to try and make a difference. Below is a link for a brief 10 question survey requesting some basic opinions toward Sydenham Town Center. I am working on this project with several different people and interested parties; however, at this point it is completely independent and unfunded
Please, if you have the time, could you click on the link below and complete the survey? Additionally, If anyone would care to forward the survey link to other interested parties, please do so. The more responses I get, the better the action plan that will be developed.
Thank you to those that are completing the survey! The responses are very interesting and helpful so far.
I should probably mention that this a bit more than a personal escapade on my part. While I am doing this work on my own, I have the support when necessary of several Local traders and shop landlords as well as members of different local organisations. This is a project that is going to generate results. The more feedback I can receive, the better the results and the more dynamic the high street may become. In my opinion, success will be by the entrance of new business filling an unserviced need and / or by Existing Traders being encouraged to update / upgrade products and services to cater to additional customer segments thereby increasing revenue and profits.
So, again if you have an opinion on the high street, click on the survey link and have you say. And feel free to forward the link to anyone else involved in Sydenham or the local area who would like to contribute.
Hello Scott - I hope you can come along to the Sydenham Assembly meeting next Thursday and give some feedback on the survey. There is also a survey on Lewisham's web site http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=u ... 0wGQ_3d_3d on the priorities from the Assembly meeting with more quality shops and improvements to Sydenham Road high on the list. Look forward to hearing your views.
I will be there and I look forward to meeting you!
So far, the following are some of the results that can be extracted:
3. Do you feel safe in Sydenham?
Most of the time
4. What services does Sydenham Town Center lack?
1. - Decent "trendy" bar/restaurant
2. - quality high street stores
5. Which shops do you visit most frequently in Sydenham?
1. - Somerfields
2. - Bakery
3. - Book shop
4. - Superdrug
6. Which neighbouring town center(s) do you visit if Sydenham Town Center does not meet your needs?
Penge
Dulwich
Beckenham
Comment: Bromley
If you agree or disagree with these responses, please click on the survey link in first post and have your say.
This will influence businesses that are approached for entry into the high street and where money may be applied for towards store improvements, or even just a little nudge needed to encourage traders to revitalise their stores, products or services.
And after our first success, drinks will be on me!
I have responded to the survey already, but some other things occurred to me.
Shops which make an effort: Candessa
Shops which could really make more of an effort:
The Interflora shop next to Lidl - it looks quite run down and I don't think it would take that much effort to improve its appearance.
The much loved Gurkhas could do better, if would even be good if you could see inside to see how busy it is - good advertsing I think.
Montecassio - I have never been, but is spoken of highly on the forum - a makeover might draw in some much needed custom I am sure!
Narborhood centre: I have said this dozens of times but WHY oh WHY can't some of the locality fund be used to get rid of those awful grey net curtains and replacement vertical blinds or something similar be found. It is a very prominent building and isn't helping Sydenham's image!
More useful/desirable shops:
A shoe shop would be great, like the one in East Dulwich which stocks Clarks shoes.
Pizza Express or similar but not Ask (their pizzaz are awful)
And obviously, Waitrose!
Of all the businesses in the street to single out for 'could do better' - why Gurkhas???!!
That is plain barmy.
It is one of the very best we have.
It is one of the best Indian-type restaurants for the price range in SE London. The food is delicious. The decor is actually quite nice. The staff are lovely and the service very good.
If only we could say the same about everywhere else in Sydenham.
It deserves nothing but praise in how they run their business.
I think Poppy was referring to the shop front, not the actual service and food. I have heard that it is a good once you are in there, but I agree with Poppy, it's not much to look at from the outside.
From that point of view, Poppy is right, they can do better. It's not criticism, it's an observation.
Its interesting that you feel at liberty to speak on behalf of someone else Lee.
Its similar to the condescending way that some people speak about how a perfectly good, presentable, sustainable and successful business should run itself.
I will say it again - if Gurkhas should be singled out for any reason, it should be praise.
I know that you have a higher design aesthetic than the rest of us Lee, because you mention design in most of your postings.
However, I still think that Gurkhas looks as good if not better than many of the other businesses in the street, and that is before you step inside and eat there - which is the whole point of a restaurant.
Business people are not stupid - and they won't take kindly to nitpicking.
Whether they choose to put their customers on display is really up to them. I for one like the current layout and have no desire to have passersby gawping at me as I dine.
There are plenty of places that warrant criticism in terms of shop design more than Gurkhas.
If that is what you want to do, then why not focus your attention there?
Otherwise the hard-headed, pragmatic and successful business people of Sydenham are not going to take you seriously.
This ain't Soho - if businesses spend too much on their frontage they'd go bust!
Gurkha's is a fine example of an Indian restaurant in a suburban High Street. I went in there on Saturday had an excellent 2 course meal for £5.50 with no hassle, no loud music, etc. They've just invested in brighter interior lights, so it doesn't look as dismal. Also they've just repainted the exterior, so unlike a few premises they actually look after the property.
I too am a designer, but I don't expect everyone else to be! As you said in an earlier posting, Lee you hated the Garam Masala exterior and interior, but I expect some people actually like it......
Sydenham is a diverse and integrated group of demographics, ages, races and religons. There's not one design that we all can enjoy!
georgemichael wrote:This ain't Soho - if businesses spend too much on their frontage they'd go bust!
I too am a designer, but I don't expect everyone else to be! As you said in an earlier posting, Lee you hated the Garam Masala exterior and interior, but I expect some people actually like it......
Sydenham is a diverse and integrated group of demographics, ages, races and religons. There's not one design that we all can enjoy!
I agree with you.
I'd like to point out that I think Garam Masala is great, has great service and food, if anyone hasn't been in, for whatever reason, try it. The food is great and you don't have to get on a bus to get to it.
I love Gurkhas and all our friends and family rave about it when they visit. But I have to say that I was very pleased that they had painted it a modern grey colour when I went past the other day, which really made it look bang up to date. Very Farrow & Ball
Thank you Lee and Castrion. You got my point unlike the others. I adore Ghurkas food, and did say 'much loved', I have singled it out on this forum before for food and service quality.
Barbur in Honor Oak is often raved about but I think it has been successful more because of its appearance than food, I have eaten food from there a couple of times as I used to live near there and found it very average.
All I was saying about Ghurkas is its appearance does not reflect the quality of the business, that is all.
Somewhere that really needs to get its act together though is Fitness First.
Just wanted to say, i love the Ghurkas, we often get a take-away if we don't want to go out.
I love the inside with the burgundy chairs etc, their manners are next to none.
I did however think recently that the outside was looking a bit neglected, but i am pleased to hear they are doing something about it.
but i hope they stay just as good as they have always been, its an absolute pleasure to visit from time to time
Best of luck with the survey Scott, please let us know about the final results!!
Regarding the above comments, I just want to say that I really like the FOOD at Garam Masala. I used to get a take away from Namaste, but after trying Garam Masala they won't have my as a client again, not that they're bad at all, it's that Garam Masala is simply excellent. They probably have the best Sag Paneer in London and their service is really good too.
Now, if you allow me to use a metaphor, I will say that Garam Masala is like that not so good looking guy you wouldn't consider dating, not that he doesn't take a shower or combs his hair, he tries, but, you know, he's not exactly a super model. But one day, in that place at that time where you didn't have more option, you talk with him and discover what a great guy he actually is. Well, that's what happen to me (oooooooow how sweet and cheese!).
But, let's be honest we all are more likely to approach someone or get something if it looks nice, that will make us more likely to try it or not, and often we can miss on something rather good cause its appearance doesn't make justice to its quality. I personally would LIKE to see Garam Masala do even better, they deserve it, and because of that is that I DARE to say that their shop front, sign and internal decor could be better.
To be quite honest, if they didn't have something special I wouldn't bother to say that. Which is why I can't be bother to mention half of the shops on the high street. After all, I can't remember most of them! too many look so messy and run down.
P.S I haven't tried Ghurkas yet, but I might do this weekend.
Finally, after being here for months I went to Ghurkas last night.
I have to admit I was impressed, when you get inside it feels right, it's tasteful. It was busy too. The service was brilliant, the menu was different and varied. The food was excellent, although Garam Masala is a similar standard. Overall one of the most pleasant experiences dining out in Sydenham I have had. And incredible value too.
Yes, I agree, Ghurkas is a local treasure.
Shame it took so long for me to go there. I thought it was just another bog standard Indian restaurant before I actually went there.
It isn't, it's far better than that.
From my experience last night it proves you can't judge a book by its cover. My point is that you should be able to.
Someone approached me who was thinking of setting up a business in the area. They were put off because they thought the high street 'looked run down and shabby'. These are not my words, these are the words of a potential investor in the area.
They kept dwelling on past failures in the high street rather than present success.
In short they were worried that Sydenham wasn't a good investment.
I passionately think it is, but we are judged not just on how individual shops/cafe's perform but on the high street as a whole. This relates to how the street looks. There is definitely room for improvement here. The fact that there are some shops that don't even have a sign, or have signs from the previous shops that are broken is dragging down the whole street. We have to manage peoples perception about us.
We want more people to stay in Sydenham, to shop here, to spend their money here and enjoy themselves here. Sydenham has a fantastic future with the East London line coming, the improvements to the high street environment and Crystal Palace Park. We need to make the most of this before it passes us by.
I thoroughly agree with you that you need to make a concerted effort to improve the high street and its appeal to potential businesses.
At the Sydenham Assembly Scott Hamilton gave a very clear list of priorities (approved by a number of local traders on his table) of how we could achieve this. However, this was brushed aside and like everything else will have been forgotten by the next meeting.
I am still thoroughly puzzled as to the purpose of the Sydenham Assembly. This is called presumably as a way of gather information from locals as to what they want in their area.
But the meetings appear to be yet another talking shop. Clear plans are laid out by local people, then ignored. Even "greening" the new roundabout, a simple issue supported by almost every local, appears to beyond the realms of possibility.
Nasa what you are saying is exactly what I suspected this assembly would be like. It sounds like nothing has changed from the previous format, which was run by unenthusiatic, uncharasmatic and non-visionary people. (I couldn't make this meeting, again, unfortunately.)
The discussion about councillors and their participation in such regeneration projects (focusing on ED) was very interesting, as I think most councils have a one, size fits all attitude to town centres and really put little thought into it. So much of it is just tokenism in my opinion.
Take for example the 'cleaning up Sydenham' scheme, which I think involves from time to time a blitz on fly-tipping and graffitti. While I welcome such moves it fails like everything else to look at the long-term. Like dealing with the land at the back of shops properly, building fences or planting large shrubs etc to leave less room for flytipping and improving the appearance of the high street generally which tends to deter such behaviour.
So much time and money could be saved in the long-term....
So, come on tell, me, why can't they plant shrubs on that roundabout then? Let me guess, "heath and safety" people won't be able to get a clear view or something. Well, how come other roundabouts manage it without problems and some even have trees! I know some of these are sponsored by a local business, not sure how people would feel about this?
