There's a meeting at the Grove Centre Church at 7pm on Thursday 18th April with the licensing sergeant Jim Abbott to gauge public feeling about the nuisance caused by the presence of the club and the subculture that has grown up around it.
Please do attend if you want to have a chance to air your views to someone who can actually do something about it.
How is this meeting being publicised? first I've heard of it. No notices through my door, nor have I spotted any walking between Cobbs corner and Tesco.
7pm is also a bit early, many may still be working or travelling home.
I'll be there, some of us have to get up and go to work at the weekend. Being woken up between 3 and 5 am only to have the alarm go off at 6.30am then to have to work for 9 hours being nice to people and often driving on 4 hours sleep is intolerable.
If this meeting has poor attendance it's due to no one knowing unless they read this forum.
I was told by the licensing sergeant that leaflets were dropped in the following streets:
Spring Hill
Peak Hill Avenue
Kirkdale (up to near the junc with Collingtree Rd)
Kinver Road
Peak Hill (up to near the junc with Kinver Rd)
Mendip Close
Peak Hill Gardens
Spring Hill
Collingtree road
However, a number of residents on Peak Hill Avenue have already reported not getting anything.
Weird. Not sure exactly what to do about it... a bit late now.
I spoke to Cllr Marion Nisbet who attended the meeting on Thursday (I was enjoying the talk by Steve Grindlay on the history of the shops in Sydenham at Jill). Marion spoke to the Licensing Sergeant Jim Abbott who is now considering recommending reducing the opening hours from 5am to 2am to Lewisham's Licensing Committee.
As your local councillors we have objected on a number of occassions to extending the sale of alcohol and the Licensing Committee have rejected our concerns as they did not directly address the four criteria for the particular application.
The latest off licence application is from Palace Wines, 3 Sydenham Road, SE26 5ET who want to extend their hours to Monday to Sunday from 8am to midnight from the current Monday to Saturday 8am to 11pm and Sunday 10am to 10.30pm. I will object to this creep in hours of opening on a Sunday but as we already have three 24 hour premises 248 Kirkdale, 42 and 91 Sydenham Road my objections are usually noted but not supported.
Chris Best wrote:I spoke to Cllr Marion Nisbet who attended the meeting on Thursday (I was enjoying the talk by Steve Grindlay on the history of the shops in Sydenham at Jill). Marion spoke to the Licensing Sergeant Jim Abbott who is now considering recommending reducing the opening hours from 5am to 2am to Lewisham's Licensing Committee.
As your local councillors we have objected on a number of occassions to extending the sale of alcohol and the Licensing Committee have rejected our concerns as they did not directly address the four criteria for the particular application.
The latest off licence application is from Palace Wines, 3 Sydenham Road, SE26 5ET who want to extend their hours to Monday to Sunday from 8am to midnight from the current Monday to Saturday 8am to 11pm and Sunday 10am to 10.30pm. I will object to this creep in hours of opening on a Sunday but as we already have three 24 hour premises 248 Kirkdale, 42 and 91 Sydenham Road my objections are usually noted but not supported.
I would have said this was a better use of the time of Sydenham ward's other local councillor, Liam Curran. Instead, he is busy trying to maintain the number of venues where alcohol is on sale throughout the borough.
I also hope lewishams licensing committee sort themselves out. They need a good shake up. They did nothing to help where I used to live and look like they are hindering the situation here.
Recognising that pubs are essential to communities, I think it's obvious what needs to be done here - the licencing committee should rebrand itself as the Lewisham Office for standards in Pubs (LOSTIP), and categorise pubs and bars across the borough in various bands, using criteria such as whether they sell a decent pint, how clean the toilets are, whether they have a function room where meetings can be held, etc. Any pubs which do not reach the 'satisfactory' standard should then be shut down. Over the course of time, with the aim of improving the overall level of pubs, but with the side effect of making them more profitable for their owners, the goalposts should be moved, so that pubs previously merely satisfactory should have to shut down unless they up their game.
After a short period of political amnesia, Liam Curran could then reemerge as Chair of LOSTIP, and grandstand to even better effect about how Lewisham's Labour administration is taking direct action to improve the standards of these essential community resources.
The OP was asking about the rather dubious establishment which causes the locals pain .
It is very sad what this once proud building has been turned into.
I would have thought the least that could be agreed to is a closure at 11pm . This I think would be a very good compromise although of course any patrons who use a car must be very quiet exiting the area.
Sydenham has a club? Man, I thought there was nothing beyond mid-night!
Changing the license from 5am to 11pm seems a stretch on the word compromise. Some people like to have the option to a proper night out.
That's separate from the specific case here, if it's causing a genuine inconvenience etc. Just saying, I'd hate to have my evening out options capped at 11pm without having to go central. Especially as it seems to be the only thing around here that's open after the pubs?
I live on one of the streets supposedly leafleted and I've seen nothing about this meeting.
I should also say that despite living close by I wouldn't even know there was a club there as all the comings and goings seem to be when I'm generally tucked up in bed, and I am clearly out of earshot of any noise. Obviously if it's disturbing nearer neighbours it's a problem but I've got no objection to the club in principle.
Tim
a strange post from you if I may say so . No doubt imbued with great wit but slightly strange all the same.
I dont think Goonerchamp was against the serving of alcohol or pubs in general - I distinctly remember he said he was against people parking their cars on the pavement and causing litter and mess until the early hours of 5 am.
I don't read this as an urgent need to review standards of Lewisham pubs, nor a searing indictment on the standard of peanuts served in pubs or the state of their conveniences. I do find the occasional updates from local councillors helpful , especially when they bring a bit of clarity to our ramblings. I suppose in total honesty I am not remotely interested in the machinations of local politics , only what people do for the community . Your referencing to "grandstanding" puzzles me - is this some of the aforementioned machinations of local politics or merely a reference to a now defunct ITV sports programme? I guess we will never know . I do remember that Mr Curran was a strong supporter of rebuilding the Greyhound , and that combined with the efforts of many others has helped to bring about a very positive outcome .
At risk of being accused for being a cheerleader for Stupid United , sometimes things look simple because they are.
I was wondering if there was any more followup to this past the meeting with the licensing sergeant. I am looking to rent in the area- ie peak hill avenue or peak hill gdns at moment, and am wondering if this is an ongoing regular problem and the extent of the noise. Many thanks for any advice
What possible benefits are there to the local economy of this dubious establishment being open until 5am . Most people have been in bed 6 hours by them .
Are they driving to and from this club under influence of alcohol or drugs or both.
This is a disgrace. I feel very sorry for locals who should all complain to their councillors if they want action taken.
I seem to recall reading a post very recently saying they hoped you would not comment on all posts. Hey but maybe I got that wrong.
I , of course , support you right to post as many times as you feel fit.
What is your view on the infamous Tanzania nightclub.
That's almost bitchy, Eagle, not like you at all. I meant my challenge in the spirit of forum humour. You should continue to post as you see fit, of course.
I don't have an opinion on the club as I don't live in that part of Sydenham. If I had INFORMATION (which is what the last poster was asking for) I would post it here.
And now I'm going to take my own advice and shut up.
