• adjusting the locations of the reshaping of the park’s landscape
• keeping the cherry trees along Canal Walk
• keeping the trees along St George’s Way and Cobourg Road
• changing the location of the BMX track
• retaining the dry grassland near Canal Walk.

You can also read Southwark’s response to the Burgess Park Action Group.

I think it’s good that people are holding the Council to scrutiny, and good that the Council are listening and responding. I hope this way we’ll end up with a park that caters to everyone’s tastes.

Update: The following text is from Ruth Miller, Burgess Park project manager, and was left as a comment. I thought it deserved more prominence.

Throughout July we’ve been gathering your views on the latest proposals for Burgess Park, and incorporating them with the extensive consultation we’ve been doing over the last 16 months (more than 25 events and over one thousand responses in various forms). Some proposals have been supported, but there are others you were concerned about, and we have listened to you.

We’ve proposed some changes and you still have until the end of this week to have your say.
Tell us what you think by Friday 30 July.

Send comments to: des.waters@southwark.gov.uk

View the proposed amendments set in the final consultation here: http://www.southwark.gov.uk/downloads/download/2418/burgess_park_presentation.

“Cross Kettles Yard in Cambridge with Barbara Hepworth’s studio in St Ives, throw in a quirky café and you’ll have the latest addition to the Camberwell Art Scene: the all-new South London Gallery.“

Friday saw the long awaited opening of the new SLG extension. The Matsudaira Wing now seamlessly extends into the once dilapidated neighbouring terraced house increasing the size and scope of the exhibition space along with the addition of a funky new café and an artist is residence apartment.

On the other side of the original 1891 Victorian gallery is now a large garden courtyard. To the right the huge floor to ceiling doors of the Clore studio swing open while a ceiling lantern runs the length of the building allowing more natural light to flood in. The outside tables and chairs are overlooked by the Marie Curie block of Sceaux Gardens, devastated by fire in 2009 the high rise has found a new lease of life with a bright buoyant mural by Yinka Shonibare.

Through the Clore Studio a beautiful brick path weaves through the newly planted Fox Garden back towards the back of the house where a new Atrium furnished simply with a long wood table stands beneath a sumptuous golden work by Paul Morrison. Beyond waft the smells of the ‘No. 67’ café. The ‘front room’ is taken up with tables and chairs and the neutral sludge colours sit well with the bulb lights and rough wood floor. Out front are more tables and chairs with a fine vista across the Peckham Road!

Upstairs are three more small exhibition rooms while the top floor has been transformed into an apartment with roof terrace. 6a Architects have striped and hacked illuminating the fabric of the building removing the ceilings to reveal the roof joists and do away with plasterwork to expose brick walls. From October the outset flat will be used for artists in residence.

The current exhibition ‘Nothing is Forever’ aims to seamlessly marry art and architecture; works have been made directly onto the walls to become part of the fabric of the building forever.

The SLG hosts five contemporary art exhibitions each year. Exhibitions and many of the SLG’s events are free. There is also a shop selling books and magazines relating to the works on view as well as those covering art theory and philosophy, artist monographs, live art, film and music.

I think the gallery is a great addition to our area and would recommend everyone visit.

Opening: Tuesday – Sunday, 10am-6.30pm, Wednesdays, 10am-9pm

www.southlondongallery.org

more photos at: flickr.com/photos/nickwoodford/sets/72157624357938986/

southwark.gov.uk/downloads/download/2350/burgess_park_masterplan_report

The Burgess Park Action Group are not happy with the proposals — I’ve included their list of grievances at the end of this post. If you agree with them or want to add your own opinion, there’s an emergency stakeholders meeting this Tuesday 8th June 2010 at 6pm at the Sports Centre in Burgess Park.

The rest of this post is taken from an email sent by the BPAG.

List of previous park investments and wild-life sites to be bull-dozed by the latest LDA/Council “masterplan” (DRAFT)

1. Landscaping paid for by Groundwork Southwark in front of Library – now mature to be bulldozed.
2. The landscaping and re-tiling and new lighting installed by Groundwork Southwark in Wells Way underpass to be bulldozed. (This is the only safe connection crossing a road that is so busy it carried 50% of the Old Kent Road – essential for parents and very popular with cyclists.)
3. The 20 year old woodland and hill between the lime kiln and library to be flattened.
4. The newly installed Borough’s first LED ultra-efficient park lighting scheme installed on path between Southampton Way and Albany Road to be removed completely.
5. The large and formerly very popular toddler and teenage playground on Wells Way – to be bulldozed and landscaped instead of being repaired, installed by Southwark Council about 15 years ago and which the council had no money to repair even the swings.
6. About 400 meters of the popular cycle and pedestrian Canal Avenue where it passes under the old canal bridge is to be dug up and a pond put in its place, paid for by Groundwork Southwark about 8 years ago.
7. Entire side of the dual line of cherry-blossom trees planted by Groundwork Southwark at same time as laying of Canal Avenue is to be bulldozed for its entire length between the canal over-bridge and Glengall Road on St Georges side of Avenue.
8. The cycle track by the lime kiln is to be bulldozed – part funded by Southwark Cyclists just over two years ago.
9. The woodland, wildlife site and hill at east end of Burgess Park Lake which was planted by Southwark Council rangers service about 15 years ago and now mature to be flattened.
10. A second woodland, wildlife site and hill on other side of closed Calmington Road to be flattened.
11. The wildflower meadow by the Canal Avenue – been colonised by range of wild-plants and flowers for over 10 years and been undergoing meadow management for over 10 years to have the Cycle/BMX track built on it.
12. The mature wildlife woodland sections along St George’s Way which was planted by Groundwork Southwark about 12 years ago and now mature, is to be split up with a complex maze of paths.
13. The landscaping between Lake and Old Kent Road to be bulldozed to allow lake to be seen from the Old Kent Road (disastrously this will allow traffic and pollution from Old Kent Road to be seen from the currently peaceful lake).
14. The entrance at Old Kent Road installed by Southwark Council about 13 years ago to be completely bulldozed rather than revamped.
15. LDA “landscape architects” have been unable to provide a number of mature and semi-mature they intend to kill and remove. Initial guestimates are well over 1,000. Nearly 50 years of planting and growth of trees is threatened in large swathes of the park.
16. In the words of the architects the Canal Avenue mature wildflower meadow will be replaced by “A purpose built space for some of the largest festivals in Europe with amphitheatre style viewing for over 100 thousand people, a floating stage, and a dedicated cultural hub;
17. The wildlife site beside the cricket pitch is to be bulldozed. This is well over 30 years old and is on the site of a garden that predates the park.
18. An area the size of THREE football pitches is to be removed from open space and instead fenced off for polytunnels and allotments.
19. The existing cafe that overlooks the beautiful multi-cultural Chumleigh garden is to be closed and moved inside the building to overlook the Aylesbury Estate and Albany Road. The outdoor tables instead of being placed in a beautiful sheltered
    Arabic garden with the cafe furniture designed in line with the Arabic heritage of the garden will be on a concrete site exposed to a wind-tunnel funnelled from adjacent buildings.
20. Two sets of paths are to be placed through the existing RSPB maintained special house-sparrow meadows.
21. The 30 year old wildlife woodland and nesting area by the Albany Road side of the lake to be bulldozed.
22. The largest and most mature section of wild woodland along Albany Road at other side of path near lake looks to be bulldozed.
23. Mature shrubbery in front of St George’s Church at junction of New Church Road to be bulldozed –planted by international student workshop 14 years ago.
24. The avenue of mature trees between entrance at corner of Wells Way to the Canal Avenue all look likely to be removed, along with the path installed by Groundwork Southwark about 8 year ago.

LDA architects and the current council proposals are classic 1960’s style bulldoze and start again disposable landscape school of architecture. The financial, ecological and community investment that is proposed to be destroyed will be painful to the thousands of local people who have watched our park gradually and organically grow from the collection of bombsites and scrap yards that plagued it 20 years ago.

It need not be like this. The existing park is a loved, living and breathing entity in its own right already, with some already beautiful corners already thriving. With careful nurturing and investment, this community led organic growth and investment can continue, so that it continues to provide a green haven and lung for the tens of thousands of people who live within walking distance of the park and the hundreds of thousands of people who play sport, walk or simply picnic in it every year.

An alternative vision to the LDA nightmare would be a national quality Eco-Park designed for the 21st century and based on eco-friendly principles of working and developing the best of what we have already and creating a dream of a zero waste, zero-carbon, green ecological oasis, where people can escape, relax and play, to recharge from the densely built surrounding city – a Hampstead Heath that South Londoners can be proud of.

Burgess Park needs to demonstrate the best of environmental sustainability principles, so that it can act as a beacon of hope in the midst of the threatening environmental crises our children are facing as they grow up. Telling them that the way to treat their own homes and gardens is to bulldoze them every ten to twenty years fails this crucial test of sustainability – the first test of which should always be – is it necessary? LDA’s ecologically disastrous proposals fail this test and are a major crime in wasted carbon terms to boot. Lets show our children instead that there is a different way – one based on community ecology and respect for their future and respect for the wildlife and investments that previous generations have nourished and created.

So there’s a movement afoot, started by some readers here, to try to get the former Gala bingo hall / Odeon cinema given to us Camberwellians as a community/cultural centre; the new owners are an evangelical Christian organisation, and some people who I assume are members of their congregation have made some decidedly un-Christian threats and hinted at racism from those opposed to them taking over; to which some people have decided to respond, not always fairly.

First of all I want to make clear that opinions on this blog should always be considered to be opinions of individuals and not representative of any group or organisation, unless explicitly stated.

And while I don’t censor comments, I would advise people simply to not get sucked into un-winnable arguments because they have a nasty habit of escalating; just say your piece, perhaps give a response to clarify that piece, and step back. Let people who make snide or unfair comments hang themselves with their own words.

As for the campaign — which I broadly support — I would like to state that, despite my general antipathy to organised religion, I’ve never interfered in their business before, and probably never will after. To me this is not a campaign to stop a church, this is a campaign to gain something for everyone in Camberwell, not just those of a certain denomination.

There is a dearth of good public space in the area, less still spaces to host art or events. The Gala building is a fantastic opportunity that only comes up once in a lifetime, and we need to do our best to seize it. There just aren’t any comparable spaces around; I mean, there are the former Council buildings on Peckham Rd, but Southwark are busy flogging those off to property developers.

So in my view this is not a negative campaign, it’s a positive one, and that’s what I wanted to make clear.

For those who aren’t interested in this at all, I hope we’ll be back to the usual topics soon; The Tiger officially opens on Wednesday, if anyone wants to volunteer to review it.

And for those who are tempted to get involved in debating with the trolls, just remember this:

Hello there, and yet another post by another guest poster. Apologies for the very long post but just couldn’t get it any shorter.

As many of you will no doubt have heard by now the former cinema and bingo hall has been bought by Merinbrand (whoever they are) on behalf of (we assume) the Redeemed Christian Church of God or RCCG for short. We believe that contracts have been exchanged but completion is not due to take place until the beginning of March. The chances of us stopping the sale are slim, but I do not think that should prevent us from trying.

We started a campaign this Monday to try and get more information and transparency over the sale of the building by Gala Bingo. Last week I was told that the information was confidential and that I would have to wait until the sale had gone through. I think it is safe to assume that they were a little surprised at how quickly we managed to gather the troops, and very soon after our photo in front of the cinema today we had the head of PR sending out emails absolving themselves of all responsibility and hanging the new (potential) owners out to dry.

This is thanks to people like Victor, a.k.a. Eusebiovic, who set up a Facebook page which has nearly 200 fans already and is growing by the second. Also thanks go to Copeywolf (James), Liliana of PROS,Melanie Rimmer of Camberwell Arts and last but not least Mark Dodds and Barbara Pattinson from the SE5 forum for all their help. I have created a website (www.CamberwellCommunityCinema.webs.com) for the campaign to keep the cinema for the community and I have no idea where all you people are coming from but the response has been (almost) unanimous against having RCCG move in.

I think this is a real chance for Camberwell to come together as a community. And I don’t just mean those who use the internet. I mean all those who loved the bingo and now have to go to Surrey Quays (because that’s convienient). I mean all those for whom Christianity is not their religion. I mean all the artists looking for a space. I mean something to stop Time Out banging out yet another edition about the “great” East End. I mean all those who want Camberwell to have a focal point we can be proud of.

RCCG will have to change the commercial use from D2 (Cinema, music and concert halls) to D1 (Places of worship and Church Halls). This is where we as a community come in. We cannot let this happen. There are so many reasons why this should not be allowed. So, write to your MP, write to your councillors. Tell the press, tell Boris. Shout it out. Email your friends. Join the facebook page. Tell your friends to join the facebook page. Write to famous Camberwellians. Make people notice. MAKE A FUSS!

To be fair I think most councillors are firmly behind us and John Friary has been helping already to ask questions. There is a Camberwell Community Council meeting next Wednesday 3^rd March at 7pm at Southwark Town Hall. Please go. We need to let Southwark Council know that Camberwell matters. We need them to stop palming us off with disjointed plans which come to nothing. On top of that, there is an election coming up. That should concentrate the mind wonderfully!

We will be getting some posters to put around Camberwell. I will put them on the website for you to download and print off. Stick them on windows of shops. Talk to your neighbours.

MAKE A FUSS!

Camberwell deserves better.

Tom.

a.k.a. Monkeycat.

Today is Chinese New Year as well as Saint Valentine’s Day. We don’t celebrate this Hallmark holiday in the Cookson household so I’ll be spending an unromantic evening in one of Camberwell’s fine establishments nursing a few pints of old man ale.

In the Chinese calendar 2010 is the year of the tiger, which perhaps bodes well for the opening of The Tiger (nee The Oberon), formally The Silver Buckle. After revealing the original façade during reconstruction, Antic have decided to retain the original name. I’ll be eager to see what it’s like when it opens on 25 Feb, but if their other pubs (EDT at Goose Green, Dogstar in Brixton, Royal Albert at Deptford) are anything to go by this should be a good addition to Camberwell. Sadly it’s tied to Scottish and Newcastle (boo hiss) which means inflated beer prices, but I hear that’s true of many of the pubs around here.

According to my sources the pub will aim to be as close to a “traditional pub” as possible with a focus on affordable, decent pub grub. I’m never quite sure what is meant by traditional but I wish them all the best. I hope to get some photos of the renovations up shortly. Perhaps Antic would like to offer some opening night freebies to the readers of this blog?

I also received an invitation to the release of the next stage of flats at “Camberwell Grove” (couldn’t they think of a better name?). From the marketing materials the prices seem to have fallen from almost £500,000 when the first properties were released to £400,000. Having looked around the original show flat I think they’re gorgeous, but I also think my £500,000 would be better spent on a house a few streets over.

I was very excited to try Angels and Gypsies recently. The food was as good as the hype suggested but the bill was enormous. Admittedly we tried plenty of the more expensive things. My better half’s family are staying at the Church Street Hotel above in a few weeks, so I’ll hopefully get a chance to poke around the rooms and to also try their breakfast. I wish they’d open it up to non-residents as their breakfast sounds great. Which brings me on to a pet peeve: why does Johannson’s open at 10:30 for breakfast on a Saturday?

And finally, a quick question: can anybody recommend a good local bike shop for servicing? I usually do my own but I’m fed up of leaving everything squeakier than when I started. Wilson Cycles in Peckham? Edwardes in Camberwell?

So have a great night whether you’re celebrating Chinese New Year, Valentine’s Day or England’s close victory over the Italians.

So, what’s this year going to bring for Camberwell?

It could be the year of great change; the completion of the Mary Datchelor development will be bringing a lot of moneyed new residents into the area, and if the local shops don’t meet their demands they will be spending out of the area, which will be terrible.

There’s the new development at the former Snooker Hall to come as well, which could likewise bring new purchasing power. The trade-off, of course, is the extra strain on the transport infrastructure from the increase in residents.

In the North, Burgess Park is set for a major makeover (and the regeneration of the Aylesbury Estate must kick off soon), while in the South the Maudsley & King’s are investing heavily in their real estate.

On top of all that, Time Out say that we finally have our own destination eatery in Angels & Gypsies — although they also say that we’re London’s gay-bar capital, and the new Shoreditch.

A year that’s full of promise and potential.

As for me, I need to take a break from this blog. I’ve got a huge work commitment over the next four months and I won’t have any spare time. I need volunteers to take over until the Summer (and possibly beyond); please email me (peter@camberwellonline.co.uk) and let me know if you’re interested. If no-one can get involved, I’ll have to close the comments and you’ll all have to go to the SE5 Forum message boards; that’s not meant to sound like a threat, it’s just the reality.

The Grand Union opened last week to generally favourable reviews. I went along on Friday and the place was the busiest I’ve seen it for years; here’s hoping that continues. The refit has been positive; it’s a little fussy for my tastes, but it feels cosy.

Small quibble: food is pretty much burgers or nothing, and while there’s lots of variety of burger, you’d think for somewhere gambling on a single food item that it’d have to be perfect; unfortunately, while the meat itself was tasty and well-cooked, my blue-cheese sauce tasted more like mayonnaise.

Still; teething problems, I hope. I’ll certainly be going back to try them again. I still wish they’d kept the Grove name, though.

Names brings me on to George Canning; did you know he was the last British Prime Minister to take part in a duel? And with the Secretary of State (for War and The Colonies!) no less. His namesake pub has been refitted and reopens this weekend; the bar on Friday 13th, the kitchen on Saturday 14th.

No major changes inside (although I hope they’ve replaced the toilets, which were among the worst around); the bar and kitchen are in the same locations. The George Canning used to be a fine little bistro a couple of years back, so I hope they aim to get back to that.

The Silver Buckle has been taken over by Antic, owners of the East Dulwich Tavern (and others), and is to reopen as The Oberon. To remain a traditional pub, from what I hear.

And finally: the Angels & Gypsies Tapas y Cervecceria, long believed to be a myth, is advertising for staff and so likely to open soon. It’s been, what — three years since the hotel opened? They’re going to have to live up to high expectations, at least from me. But I really can’t wait; Camberwell needs something like this.

Fingers crossed that all the new arrivals thrive here.

How would you visually represent SE5? One of the students at the College of Arts has had a go.

As reported in comments on the previous post, part of Lucas Gardens has been saved from being sold off to developers, as the College is said to have bought South House. I went to a Halloween party in East House on Saturday night; apologies to the neighbours.

Here’s something topical: Camberwell post office (“grungey and dispiriting”) used as an illustration of why bonuses are not always deserved.

Also topical: the murderer of a man who was stabbed to death near his home, on Coldharbour Lane, was sentenced to a minimum 30 years in prison last week. He sounds like a proper nasty bastard, so: good.

Has everyone taken a look at NickW’s proposal to split traffic around Camberwell Green and pedestrianise the end of Church Street? There doesn’t seem to be much there to argue about, IMHO, and it’s good enough to at least serve as the start of a conversation.

Finally, I have a special offer for everyone; my first ever, I believe. The Grand Union are set to open in the former Grove this week, and are having a launch party on Thursday 5th (there will be some free drinks, I believe).

They’re keen to get the hyper-critical readers of this blog on their side, so have offered me the following deal: anyone who presents a print-out of this blog post to the manager gets 2-for-1 on main meals — and this deal is valid for the whole of November. That’s pretty good, right? I’m sure there should be some terms and conditions to this deal, but there don’t seem to be, so knock yourselves out.

I wish they’d kept the Grove name, though; a pub’s name is its heritage.

I’ve hardly had time to look at these myself, yet, so reaction will follow.

Update: So here’s my considered opinion. Obviously with a constrained budget (£6m may sound a lot, but Burgess Park is one of the largest in London and is receiving a fraction of the money given to comparable projects) both have had to be somewhat cautious in their plans; it’s quite funny to see existing features marketed as new ones (“a wide tree-lined avenue along the historical canal path, with space for walkers, runners and cyclists” — that’s what we have now, only with not so many trees).

As well as improved entrances and lighting, which were requirements, both have focussed on the lake area and a new public square where the underpass currently sits; as both have proposed sealing the underpass, this does present the problem of having a very busy road run through the middle of it and no easy way to cross; a minus point, in my book.

Gillespies bid is the more cautious (sensible?) of the two; I liked their dog-only areas, cycling/walking routes, and meadow area.

LDA Designs were more ambitious; informative art pieces are respectful of the park’s history, and with more biodiversity — including a wetlands area and an orchard.

Of the two, I think I lean towards the latter (I will have to assume that everything they’ve planned can be achieved within the budget), but it’s very close.