Village Green Preservation Society

Kennedy's Sausages

The New Economics Foundation released the Clone Town Britain report today, which judges national high streets and London ‘villages’ by the number of global and national chain stores on them. Exeter is the worst in Britain, Wimbledon the worst in London.

Predictably, the focus is on North and West London. It’s a shame, as I think Camberwell would have come out quite well had it been included in this report; there are still a large number of independent shops and the chains are at a minimum — although it’s not really a high street.

Andrew Simms of the NEF said:

Clone stores have a triple whammy on communities: they bleed the local economy of money, destroy the social glue provided by real local shops that holds communities together, and they steal the identity of our towns and cities.

Which was kind of the point I tried to make in my earlier post; by shopping locally (where we can), we keep the heart of Camberwell active and the identikit chains at bay. And that’s not to say that things can’t be improved (less fast food shops and more fresh produce would be a start), just that it’s nicer to eat at Tadim than it is at Subway.

Author: Peter

Long-time resident of Camberwell, author of this blog since July 2004.

8 thoughts on “Village Green Preservation Society”

  1. And let’s hear it for Seymour’s Cafe, Wordsworth Bookshop and the DIY section in Camberwell Stores as well.

  2. … and the very knowledgeable fellows at Duraty Electronics, and the bakers at Sophocles, the nice old blokes in Cruson…

  3. I’m saying this quietly, but I have in the past had to overlook the odd semi-stale loaf of bread or bug-infested bunch of coriander from Sophocles or Cruson. Generally they’re great though.

  4. Just to let people know, (as it was previously mentioned on this site), I have received the following mail from Southwark Planning office this morning, regarding the large bill board that appeared on the juction of Camberwell Green a few months back:

    I can confirm that the hoarding is unauthorised and as such constitutes a breach of planning control. It is considered to be totally unacceptable in visual amenity terms given its size and position on this prominently located building in Camberwell Green. It is therefore the subject of formal enforcement action to secure its removal. Accordingly, a report has been drafted recommending the service of formal notices (served under section 11 of the London Local Authorities Act 1995)l. The instructions for the Legal department to issue these notices will be dispatched this week. Importantly, there is no right of appeal against such notices, unlike standard planning enforcement notices and the Council is empowered to take direct action to remove unlawful hoardings unless the advertiser removes them as required by the notice. Planning Enforcement is committed to using these robust powers and we are using them to secure the removal of the advertisement hoarding on the flank wall of 76 Denmark Hill. 

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