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Please support your local shops
This Monday makes a big step in regaining a semblance of normal life with all shops allowed to re‑open, hairdressers and beauty salons too, indoor swimming pools and gyms.  Pubs, coffee shops and restaurants can serve customers seated outside, and books can be browsed and borrowed at the library – though you have to reserve your visit on-line to ensure no overcrowding.  And yes, Brockwell Lido did open on the 29th.
 
It’s your West Norwood and Tulse Hill!  Celebrate this major step and support our local businesses to the max – we all want our community to bounce-back stronger than ever.
Dear Neighbour,

Click on pix to enlarge. Welcome to the April NAG newsletter.  Please forward to family or friends and they can request their own here

Some of us have been fortunate during this pandemic, avoiding infection, staying in good spirits, some maintaining income and even increasing savings.  Others have been hit hard in so many ways.  If you are one of the fortunate, not only spend locally whenever you can, but also think of direct help through trusted charities, such as the admirable Norwood & Brixton Foodbank.  Its volunteers have worked miracles, not just with food but with all kinds of caring help and advice.  A monthly standing order, even if just a fiver, makes a real difference to the lives of others who are not faring well.
 
First Feast of the year…
… was last Sunday.  Only food stalls due to restrictions.  May’s, on Sunday the 2nd,  should be much more as we have become accustomed to, hopefully blessed with spring sunshine and warmth.
 
Nice idea, but…
A new access road to the rear of William Brown Court (opposite the Salvation Army, behind the hoopla garden) may be named  Hollamby Lane.  This is to honour the much applauded architect Ted Hollamby who as Lambeth’s director of architecture was so influential half a century ago.  His major landmarks that still play large in Lambeth include Cressingham Gardens, Central Hill Estate and Woodvale Estate. William Brown Court is one of his more modest creations.  Ted Hollamby’s name deserves better recognition than in a backland service road.  (Who was William Brown?)
 

Rubbish idea
Vale Street recycling depot has been operating a pre-book system which has turned-out to be a brilliant way of smoothing-out the ebbs and flows.  Gone are the queues that sometimes meant a wait of half-an-hour.  It’s also apparent that the site is operating well below capacity.  NAG is considering lobbying for general waste being accepted just as it used to be (no vans), but with pre-booking.  That should relieve the blight of queuing cars on neighbours.  It has to be acknowledged that neighbours may not be keen, so consideration must be given to that possibility.
 
The current arrangement is that if too much or too big for your wheelie-bin there’s the option of paying a high price for collection, or driving to Wandsworth Smugglers Wharf depot, a round trip of over an hour with attendant road congestion and all that implies.  It must make environmental sense to have the local facility back.  Longer term we’re considering more radical ideas to serve an increasingly car-free society.  A reduction of the blight and clean-up costs of fly‑tipping would be a parallel objective. 
Poll – what do you think of bulky general waste being received at Vale Street by pre-booking?  Click your choice

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Last month’s poll…
…asked readers, “how do you rate the newsletter?
93% said ‘good’, 5% ‘better than ok’, 2% ‘ok’ 0% said ‘not much’
But then readers who didn’t think much of it may not have got as far as the poll – so NAG will keep striving to do our best.
 
No need to go short of…
… coffee and hair-cuts.  Not only are the restrictions lifted on Monday, but coffee shops and barber shops are proliferating.  ‘Butter Up’ is the name of the new establishment at Tulse Hill.  Whittaker’s fishmonger is to be a barber, as is Shai Nails at 124 Norwood High Street.  Whilst our local shopping centre has fared relatively well over recent years it’s a long time since a ‘proper shop’ opened.  Perhaps the last was Bon Velo cycle shop – where you can also enjoy Volcano coffee!

 
5pm deadline
If you’re reading today, Saturday 10th April, you maybe just have time before 5pm for an on‑line entry to Lambeth Horticultural Society’s Spring Show.  Many classes – all details
here.  Then there are the summer and late summer shows to look forward to.
 
The Festival of The Great North Wood
Running till 28 April, there is a great selection of on-line events – not too long before open-air ones.  The on-line events are designed for the whole family to enjoy, covering not just flora and fauna, but linked yoga, dance, poetry, and making toadstool cupcakes!  More
here.
Great North Wood Festival
 
NAG and Norwood Forum
People often ask the reason for two local community groups.  The quick answer is we have different focuses, but work cooperatively and in complementary ways.  NAG’s focus is on the built environment, and Forum’s on people and the social side.  NAG pays particular tribute to Forum’s tremendous work in keeping everyone informed of so much during this pandemic – its frequent newsletters and social media output have been outstanding – and we pay hearty tribute.  Forum’s latest newsletter is
here and all can receive it direct, gratis.
 
We join Forum in congratulating retiring chair Sunil de Sayrah for providing congenial, imaginative and effective leadership. Forum is planning an on-line AGM soon.
 
NAG AGM and Social
We look forward to inviting one and all in September when, provided that the pandemic allows, we will be able to ‘resume normal services’ with a ‘proper’ suitably festive event.  On‑line is the way so much has had to be for the last year, we’re not clear yet, but it will be good to meet in the traditional social way.
 
Tale of two buildings
‘The Linear’ is the small block of flats on the South Circular at the top of St Faith’s Road.  Unarguably contemporary it manages to sit well with its mid-Victorian neighbours.  Compare with the newly built flats almost opposite.  The main façade has no detailing at all, just unrelieved brickwork with flush windows.  Appearance is a planning application consideration, but it carries negligible weight.  Some make the facile argument that ‘beauty is in the eye of the beholder’, but few would argue about the literally plain awfulness of this latest building.
Beauty and the Beast 

Unrest on Auckland Hill
To the shock and distress of many residents, without any warning heavy equipment entered a backland site behind residents’ gardens on 11 February and razed the ground of trees and vegetation.  Now it is a wasteland where before there had been a quiet and natural recreation area for all.  There is disbelief that this could brazenly happen in an age where environment and conservation is of greater importance than ever.  Unknown the site had been sold, and the new owner’s plans are not yet in the public domain.  NAG is assisting the residents in trying to control the fate of this once tranquil back‑wood enjoyed by so many.
 
Latest home delivery service…
…sweets to your door. 
The Candy Shack at Crown Point.  Previously it was Skunk House.
 
Look out for the falcons
The pair of peregrine falcons has been back at St Luke’s clock tower for some weeks, and around this time that there could be a clutch of eggs with chicks in about a month, fledging in around another month.  Chicks mean lots more hunt and feeding activity – favourite ‘carry‑outs’ from Norwood Cemetery are mainly unlucky parakeets.
 
April Fools’ Day
As provided by
South London Press, which rather misses the point – hardly designed to fool.
 
Local pubs open on Monday
As far as we know, all local pubs will be squeezing the max out of their gardens, so a celebratory drink will be a must for many.  Knowles of Norwood, now operated by Portobello Brewery, plans to open ‘the other half’ later this year.
 
West Norwood train services
London Victoria is still quite well served at 12 and 42 minutes past the hour for a direct service (no changes required).  London Bridge is erratic, for instance morning direct service (via Tulse Hilll) 8:12, 8:28, 9:58, 11:28, 12:58.  Other times between, but with changes, journey time up to 1hr 20mins!
 
Three local cut-throughs
Three years ago there was consultation in Knight’s Hill ward for public realm improvements.  Regarding rat-runs, Roxburgh Road to get some speed humps, now just installed but too tall, so within a couple of days ripped-out and reinstalled to specification.  Glennie Road and Broxholm Road have a more acute problem with parked cars making two-way traffic very difficult.  Result: chaos, damage, stress, anger.  The resident-lead solution was one-way working in each with speed humps to moderate speeds.  Lambeth would not adopt this but has no alternatives to offer either.  And now no funds.
 
Rosendale Healthy Route
The truth is, no one knows for sure where it will end – literally.  There is widespread concern about the interaction of several surrounding schemes including LTNs and the Dulwich Village road closures. Anger is building due to the shambles of ‘plan-drift’ and the impossibility of finding clear information for local consideration, and the impossibility of having any kind of dialogue with council officers, even with the concerned help of councillors.  The whole system of planning, consultation and implementation has seized-up.  However, there is funding set-aside for further work on Rosendale Road, possibly in July, but not enough for completion, whatever that might be.  The wider
Healthy Route network is stuck too due to not being funded.
 
All traffic schemes implemented under emergency measures if not removed entirely will need public consultation to permit continuation or modifications.  In October, the Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) will extend up to (but not include) the South Circular.  This will add yet another major layer of complication.  It is clear that Lambeth and TfL MUST take a holistic approach to traffic management – not over-simplistic fiddling

 
Picturehouse and South London Theatre
Social media locally has been alive with the possibility of Picturehouse reopening on the earliest date currently allowed - 17 May.  There has yet to be an unequivocal statement, saying this week “we hope to have an official statement shortly”, so fingers crossed.  SLT needs time for live rehearsal of its season of plays but will be delighted for you to book the on-line
Celebrating Shakespeare.  When? 23rd April, of course.
 
Goodways, Waygoods
Ever noticed?  Goodways, electrical repairer in Dalton Street, has an interesting wordplay with historic Waygoods “The best equipped workshop in South London” for electrical repairs, round the corner at the top of Chatsworth Way.
Goodways or Waygoods?
 

Fibre optic cables are coming to our homes
BT Openreach are busy installing fibre optics to enable high-speed broadband directly to every home.  This will bring much disruption to pavements and front gardens.
 
38 Degrees v Change, et al
If you are considering an on-line petition, do think about which platform you might want to use.  Recent experience shows some to be much more satisfactory than others.  It’s worth voting on a few to find out how user friendly they are, whether they aggressively solicit payments (which usually go to the platform, not the petitioner), how much personal data they seek, and how that data is used.  Beware of overseas based platforms that can use personal data with fewer restrictions.
 
Norwood and Crystal Palace featured by Washington Post writer
Henry Wismayer lives locally, and created
this interesting perspective and appreciation.  Click the ‘browse free’ button (unless you wish to pay).  In it he mentions Layers of London, an on-line viewing of historic maps that can be layered, displaying London in ways never before possible.  More surreal is a virtual-reality visit to the original Crystal Palace at Hyde Park – lots of visitors and sound effects, but no exhibits.  As it was The Great Exhibition of 1851, there would have been much grumblings to find the place bare!

Planning news
The latest on the threat of a waste metal site off Norwood High Street at Windsor Grove is that new information is to be provided and there will be further public consultation.  The attempt at turning a crazy idea into an acceptable proposal will be interesting. A facility for handling 35,000 tonnes of scrap each year with more than 60,000 vehicle movements to handle it isn’t easy to disguise as ‘a good idea’.  In the meantime, Thames Water has been on site for a couple of weeks replacing a collapsed sewer.
 
Sainsbury’s on Norwood Road (ex Woolworths) has gained consent for an extra floor.  With the redevelopment of Yeatman undertakers, this parade will in a year or two look very different than below, less suburban, trending ever to urban.

 
There has been much opposition to application 21/00343/FUL regarding the flats at 75 Knollys Road.  Already a taller and overbearing building between its neighbours, the plan is to go up another floor.  You can find out the details and comment to Lambeth
here entering the reference number in the search box.
 
The Westow Hill Conservation Area is being trashed one building at a time.  21/01033/FUL 19‑25 Beardell Street seeks to demolish and build flats.  Again, you can find out more and comment to Lambeth
here entering the reference number in the search box.
 
The empty site on Avenue Park Road parallel to the railway has an unenacted planning consent.  It’s clear that it never will be, with the owners Metropolitan Thames Valley and development partners Mount Anvil on some kind of PR campaign toward a new scheme.
 
The major work at Crown Dale Medical Centre (closed since last year), is planned to be completed by the end of the year, though already behind the March start date.  Properly built facilities are promised, losing the Portakabins.
 
The tennis courts flats development on Knight’s Hill is now at its full height, part 4-storey, part 5.  Thanks to NAG’s efforts they were beaten-down from 9-storeys in the first application (11 at public consultation stage).  It can be seen where two tennis courts will fit, leaving an open outlook for most of Cheviot Gardens sheltered housing in the background.  In the foreground, the advertising hoardings of more than 100 years now gone, replaced for the time buildings with builders’ hoardings, a ‘blank canvas’ that the graffiti tribe have pounced-on.
Tennis Court development
 
Remember The King’s Head on Norwood High Street, later Southern Pride, Scandals, No 82, but currently only used to store furniture and bric a brac.  NAG forecast refusal of a planning application that would have meant it being linked with GNK’s business.  It has indeed been refused due to Lambeth policy to protect pub use, also unsympathetic alterations to the façade, and other more technical issues.  Two years of genuine marketing of the building as a pub has to be shown to have failed before loss of pub use can be considered, and this has not been done.  An appeal would be unlikely to succeed.
 
The Congregational Chapel
Last month’s mention of the Congregational Chapel on Chapel Road prompted a few comments as to its graceful architecture.  This was the real centre of the early development of the community of Lower Norwood as this area was known till the late 19th century.  There had been grand houses dotted around as rural retreats for the wealthy of London, and some farms, but the first modest houses were built around the chapel.  The Elderwood Conservation area extends up Elder Road where some of the grand and some of the less grand still survive.  There are substantial ornate cast railings on the west side which used to form a continuous run, and much is still there to admire.
Congregational Chapel

 
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