Community Conversation Monday 1 June 2020: Issues discussed and actions

The following topics were discussed:

West Norwood Feast:

Feast operates not only as an outdoor market (now allowed to reopen in accordance with government guidance) but also runs various live events. A great deal of planning is underway to establish the possibility of returning to the high street. The general feeling was people are keen to see Feast return after the forthcoming #StayHomeFeast (7 June), and accepted that this would have to be in a limited way. It was suggested Feast might look at what other markets were doing and via the Facebook feed it was confirmed that Crystal Palace Market was reopening on Saturday 6 June 2020.

Norwood Road shops etc:

The majority were open (some services as take away only), with necessary social distancing procedures in place (see Station to Station Business Directory). Certain services would of course remain shut until 4 July at least (further government guidance awaited). Local pubs were not providing take-away drinks (some in central London were now serving beer in takeaway cups). People mentioned: local brewers: Canopy and Bullfinch who are providing takeaway draught and other beers. The Hope provides takeaway Sunday roast dinners. The Railway was undertaking a crowdfunding campaign. South London Theatre was providing online productions.

One blockage to use of the high street was the current lack of public toilets; Station to Station would raise this with Lambeth Council.

Transport and roads:

It was expected that walking and cycling would continue to increase as people moved gradually out of lockdown and sought alternatives to public transport. However, it was thought that rush hour motorised traffic is getting back to normal. Lambeth Council had set aside £4m for temporary measures to provide more space for cyclists and pedestrians; views on possible locations were being sought: lambethtransportcovidresponsemap.commonplace.is/

Read more here.

Schools reopening:

Some schools had partially reopened that day, and there was a request for more to reopen immediately. Examples were given of the considerable health measures Heads had put in place to accord with government guidance on necessary safety measures for children and staff, which necessitated a limited number of classes and staggered arrivals, breaks and lunches. Norwood Forum would raise this issue with local Councillors, including establishing which schools and classes were open.

Windsor Grove scrap metal yard:

Whilst almost 2000 people had signed the petition against the development, it would also be very helpful if people would also submit a written planning objection; this is a simple online process on the Lambeth Planning Portal: enter the reference: 20/01066, go to ‘make a comment’ button. It was not necessary to use planning jargon, but simply think about and put across your feelings about the issues that concerned you most. The issues discussed included heavy traffic, large lorries and air pollution; advantages to the area could not be identified.

NAG had worked with Norwood Forum and Norwood Planning Assembly to produce detailed objections to the Southwark Metals application. The objections were posted on 1 June 2020 and can be accessed here.

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