I went to the Brixton Neighbourhood Forum meeting on May 2nd. The Forum is independent of the Council.
The issue of the Brixton Central consultation was discussed. Here are my notes.
Here are notes from the Brixton Neighbourhood Forum meeting on Friday 2nd of May.
Brixton Central recent consultations by Fluid and Council have led to concern about what will happen to existing business and how development may lead to further gentrification of area.
Three people spoke about their concerns:
Rep from the market traders ,a rep from the artists studios in Valentia place and a member of Brixton Society who had gone around the site and produced a map and detail of existing uses. ( post up after this post)
Below is my summary of issues raised at meeting.
Valentia place used to contain engineering works. They left 3 or 4 years ago. Since then Network rail has been running down the use of the arches.
At moment some of the arches have been let as studio space. The artists had got Arts Council funding to develop the arches. Network Rail did not support this in the end.
Rumour has it that Network Rail would like to turn Valentia place into a Bermondsey market style development. This is the reason for running down the use of the arches.
Network Rail is reputedly not giving out new lets on arches to light industrial uses. Such as car repairs etc. Which are useful businesses for local people.
Popes road , which may be affected by new development contains the street market, and several shop units. One of which is the Latin American shop that provides a meeting point for the Latin American community in the area.
There is danger that if Popes road is redeveloped the Latin American community will lose this asset. The market traders will face several years of disruption. Stuart said that when they last did some works on Popes road he was moved around the corner and lost a lot of passing trade.
The arches in Brixton Station road are nearly all in use. A complaint about the recent consultation was the existing use of the arches was not acknowledged. The arches from Brixton road up to Popes road opposite the Rec contain a lot of affordable cafes and shops. They are mostly leased on short term basis. So have little long term security.
Beyond Popes road the arches are used for storage and light industrial. Also a DIY shop. Some sell vegetables on wholesale basis.
The market needs infrastructure- storage, car parking. Stuart said that Lower Marsh market declined after losing most of its storage.
There is a four storey building in Popes road by the station that has not been in use for a long time. This is the only large empty site that could be redeveloped apart from the former Ice Rink site.
In front of this building are the public toilets and the compactor machine for the street market. Any redevelopment of this site could cause loss of toilets and infrastructure necessary for the street market.
Stuart of the market traders said that the market in Brixton Station road is doing well on Saturdays.
The rep from BRUG said that the Brixton Rec had a lot of potential. There was a lot of underused space. There is survey being done of the Rec.
Another rep said that the Rec building had a lot of potential to be used more as a public space. Any designs/ plans for the development of the Brixton Central site should be should make sure that the different buildings complemented each other.
It was also pointed out that the wider view needs to be taken into account. It was often uses at the periphery of an area that played an important role. They were overlooked as they are designated as being on the periphery.
Issues/ Questions
- Respect the existing business on this site. Most of this site , except former ice rink site, is in use. Start with looking at existing uses.
- Artists. an important part of Brixton. Those in Valentia space should be consulted on how to remain and how Valentia place/ Popes road may be developed.
- Market. Storage space and car parking is essential for market. Storage space needs to be retained and car parking provided.
- Traders. Construction work must take account of the concerns of street market traders about loss of business.
High Definition