Brixton Rec/central Brixton consultation and the 'Rec Quarter' proposals

[leanderman]

Is this being definitively ruled out now? Or just kicked down the road again?

Kicked down the road. An aspiration - but acknowledgement that it is beyond the scope/budget of this project

 

[CH1]

Is this being definitively ruled out now? Or just kicked down the road again?

Kicked down the road. An aspiration - but acknowledgement that it is beyond the scope/budget of this project

The impression Tom Bridgman left me with was that the East Brixton option was most likely for a Brixton station on the London Overground - but that this was Network Rail's baby and not part of the Brixton Central project.

Incidentally this issue also cropped up at LJAG's AGM. LJAG are in touch with Network Rail on matters to do with Loughborough Junction station but they have got the same mood music on a London Overground station - East Brixton. They were speculating on how East Brixton could be made more accessible from Loughborough Road/Loughborough Junction.

 

[Crispy]

An overground station at East Brixton would pretty much kill off the chance of it ever happening at LJ or Brixton proper :-/
The whole point of the Overground is to remove the need for going in and back out of central London, so good interchanges are vital. It would be a real shame if these two potentially transformative interchanges get cancelled just for expedience's sake.

 

[CH1]

An overground station at East Brixton would pretty much kill off the chance of it ever happening at LJ or Brixton proper :-/
The whole point of the Overground is to remove the need for going in and back out of central London, so good interchanges are vital. It would be a real shame if these two potentially transformative interchanges get cancelled just for expedience's sake.

In these days when you can write off an office building in 30 years (Olive Morris/Mary Seacole and quite possibly International House) - I would have thought the same would apply to stations.

Of course it would rule out a grand Brixton interchange in my lifetime (and possibly yours) - but not permanently.

 

[urbanspaceman]

In response to yet another message from future Brixton, I sent this message to them:

"It is surprising that Brixton does not have an East London Line station. Imagine the benefits for Brixton if the existing Chatham Main Line station could be augmented with ELL platforms. And why not reinstate Catford Loop platforms as well ? Thus Brixton would become a public transport hub, with one tube and three rail lines.

Let's not aim low, with interminable discussions about murals and endless public consultation theatre. Lobby for some real, substantial transport infrastructure enhancements. That is, if you actually want to help Brixton. Or is this just a talking shop ?"

I know it's a bit single-issue-obsessive, but surely it not beyond the wit of man to build an ELL station at Brixton. I will post any reply they send.

 

[Tricky Skills]

The Council has confirmed 'over half a million pounds' to invest in the Rec over the next year. Most of this is for H & S upgrades. I 'm a little confused as a figure of just over £200k for similar work was announced back in June, but also to include the Ferndale and Flaxman.

A figure of £9m has been quoted by Cllr Jane Edbrooke, the Cabinet member for Neighbourhoods, if the Rec is to see out the next ten years. No mention where this is coming from.

It's great that the short term investment is being made. My concern is that by quoting the £9m figure, this then strengthens the hand of those that think that a fresh start is the best option. Invite in the developers and get them to foot the bill for a new build, and then allow them to do what they want with the rest of the land.

But that's just the cynical view

Full story up on BBuzz later this morning.

 

[Gramsci]

The Council has confirmed 'over half a million pounds' to invest in the Rec over the next year. Most of this is for H & S upgrades. I 'm a little confused as a figure of just over £200k for similar work was announced back in June, but also to include the Ferndale and Flaxman.

A figure of £9m has been quoted by Cllr Jane Edbrooke, the Cabinet member for Neighbourhoods, if the Rec is to see out the next ten years. No mention where this is coming from.

It's great that the short term investment is being made. My concern is that by quoting the £9m figure, this then strengthens the hand of those that think that a fresh start is the best option. Invite in the developers and get them to foot the bill for a new build, and then allow them to do what they want with the rest of the land.

But that's just the cynical view

Full story up on BBuzz later this morning.

The figure of half a million for H&S works is still to be finalised. It may be less.

The £9 million is to update building systems and plant. Basically renewing existing systems to keep the Rec going in its present form. It does not cover extra improvements to make better use of the Rec. Not sure how much of a funding problem that will be.

From what I have seen the Council are working on the basis that the existing Rec will be kept.

The Council have been acting in good faith so far. They are informing BRUG at each stage. They are doing ongoing surveys of the Rec. The basic structure of the Rec appears to be sound. Though further surveys are planned. Council Officers have been good at keeping BRUG informed.

Cllr Jane Edbrooke is now the Cllr directly dealing with the Rec.

Councils are cash strapped due to this Government. So do not know what effect this will have in future. Looks to me that this Council is trying to keep sport and fitness facilities going. They are developing a sports strategy.

 

[Winot]

Fed up with the Rec at the moment. Tried to take Winotette 1 to the Saturday morning climbing session and it took 20 mins to buy a ticket - the staff on reception didn't have a clue how to do it. In the end lied and said the 2nd ticket (for Ol Nick's son) was for Winotette 2 as he wasn't on the 'system' (whatever that is) and she was. Then once they'd negotiated the Byzantine complexity of the booking system I couldn't use a card to pay because only one till takes cards and the person logged into that one had gone to lunch.

This is for a session that we have been going to for more than a year with no trouble, doing exactly the same thing.

Also as a result of the revamp the spin class has been moved into a dingy airless room and they aren't mending the broken bikes cos apparently they are going to buy new bikes at some indeterminate point in the future.

Meh. I want to use the Rec as it's a resource used by lots of different Brixton communities but sometimes the organisation running it seems to do its best to put up barriers to that.

 

[Gramsci]

Yet more consultation coming up on the Brixton Central site:

POP- UP CONSULTATION:
· Saturday 15th November, 11-3pm, Brixton Station Road
· Wednesday 18th November, 11-3pm, Electric Avenue


DROP-IN EXHIBITIONS:
· Saturday 22nd November, 11am-4pm, Impact Hub Brixton, Lambeth Town Hall
· Monday 24th November, 1-9pm, Assembly Hall Lambeth Town Hall
· 19th-30th November, static exhibition at the Lambeth Town Hall foyer
· Wednesday 3rd December, 5-7pm Impact Hub Brixton, Lambeth Town Hall


I got this email from the Council appointed consultants "Fluid"

We are writing to inform you about the next round of consultation events regarding the Brixton Central Masterplan Development Brief.

Since the co-production process began at the beginning of the year, we have engaged with the local community at workshops, pop-up events, one–to-one meetings and youth engagement. Thank you to all of those who have been involved, we are reliant on the engagement of the community to make the development of the town centre as successful as possible.

During July, we talked with the community about development principles and two possible development scenarios. Please click here to download the update report, read about what was said and all feedback received.

Following on from this, we have been developing our thinking on a masterplan development brief for the town centre, and have a series of events coming up in next few weeks to progress our co-production strategy. We would like your views and feedback once again.

 

[High Definition]

Yet more consultation coming up on the Brixton Central site:

POP- UP CONSULTATION:
· Saturday 15th November, 11-3pm, Brixton Station Road
· Wednesday 18th November, 11-3pm, Electric Avenue


DROP-IN EXHIBITIONS:
· Saturday 22nd November, 11am-4pm, Impact Hub Brixton, Lambeth Town Hall
· Monday 24th November, 1-9pm, Assembly Hall Lambeth Town Hall
· 19th-30th November, static exhibition at the Lambeth Town Hall foyer
· Wednesday 3rd December, 5-7pm Impact Hub Brixton, Lambeth Town Hall


I got this email from the Council appointed consultants "Fluid"

Went along to the stall in Station Road this pm (15th November). Got the impression that the stall was being managed by FLUID (consultants appointed by Lambeth) and couldn't be bothered to speak to them.

However, I did notice Steve Taylor from Network Rail hanging around the stall (his job title is Heritage and Town Planning Manager), so took the opportunity to ask him about Network Rail's plans for the area.

Network Rail are still looking at turning the area between the viaducts east of Pope's Road into an extension of Brixton Village.

I pointed out that the retail space which front onto Pope's Road on the east side (the former Tesco Store) can only be developed if Network Rail are able to buy out a local businessman (Mr Shah) who has a 70 year lease on land occupied by the former Tesco store - and also the office building on the west side of Pope's Road (between Pope's Road and the overground station).

He said Network Rail have contingency plans - in the event that they can't buy out Mr Shah - which would be to focus the railway arches only and leave out the space in between.

Seems to me, however, that the Brixton Central Masterplan would be dead in the water if Network Rail can't buy out Mr Shah.

The latest version of the Masterplan shows a 15 storey residential block on the east side of Pope's Road (more or less where Tesco used to be). If Network Rail can't buy out Mr Shah, then they lose the funding from the residential block which they are relying on to cross subsidise the station improvements.

Hopefully, this will scupper the Brixton Central Masterplan.

I

- he wasn't wearing a name badge, but I recognised him from meetings I sp

 

[SpamMisery]

Is a 70 year land lease different from a 70 year house lease?

 

[Gramsci]

Went along to the stall in Station Road this pm (15th November). Got the impression that the stall was being managed by FLUID (consultants appointed by Lambeth) and couldn't be bothered to speak to them.

However, I did notice Steve Taylor from Network Rail hanging around the stall (his job title is Heritage and Town Planning Manager), so took the opportunity to ask him about Network Rail's plans for the area.

I talked to Taylor as well.

I asked about the drawing that was on the stall. Which did not look that different from what we were all shown at last meeting on the site. I did ask why there was only one drawing and not alternatives. The reply was that they had taken account of all peoples comments and that was in their view ( I take it Network Rail and Lambeth consultants Fluid) that this was the option that people wanted.

I did ask about the large block of flats on Popes road site and was told that people consulted were in favour of it.

So its going to be that , as at last meeting on the site. that those critical will be considered to be a minority.

I said to Taylor that the plans if built would cause at least a year of disruption to the market traders. That I was concerned that this could damage the street market traders.

I said to him that I was concerned that the "regeneration" of the area would lead to the pushing out of the affordable cafes etc on Brixton Station road opposite the Rec. These were popular with locals.

Revealingly he said that Network Rail had not managed them that well. In the sense that NR had not got maximum return out of them. I said that imo that was good management. The arches in Brixton Station road were a bit of Brixton that was in danger of being replaced by the likes of Brindisi etc.

I told him that a lot of peoples concerns about regeneration was that it would push out affordable shops etc. As a lady said who looked at the stall- letting the yuppies in.

Nice of enough guy Taylor but as a business Network Rail are going to make as much money as they can out of the arches.

I am also concerned about possible loss of light industrial uses of arches further up from Brixton Station road. Promises are they will be kept. But unless this is written into any plans then I do not see it happening.

I also noticed that in the drawings International House is to be demolished and replaced with housing. This is now Councils preferred option.

 

[Gramsci]

I suppose I am not against all the ideas in the plans. But my main concerns are:

• How much of the new housing will be affordable

• How will the affordable and diverse cafes/ shops in Brixton Station road be protected and not pushed out in effort to make whole area like Brixton Village

• Consultation. I am not happy with it. Today at the stall people were coming up and complaining about gentrification of Brixton. Its like the Council/ NR and Fluid do not listen. Its not just a minority saying this.

• Disruption to the street markets whilst new building works are onsite. Its something the traders have brought up more than once at consultations. Its not something that has been addressed.

• Protection of light industrial uses in central Brixton. How will this be done in reality.

• The suggested proposals do not address how the Rec building will fit into the whole regeneration scheme. Their is no "joined up" thinking on this issue at this point.

 

[Twattor]

I'm not entirely sure this is as new as we're led to believe. I have a vague recollection that an option on the triangle between the railways might have been offered to a local HA maybe 6-ish years ago at the beginning of the construction downturn. At that time (and almost certainly now) the only viable option would have been a bloody great tower which no-one could afford to build and would never have got planning permission anyway.

 

[Gramsci]

I'm not entirely sure this is as new as we're led to believe. I have a vague recollection that an option on the triangle between the railways might have been offered to a local HA maybe 6-ish years ago at the beginning of the construction downturn. At that time (and almost certainly now) the only viable option would have been a bloody great tower which no-one could afford to build and would never have got planning permission anyway.

Some of this is in the Brixton Masterplan that was developed some time ago. Not a planning document like a SPD but is detailed look at how Brixton could develop.

 

[CH1]

I'm not entirely sure this is as new as we're led to believe. I have a vague recollection that an option on the triangle between the railways might have been offered to a local HA maybe 6-ish years ago at the beginning of the construction downturn. At that time (and almost certainly now) the only viable option would have been a bloody great tower which no-one could afford to build and would never have got planning permission anyway.

Would this have been before Railtrack/Network Rail sold a lease on this site to a third party? The current situation is a mess ownership-wise. No doubt Network Rail need Lambeth Council to step in with a CPO to sort it all out (as they see it now).

 

[Twattor]

Would this have been before Railtrack/Network Rail sold a lease on this site to a third party? The current situation is a mess ownership-wise. No doubt Network Rail need Lambeth Council to step in with a CPO to sort it all out (as they see it now).

No idea. Just recall discussing viability. Given the logistics, the footprint and the locality, anybody with any ideas is going to struggle with making it stack up even without a raft of CPOs.

 

[editor]

Station Road is one of the very places left in central Brixton that retains its old character. All those small businesses in the arches are an important life of Brixton life. I don't fancy their chances of survival much if this development goes through.

 

[Tricky Skills]

Lambeth Council has today published the proposed changes to the Lambeth Local Plan, following recommendations by the Secretary of State.

It's a ball breaking 61 page document [pdf].

I confess to giving up after p.2. Which is a shame because I'm sure that there's some fairly crucial detail in there about affordable rents, developer contributions, pubs etc.

What I did manage to pick out is that Lambeth Council now seems to support the idea of local Neighbourhood Plans. This was previously thrown out by Pete Robbins back in the day when he had a seat around the top table.

Anyone else care to read through it and pick anything of interest out? We could even... crowd source a BBuzz piece

One page per person would be great.

 

[Greebo]

Lambeth Council has today published the proposed changes to the Lambeth Local Plan, following recommendations by the Secretary of State.

It's a ball breaking 61 page document [pdf]. <snip>

If ViolentPanda will download and print it (he's got the printer right next to his computer) I'll take a long hard look at it on Wednesday.

 

[Gramsci]

Station Road is one of the very places left in central Brixton that retains its old character. All those small businesses in the arches are an important life of Brixton life. I don't fancy their chances of survival much if this development goes through.

After going to the "pop up consultation" I had a chat with one of the small business owners in the arches and he said the same.

He compared Brixton Station Road to the Brixton Village. And said he felt out of place in Brixton Village.

I agreed. I like Brixton Station road the way it is.

 

[Winot]

I've just bought Nairn's London (1966) which has been reissued by Penguin. The section on Electric Avenue, Brixton, is worth quoting in full, particularly with regard to the Masterplan:

"Electric, all right, and high voltage too. A whole area east of Brixton Road, opposite the jolly town hall, where the ground floor has dissolved and re-formed as a magic cave of people and goods. Stalls everywhere, arcades everywhere, diving through buildings and under the railway. Meat, fish, nylons, detergent: an endless, convoluted cornucopia. Compared with it, Petticoat Lane is synthetic; this cockney centre has kept all of its Victorian vitality. And it is the twentieth-century New World that has saved the bacon of the Old; for more than half the faces are one shade of brown or another. There is of course a Grand Plan out for this unplanned sky-rocketing power-house. With luck, it will be so grand that it is deferred until planners can understand what makes this place tick. It lives by free growth, like a great hedgerow tree. And as a tree depends on leaves, this vast emporium depends on the humble light bulb. Naked and without frills, binding the whole place into a web of stars at eye level. Electric."

 

[Gramsci]

I've just bought Nairn's London (1966) which has been reissued by Penguin. The section on Electric Avenue, Brixton, is worth quoting in full, particularly with regard to the Masterplan:

Thanks for this Winot. I had not heard of this book. Sound interesting book:

'This book is a record of what has moved me between Uxbridge and Dagenham. My hope is that it moves you, too.' Nairn's London is an idiosyncratic, poetic and intensely subjective meditation on a city and its buildings. Including railway stations, synagogues, abandoned gasworks, dock cranes, suburban gardens, East End markets, Hawksmoor churches, a Gothic cinema and twenty-seven different pubs, it is a portrait of the soul of a place, from a writer of genius.

 

[Gramsci]

Copy of building inspection report for the Rec. Its long document.

What the Council say

The survey report, by Lambert Smith Hampton (LSH) shows that while the core structure of the Rec, which opened in 1985, is considered to be in sound condition, the building systems, plant and disabled access are all reaching the end of their serviceable life and will need to be replaced

 

[Winot]

Have just got round to reading the Future Brixton info pictured below. I thought it was a very good summary of the various projects and issues and how they fitted together. They have also acknowledged people's concerns about 'affordable rent' being unaffordable and flagged up an aspiration to provide as many council rent homes as possible in Somerleyton Rd.

 

[editor]

Aspirations come cheap.

 

[Winot]

Aspirations come cheap.

Yes, and it is important to hold Lambeth to account.

 

[CH1]

Have just got round to reading the Future Brixton info pictured below. I thought it was a very good summary of the various projects and issues and how they fitted together. They have also acknowledged people's concerns about 'affordable rent' being unaffordable and flagged up an aspiration to provide as many council rent homes as possible in Somerleyton Rd.

View attachment 64046

I only got this yesterday because I am looking after a flat in Morval Road for a friend who is on holiday.

Seems inefficient to me they are distributing this material almost in Herne Hill when I don't get it at home in Coldharbour Lane in central Brixton almost on top of the projects they are supposed to be keeping me informed about.

 

[High Definition]

I've been looking at the latest Masterplan display boards (now on the Lambeth website).

Was disappointed (but not totally surprised) to see that the plans include replacing the artists studios in the double height arches off Valentia Place with yet another shopping arcade.

This is clear from an image on one of the display boards showing the arches, including the two currently occupied by the Bureau of Silly Ideas, turned into a kind of sanitised Borough Market, complete with chi chi gift shops, a tea shop and a glass roof to keep out the elements.

Found all this particularly disappointing as the Bureau of Silly Ideas, and other artists based in the arches now, have been trying promoting an alternative plan for the Valentia Place arches to be leased to an artist-led not-for-profit company so that they can be turned into studio/rehearsal space for up and coming artists,


Tried to insert image from one of the display boards - but not sure this has worked - so here's a link to a pdf of all the boards

Feel very fed up they've gone instead for an extension of the covered market, which means we lose yet another tranche of studio/workshop space in Central Brixton.

However, as Lambeth and Network Rail say they are still "consulting" on the plans, we have to assume there's still time to promote the alternative artist studio plan.

 

[CH1]

I've been looking at the latest Masterplan display boards (now on the Lambeth website).

Was disappointed (but not totally surprised) to see that the plans include replacing the artists studios in the double height arches off Valentia Place with yet another shopping arcade.

This is clear from an image on one of the display boards showing the arches, including the two currently occupied by the Bureau of Silly Ideas, turned into a kind of sanitised Borough Market, complete with chi chi gift shops, a tea shop and a glass roof to keep out the elements.

Found all this particularly disappointing as the Bureau of Silly Ideas, and other artists based in the arches now, have been trying promoting an alternative plan for the Valentia Place arches to be leased to an artist-led not-for-profit company so that they can be turned into studio/rehearsal space for up and coming artists,


Tried to insert image from one of the display boards ...................

Feel very fed up they've gone instead for an extension of the covered market, which means we lose yet another tranche of studio/workshop space in Central Brixton.

However, as Lambeth and Network Rail say they are still "consulting" on the plans, we have to assume there's still time to promote the alternative artist studio plan.

I think this was what you wanted to insert: