teuchter
je suis teuchter
Nice to see someone who isn't determined to be negative about anything vaguely newfangled. It's starting to feel like the Poundbury residents forum round here.
Windrush Square, Brixton - news and discussion
- Thread starter teuchter
- Start date
Who's the whingey moaners then? It's alright, just underwhelmingly meh really. It's a slight improvement on what was there before, but I'm far from sure it was a wise use of resources or bold leap forward. It's a bigger square with a kidney bean and some funny seating <shrugs>
And the whole issue with the market could well seriously affect the long term future of many of the independent traders in the centre. It's slightly worrying to hear about what seems to be a rushed through tender process. It seems a pleasant enough square in need of a real purpose.
And the whole issue with the market could well seriously affect the long term future of many of the independent traders in the centre. It's slightly worrying to hear about what seems to be a rushed through tender process. It seems a pleasant enough square in need of a real purpose.
Police must have been for Boris Johnson, who appears to have opened it:
http://twitpic.com/15ev06
http://twitpic.com/15ex6b
http://twitpic.com/15ev06
http://twitpic.com/15ex6b
I wandered over with that assumption, but was pleasantly surprised. I can see people actually using it, the worry all along has been that the council would try and sterilise it but that seems to have been avoided (depends on how it is policed though I guess).
Jonti
what the dormouse said
And that's the Town Hall's general idea as well, to have events and stalls and stuff in the square regularly. So there'll be a tendering process for companies that want to organise and run that.
But first, the Town Hall has to decide which of its arms is going to be in charge. The tussle's between street care, as parts of the area might still be public road; parks, because most of it actually is a park; and events, on account of the intent regularly to put on events there.
The invitations to tender have not yet gone out, and cannot go out until the turf war is sorted.
ajdown
Posting in this thread
What mess has he gotten himself into now?
Ms T
Honey-coloured ramparts
Only in Lambeth....gaijingirl
Well-Known Member
innit
c'mon, little life giver
I don't think I like it. The old toilets look really random. It basically looks like the same two spaces (paved space outside the Ritzy and grassy space outside Raleigh Hall) except that instead of being separated by a road they are now separated by a stretch of brick paving.
I hope to be surprised by a vibrant market and fabulous events.
I hope to be surprised by a vibrant market and fabulous events.
kyser_soze
Hawking's Angry Eyebrow
clandestino
no llevar papel
Yes, Boris was there. I didn't take much notice of the chairs, but the water feature/fountain thing is ridiculous. Basically it throws up a cloud of water mist which this morning made a big chunk of the square unusable, unless you were happy getting soaked. Sure it'll be fantastic in the summer, but less so on a dull February morning. There was a great comedy moment when Boris was walking across the square, with guys filming his Mayoral entrance (as it were, ooh missus, etc), when they had to stop in their tracks as it became apparent that they were going to have to walk through the billowing mist from the fountain.
Jonti
what the dormouse said
Trying to run with this idea, I've suggested each of the contesting council departments should field a small team of champions, to duke it out in the new square as the first event.
A three cornered tag fight was my suggestion. Sadly, it has not been well received. Events said thanks, but they'd prefer to organise the sound system. Street Care said it would be needed to clean up afterwards, so it was a lousy idea. And Parks said they'd rather feed the ducks, not the trolls
What can it all mean?
editor
hiraethified
Compare and contrast with:
Feature: http://www.urban75.org/brixton/features/windrush-square-brixton-opens.html
ajdown
Posting in this thread
To be fair, the grass area was barriered off, presumably to do with the thing that looked like a big catherine wheel, which was probably part of the kid's procession today. It'll be interesting to see what state it's in after a week though.
My concern is simply the same one I've had all along - the seats are pleasant enough, we spent some time sitting in them watching the world go by this afternoon - but once the career alcoholics move back in and take over, and the drug dealers have settled their patches, it'll end up going back to a "no go" area for the average Brixton resident.
My concern is simply the same one I've had all along - the seats are pleasant enough, we spent some time sitting in them watching the world go by this afternoon - but once the career alcoholics move back in and take over, and the drug dealers have settled their patches, it'll end up going back to a "no go" area for the average Brixton resident.
greenhouse
Well-Known Member
Looks good for skateboarding, The giant granite shape is cool, it looks like a good space for freestyle dancing/acrobatics, the crazy people that sit on the benches will probably still prefer the Masschurch benches. I wonder how it will work ? I like it so far, the rushes look good, do they move in the wind ? One thing I wonder is ( because I deal in salvage,) where those expensive railings and faced stones from the previously very unimaginous incarnation of the park. They would be worth money on the market, I wonder if they were all sold properly and the money went back to Lambeth, or what ? I bet it went shady, how can one find out that kind of thing ? ?
greenhouse
Well-Known Member
[
My concern is simply the same one I've had all along - the seats are pleasant enough, we spent some time sitting in them watching the world go by this afternoon - but once the career alcoholics move back in and take over, and the drug dealers have settled their patches, it'll end up going back to a "no go" area for the average Brixton resident.[/QUOTE]
C'm on , cup half full man, if you want pleasant, move to the country, have some faith, random acts of positivity, don't be a moaning minnie love.
My concern is simply the same one I've had all along - the seats are pleasant enough, we spent some time sitting in them watching the world go by this afternoon - but once the career alcoholics move back in and take over, and the drug dealers have settled their patches, it'll end up going back to a "no go" area for the average Brixton resident.[/QUOTE]
C'm on , cup half full man, if you want pleasant, move to the country, have some faith, random acts of positivity, don't be a moaning minnie love.
Mrs Magpie
On a bit of break...
I've already got pleasant, living in Brixton...when I lived in the country it was full of backbiting, chainsaws and farmer's dogs that attacked you if you walked down the road.
lang rabbie
Je ne regrette les gazebos
I'm going to wait until the trees are back in leaf and the planting at the southern end has had a chance to establish itself before I write the whole thing off as a failure. The green area has the potential to be better than the faux heritage area created with Brixton challenge funding a decade ago. [though Greenhouse raises a good question about what happened to all those LBL monogrammed railings, which could surely have been reused elsewhere in the borough to reinstate Victorian railings never replaced after the war.]
There are some real disappointments about the detailed execution of the scheme, which will make running events much more difficult.
Why on earth was the Sharpeville memorial left in such a stupid location, in the middle of what could be an events space?
And I could not believe that the "pop-up" power supply for events has been installed slap bang next to the new granite seat/sculpture thing rather than where it might be useful. Or did the designers slap down the sculpure forgetting that was where they had already specified the power supply was going
There are some real disappointments about the detailed execution of the scheme, which will make running events much more difficult.
Why on earth was the Sharpeville memorial left in such a stupid location, in the middle of what could be an events space?
And I could not believe that the "pop-up" power supply for events has been installed slap bang next to the new granite seat/sculpture thing rather than where it might be useful. Or did the designers slap down the sculpure forgetting that was where they had already specified the power supply was going
ajdown
Posting in this thread
There was what looked like a school band on at one point, and then there was a belly-dancer on the stage.
Brixton Pound and Brixton Market had stalls there, and there was a big tent that appeared to have some sort of "things for the kids" drawing thing in it.
All in all, we both thought it was a bit of an under-event really. There was a lot of space that could have been filled with things but wasn't.
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