The first ever South City Radio broadcast from the Bussey Building was recorded in July 2008, with a panel and a participating public audience in a lively debate on Peckham’s contribution to London’s cultural life, and the natural organic growth of the cultural life in that part of the town centre in and around the Bussey building. Read more…

As Southwark Council begin (October 2008) consultation on the Peckham Area Action Plan, highlights of the broadcast are now available to listen here in the South City Radio programme ‘Primer Public Forum: The Future for Peckham’

Letter of the Week in Southwark News on 9th October was from Peckham Vision reporting on the popular and successful Open House weekend walks led by The Peckham Society on Saturday & Sunday 20th & 21st September 2008.The main feature was the emerging Copeland Cultural Quarter, where the centre piece is the historic Bussey building. Some of the visitors had come because of their old family links with the Bussey building. One lady, from Swanley in Kent, said that her father often talked to her when she was a child of his time working in the Bussey building just before he went off as a very young soldier to the first World War. She came to see this place so connected with her memories of her father. Another lady, a current resident of Peckham, told how she had many memories of visits to the Bussey building, as a little girl, with her mother who was a seamstress in one of the businesses there. The Letter asked readers to contact Peckham Vision if they had any personal stories about the Bussey building, or Holdron’s department store that was right next to it on that site, so that they could be added to the local history archives of Peckham town centre. Read more …

Following the successful Open House Weekend last year (see last year’s blog) people flocked again to take the Open House weekend walks led by The Peckham Society on Saturday and Sunday 20th and 21st September 2008 (see photos). This time there were around 100 on two walks. Again everyone enjoyed the magnificent views of Peckham and central London from the roof of the Bussey building. They enjoyed the refreshments in the CLF Arts Café and the Peckham Vision exhibition of the latest information about the tram & tram depot plans, and the ideas for that central area of Peckham town centre if the tram depot is not located there. The new images and plans for the emerging Copeland Cultural Quarter were included in the displays. They heard how the huge size and good solid condition of the historic Bussey building is providing spaces for new creative arts and music businesses.

The tours also looked at

• the behind-the-scenes preparation for the next twice monthly exhibition at the new (since last year) innovative Hannah Barry Gallery which is next door to the Bussey building. This demonstrates the scope for creative development of the whole business site which would otherwise be demolished for the proposed tram depot;
• the historic gems of Holdron’s Victorian arcades which, currently hidden by shop fittings, might be restored for commercial town centre use;
• the way all that would complement the opening up of the piazza in front of the fabulous gem of Peckham Rye station (listed finally this year to protect it for the future).