Peckham Town Centre Forum/meetings

See also

2023

October-December

Saturday 4th November 2023 drop-in 11am-3pm to the Old Waiting Room above the ticket office in Peckham Rye station. Short talks & Q/A 12.30-1pm. FREE. All welcome. See leaflet to the right. come and discover a world of community action. Event was very successful with over 270 visitors. more info later.

2020-2022

Peckham Vision held several events on-iine through Zoom during the pandemic, and occasioanal in-person events. Info will be posted up about these sometime.

2020

January to March

The public health emergency then cancelled all further events several of which were planned for the following 6 months.
Sat 14 March PV Open Studio Bussey Building
Sat 22 Feb Eileen Conn contributes at South London Gallery event on historic community action presenting archive material about the Peckham Action Group campaign 1997 - 1982 to save Peckham High Street from demolition for a new town hall and new road. https://www.southlondongallery.org/events/histories-in-focus-what-could-have-been/
Tues 18 February Network Rail public meeting in All Saints Hall Blenheim Grove about plans to make the station physically accessible.
Sun 19 Jan PV Open Studio in Bussey.

2019

September-December 2019

Sat 7th September PV stall at Peckham Rye Fete
Sat 14 Sep Pv Open Stdio in Bussey
Sat 21 Sep two events:
- PV stall in Old Waiting Room in the Open House weekend
- PV Open Studio In the Bussey in the Peckham Festival, and participation at 6pm in Copeland Yard in XR Southwark public meeting
Sat 2nd Nov joint meeting with XR Southwark on planning and the climate emergency.
Wed 6th Nov public meeting in Old Mill Building on the Blackpool Rd development site.
Sat 30 Nov PV AGM &seminar for members and volunteers on the State of the World and community action
Sat 6 December PV Open Studio

June-August 2019

Sat 3rd August 5-6pm Long Live South Bank - Protecting our community spaces: panel discussion including Eileen Conn from Peckham Vision. Free exhibtion & events 11am-7pm.
Fri 26th July 11am-4pm at Tate Exchange. Register here. Eileen Conn from Peckham Vision leading a workshop on the nature of community, in Just Space workshop developing collaboration between community groups and universities.
Tues 16th July 9am to 2pm at British Library, Eileen Conn speaking at Conference on Developing Trust: Public Participation in Planning by Centre for London.
Wed 3rd July 6.30-7pm drop-in to see the building Save the Old Mill Building (OMB) campaign
Wed 3rd July 7-9pm Local Heritage workshop in the OMB.
Saturday 29th June 12=6pm Peckham Vision stall at Brimmington Park Festival.
Saturday 1st June 12-3pm: Peckham Vision stall Level 5 at Open Studios Peckham Levels

January-May 2019

RTPI President in discussion in Peckham Vision studio

26 January 2-19 Community Council - PV stall on recycling and reusing buildings.
March or April Community Council - PV stall on recycling and reusing buildings. date to be checked
25th April 2019: 2019 RTPI President visits Peckham Vision

January 2020 - extract from speech by RTPI President Ian Tant President of the RTPI (Royal Town Planning Institute). See extract with photos here. See full speech here. "... I’m also referring to a number of direct discussions I’ve been privileged to hold in the course of the year. The first was in Peckham where, thanks to RTPI London, I was introduced to Eileen Conn of Peckham Vision. A retired civil servant, Eileen has a carefully considered view of where planning goes wrong and what we could do to improve. At the core, her argument is that we approach communities in a structured manner from our councils and organisations with our appointed leaders and roles. And we expect communities to follow suit. But communities are not structured bodies – they are a wide range of people and families and businesses and groups who come together for widely differing reasons and in each area form an organic cluster of communities, not a single community. To plan well for an area, planners need to take the time to sit down with and understand the various community groups and their objectives and desires. Eileen’s arguments resonated on the other side of the world..."

Saturday 18th May 11am-5pm: & visit Peckham Vision stall at Nunhead Cemetery Open Day.
Save the Old Mill Building campaign:
- from 13th February drop-in each Wednesday 6.15-7.15pm see building and exhibition, and give your views.
- Wed 20th March 6pm exhibtion, 7-9pm Public meeting. Local Heritage. Speakers & discussion.

2018

October-December 2018

Sat 1st December 12-6pm Peckham Vision studio in Bussey Winter Open Studios
Sat 1st December 12-4pm Peckham Vision stall in Peckham Levels Open Studios Weekend
Mon 22nd October 2018 7-9pm Southwark Planning Network meeting with Council

22nd & 23rd September 2018

Peckham Vision will have its stall of information in the Old Waiting Room which is open from 10am to 5pm in the London Open House weekend. Here is some of the story of the community work to support and promote the restration of the Old Waitin Room

Sat & Sun 22nd & 23rd September Old Waiting Room open 10am-5pm in Open House weekend
- community story of the restoration of the Old Waiting Room.

15th September 2018 Central Rye Lane Walk

This is Peckham Vision’s contribution to the Peckham Festival. The studio exhibition will be open on the Saturday 12-2pm, followed by the tour of the Central Rye Lane area led by Eileen Conn, Peckham Vision founder and coordinator. This will visit places where Peckham Vision’s work to save buildings from destruction and promoting reuses for them has had a visible effect in the now transforming and vibrant town centre economy. This tour is part of Peckham Vision’s civic education using this as an example of the community having an effect through involvement in planning. Places on the tour need to be booked through eventbrite: https://bit.ly/2vSQR32

On the way from the Bussey Building and Copeland Park across the road in Rye Lane, saved in 2009, the tour walked up the restored and extended staircase from the station forecourt to the Old Waiting Room for a short talk about the history of the room and Peckham Vision's community work to promote and support its restoration since 2006. Then on to the businesses operating in the rest of the buildings around the station and the businesses saved from total clearance for the proposed redevelopment in 2014, including especially the micro economy in Blenheim Court Arches Studios.

9th September 2018 Old Mill Building

Peckham Vision has collaborated with SMFF to arrange the first two stops on the Southwark Inter-Faith walk to take place on Sunday 9th September. It starts at 12pm midday at the Old Mill Building 72 Copeland Park, SE15, the home of Communities Outreach Ministries, a Pentecostal church. There will be a talk about the church and its community, and also their restoration of the Victorian factory building. This is threatened by redevelopment and Peckham Vision and Community Outreach Ministries are working together to present the case for its preservation as an important historical and social asset. The walk will leave the building at 1pm and walk to Rye Lane Chapel through the Copeland Park which is home to several churches and a mosque as well as hundreds of small businesses,. The campaign to save this site 2005-2009 gave birth to Peckham Vision, and where Peckham Vision studio and shop are located.

1st September 2018 Peckham Rye Fete

The Peckham Vision stall will be at the Peckham Rye Fete for the 9th year! We will have the latest information about the Council's planning policies and what we as a local community team are doing to help us all to have a real effect on what they do to our neighbourhoods. See here for info on the Fete.

19th & 21st July 2018 Just Space at Tate Exchange

Peckham Vision contributed examples of its information panels about its work in Central Rye Lane to save buildings from demolition for reuse and as a result helping them to transform the local economy. Eileen Conn's two panels about the nature of community dynamics and organisational structures were displayed also in the Just Space part of Public Works exhibition of Civic Action in London.

30th June 2018 Tate Exchange

On Saturday 30th June, we took part in the ‘Southwark Untold’ exhibition at Tate Exchange. This was a week long programme organised by PemPeople for groups in Southwark to use the 5th floor of the new Tate Modern building to display what they do, for the visitors to the Tate to experience. Our audience was mostly other exhibitors. This was great for sharing stories and discussing local organised community action, developments in Peckham, and the state of the world. We showed pictures from our 13 years of archives illustrating Peckham Vision’s untold story of the non-stop real work on planning issues in Peckham town centre, especially in Central Rye Lane. Great thanks to PemPeople for the inspiring idea giving voice and space to parts of many untold stories.

Sat 19th May Nunhead Cemetery Open Day

LINK & Photos

Sun 13th May Goose Green fair in the Dulwich Festival

Goose Green Fair 13 May 2018

This was the 11th year that Peckham Vision had a stall at the Goose Green fair keeping people informed about developments in Peckham town centre and engaging them in discussions about the neighbourhood. Community activism is a way of local people helping to influence what happens in their own neighbourhoods. The formal ways of doing this happen too late in the process. Local people can have an effect but it needs continuing watchfulness and anticipation of long term planning processes which only organised community action can undertake. All over Southwark local people are working hard to do this for their neighbourhoods. Evidence of this was at the Community Hustings organised by a collection of those groups in the Southwark Planning Network on 14th April 2018. There are groups working like this all over London, and they belong to the London network Just Space. Similar groups and networks exist all over the UK. The formal organisations with authority and control over the decisions, and the professions whose commercial business is property and development such as developers, architects and estate agents, do not on the whole value the contributions made by local communities in these processes.

Very often as local people are shut out of the deliberative policy making process until too late, all that is left is to oppose. The media then focus on that in their reports, ignoring the patient tenacious real hard work that many local people are doing continuously to help their localities make an informed and effective contribution when the formal processes allow. A rare acknowledgement of this hard and high quality local work over many years is in this commentary and this Guardian commentary about the Kings Cross major development. Peckham Vision suffers from this also as very rarely does the Council ever mention the contribution that Peckham Vision has made in creating effective ways to develop understanding in the locality about the planning issues and facilitated their contributions which has created the way in which the area in Central Rye Lane has developed itself over the last 10 years. The Council's imposed plans have been countered at every stage over the last 13 years with well informed actions helping to shape what has evolved. This hard work is rarely acknowledged so Peckham Vision's theme this year 2018 is to publicise that 'THINGS DON'T JUST HAPPEN'.

Sat 21st April Rye Wax Run Out event in Copeland Park

http://www.peckhamvision.org/wiki/PeckhamActionGroup#Run_Out_21_April_2018 & Photos

Sat 14th April Community Hustings on Planning and Regeneration

http://www.peckhamvision.org/wiki/Community_Hustings_2018 & Photos

Jan-Feb New Southwark Plan (NSP) workshops

There were 10 workshops arranged around the borough by PV for the Southwark Planning Network (SPN) helping people to make their representations on the NSP. 3 of these were in the Peckham Vision studio
<photos to be uploaded>

2017

exhibition explanation

8th-10th December 2017 Peckham Levels opening weekend

Peckham Vision showed a small exhibition on the ramp between levels 5 and 6 about the history of Peckham Vision's community campaign about the long term future of the Peckham Multi Storey. Here is a copy of the leaflet about Peckham Vision produced for the exhibtion.

London Live TV News
Link to Peckham Levels photos of launch
PV Photos to be uploaded.

These are the display panels:

Peckham Multi Storey - campaign material

Peckham Multi Storey - campaign media reports

11th and 18th Ocotber 2017 Open Studio

photos and report to be uploaded

15th-17th September Peckham Vision at the Peckham Festival

August 2017 Peckham Levels blog on Peckham Vision at the Peckham Festival

September 2017 'The Southwark Review' pages 28-33 article: 'Peckham's Cultural Epicentre' including comments on role of Peckham Vision
- 'Peckham's Cultural Epicentre' in Southwark Review as a pdf
13th Septenber 2017 Peckham Festival interview blog

Photos & text report to be uploaded.

3rd September 2017 Peckham Rye Fete

4th June 2017 Choumert Sq Open Day

Photos to be uplaoded.

May 2017 Peckham Vision tote bag in Royal Academy

The Royal Academy in Piccadilly held an exhibition which featured our Peckham Multi Storey campaign tote bag. The exhibition was ‘Futures Found’ which “explores the contrasts between the ambitions for Britain’s new post-war cityscapes and the varied futures that were subsequently created.” It was an interesting small exhibition well worth visiting. There was a section on car park structures. Our Peckham Multi Storey building featured because of the alternative uses it now houses. The caption says: “Campaigns to protect Brutalist monuments have usually been run by conservationists, architects and historians focusing on architectural merits of the buildings under threat, whereas Peckham Vision is a grassroots initiative to preserve and improve the community and its assets, including the multi storey car park.” It was exciting and a pleasure to come across this as a rare recognition of the community actions that have helped to get a temporary extension of the life of the building, and the ongoing campaign to get its long term future independently and properly examined in public.

20th May 2017 Nunhead Cemetery Open Day Fair

14th May 2017 Goose Green Fair

1st April 2017 4 NSP sites walk

On 1st April, Peckham Vision facilitated a walk around the 4 Peckham sites. allocated in the New Southwark Plan for re-development in Peckham. Around 40 joined us for the walk on a busy Saturday morning. Links to some brief Facebook reports and pictures from the event are below, and a copy of all the posts is here.

start of the walk.

Aylesham Centre & Bus Station.

from the Aylesham along Cicely Rd to the Cinema & Multi Storey car park,

from the back of the Multi Storey along the passage to the Peckhamplex cinema.

rooftop view from Peckham Multi Storey.

Choumert Grove car park.

Copeland/Blackpool Roads industrial site.

Peckham Vision studio discussion.

18th February 2017 Central Rye Lane walkabout

9th February 2017 Community Action Network (CAN)

This Peckham CAN meeting, held by Community Southwark quarterly, was hosted by Peckham Vision in its studio. Residents gathered with some local organisation representatives to network and discuss lonely neighbours and the Peckham Levels project.

28th January 2017 Community Council exhibition

The Peckham & Nunhead Community Council held an exhibition on local Public Health & Well-Being at its meeting on 28th January. Peckham Vision created an exhibition display about the Peckham Experiment, its history and its relevance today. Further information.

26th January 2017 poetry evening in the shop

21st January 2017 Community-led workshop

community-led workshop

Members of Peckham Vision and Peckham Citizens met together in this Community-led workshop on Sat 21st January 2017 to develop communities' ideas and aspirations for the Aylesham development site.

2016

11th November 2016 Peckham MeetUp

We joined the MeetUp platform (link) to open up new pathways into the planning and town centre work for people interested in Peckham. The first Peckham MeetUp was on November 2016. Each Peckham Vision event is now advertised on Peckham MeetUp and is bringing new contacts into the local network. There have been several further Peckham MeetUp events in the shop and Holdrons Arcade.

May to September 2016 community comments on Aylesham development

front cover of local comments

Each year, Peckham Vision takes its stall and mobile exhibition about the town centre developments to several community fairs and festivals. The fairs are well attended and over the years since 2008, we have discussed the town centre developments with hundreds of local people. In 2016 one of the displays was about the Aylesham Centre redevelopment and we asked people to put comments on post-it notes. All the comments were typed up and are shown here. Selections and summaries of the comments are shown to illustrate the themes that emerged under these headings: • Scale & height of buildings • Street scene • Housing • Uses on the site • Facilities on the site • Consultation process

8th-11th September 2016 Peckham Festival

The Peckham Festival was the first of what the Council aim to make permanent as an annual Festival. It was run by Copeland Park bringing together art studios all over SE15 and community events in the town centre. Peckham Vision made three contributions to the Festival. Photos from those events are shown below.
* Peckham Vision exhibition in Copeland Gallery. The community made model of Central Rye Lane was displayed in the alcove in the entrance to the large Gallery.

* Peckham Vision exhibition in Copeland Gallery. These Panels illustrating Peckham Vision's community work 2002 - 2016 were displayed in the community model alcove.

* Peckham Vision walkabout in Central Rye Lane

* Peckham Vision workshop in Copeland Gallery

3rd September 2016 Peckham Rye Fete

Wonderful day as usual at our annual local community fair on Peckham Rye Common. First Saturday of every September.

19th July 2016 Peckham Town Centre Cleanup!

We would like to hear from anyone locally who is keen to be involved in the further work of the Cleaner Peckham Project, either to join the Steering Group and/or in imaginative recycling and up-cycling initiatives. Please email CleanerPeckham@gmail.com
The event to launch the Cleaner Peckham report on 19th July was very well received by the visitors, who were a cross section of town centre users, including traders, businesses, residents and shoppers, many of whom had a good understanding of Peckham's complex nature and all with a stake in a cleaner place. We were also glad to have some Councillors drop in and Council officers from different departments, and street cleaners too. The Rye Lane Traders' Association was very encouraged by the Council attendance and welcomed their willingness to share knowledge and experience on these matters, and to collaborate with the traders in the town centre. They said “ It is exactly what is needed."
As well as the displays about the research and the report, the centre piece of the exhibition was a display of interesting goods made locally from recycled waste. These included a biscuit tin guitar and fruit box hand weaving looms. We are producing a report of the event and are discussing with the Council how we can all collaborate to take the work forward. If you are interested to know more please email: CleanerPeckham@gmail.com for more information.

June & July 2016 Community fairs

Peckham Vision stall was at the following fairs:

Choumert Sq open gardens day - Sunday 5th June

Brimmington Park Festival - Saturday 2nd July

Photos to be uploaded.

25th May 2016 Town Centre waste & recycling

Local Cleaner Peckham Project (CPP) has published an insightful and ground breaking report on managing waste in Peckham town centre. It says there need to be changes in behaviour among all town centre stakeholders - the multiple different waste producers in businesses, traders, residents and visitors and the multiple waste systems and collectors, including Southwark Council. The partners in the Cleaner Peckham Project say: “This has been an enlightening investigation. It has confirmed that working together across the town centre and with the Council is essential to begin to solve the waste management problems. We are pleased that the Council is discussing with us the way to move forward on this together. We for our part are developing our proposals for further work and research which our report recommends. “These matters need to be owned by us all, together. So we will be arranging a drop-in event in Rye Lane in collaboration with the Council, to explain the results in more detail to businesses, traders, residents, visitors, council officers, councillors, and most importantly to seek responses to the results and our aims for going forward." Anyone with an interest in the town centre who would like to become involved in this work will be welcome. Please email CleanerPeckham@gmail.com

The event has now been arranged for Tuesday 19th July at 128 Rye Lane
from 3pm - 8pm with a meeting & discussion at 6.30pm to 7.30pm.

Background notes

Cleaner Peckham is a partnership between:
- Copeland Park, http://copelandpark.com
- Peckham Vision, http://www.peckhamvision.org
- Rye Lane Traders’ Association (RLTA), http://www.peckhamvision.org/wiki/RLTA
The partnership was awarded a small grant from Southwark Council’s High Street Challenge scheme to carry out a short research project.
A Steering Group representing the partners was formed to manage the Cleaner Peckham Project. They commissioned social researchers to investigate the varied causes of the waste problem and identify some solutions. The Cleaner Peckham Project report is available to download here.
The research was conducted by social researchers Francisco Calafate-Faria and Luna Glucksberg. Their report, which is Appendix A to the Project report, is titled: ‘Waste: Thinking differently, acting differently, getting different results’. It highlights the complex nature of the problem arising from the sheer scale of the waste (8.2 tons a day) in a very lively retail centre, together with multiple waste producers and multiple waste collectors.

Peckham Vision stall at Nunhead Cemetery open day 21 May 2016

May 2016 Community Fairs

May sees the first of the summer community fairs. Peckham Vision stall was at both the Goose Green Dulwich Festival on 8th May and the Nunhead Cemetery Open Day 21st May. The stall publicised our planning work and encouraged people to join in, sold our campaign merchandise and displayed our information about the current topical issues:

the long term future of the Multi Storey Building now occupied by PeckhamPlex, Bold Tendencies, Frank's Cafe and Peckham Levels.
raising awareness of the proposed re-development of the largest site in town - Aylesham Centre & Morrison’s' store and car park.
the large scale of major developments proposed for the town centre.
the redevelopment in front of Peckham Rye station.

Pictures below from Dulwich Festival Goose Green fair.

Pictures from Friends of Nunhead Cemetery open day

4th April 2016 Community integration

On 4th April we had a stimulating conversation in the Peckham Vision studio about issues relating to Peckham’s future. This was the follow up to the lively public community meeting in January We discussed a wide variety of topics under the headings:

How to get a balanced community
Town centre development sites, regeneration and housing
Under-representation of social minorities in regeneration and planning actions
Town centre economy.

We all agreed to continue the conversation when we have reflected on the discussion. More info will be posted later

27th January Town Centre Community meeting

Over 200 people came together on 27th January 2016 to share views on Peckham’s future. It was a fabulous opening to new levels of dialogue. Eileen Conn, Peckham Vision, and Jonathan Wilson proprietor of the Copeland Park site and Bussey Building, welcomed everyone to the meeting on Peckham Vision's 10th birthday.It was a fitting happening to celebrate the birthday in the Bussey Building where the first public meeting about the threat then to the site from the tram depot. See the blog about that from 21st January 2006.
Eileen thanked Mickey Smith for lending the CLF Art Café for the meeting this evening. Tom Buttrick and Neil Kirby made some short introductory remarks about the Council's planning policies and the regeneration plans. The floor was then open to local people to come to the microphone and give their comments about Peckham's future. About 50 People were able to speak. The flow of tweets give a good account of the experience. Everyone was able to leave their views on the yellow comments forms about what their vision is for Peckham and their views about what is happening now. During the afternoon there was a drop-in to see information displays about the major developments now being processed about the town centre. The scale of development is very significant and concerns many people. Notes from people's comments spoken at the mic at the evening meeting, and written on the yellow forms, are being typed up for use in follow up. We will be in contact with those who left their details expressing interest in continuing conversations about the issues raised at the meeting.

2015

December 2015 Forthcoming public community meeting

A public community forum is being arranged by Peckham Vision for 27th January as part of its local community planning project to enable local people to work together on planning issues in Peckham. This is timed to coincide with the Council's public consultation on the New Southwark Plan. As part of this the Council want to hear people's views about the vision for their own neighbourhood in Southwark.

17th November 2015 Town Centre Community Meeting

Developers Frame Property submitted a planning application to convert the 133 Rye Lane building into high cost flats. This provoked great local concern about the threat to the business in Copeland Park and the Bussey Building. A town centre meeting was held on 17th November by Peckham Vision with CLF Art Café and Copeland Park. As a result the property developers withdrew their plans and are redesigning them as a building for commercial use rather than residential. For The story as it unfolded see here.

December 2015 Cleaner Peckham appoint social researcher team.

After a good response to the advertisements of the Waste and Recycling Social Research opportunity (please see below), Cleaner Peckham are pleased to announce the appointment of independent social scientists Luna Glucksberg and Francisco Calafate-Faria, who will be carrying out the Cleaner Peckham Research project. They have specialist expertise in cities and will be working in and around Peckham town centre in December 2015 and January 2016, talking to traders and residents alike. For further information about the appointments, please see attached document.

September 2015 Social Research opportunity for Cleaner Peckham

A Peckham Vision initiative to tackle the growing problem of waste management in Peckham town centre has been supported by Southwark Council in the High Street Challenge scheme. A small grant has been awarded to fund a 5 month social research project led by a partnership between Peckham Vision, Copeland Park and Rye Lane Traders’ Association (RLTA). For a copy of the detailed brief, email - cleanerpeckham@gmail.com. The deadline for receipt of proposals is 16th October 2015. If you know anyone who may be interested please forward this information.

April - July 2015

There have been a number of meetings and events between April and July 2015 details still to be uploaded. More to come.
April

10th Visit multi storey car park.
11-12th Crafty Fox Mkt in Bussey.
18th Peckham Pieces meeting in PV studio.
25th Peckham Inter Faith walk in town centre.

MAY

10th Goose Green Fair.
14th PPN meeting PV studio.
16th Nunhead cemetery Open Day PV stall.
29th Art students seminar, Peckham Liberal Club.
30th Chelsea Fringe in Copeland Park PV stall.

JUNE

7th Choumert Sq open gardens day PV stall.
9th Talk at Weeklies in Safehouse.
14th Radical Assembly Bussey Building exhibition.
25 – 27th exhibition with Brighton students PV studio.
25th Round Table public discussion CSM Kings X.

JULY

10-11th London Plan conference East London.
13th PPN meeting PV studio.
16th THI meeting in PV studio.
30th Copeland Rd car park consultation @ Cossal estate TA.

11th April 2015 launch of Peckham Vision’s art deco installation

At the event on 8th April, we launched Peckham Vision’s art deco installation. Here above the community made model of central Rye Lane, we had the images of the seven art deco buildings which are clustered around the station. The images floated in an ethereal fashion above the information displays of the exhibition about plans to develop, redevelop, and regenerate their place in the town centre. A pause for thought and reflection about the nature of the Art Deco Quarter in the town centre while the Council’s consultation proceeds inexorably towards a decision, possibly to demolish enough of the cluster to destroy this unique feature of Peckham. The installation was co-created by Corinne Turner, Clyde Watson, Sam Watson, Geoff Frosh, Eileen Conn, Benny O’Looney.

8th April 2015 Protect Peckham's Future community event

Reports:

Rye Lane commercial history: talk by Derek Kinrade

Pre-information: This event will cover art deco buildings, cultural economy, arts, music, architecture, commerce and more. This will be a community discussion about the changes in Peckham, what we all think about them, if they are good for our neighbourhood, and whose neighbourhood is it anyway? The discussion could touch on the impact of:

rising housing prices, regeneration, gentrification, loss of social housing.
heavy handed redevelopment wiping out local micro economies.
tall buildings in Peckham & and loss of Peckham's character.
possible demolition of almost half remaining art deco buildings in Rye Lane cluster.

Drop in at the exhibition in both PV and CLF studios any time from 3pm:

latest news on key regeneration projects, & info on Peckham's history.
Peckham Vision Art Deco installation.
Exhibition of CLF history, role, music & creativity.

More information

14th March 2015 Community Asset workshop

With support from Civic Voice, we held a workshop in our Bussey studio for 24 supporters of our work. Thanks to Sarah, Kathryn and Jenny who travelled from way outside London to support us in learning about the Localism Act and the new power it gives for local communities to protect buildings and open spaces they value. This new right means communities can ask their local council to list certain assets as being of value to the community. If an asset is listed and then comes up for sale, the new right will give communities that want it 6 months to put together a bid to buy it. This gives communities an increased chance to save much loved shops, pubs or other local facilities. It gave local people the right to stop the sale of the Ivy House pub and the time to get the funds together to buy it, and the nomination and listing of the Peckham Liberal Club gave the members time to think again about the sale. In both cases the listing of the building resulted in the buildings with all their wonderful facilities being in community ownership. More info here on this new community power: http://www.civicvoice.org.uk/campaigns/assets-of-community-value. Civic Voice are encouraging all civic community groups to take advantage of this. In our workshop we identified dozens of potential local buildings and spaces to investigate. We drew up a community action plan for this, and will be spreading this information to other parts of Peckham so they can start developing their own plans.

2014

9th December: Architects meet residents during tender period

architects meet the CoDesigners

Nine architects have been invited to tender for the contract to develop the design and planning application for the Peckham Rye Station development project. These are: Ash Sakula Architects, Weston Williamson & Partners, Landolt & Brown, Sarah Wigglesworth, Adam Khan Architects, Cottrell & Vermeulen (local consortium), Duggan Morris Architects, Peter Barber Architects, Henley Halebrown Rorrison. Submissions have to be made by 23rd December, and the architects will be selected in the early part of January. At Peckham Vision’s suggestion, the Council invited the nine firms to meet on 9th December some 40 of the CoDesigners while they are developing their submissions. This event was held in Peckham Vision’s studio in the Bussey Building, and was a successful first in bringing residents and architects together at this early stage.

16th October 2014 Update on Central Peckham

This is the Peckham Society's annual symposium, jointly presented with Peckham Vision the second event in Peckham Vision's newe exhibition studio space in the Bussey Building. The exhibition from 4pm will show models of the town centre including the community model of the area around the station and Nicholas Cobb’s model of the multi storey car park in the future, plus illustrative material on the town centre history, commerce and economy, and planned developments. All this provides an encouraging environment for the exchange of ideas and input in discussion with other visitors. The Forum 7pm to 9pm will include slideshows and discussion about the town centre. Contributors include Eileen Conn and Benedict O'Looney, who are active members of both Peckham Vision and the Peckham Society. The CoDesign team will report on the CoDesign process, and its emerging themes and future work.

7th October 2014 6pm to 9pm Reimagining Peckham Rye station using the community model

The community model of the Peckham Rye station area is on show again, in Peckham Vision's new temporary exhibition studio space in the Bussey Building. The model was used to explain and test ideas or questions about the station redevelopment ideas, about creating a square, where to locate public toilets, how to keep the area cleaner and better maintained, how to improve it for pedestrians and for bus and train travellers, how to encourage a variety of shops and services to meet the diversity of local needs, and much more. Approaching a hundred people dropped in for lengthy discussions with other residents and volunteers who have taken part on many previous discussions. Some stayed for the whole session.

PeckhamRye Fete discussions

7th September 2014 All Saints Church Sunday Garden Party

The Church invited Peckham Vision to set up the town centre stall to contribute to their first garden party for the congregation and the local community.

6th September 2014 Peckham Rye Fete

The Fete was busier than ever this year. Peckham Vision's stall for the information displays about the town centre and the developing collection of town centre related merchandise was supplemented this year by a gazebo for discussions about the CoDesign process and the station development project.

model displayed

23 July public meeting

23rd July 2014 3-9pm launch of community-built model

Over 30 local residents have been working together since May 2014 to build a model of the Station Gateway site and adjacent streets and junctions in central Rye Lane as they are now. The community event on 23rd July will display the model in the CLF Art Café, in the Bussey Building at 133 Rye Lane. The programme will be:

from 3pm: demonstrations and hands-on experience of aspects of model making, Peckham Vision’s town centre exhibition, including information about the Station Gateway project and other developments;
6pm: short documentary film about the Station Gateway development;
7-9pm: slide show, mini film, talks, discussion.

There will be CLF Art Café refreshments throughout the event. The event is organised by Peckham Vision with many thanks for their generous and welcome support to the Peckham Society, Whitten Timber, Complete Fabrication, CLF Art Café and Southwark Council. download poster for Peckham Vision’s Community Event: Wed 23rd July launch of community-built model of central Rye Lane.

in Rye Lane

Further report here.

12 July 2014 Peckham Vision stall in Rye Lane

Peckham Vision took the mobile exhibition and merchandise stall into the heart of the town centre for the day during the Pexmas weekend. Located on the forecourt outside Khan's Bargain stores, Peckham Vision volunteers discussed town centre matters all day with a never ending stream of passing shoppers and visitors.

14th July 2014 CoDesign informal discussion

Ash Sakula announcement on 1st July 2014:

the first codesign event: 14th July 6.30pm-9pm at Peckham Liberal Club, 24 Elm Grove: informal drinks & discussion about using codesign processes to craft the right brief for Peckham Rye Station Square.
"During the coming weeks our team will occupy the unused staircase of Peckham Rye Station and facilitate the co-design process. We would like to introduce ourselves to you and get to know the Peckham community. Please come and meet us! RSVP peckhamcodesign@ashsak.com"

28 June 2014 Brimmington Park Festival

Peckham Vision took the mobile exhibition to East Peckham for their annual festival. Much interesting discussion about town centre developments.

21 May to 16 July 2014 Model making sessions

About 30 local residents took part in weekly sessions making a 100:1 scale model of the area around Peckham Rye station. The model was displayed at the Forum event on 23 July, and again on 7th and 16th October 2014. Model making sessions resumed on 16 September 2014.

May/June 2014 Forthcoming events about town centre developments

Peckham Vision’s mobile exhibition will be at the events below. Catch up and discuss the Station Gateway & town centre with other local people:

Sunday 11th May 11am-4pm Goose Green Fair. Peckham Vision stall there for the 8th year.
Wednesday 14th May 6pm-9pm at Peckham Liberal Club. "New State": 6 arts students' exhibition & debate on local socio-political issues, role of art and artists in social change, and role of Station Gateway.
Wednesday 28th May 6pm-9pm at CLF Art Cafe/Bussey building.‘CO-IMAGINE’ - exhibition of imaginative visions of the future re-development of Peckham Rye Station Gateway & an open forum panel discussion. If you want to contribute your vision, contact Katy Hawkins
Thursday 29th May 1.15pm-4.15pm + buffet lunch, at Bells' Garden Community Centre, 19 Buller Close, SE15 6UG. PVSF Forum - mobilising community action in re-development schemes in Peckham.
Saturday 7th June 11am-late, in Rye Lane. Festivities introducing the trials in 4 Pocket Places in Rye Lane: Peckham Vision exhibition stall in Holly Grove Pocket Place.

Network Rail meets the local community in the Rye Lane Baptist chapel 18th January 2014

18th January 2014 Town Centre meeting on Network Rail’s Station Gateway plans

Over 200 people turned up at 3pm to Network Rail’s presentation at the architects’ exhibition on their plans for the Station Gateway. The plans provoked widespread concern at the loss of thriving businesses, scale of demolition and type of new buildings:

A new strand in the local economy in Peckham town centre has been stirring into life slowly over the last 8 years, but increasing in pace more recently. While the effect has begun to get onto the London radar and noticed by the authorities and the big corporates like Network Rail, the nature of it seems to have escaped them. This is why good intentions might kill off the exciting potential that Peckham has to regenerate itself into a thriving self sustainable new form of economy for the 21st century. The public response to the plans was that more time was needed to consider the original idea of just creating the square in front of the station and improving the environment around the station and supporting the new creative economy. In February the Council announced that the time for consultation would be extended.

2013

16th-18th December 2013 Peckham Vision community pop-up planning exhibition

The report on this successful exhibition is being prepared. See interim report here.

25th November 2013 Peckham town centre old and new

This Peckham Community Council meeting focused on the Council's work to regenerate Peckham town centre. It included a report on the Peckham Townscape Heritage (THI) proposals for a £1.6m grant, Rye Lane Conservation Area Peckham Management Plan, and the Peckham Rye Station Gateway project. The architects Weston Williamson, commissioned by Network Rail, explained that they would be developing the planning application for the redevelopment of the station surrounds to submit in February 2014, and that they they would hold a consultation event on 30 November 2013 with a deadline for comments by 6 December. There would be a further consultation on the planning application proposals in January 2014.

13th November 2013 blend of community action with creative enterprises

Peckham Vision was invited to the launch of Team London Bridge's Creative Network held at the Fashion Textile Museum in Bermondsey St. We were glad to contribute by sharing Peckham's story. Eileen Conn gave a 'Visual Tour' with photos of the wide variety of artistic and cultural activities now produced by local creative enterprises on the development sites and in the adaptable buildings in the central Rye Lane area - Copeland Park site, Bussey building, Blenheim Grove & adjoining arches, the multi-storey car park, and in Holly Grove & Elm Grove. She told the story of the last 10 years of community action led by Peckham Vision with a wide network of traders and creative enterprises in Peckham town centre, along with an extensive network of interested residents. The action had highlighted and publicised the potential of sites and buildings threatened with demolition, and their subsequent use by the creative industries which further supported the community campaigns. This blend of Peckham community action and creative enterprises has led to organic regeneration. A key lesson from this Peckham experience is the need to nurture adaptable, lower cost permanent spaces for organic development.

23rd July to 1st August 2013 PNAAP Public Hearings + Sep 2013 News

Local people survived the marathon of the Public Hearings of the PNAAP (Peckham & Nunhead Area Action Plan. 15 local residents, along with two professionals representing a property owner and the GLA, appeared for different topics, and several residents came to support. Only those who had sent in written objections last December could speak. Government Inspector Alan Woolnough led round-table discussions on Matters, Issues and Questions he had devised from the submitted objections. This led to interesting discussions on matters affecting the future of Peckham’s economic, social and environmental well being.

round table discussions

Major issues were:

damaging impact of proposed tall buildings;
future of the multi storey car park, cinema & Bold Tendencies;
role & protection of the creative industries in the local economy;
protection of accommodation for creative enterprises in central Rye Lane area;
the plight of young people in Peckham;
how to create real affordable housing;
the need for a proactive food growing strategy;
the lack of a coherent strategy for cycling.

The Inspector can identify for change only matters which are fundamental to the effectiveness of the Plan.

Latest News: Sep 2013 The Inspector’s first comments from the PNAAP Public Hearings are now available. The Inspector has upheld a number of objections and asked the Council to arrange further public consultation on his suggested text amendments. The Council has produced a table of modifications resulting from the Inspector's suggestions and they and the Inspector's Note are now out for public consultation until 6 January 2014. These matters will be included within the exhibition of current town centre issues as part of Peckham Vision's Community Pop Up event on 16-18 December at Peckham Springs. See information here. The Inspector will issue his report following these public consultations.

In the middle of the Public Hearings we had the successful Peckham Takeover of the V&A, and at the end we have had a 4 page spread in the Evening Standard Magazine. These confirmed the case we had put at the enquiry that the evidence base for the PNAAP was in some respects now out of date, and that more emphasis should be given to the role of the creative economy, compared with conventional retail, in the development plans for Peckham town centre.

26th July 2013 Peckham Vision at the V&A

The Victoria & Albert Museum, the prestigious national museum, invited many local Peckham creative enterprises to contribute to a Peckham Takeover on 26th July 2013. This was part of their Friday Late "the original contemporary late night event: live performances, cutting-edge fashion, debates, one-off displays and installations, special guests, bar and food, guest DJs, late-night exhibition opening." In the midst, Peckham Vision held a standing room only community session. Local resident and co-ordinator of Peckham Vision, Eileen Conn, started with a visual tour part 1, and part 2, of Peckham’s diverse parallel communities and economies; presentation notes. There was a lively discussion about the issues of connections, and how to realise the potential of our town centres. A copy of the selected exhibition displays and campaign material which were put up on the walls of the meeting room can be found here.

8th July 2013 Town Centre workshop

This Peckham Town Centre workshop was organised and facilitated by Peckham Vision in association with LSE Cities ordinary streets research. The theme was to explore the parallel economies in Peckham town centre, the potential connections between them, and some possible actions. The participants were local contributors from the parallel economies: small local businesses, mainstream business, creative enterprises,historic restoration work, religious/faith groups, local community, together with some invited external particpants contributing ideas about reimagining the high street. The report is available here. Follow up action is being developed.

Background papers for the workshop gave some insight into ways that could bring diverse interests together in re-imagining the town centre focus and functions. These papers are available here:

extracts from Urban Pollinators' report: summarised by Eileen Conn.
A New Vision for Our High Streets: Urban Pollinators’ report on town centres & high streets.
Future of London's town centres: paper by Dr Suzanne Hall.

May 2013 Public Toilets Petition launched

The only public toilets in Peckham town centre are on Atwell Road. They are not pleasant to use. Peckham Vision has joined with the Rye Lane Traders’ Association to launch a petition to Southwark Council and Network Rail to provide public toilets as part of the work to improve the areas around historic Peckham Rye station. The Council now has £11m to recreate the public square in front of the station and make major improvements in some of the other buildings on Network Rail’s land around the station. This is the moment to ensure that the changes include good quality public toilets with an adequate management system. Click to download and print petition: PV + RLTA public toilets petition - Final.pdf The petition with 4,273 signatures was presented to the Council by a deputation at the Peckham & Nunhead Community Council meeting on 30 September 2013. The Councillors supported the local request that the provision of public toilets facilities should be considered in the redesign of the central Rye Lane area including the station Gateway project.

2012

12th November 2012 followed by monthly meetings to July 2013

Nearly 30 people - residents, community groups, artistic & creative enterprises, and businesses - attended the Peckham Vision workshop on the PNAAP (Peckham & Nunhead Area Action Plan). Jon Medlin, a professional Planning volunteer from Planning Aid for London, took us through the special ways that comments and objections have to be made for the latest and final stage of the consultation process. Several objections were made by the deadline of 4th December 2012, all linking to the development of aspects of Peckham town centre, including:

creative industries & their role in the local economy
tall buildings
energy and environmental sustainability
development of town centre sites

Several of the workshop participants submitted formal objections to the PNAAP, and have met monthly since January 2013 to prepare for the Examination in Public Hearing (EIP) which will start on 23 July 2013. The themes are the further development of those which have been emerging in the Forum since 2009.

17th October 2012

Peckham Vision exhibition at Peckham Society meeting about the historic buildings in the town centre.

1st September 2012

Peckham Rye Fete town centre exhibtion displays.

2nd to 4th August 2012

entering the Old Waiting Room at last from platform 3

We had a non-stop stream of visitors to the 3 day exhibition, about Peckham town centre in the Old Waiting Room, as part of the Peckham Cultural Olympiad. Over 600 visitors all keen to know more about the Old Waiting Room, the station restoration, the new public square and the town centre generally. It is clear that there is great local enthusiasm for the planned changes. Here are a few photos to give an insight into the magical experience for three days. For more photos: OWR exhibition photos. For all the display panels and a full report on the exhibition see OWR exhibition.

14th March 2012

PTC Forum 14th March 2012

An exhibition and meeting about all aspects of Peckham town centre renewal was held in the CLF Art Cafe in the Bussey building. They were to celebrate and report on recent achievements including:

restoration of the Old Waiting Room in the station.
the restoration of the station square now finally on its way.
designation of the Rye Lane Conservation Area.
successful audit by local residents of every town centre building in support of the Council's application for a major heritage restoration grant.

See here for more details and here for an on-line discussion. The events were very successful with a steady stream of visitors to the exhibition from 4pm and over 200 to the meeting 7pm - 9pm. There was enthusiastic support for the latest news and a keenness to be involved in how it all develops. There will be a report later covering the latest on the conservation and historic restoration work, and also the Council's bid for Government's (Mary) Portas Town Team pilot and work to improve public realm maintenance.

The meeting
The meeting started with an illustrated presentation from Benedict O'Looney, from the Peckham Society & Peckham Vision, of the history of Peckham town centre, and the community's initiatives and work to restore the historic buildings. This was all enthusiastically received. The meeting then heard from representatives of the railway industry and of Southwark Council - Cllr Fiona Colley Cabinet Member for Regeneration, and Simon Bevan Head of Planning & Transport. The picture, by Southwark TV, shows Tom Higginison, Head of Network Rail's national Town Planning Department, addressing the meeting. He said that his commitment to Network Rail's role in revitalising Peckham town centre was shown by him choosing to come to the Peckham Town Centre Forum meeting instead of a prestigous opening of new developments at Kings Cross. This was met with enthsiastic applause from the assembled Peckham.

Network Rail at PTC Forum 14th March 2012

He then read out at our request a message to Peckham Vision and to the meeting from Andy Savage, Director of Railway Heritage Trust,the independent charity supported by Network Rail:

My apologies for not being able to attend. I'm delighted with the work you've done on the station to date, and that we've been able to help with the re-fenestration project. We look forward to restoring and extending Driver's staircase with you in the next year or so, and to eventually contributing to a full restoration of the Old Waiting Room, formerly the Billiard Hall, as a community facility.

Paul Trevett, Southern Railway's senior manager for their 150 stations, also gave a brief report and their support for the community effort to revive the station and the town centre.

Following the meeting
Local Southwark TV said:

here is a short video report on Peckham Vision and Peckham Society's campaigning work for the betterment of Peckham town centre. The meeting was held at the Bussey Building - soon to host the Royal Court Theatre again, on 14th March. It was a packed meeting and a tribute to the people driving this campaign and to the people of Peckham who are similarly galvanised.

A local resident's report on the meeting:

This was a very lively meeting, with over 200 people from various walks of Peckham life and multi-ethnic communities, who all had a common purpose -to improve the town centre and make it pleasant to visit, work and live in. There was a wish to have a say in the town centre plans, and great enthusiasm for the proposed improvement of the station and the opening up of the Old Waiting Room for community use. The mood was good-humoured, though with an undercurrent of skepticism, which one has to expect from a community which has not had a happy experience of these matters for many years. The initiatives taken over recent years by residents themselves has given us more hope that progress can be made with new ways of collaborating between all concerned.

2011

May to September 2011

There were a series of public meetings aranged by the Council during this period for consultation on the PNAAP and the proposed town centre Conservation Area. In the meantime Peckham Vision's work to develop contacts with small businesses in the town centre continues. This confirms the point that has been emerging in the Town Centre Forum for years that the poor and deteriorating state of the streets in the town centre is a serious pressing issue. Much of the progress made with the Council's Peckham Programme through the Rye Lane & Station Action Group has been set back,and needs to be done again. The Peckham Programme was disbanded in 2008 leaving no part of the Council with an overview of Peckham town centre or responsibility for joined up working between a variety of daily operational maintenance functions, and enforcement and planning policy functions.

7th April 2011

meeting notes

PTCForum held a liaison meeting, in the meeting room at McDonalds on Rye Lane, on 7th April to follow up the very successful seminar on the local economy on 17th March. This liaison meeting brought together several council officers, police and businesses to exchange news and ideas about the problems and potential for the town centre. Each of the council officers was responsible for a different aspect of managing an important aspect of the town centre, and the police were responsible for the Police Safer Town Centre Team. A major problem now is that since the abolition of the Council's Peckham Programme team in 2009, there is no one place in the Council that brings all these different working responsibilities together to encourage joined up working, and also for effective liaison with the businesses and enterprises in the town centre. The successful liaison with the planning policy department on future planning policy under the banner 'Peckham Future' over the last two years, needs to be complemented by proactive working together between the enterprises, the police and the Council under the banner 'Peckham Now!'. The PTCForum would approach the Council to seek their agreement to this.

19th February, 17th & 31st March 2011

These very sucessful events were jointly organised by the Council Planning Policy team and the PTC Forum, arising from our discussions in the Peckham Town Centre Forum, in relation to the town centre and the PNAAP. For further information on these events see also Peckham Residents' Network blog

Thursday 17th March 5.00pm for 5.30pm-8.00pm : Local Economy Seminar in the Bussey building.

notes from discussions
video clip Adam Khan presentation: thinking imaginatively for development of shopping in Peckham.

[pictures]
Over 50 people attended creating very lively group discussions - a mix of local residents, local businesses, architecture students, and council officers from several different departments. This was followed up by the liaison meeting for further actions held later on 7th April.

Thursday 31st March 6.30pm : Historic Architecture of Peckham' in the restored Old Waiting Room.

31 March 2011 Old Waiting Room (OWR)

OWR window

short video clip of event

Standing room only in the Old Waiting Room when over 120 people crowded in to listen to fascinating talks from the experts, including English Heritage, on the history of buildings in Peckham town centre, and how much is at risk of demoliton. This is why it is essential to press ahead as soon as possible with a Conservation Area. The other powerful reason was demonstrated fully at the meeting by the inspirational venue at the Old Waiting Room, created by local residents through the Peckham Society and Peckham Vision in restoring it with Council CGS small grant support. The commercial and social life of the town centre could be transformed with a determined effort to integrate in their full beauty the historic budlings into modern uses and developments.

Saturday 19th February 12pm - 3pm : Sustainable Peckham - a neighbourhood event at the Peckham Settlement
This 3 hour event had a steady stream of local residents visiting to learn and discuss the way Peckham can become sustainable in the 21st century. Local groups - Growing Southwark, Peckham Power, Peckham Vision, Transition Town Peckham, Peckham Society, Living Streets, Peckham Settlement - joined with Council officers from Planning, Traffic, and Regeneration to offer information, advice and discussion.

The Council also held a neighbourhood event on the PNAAP in Nunhead on 19th March.

2010

27th & 30th November 2010

notes from discussions

Following the successful walkabout and Town Centre Forum meeting on 23rd October, the Council organised in the Bussey building two preview events - Sat 27 November & Tues 30 November - of the Preferred Options of the PNAAP to give the public a chance to give some early feedback. These were excellent chances to make a contribution and become better informed about the revitalisation of Peckham town centre.

The Council had said: "These will be informal sessions. People may come for part of the time if they wish. There will be displays and information on the key emerging preferred options for the Peckham and Nunhead area action plan (PNAAP). As well as an early opportunity to find out what direction the preferred options are heading in, this is a chance to give initial thoughts and reactions as an input into finalising the preferred options that will be consulted on next year."

There were very successful and useful discussions at both events, in spite of the arctic weather on Tuesday. See notes from discussions. Latest news is that the PNAAP Preferred Options report will not now be ready for consultation until May. There will therefore be some community and Council events before then to continue these discussions. Photos below from Saturday 27th November:

23rd October 2010

walkabout Rye Lane/High St

crowded Rye Lane

Bournemouth Rd - Rye Lane

We had a highly successful 2 hour walkabout of the town centre looking at urban design of the street scene, and also the large development sites and their potential. Discussion focused on:

changes to the street scene design to improve the pedestrian experience – including widening pavements & removing street clutter;
enhancing some historic buildings in prominent locations by cleaning and painting above ground floor level for some quick wins; funding to be secured through heritage sources once Conservation Area status granted;
impact and potential for the major developments both sides of the High Street, and in central Rye Lane opposite the station.

This was followed by another enthusiastic energetic Forum in the afternoon. Open Space discussions focussed on:

Feedback from the walk – street scene, major developments and the PNAAP
Restoration of historic buildings and next steps following on from the walk feedback
Central Rye Lane – especially the multi storey car park and Copeland Industrial site
Food growing and mapping of sustainable initiatives
Peckham Festival in autumn 2011.

Detailed points are in the minutes. Pictures below show the Open Space discussions.

13th July 2010

PTC Forum 13 July 2010

Emerging themes by July included:

creativity, entrepreneurship & commercial regeneration
local energy and food production
town centre physical fabric revitalisation
how it all relates to health & well being (linking to New Peckham Experiment, and following up the stimulating seminar held on 22 April)

This provided a good base for the July meeting, which was another successful and stimulating gathering with lots of energy and ideas for connections. The Open Space process enabled in-depth discussions on several topics leading to several new actions. These included:

arranging a Town Centre walkabout with local residents to look at urban design issues
setting up a virtual Steering Group for the New Peckham Experiment project
organise a two day October Peckham Town Centre Festival
Meeting with Council Cabinet members on several aspects flagged up
publicising to local businesses an Open Space business group at each Forum.

PTC Forum 13 July 2010.
PTC Forum 13 July 2010.
PTC Forum 13 July 2010.
PTC Forum 13 July 2010.

22nd April 2010

PTC Forum & PHF seminar 22nd April 2010

agenda
report

A joint seminar was held with the Pioneer Health Foundation (PHF) on the modern application of the Peckham Principles from the historic Peckham Experiment, linking especially to the now urgent need for community, economic and environmental well-being and sustainability. An introduction to the Peckham Experiment was followed by brief presentations from some local community initiatives demonstrating important links beteeen them and Peckham Principles. These included residents' information networks, social support networks, community energy production, participative art, and nutrition in schools. There was also a brief account of the nef project to establish in Peckham a New Peckham Experiment, to demonstrate the key factors and links between social and economic well-being and environmental sustainabilty. There were lively small group discussions for more than 50 enthusiastic participants looking at how the Peckham Principles relate to modern issues and life. It was agreed to bring the ideas at the seminar together with the work of the Town Centre Forum to see how they could be mutually supportive. The ideas continue to inspire a number of community projects in Peckham, especially those to revitalisie the town centre. Links with the Pioneer Health Foundation (PHF) continue to be nurtured. and led to the recent social event on 15th October 2011 in The Montpelier on Choumert Road, Peckham, to present the 2011 Mary Langman essay prize.

18th March 2010

PTC Forum 18th March 2010

Peckham Vision teamed up with the Peckham Society and the University of Canterbury Architecture School for a Town Centre Forum meeting. 45 second year architecture students joined in to hear about local aspirations for the town centre, the key urban design issues and the need for an integrated vision for the town centre in terms of archticture, innovation and energy potential. The students were about to start their project in urban design and architecture, using Peckham as their case study. [pictures] The meeting coincided with the news that the historic Holdron's building on the corner of Bournemouth Road and Rye Lane was soon to be demolished following an unsuccesful planning application. The owners had been invited to join in the discussions at the meeting but they declined to attend. However, representatives of the owners of the adjacent Copeland Industrial Park, and of the Council buildings stretching along Bournemouth Road, did attend. These will be useful contacts to build on for further discussions about the evolution of the Copeland Cultural Quarter. There were also some participants from the previous Forums and some new participants from some of the creative enterprises in the Copeland Industrial Park site.

24th February 2010

The Council Planning officers were not able to participate in this meeting as it was deemed not a priority by their Department. Their absence was regretted by those present because the whole point of the new Forum was to enable continuing discussion and deliberation which needed to include Council planning officers. However, the meeting was well attended by 27 participants and as full of life and energy as the first. The discussions included the connections and links between the nef project, to establish a New Peckham Experiment, and the initiatives of interest to all at the Town Centre Forum. The meeting process from the first Forum was used again, and the Open Space enabled many connections and sharing of ideas, and the Action Checklist was updated. There was unanimous commitment to continuing with the Forum. [pictures]

2009

16th December 2009

PTC Forum 16th December 2009

This first meeting was held just six weeks after the idea arose at the Rye Lane and Station Action Group (RLSAG) October 2009 meeting. It was arranged in collaboration between Peckham Vision and the Council Planning officers for the PNAAP. This continued the momentum stimulated at the RLSAG meeting. There were 29 participants. The meeting heard the background, and some of the needs for revitalisation and indications of participants' interests. Then moved into Open Space where all present decided who they wanted to talk with. For the last half hour all came back together and reported on issues and actions. The key conclusions are detailed in the checklist (updated) for Discussion Questions, Actions and Ideas, under these headings:

1. Revitalising Commerce

Landlords/property owners
Improve shop fronts & displays
Choumert Street Market
Public Realm & Heritage
Leisure/Evening/Night Economy/Creative enterprises
Town Centre Management
Town Centre Brand
Local Economy

2. Other Factors

Multiple / parallel communities
Other ideas for Peckham generally