* Whether you celebrate it or not, the sentiment on my part remains the same.

So another betting shop opens in Camberwell town centre: a cause for celebration?

Err no — by my reckoning this is the eighth or ninth betting shop in the area. It is also the second Bet Fred shop — there seem to be no plans to close the original shop near the Green.

A multitude of betting shops is, in my opinion, not good for the area as they aren’t actually very useful for the majority of the population. Unless you want to place a bet they offer no services which are of value to local people. A large number of betting shops do  not promote a diverse, sustainable high street where people want to shop but instead drive people away.

Interestingly I see that Camberwell and Peckham MP Harriet Harman has published a well researched report on this matter — available to download on her website — in which she analyses the problem and cites evidence that the betting shop chains target poorer areas such as Camberwell as, counter-intuitevely these are more profitable for them. Harman also cites evidence showing an increase in anti-social behaviour as a result of the increase in betting shops. This is in addition to any personal cost to those involved in gambling.

Harman suggests that the problems arise because of planning regulations which allow former banks and similar premises to reopen as betting shops without any change of planning use required.

It seems that in our case Southwark is helping the betting shops along by not merely tolerating betting shops but encouraging their proliferation by  granting change of use planning permission without too much concern: looking at the documents surrounding this planning applicaion it seems there was little consideration given to how a change of use from A1 (retail) to A2 (financial services including betting shops) would impact on Camberwell — they seem to accept Hinds’ argument that the shopping area is in decline and so the only thing to do is to replace useful shops offering good and services with betting shops. If we want to revitalise Camberwell and make it into a sustainable town centre to which local people travel for shopping purposes this increase in the number of betting shops needs to stop.

Come and see Revitalise Camberwell at

The Farmers’ market on the Green Sat 3 December 10am-2pm

A walking tour and workshop starting at St Giles Centre on Sat 3 December 9:30am-1:30pm and on Thu 8 December 6-9pm

Exhibition at the St Giles Centre on 8 December from 5pm and in Butterfly Walk on Saturday 17 December from 11am.

For further information contact the Revitalise Camberwell team on 020 7525 5317 or email transport@southwark.gov.uk

The Revitalise Camberwell team from Southwark Council are consulting local residents about the local area and improvements. When consulted I told them of the improvements I wanted to see in the local area — in terms of transport, community facilities, town centre development etc etc which I’m sure we could all reel off easily having been, it seems, consulted many times over the past five years. I hope that this time the consultation will lead in improvements actually being made to the area. We need consultation thats leads to action.

As the Sun and Doves was within a short walking distance of our flat, had a good range of food and drinks, generally had space and was welcoming to babies, we used to go there regularly as the default option when pub going or when food was required. Of course the film nights, quizzes, live music and art were also attractions but the main reason for going to a pub is the drink and food.

In the past six weeks or so we have had to consider other options when looking for a pub. And so this has given us an opportunity to revisit old haunts and discover new ones in a Men Behaving Badly style quest for a new local.

The Tiger, the Crooked Well, the Bear, the Cambria and Stormbird have all been visited over the past few weeks and a good time was had in all. Most seemed to be reasonably busy when we visited which is good generally for Camberwell. One gap in the market that I have noticed is the late lunch market — we had to go to three pubs on our quest for lunch at 3:30pm last Saturday as most pub kitchens seem to shut after lunch, opening again at 6. But none of the pubs we have been to so far has been as good as the Sun and Doves which is still sadly missed.

One or two other local news stories of interest:

• Saturday 19 November will be the last day of the bendy buses on route 436 — as Londonist notes I dont think there will be quite the outpouring of emotion when the final bendy has run as was the case with the demise of the Routemaster.

• The Lambeth Libraries Commission report has been published and it looks like the Minet Library near to Myatts Fields Park is to remain open but will be under “community control” — see local Vassall ward website for further details. I havent heard anything further about Camberwell main library beyond a news story saying that Southwark has decided that Bermondsey offices were not suitable — anyone know anything more about how the plans are progressing?

Peter put a call out for a report on Saturday’s Oxjam takeover, and, as I was (to an extent) involved in the organisation, I volunteered to provide the backstage gossip.

The background to the event is that Oxfam put out a call to hold fundraising takeover events throughout the UK – in effect a DIY version of the Camden Crawl. Huge props go to Michael Armstrong, Camberwell local, who seized the challenge with both hands, and put in an incredible amount of work to make it all happen. There were a number of hurdles along the way – the sad demise of the Sun and Doves which was to be one of the main hubs, the emergency works at the Bear – but the final product was, even if I say it from an insider’s view – pretty impressive.

There were seven venues involved – The Phoenix, The Joiners Arms, The Tiger, The Crooked Well, The Grand Union, The Recreation Ground and the mysterious Club Couture. Early signs were good – apparently Camberwell had the most presales on tickets of any Oxjam event ever.…pats on the back all round.

I was venue managing the Crooked Well, so didn’t make it to the Phoenix or the Joiners, but in general, Camberwell was pretty comprehensively taken over. The Tiger was rammed with sweaty hipsters, the Crooked Well had a baying audience for our male burlesque performers, and the Recreation Ground (hosting an eclectic mix of stand up and DJs), had more people there than I’ve ever seen in their current incarnation. And Club Couture – the talking point of the day was how desperate everyone was to see inside…

Too many acts, too little time to talk about them all, but as an event, I think a real local success. With a financial hat on, most of the venues involved (and even those that weren’t) were, I imagine, feeling a healthy glow from their tills. And, while trying not to sound too twee, it was an impressive display of community spirit – the result was due entirely to the generosity of people giving their time for free, from sound technicians to all of the performers, to ticket sellers and the core production team. Lots of them, obviously, looking to do their bit for charidee, but there was also a real aim to provide a showcase for Camberwell. One to add to the annual events calendar, I would have thought.

More pictures of Oxjam Camberwell on Flickr.

The library plans were a bit of a shock. Gone are the plans to bring over the Bermondsy Spa pavilion and instead a new 1980’s style angular red and black shed is proposed to occupy the site. It will sit at a jaunty angle producing corners of unused wasted space around the triangle structure; also almost all the trees will need to be chopped down to accommodate it.  Attached are a couple of renders of the plans by Cazenove Architects.

Next were plans for the Elmington plots. There wasn’t much detail about these but the council are also planning to knock down or refurbish allot more buildings in this area as soon as the Elmington project is finished. The current proposal is mostly 3/4 story terraces following the street layout and with more walkways and cycle-ways. At present it is planned that Edmund Street will have parking on both sides, this will obviously narrow the road so it isn’t good news for cyclists that use that route into London.

Both Maudsley and Kings have building projects on the go. The Maudsley is going to start a new training centre on Grove Lane later this year and due to be finished by 2013. Plans look good from the renders and model (photo attached). Education consultants were also the event to talk about the plans to redevelop the schools in the area including St. Michael & All Angels and Highshore School on Wyndham Road.

Finally the council are getting peoples emails because I think they are planning an event to discuss the road layout around the green. Oh and there was a band playing jolly music. I will update the Camberwell development map with more information on these new projects.

The London Open House website contains details of the buildings open across London. In Camberwell we have various buildings open including the 3 Acorns retro eco-home on Coleman Road, an innovative remodelling of a home to provide full disabled access  at 49 Camberwell Grove, a innovative new home at 5 Grace’s Mews, the new developments at Cambridge House, the Fabrik development on Coldharbour Lane and the pavillion and surrounding grounds at the Temple Bowling Club.

Other events taking place this weekend include the Harvest Festival on Sunday at Myatts Fields Park where everyone is invited to a vegetarian feast at 1pm followed by music and dancing around the bandstand.

And on Camberwell Green on Sunday is the Tropical Garden Fiesta celebrating Latin American music, dance and food