Revitalise⁵ Camberwell, being developed in partnership with TfL, Lambeth and Southwark Council to improve the streetscape in Camberwell, has reached a number of key stages. We completed inital public consultation in December 2011, have undertaken extensive data collection in Feburary and March 2012 and have been working on a design framework that will assist as we develop concept designs.

To keep you informed we would like to invite you to attend a meeting at 6:30pm on 29 May, at the St Giles Hall, Benhill Road. At this meeting, we will discuss our work to date, advise of next steps and how you can be involved as we look to consult on design options in the Summer.

All are welcome but for seating and catering purposes it would be helpful if you could let us know if you are able to attend.

More information and contact details.

We are looking for Camberwell performers / people with hidden talents!

What is it? A surreal one day extravaganza celebrating Camberwell by getting locals to show off their party pieces! There will be 40 — 50 participants aged under 4 to over 80 — all performing their party piece for a maximum 5 mins. Plus lots of balloons, party hats and mimes too!

What are party pieces? Anything from dancing like Michael Jackson to spoons playing, or reading a poem to beat-boxing. Whatever your talent we want to help you show it!

When? Date is unconfirmed but will be either Saturday 16th, Sunday 17th, Saturday 23rd, or Sunday 24th June.

Where? On our “improvised” outside stage — by bus stops + street corners! — with a team of professional and experienced mimes.

What are we asking you to do? Show us your ‘hidden talent’ — we’ve got spoons players, beatboxers, REALLY bendy circus acts — and more…

If you’re interested — get in touch with me, and we can organise a time for me to see your talent or you can send a video in and then I’ll give you a slot! It’s as simple as that! Email Steph Singer steph@singlondon.org. Feel free to send this onto friends of yours as well! And please do let me know if there is any more information needed.

The obvious destination would be The Fox On The Hill, with it’s big lawn, prominent position, and wonderful views. The drawback (in this author’s humble opinion) is that it’s a Wetherspoon pub, although it does seem to have a good selection of beers. Also, last time I went there we felt threatened by a bunch of leery lads who I suspect to have been on a pharmaceutical more powerful than alcohol.

The Tiger has their little passage, which doesn’t seem to catch much light, but at The Recreation Ground and The Bear it’s standing room only. The Cambria has a yard which is pleasant to sit in but also doesn’t allow for much sunlight to enter. Stormbird has a few tables outside which get sun in the afternoon, and pavement overspill outside the Hermits is popular with students when the weather is fine.

Many destinations have only a brief moment in the sun; The former Grove (the name of which escapes me) Grand Union is OK in the morning and mid afternoon, and The Crooked Well fares a little better. The George Canning doesn’t do too badly later in the afternoon, but the best spot for drinks at the dying of the light is The Phoenix.

This post was hastily thrown together and overwritten, so please feel free to correct me in the comments.

Camberwell Business Network and SE5Forum would like some feedback from you about local shopping; and the Met police are looking for witnesses to a very nasty hit and run on Champion Hill last week.

Quick bit of transport news: TfL asked Southwark Council for their preference of proposed extensions to the Bakerloo line, and the Council have said that Lewisham via Camberwell and Peckham is their choice. However, that’s very far from being a done deal, and even if it were we’d be looking at some 15–20 years away. Still, perhaps one day…

The Council recently posted some historic maps online, which are interesting to look at. Did you know The Fox On The Hill used to be The Fox Under The Hill? Not sure what brought him to the surface.

That is all for now. I’m still looking for more contributors. Show of hands, please?

* 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?