Then local Beckenham hairdressser Suzi Ronson recalls her memories from working in Evelyn Paget’s flagship salon in Beckenham to being on the road with Bowie in the Daily Mail article below.

My Ziggy Stardust memories: Suzi Ronson on how creating David Bowie’s iconic hairstyle transformed her life.

Check out our Summer 2017 Express Newsletter.

Express Summer 2017

The Express, is sent out 3 times a year, usually March, July and October.  To receive the newsletter through your letter box and support your local hardworking residents association please join up, only £3 per year.

The Bridge Bar nightclub (formerly Langtry’s) at Beckenham Junction has been granted an extension to its licensing hours and can now operate until 3am.

The application received many objections from local residents, Copers Cope Police, Councillors and, of course, our Association, all concerned about the noise and potential increase in antisocial behaviour due to increased drinking hours, and the lack of infrastructure to deal with all-night clubbing in Beckenham.

The Council decided to grant the application amended as follows:

1. Live music on Fridays and Saturdays from 10:00pm to 03:00am
2. Recorded music on Fridays and Saturdays from 10:00pm to 03:00am
3. Late night refreshments on Fridays and Saturdays from 10:00pm to 03:00am
4. Regulated Entertainment on Fridays and Saturdays from 09:00pm to 03:00am
5. Supply of alcohol on Fridays and Saturdays from 10:00pm to 03:00am
6. Hours open to the public Fridays and Saturdays from 10:00pm to 03:30am

Subject to the following additional conditions:

1. On any night that that the premises trades beyond 2am it shall have no fewer than 8 SIA registered door supervisors working at the venue, who shall remain on duty until 30 minutes after the venue closes.
2. There shall be no off-sales from the venue, and no drinks may be taken outside by customers.
3. The venue shall not offer cut price alcohol promotions.
4. The upper and lower floors of the premises shall be closed sequentially, at least 30 minutes apart from each other.
5. No customers under the age of 21 shall be admitted to the premises.
6. Save for emergency egress, all exits after 2.30am shall be through the station carpark entrance.
7. Following closure of the premises, all security staff shall be deployed to marshall the vicinity in hi-vis jackets to promote a quiet and rapid dispersal of customers.
8. Following closure of the premises, it will remove any empty vessels from the station carpark.
9. The premises shall maintain a dedicated telephone line which residents can call at any time up to half an hour after closing time of the premises.
10. The premises licence holder shall hold a meeting with the local community at least quarterly. Details of the meeting shall be provided to local residents’ associations and shall be clearly displayed at both entrances to the premises.

A day of business workshops, networking and talks to boost your business will be held in Beckenham on Wednesday 6 September 2017.

The second Beckenham Business Day, organised by Beckenham Business Association and supported by the London Borough of Bromley, will be held at Time Night Club on Southend Road, Beckenham from 9:00am to 3:00pm.

As well as the networking and advice sessions, there will be one-to-one PR, social media and SEO clinics, speed networking and practical talks on hot business topics such as ‘Turning Your Prospects into Leads’, ‘Online Marketing’ and ‘Sources of Alternative Funding’.

Beckenham’s very own “2016 Great British Bake Off” star Jane Beedle will talk about ‘Following Your Dream’ and how a chat over a cup of tea turned into a successful garden design business that led to a place on TV.

All monies raised from the Beckenham Business Day raffle will go to MindCare Dementia Support, part of Bromley & Lewisham Mind. The charity helps provides dementia support across Beckenham, Bromley and Lewisham to help adults with dementia stay in their homes and local communities.

The Mayor of Bromley, Cllr Kathy Bance MBE, will officially open the event, and Kat Webb, who runs the weekly guided tour In Ziggy’s Footsteps – The Walking Tour of David Bowie’s Beckenham, will MC and present the prize for the best dressed stand.

Beckenham Business Day is FREE for Beckenham Business Association Members and just £25 if not, and that includes one year’s membership of BBA. You don’t have to be a Beckenham business to attend – visitors are welcome at a cost of £10, which doesn’t include BBA membership.

For further details and booking visit the Beckenham Business Day page.

Improvement Works Update courtesy of F M Conway, contractor for the works.

Work for week commencing the 14th August 2017.

• Drainage work and kerbing will continue between St Brides House and Gallery 17. Works in front of shop entrances will be completed out of hours for those retailers affected.
• Asphalt will be laid as a temporary surface on the corner of Albemarle Road and the High Street. It is anticipated this footpath will open towards the end of week commencing 14th August.
• At Church Ave junction slight adjustments will be made to the existing improvements.
• Roadside compounds along the High Street outside NatWest and St George’s Church will be cleared in preparation for resurfacing work to take place week commencing 21st August. Further details about the resurfacing will be included in next week’s update, but all residents and retailers along this section of the High Street will be informed next week.
• The construction of the new planters on Beckenham Green will continue.

For reference some works such as traffic signals and power connections are conducted by outside agencies such as Transport for London and UKPN. The project does not have control of these works.

Previous completed works

• Paving and kerbing completed beyond the entrance to St Brides House.
• Block paving adjoining the planters on Beckenham Green has been completed.
• Transport for London traffic signals work at the Bromley Road/Church Ave/High Street Junction.

The completed scheme

Feedback from the community has revealed that there are some incorrect preconceptions about the scheme.

• The asphalt at Thornton’s Corner is a temporary measure until the granite paving is laid.
• The High Street will not be pedestrianised. Improvements will however greatly improve the pedestrian environment with wider pavements, improved lighting and more and better road crossings.
• After the improvements are complete the High Street will revert to two way traffic as prior to the improvements. The larger widenings such as the North-West corner of Thorntons Corner have been designed to enable the largest road vehicles to comfortably navigate the corner in both directions. Changes to the vehicle stop lines and traffic signalling will enable vehicles to use the reduced road space with minimal impacts on traffic flows.
• No existing bus stops will be removed from the High Street. All bus stops will however be improved and will become fully disabled accessible. In order to create sufficient waiting space for passengers some bus stops will be located on what is the highway at present,
• The scheme will not introduce shared surfaces where the footway and road surface will be on the same level. Throughout the scheme a kerb will be retained and the pedestrian areas will be a traditional pavement above vehicular areas except at crossing places.
• Many of the parking spaces are inset into the paving (achieved by widening the paving not reducing it). They are flush with the pavement to avoid a trip hazard kerb.

Proposed changes to NHS prescriptions in Bromley 

NHS Bromley CCG is seeking the views of the public on proposed changes to what is available on prescription in Bromley.    The CCG is proposing to no longer support the routine prescribing of health supplements and self-care medications for short term minor illnesses and injuries that will get better over time.

Dr Andrew Parson, Clinical Chair of the CCG said, “We want to support people to lead longer, healthier lives in Bromley.  We want them to take care of their minor ailments and injuries at home and seek help when it is needed.   

“After careful consideration and discussion with local health professionals and our GP members, we are proposing to no longer support the routine prescribing of health supplements and self-care medications for acute illnesses that will get better over time.

“The Bromley population is growing and we have to carefully consider how we use our finite resources to get the best health and wellbeing outcomes for our residents.   By asking people to purchase their own self-care medicines such as paracetomol, antihistamines, cough medicines etc, we could potentially save up to a £1million which can be better spent on other health treatments.  This proposal could also help to ease the pressure on GPs by reducing the amount of time spent seeing patients with minor ailments that could be treated at home and have more time to support those with complex health conditions.

“We encourage people to keep a well-stocked medicine cabinet at home and seek advice from their pharmacist for minor ailments and injuries.   Pharmacists are experienced clinicians who can provide a range of advice.  They will also advise when someone does need to see their GP”.

The medicines covered in this proposal can be purchased from a pharmacy or a supermarket.   This is not just a Bromley proposal.  NHS England recently announced that efforts need to be made to get better value for money in the NHS and eliminate waste.  CCGs in other parts of the country have either already implemented similar arrangements or are in the process of doing so.

To have your say on these proposals please read the proposal leaflet on the CCG website at www.bromleyccg.nhs.uk  and use the online survey.   You can also email brooccg.contactus@nhs.net or call 01689 866544

Views are being sought up to 8 October and a decision will be made at the Bromley CCG Governing Body meeting on 16 November 2017 which is held in public. 

Improvement Works Update courtesy of F M Conway, contractor for the works.

Work for weeks commencing the 30th July 2017.

• Kerb laying, drainage work and paving continuing north from Church Avenue.
• The construction of the new planters on Beckenham Green will continue.
• Transport for London traffic signals work at the Bromley Road/Church Road/High Street Junction to be completed by the end of the week.
• Pavement laying will continue adjoining the planters on Beckenham Green and will be completed by the 11th August.

For reference some works such as traffic signals and power connections are conducted by outside agencies such as Transport for London and UKPN. The project does not have control of these works and therefore trenches such as at the Albemarle and High Street junction cannot be filled.

Previous completed works

• Paving and kerbing completed to Marks and Spencer.

The completed scheme

Feedback from the community has revealed that there are some incorrect preconceptions about the scheme.

• The asphalt at Thornton’s Corner is a temporary measure until the granite paving is laid.
• The High Street will not be pedestrianised. Improvements will however greatly improve the pedestrian environment with wider pavements, improved lighting and more and better road crossings.
• After the improvements are complete the High Street will revert to two way traffic as prior to the improvements. The larger widenings such as the North-West corner of Thorntons Corner have been    designed to enable the largest road vehicles to comfortably navigate the corner in both directions. Changes to the vehicle stop lines and traffic signalling will enable vehicles to use the reduced road space with minimal impacts on traffic flows.
• No existing bus stops will be removed from the High Street. All bus stops will however be improved and will become fully disabled accessible. In order to create sufficient waiting space for passengers some bus stops will be located on what is the highway at present.
• The scheme will not introduce shared surfaces where the footway and road surface will be on the same level. Throughout the scheme a kerb will be retained and the pedestrian areas will be a traditional pavement above vehicular areas except at crossing places.

Further information can be found at www.bromley.gov.uk/beckenhamimprovements