Bromley Council are putting forward for consideration a Dog Control Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO) and Bromley residents are being asked to share their views. Find out more here.

Residents are encouraged to share their views in their online survey, with consultation formally closing on 31 May.

On Sunday 30 April 2023 from 2.30pm to 5pm (and also Sunday 18 June 2023), you’ll be able to visit Myra Bright’s garden at 37 Crescent Road, Beckenham BR3 6NF. Adults £4, children free.

Myra is opening her garden to the public through the National Garden Scheme (website www.ngs.org.uk), to raise money for nursing and healthcare charities. In this short article, Myra tells us about her garden and her first experience of opening it with NGS, last year. More information on visiting this garden and others can be found at the end of the article.

“We opened the garden with NGS for the first time in June 2022 and welcomed 160 visitors over the course of the afternoon, raising a very respectable amount for NGS’ beneficiary charities.  We served teas on the veranda and had a plant stall at the front.  I gathered friends to help take the money, serve tea and home-made cakes, and sell plants.  We were blessed with a sunny day and I loved that our visitors took such an interest in our garden. We enjoyed it so much that we are opening twice this year, on Sunday 30 April and Sunday 18 June.

Gardening for me was learnt by osmosis.  My mother and my aunts were keen gardeners with large gardens, which they opened regularly for the NGS.  At a young age I was coerced into weeding in the days running up to the garden being opened.  My mother was always discovering new and exciting plant nurseries and I enjoyed going with her to buy plants.  If there was an interesting church nearby to visit, her day was made! 

When we moved to Beckenham, in 2018, I had the exciting task of working with a blank canvas:  we’d inherited an overgrown, messy garden of about 50 by 60 feet, largely untouched for 30 years. My husband’s only stipulation was “no lawn” because he’d spent too many years mowing.

One day, while we walked through the gardens at Beckenham Place Park, I saw an area of planting designed like a pie chart and I had my eureka moment.  I just knew this should be the main design for my garden. We now have four triangular planting beds separated by gravel paths, with a stunning large blue pot in the middle.  The beds are filled with salvias, euphorbias, iris, peony, roses, knautia, seasonal bulbs and many “filler” plants, grown from seed in my potting shed. We were amazed at the speed with which everything grew.

We also put in climbing roses and a few mature trees, including a winter-flowering cherry and an Amelanchier, now in its spring bloom.

Our grandchildren love the garden and enjoy planting carrots, spinach and other vegetables. I’m keen to nurture a love of gardening in them. Our vegetable beds also have some tulips, grown for cutting, as I can’t bear to take tulips from the main garden!

Like my mother, I have become a plantaholic over the last few years, constantly trying to find unusual plants for our garden. I also still enjoy visiting the many small plant nurseries out there which have interesting plants and need our support.”

If you enjoy plants and gardens, we hope you’ll come along to 37 Crescent Road, Beckenham BR3 6NF on Sunday 30 April or Sunday 18 June, both 2.30pm to 5pm. Bring friends, enjoy the garden and treat yourself to tea and cake. Perhaps you’ll feel like making a purchase at our plant sale too. Booking isn’t essential, but to book online or find out more about NGS, use our website: www.ngs.org.uk. To find more gardens to visit, try the simple “Find a Garden” tool on the NGS website.

In Bromley we want to increase the number of women, or people with a cervix, attending their cervical screening test (smear test). We want to understand what is working well and what may need to improve.

If you live in Bromley, you are a woman or a person with a cervix and are aged 25 to 64, please complete our short survey which will take roughly 4-5 minutes. Your answers are anonymous and we will use the information we collect to review the services currently provided.

Please share your views by completing oursurvey before the 30 April 2023.

I am seeking to engage with local people who would be interested in joining with me in seeking ways to rejuvenate the Park and facilities at Harvington.

The area is currently showing severe signs of neglect and lack of tender loving care. The ‘Friends of Parks’ is now left with just one survivor from the previous group. The playground area is in need of improvement,the pavilion/clubhouse is in the main unuseable and all is subject to vandalism etc.

The Council are falling down on any obligations they have and neither they or the Council contractors seemingly have any funds available to try and rectify or improve matters.

I have made initial contact with the local councillors, Wendy from the friends group, Cherie Langley from Langley Estate Agents and Mac from Eversley Rangers football club. The area is extensively used for activities – exercise,dog walking,sports etc., so any improvement would be in everyone’s interest.

Any future project would depend on support from the users and other interested parties willing to get together to come up with a plan.

I would be delighted if anyone who has an interest could make contact with me with a view to doing something about it.

Look forward to hearing

Keith Rodwell

Bromley Friends Forum (vice chair)

The group which oversees all Parks friends groups in Bromley

email ktr10e@talktalk.net

07503 652778 or 02036382428

Would you like to help decorate Beckenham for the Coronation? St George’s Church are inviting the community to get involved.

Bromley Council have decided to remove all the cash parking meters in the Borough. Payment to park will need to be made by RINGO app, which is downloadable from the App Store on your smart phone.

This only applies to council parking machines and meters. In Beckenham the Odeon Carpark and Sainsbury’s car park will still take cash. And Waitrose and M&S offer free parking for their shoppers.

The change to RINGO will happen on Mon 20 March, Tues 21 March and Wed 22 March.

Local residents are invited to get involved with Community Roadwatch in Beckenham. CCARA Chair, Cllr Chloe-Jane Ross is reinvigorating our local road watch and the team will be going out next week. If you are keen to get involved as a CCARA Community Roadwatch volunteer please get in contact by email to chloe@coperscope.org.uk

Community Roadwatch is a road safety initiative which aims to reduce speeding in residential areas. Community Roadwatch gives local residents the opportunity to work side by side with their local police teams, and use speed detection equipment to identify speeding vehicles in their communities. Warning letters will be issued where appropriate, and the information can help to inform the future activity of local police teams.

Note: this is the third in a series of posts summarising the results of the local travel survey conducted by CCARA and Bromley Living Streets in late 2021. For more information about the survey, click here: CCARA Local Travel Survey.

Beckenham High Street is an important part of the community, with shops, parks, community facilities and access to bus and rail services. The travel survey asked residents how they travel to Beckenham High Street, and what they use the High Street for. As summarised in earlier posts, the survey received 1,012 responses which were distributed across the local area, shown below.

Responses to the survey showed that walking is the most common mode of travel to access Beckenham High Street, followed by private car, bus and bicycle. It is notable that retired residents are much more likely to take the bus, compared to other groups, and families with school-age children are much more likely to cycle.

Responses to the question on how residents use Beckenham High Street showed that it is popular across a range of uses, making it possible for residents to stay local when doing their grocery shopping, going out for meals and going to public events. Families with school-age children are more likely to visit restaurants or cafes, or to visit parks, churches or local events, while retired residents are slightly more likely than average to access public transport.

Finally, the survey responses included a wide range of comments on the High Street, summarised below to reflect the range of views on parks, shopping, streets and traffic.

Parks and green spaces

“Loved the Beckenham Green Cinema last summer. Enjoyed the parks around Beckenham, especially Beckenham Place Park. Would love to attend public events there as well”

“St George’s Green Space is more accessible and user friendly, and looks attractive”

“Beckenham Place Park is a wonderful facility, despite many having discovered it during lockdown it still remains a lovely outdoor space”

Shopping and amenities

“Beckenham High Street is much better after being re-done a few years ago, although it was even nicer when the high-street parking was closed creating more walking space (and less traffic issues with parking)“

“Beckenham High Street has also had a lease of life BUT we need more normal shops not just cafes, eateries and beauty places – really welcome the new butcher shop”

“Good variety of restaurants and pubs, as well I love the fact that we have Waitrose, M&S, Lidl and Sainsburys shops nearby”

“Please reopen the public conveniences. The few cafes that had a community toilet sticker in the window have removed them. Sainsbury’s toilers are often shut or in use. The cinema is shut in the morning”

“I used to use the [public toilets] on the High Street next to Kelsey House when walking or running locally. The community toilet scheme is good but only works when those businesses are open”

Streets and traffic

“Efforts have been made to make the High Street COVID-safer, but allowing parking on the High Street makes it more hazardous for pedestrians”

“There isn’t enough public seating. I enjoy walking but given I am getting old I would sometimes like to take short breaks when walking to Bromley”

“Nice open spaces but pavements blocked by pavement tables from restaurants”

“Parking in Village Way car park is very convenient and there is rarely lack of space”

“Lack of dropped kerbs is a problem only when pushing the family member who uses a wheelchair. I had to push her down the middle of the road the other day because there was nowhere I could get her back onto the pavement easily”

“At the Southend Road crossing over towards Waitrose, the dropped kerb is too steep for a wheelchair user to use safely on their own”

“Cycling infrastructure is non existent. Painting a white line on the road does not create a safe cycle lane. It needs a strategy and some joined up thinking about creating useful safe routes”

“There is not enough disabled parking, but also, disabled bays now have a grey, rough and rugged surface – totally unsuited for those with mobility problems as it interferes with a person’s balance etc.”

“Air pollution due to queueing traffic is bad at particular pinch points, i.e. Beckenham Junction and the traffic lights by St George’s Church. I choose not to eat at the outside tables at cafes or restaurants for this reason.”

“Parking on the pavements and constant traffic jams with fumes spilling out are not conducive to make the high street a place that I want to stay”

Bromley Council are consulting on charging more Council tax on empty homes to try and encourage owners to bring them back into use for housing.

Beckenham has quite a few of long empty residential buildings, some of which are not being well maintained and are causing issues for neighbouring residents (anti-social behaviour, untidy site, fire). We think this is a good idea. You can have your say by completing the consultation that ends on 4 Jan 2023 at the link below.

https://www.bromley.gov.uk/empty-properties/empty-homes-premium-unoccupied-dwellings

The service will be held between 10.30 and 11.30 at the Beckenham War Memorial on Sunday 13 November.

The roundabout will be closed during the service.

Our Association will be laying a wreath.

Well done St George’s Church and all your sewing volunteers for this beautiful tribute for Remembrance Sunday.

In late 2021 Copers Cope Area Residents’ Association partnered with Bromley Living Streets to distribute a survey to better understand how Beckenham residents travel, what is currently working well, and the challenges faced for safe and sustainable travel. Flyers promoting the online survey were distributed to residents across Beckenham, and also shared via Twitter, Facebook and Nextdoor. The majority of responses were received via the flyers, for residents across three local wards: Beckenham Town and Copers Cope, Clock House, and Kelsey and Eden Park.

The survey results gave a detailed picture of the how people travel in and around Beckenham. By providing a more in-depth picture of the diverse travel needs of Beckenham residents, we aim to improve the quality of debate and deliberation over local transport issues.

The survey results will be shared across multiple blog posts due to the amount of data collected. This first blog posts presents the results on how residents travel, what currently works well, and what challenges residents face with respect to local travel, streets and public spaces.

About the survey

What did we ask?
1. How do local residents travel for work, shopping and recreation?
2. What currently works well for residents, with respect to local travel, streets and public spaces?
3. What are the main challenges faced by residents, with respect to local travel, streets and public spaces?
4. What barriers to residents face to walking or cycling more?
5. Do residents use the Albemarle Road cycle lane?
6. How do residents travel to Beckenham High Street, and what do they use it for?
7. How has the COVID-19 pandemic impacted on residents’ work and travel patterns?

Who responded to the survey?
1,012 residents responded to the survey. As shown in the graph below, over-65s were strongly represented, with very few responses from residents aged under 25.

61% of respondents were in paid work and 25% of respondents worked on a fully- or partially-remote basis. 21% of responses came from families with school-age children, and 9% of respondents had health issues or disabilities which limited their mobility.

The map below shows the postcodes for which survey responses were submitted. These responses broadly spanned four wards: Penge & Cator, Clock House, Beckenham Town & Copers Cope, and Kelsey & Eden Park.

How do residents travel to work, for shopping, and to visit friends and family?

There were big differences in travel habits: to commute to work, the most common ways to travel are by train or tram, working remotely, or walking. In contrast, shopping trips are mostly by walking, private car, ordering online and then by bus or tram. Trips to visit friends or family were the most likely to be taken by private car, followed by train, walking, or bus.

Retired residents are more likely to do the shopping on foot, by bus, or by private car, and less likely to go shopping by bicycle or using deliveries. Families with school-age children are more likely to use delivery services, or travel by bicycle. They are less likely to walk, drive, or travel by bus.

What currently works well for residents?

The results showed that a lot of residents were happy with the number and quality of parks and green spaces in and around Beckenham. The redevelopment of the High Street several years ago, and the temporary measures introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic were also appreciated. These included wider pavements, outdoor seating for restaurants and cafes, street trees and planters to close off on-street parking on the High Street. Parks and green spaces, as well as bus and rail services, were more important to retired residents. Families valued wider pavements and the quality of street cleaning and maintenance.

What are the main challenges faced by residents?

Overall, the main concerns were speeding, the amount of road traffic and the lack of community toilets. Retired residents are more likely to be concerned about the lack of community toilets, poorly maintained footpaths and roads, and the lack of public seating. Contrastingly, families with school-age children were more likely to be concerned about speeding, the amount of road traffic, air pollution and the lack of separated cycle lanes.

The next blog post will focus on the impacts of the reduced rail services to Beckenham since the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Beckenham Green Friends are applying for £20,000 from the Platinum Jubilee Parks Fund to; replant the brick planters facing the High Street, create signs for the different plants and trees on the green, make a small woodland walk along the boundary with the church, and get storage and equipment for the Green Friends/community groups.

They need the support of 100 local people, find out more and pledge your support (no money, only support) at the link below.

https://daftjb5jlno.typeform.com/to/Z7LN7AV8

There will be road works between Langley Road and the traffic lights at the junction from from 9am on 28 October, for up to three days. The left hand lane up to the traffic lights will be closed.

The works appear to be in order to install gas and electricity to just one property on Croydon Rd.

Traffic towards Croydon will be diverted right at the traffic lights along Elmers End Rd and then Croydon Road A213, Penge Road A213, South Norwood High Street A213, Portland Road A215, Spring Lane A215, Long Lane A222, Croydon Road A222. There will also be a separate signed diversion in place for HGVs/high vehicles to avoid the low bridges in the area.

The diversion signs for the 367 bus towards Croydon appear to indicate that will turn right, then enter the bus interchange and from there will be able to rejoin its route by turning right at the junction.

Come along and raise your concerns with the panel of Councillors representing the wards of Beckenham Town & Copers Cope, Clock House, Kelsey & Eden and Penge & Cator Ward