Be careful in this hot weather. Eight hectares of grass caught alight by Monks Orchard Road Beckenham.

https://www.london-fire.gov.uk/incidents/2018/july/grass-fire-beckenham/

Completed works

• The kerbing and paving has been laid on the South-West corner of the War Memorial roundabout.
• Paving has continued outside Prezzo and across the Kelsey Square / High Street junction and kerbing and has continued outside Haks barbers.
• Snagging and replacement of chipped kerbs has commenced.
• Works to Beckenham Green have been completed. 

Phase 5 works Lidl to Village Way.

From Monday the 21st the junction between Burnhill Road and Kelsey Square has been closed to traffic. Kelsey Lane remains two-way between Uplands and Wayside where it is closed to traffic. Pedestrian access is maintained from Burnhill Road, Kelsey Square and Kelsey Lane to the High Street. This set up will be monitored to see if additional signage will be required. From Fairfield Road to Kelsey Park Road the one way will be reversed meaning traffic will drive up Fairfield and exit Burnhill Road.

 These arrangements have been negotiated with local residents at a consultation meeting.

• Preparation and laying of paving will continue at Kelsey Square. If the narrow footways are made safe the second part of the carriageway will be excavated.
• The parking bays outside Zizzi will be retained for deliveries only.

Phase 6 War Memorial roundabout to Burrell Road

• Excavation and kerb laying will continue.

 War Memorial Roundabout

• Paving work will continue on the third corner of the War Memorial roundabout.

 Scheme Programme

For reference the main High Street improvements are due to be completed in September with only snagging of small defects and some design details to be installed after this date.

Hours of Operation

In order to maintain access to all shop entrances pavement laying will have to be conducted out of normal hours between 18pm and 20pm on some days. We do understand that this can be a nuisance and FM Conway will endeavour to keep noise disturbance to a minimum during these times.

Traffic Management

Left hand turns from Village Way onto the High Street are now banned. The right hand turn from The Drive onto The High Street has also been restricted. All traffic will be sent on the main diversion along the High Street heading towards Beckenham junction then onto Rectory Road. This is likely to be in place until the end of the project to allow the contractor to work safely in those areas.

• Two way traffic has been reinstated between Bromley Road and Manor Road.
• Two way traffic has also been reinstated between Thornton’s Corner and Fairfield Road to enable access to Fairfield Road without using the main diversion.

Bus route changes

TfL have advised that:

Bus routes 54, 227, 352, 354, 367 and N3 are diverted in one direction

All diverted routes should return to normal when the road closures end, expected to be in late September 2018

For more information, please visit tfl.gov.uk/modes/buses/temporary-bus-changes

Business Rates

Business Rates are not something that the council is responsible for. The Valuation Office Agency (VOA) is responsible for setting the rateable value of commercial properties and has been notified about the extent and timescales for the Beckenham scheme. The VOA have stated:

“In line with similar schemes in other boroughs, the VOA is intending to apply a temporary reduction of up to 10% of the rateable value of retail properties which are directly affected by the works. These reductions will be phased to reflect the phasing of the scheme itself and will be applied to affected businesses only for the duration of the applicable phase. For example, previously a business located in the High Street between Thornton’s Corner and Rectory Road would be provided with a temporary reduction between the start of Phase 1 (13 March 2017) and end of Phase 2 (circa August 2017).

Changes can now only be made by the Valuation Office to the system from 1 April 2017. Unless a Ratepayer has made a valid 2010 proposal against their Rateable Value that remains outstanding.

Reductions will be applied retrospectively for the phases that have occurred since the 1st April 2017. By mid-May the VOA will be writing directly to businesses affected by the appropriate phases of work to provide full details of the proposed temporary reductions for their individual properties.

Customers will need a CHECK by registering through the Find and check your business rates valuation. This will confirm the facts about their property. After a CHECK of the property details has been completed the customer is entitled to submit a Challenge to the valuation. After 8 May, customers will have the opportunity to group themselves together with Challenge cases which are about the same valuation issue”.

The VOA can be contacted at:

Tel: 03000 501501

Email: ratingsoutheast@voa.gsi.gov.uk

Message from Southeastern:
I’m getting in touch to remind you that we’re making significant changes to our train timetable from Sunday 20 May, to allow the integration of new Thameslink services across the network, and on new routes into Kent.
If you’ve travelled on our services recently, I’m certain that you will have noticed that we’re currently running a large information campaign to let passengers know that the timetable is changing. Our “Times are changing” campaign includes announcements and posters at stations and on trains, on-board leaflet drops, social media publicity on Twitter, targeted emails to passengers and local “Meet the Manager” sessions. Next week we’ll be carrying out giveaways at London terminal stations, and all of the information is available on our website at southeasternrailway.co.uk/timesarechanging.

Highlights

The key highlights for Southeastern passengers are below:

• Nearly 700 extra seats on Highspeed services from Ashford to St Pancras in the morning peak, with two trains doubled in length to 12 cars
• Earlier direct Highspeed service from Ramsgate to St Pancras (via Herne Bay)
• Earlier direct service to the City, from Broadstairs to Blackfriars (via Herne Bay)
  Increased frequency to six peak-time trains per hour from Deptford, Greenwich, Maze Hill and Westcombe Park
• New Thameslink service from Luton to Rainham (via Blackfriars, Greenwich and Dartford) which replaces the Southeastern service from Charing Cross to Gillingham (via Lewisham and Woolwich)
• New off-peak service on the Woolwich Line, from Dartford to Charing Cross (via Lewisham)
• New off-peak service on the Sidcup Line, from Dartford to Charing Cross, increasing off-peak service on this route to six trains per hour
• Reduced off-peak journey times from Gravesend and Dartford to Charing Cross (via Sidcup). Trains will run fast from London Bridge to New Eltham, reducing the journey time to Dartford to just 38 minutes – seven minutes less than today.
• Two extra trains from Orpington to Charing Cross (via Grove Park) in the morning peak
• An extra service from Charing Cross to Orpington (via Grove Park) in the evening peak
• More frequent services between Beckenham Junction and Blackfriars at peak times
• Bexleyheath line services between Victoria and Dartford are extended to Gravesend, off-peak
• Improved peak-time service between Denmark Hill and Victoria, and more peak-time trains between Denmark Hill and the Medway towns
• Enhanced Sunday service on the Woolwich and Sidcup lines

Consultation response

We widely publicised the consultation on the proposed timetable in 2017, with posters at stations, information on Twitter, and with full details on our website. We wrote to MPs in London, Kent and East Sussex, local authorities across our region, community groups, parish councils, rail user groups and a broad range of other stakeholders – including statutory consumer bodies Transport Focus and London TravelWatch. We were delighted by the response, and received hundreds of individual pieces of feedback and constructive suggestions – many of which we’ve been able to accommodate in the final timetable.

Our consultation response document for your information is also available on our website.

Get in touch

I expect that you’re already aware of these changes, but if you haven’t already done so, and have any questions about how these changes may affect our passengers, please do get in touch.

Contact:
Chris Vinson
chris.vinson@southeasternrailway.co.uk
Southeastern

Beckenham Improvements work update courtesy of F M Conway, contractor for the works.

Phase 4 works 116 to 180 High Street.

Completed works

• Kerbing has continued to The Drive whilst the paving has almost been completed.

• The wall outside Beckenham Junction station has been rebuilt.

Thames Water has reported a water leak outside Superdrug. The repair will require new paving to be dug up by Thames Water and then reinstated. The Project team recognise the frustration this further disruption may cause however it is beyond our control.

The project team are aware that having to divert pedestrian access on to rough granite setts parking areas has been uncomfortable for some residents. However this has been necessitated by maintaining access to shops during opening hours.

Next week’s works.

• Footway and kerbing to The Drive will be completed.

• On Beckenham Green the entrance bollards will be removed and further temporary resurfacing will be laid in preparation of the final resurfacing.

• Preliminary work starts outside Lidl and working towards the junction of Kelsey Square with The High Street.

• Yellow parking restriction lines will be painted between WH Smith and Costa Coffee Shop to ensure sufficient road widths to maintain traffic flows.

Hours of Operation

In order to maintain access to all shop entrances pavement laying will have to be conducted out of normal hours between 18pm and 20pm on some days. We do understand that this can be a nuisance and FM Conway will endeavour to keep noise disturbance to a minimum during these times.

Traffic Management

From Monday the 30th of April we will be banning the left hand turns from Village Way onto the High Street and Kelsey Square onto the High Street. The right hand turn from The Drive onto The High Street will also be restricted. All traffic will be sent on the main diversion along the High Street heading towards Beckenham junction then onto Rectory Road. This is likely to be in place until the end of the project to allow the contractor to work safely in those areas.

From Monday 14th of May the section of High Street between Bromley Road and Manor Road will revert back to two way traffic. At the same time there will be traffic changes to Burnhill Road and Kelsey Lane, residents in these affected roads will be letter dropped shortly with a further update.

Bus route changes

TFL have advised that:

• Route 352 towards Lower Sydenham will be diverted.

• Routes 54, 227, 354, 367 and N3 will remain on their current diversions.

• All diverted routes should return to normal in late September 2018.

For more information, please visit www.tfl.gov.uk/BusChanges

Business Rates

Business Rates are not something that the council is responsible for. The Valuation Office Agency (VOA) is responsible for setting the rateable value of commercial properties and has been notified about the extent and timescales for the Beckenham scheme. The VOA have stated:

“In line with similar schemes in other boroughs, the VOA is intending to apply a temporary reduction of up to 10% of the rateable value of retail properties which are directly affected by the works. These reductions will be phased to reflect the phasing of the scheme itself and will be applied to affected businesses only for the duration of the applicable phase. For example, previously a business located in the High Street between Thornton’s Corner and Rectory Road would be provided with a temporary reduction between the start of Phase 1 (13 March 2017) and end of Phase 2 (circa August 2017).

Changes can now only be made by the Valuation Office to the system from 1 April 2017. Unless a Ratepayer has made a valid 2010 proposal against their Rateable Value that remains outstanding.

Reductions will be applied retrospectively for the phases that have occurred since the 1st April 2017. By mid-May the VOA will be writing directly to businesses affected by the appropriate phases of work to provide full details of the proposed temporary reductions for their individual properties.

Customers will need a CHECK by registering through the Find and check your business rates valuation. This will confirm the facts about their property. After a CHECK of the property details has been completed the customer is entitled to submit a Challenge to the valuation. After 8 May, customers will have the opportunity to group themselves together with Challenge cases which are about the same valuation issue”.

The VOA can be contacted at:

Tel: 03000 501501

Email: ratingsoutheast@voa.gsi.gov.uk

The completed scheme

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

• 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 Thornton’s 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 between the pavement and the road 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.

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

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

Phase 4 works 116 to 180 High Street.

Completed works

• Paving and kerbing has continued towards Leather Alley. Bus Stop J near the junction of Fairfield Road and the High Street has undergone a temporary treatment until bespoke materials are installed.

Next week’s works.

• Footway work will be continued between Specsavers to the Lidl pedestrian crossing traffic lights.

Hours of Operation

In order to maintain access to all shop entrances pavement laying will have to be conducted out of normal hours between 18pm and 20pm on some days. We do understand that this can be a nuisance and FM Conway will endeavour to keep noise disturbance to a minimum during these times.

During the Easter weekend FM Conway’s contractors will be working on the Friday and Saturday but not Easter Sunday or Monday.

Work by other contractors in Beckenham

Contractors not connected with the project have been working outside Card Factory and the side alley. Thames Water will be on site 3/4/18 to 6/04/18 to connect the new water to the flats above The Card Factory. UKPN have some extra work to complete in the alleyway between Miso and the Card Factory. The reinstatement of the paving outside The Card Factory will be completed by FM Conway.

Traffic Management

Two directional traffic from the junction of Bromley Road / Church Avenue / High Street south to Thornton’s Corner cannot resume because of safety concerns. If it were to be reintroduced some vehicles would be forced on to Burnhill Road and Kelsey Square. This would potentially include HGVs which would be particularly unsatisfactory.

The completed scheme

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

• 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 Thornton’s 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 between the pavement and the road 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.

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

From the council website:

Bromley Council 2018-19 and beyond

http://www.bromley.gov.uk/info/200110/council_budgets_and_spending/1117/talking_about_our_borough

From the 4^th of December High Street Beckenham will be reopened to two way traffic, all buses that are currently on diversion will go back to their original routes for five weeks. The temporary one way/ diversion will be back in place from the 8^th of January until the works end.

TFL buses are putting information on their website and on the bus stops in the area.

Beckenham Improvements work update

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

Work done in week beginning  13^th November 2017.

• The redundant traffic signals at Thornton’s Corner will be removed and paving will be reinstated.
• All four corners of Thornton’s Corner will be jet washed in preparation for the surfacing
• Works on the High St between Village Garage and Ye Olde George Inn (including Fairfield Rd jnc) will continue (kerbs, drainage, paving etc.)
• Only one entrance to the car park next to Ye Olde George will be accessible on Monday & Tuesday of next week whilst work continues
• Works in Beckenham Green continues this will include finishing the granite paving on Albemarle Road corner following TfL controls work.
• Potentially increased hours of work next week and the following week to make sure all work is completed to a point sufficient for our Christmas shutdown.

Christmas close between the 4th December and 8th January 2018

• In advance of the Christmas closure barriers and materials starting to be removed to St Georges compound.
• One way traffic flow throughout The High Street will change back to two ways from Monday 4th December until Monday 8th January 2018.

Re surfacing night work at Thornton’s Corner, week beginning 20th November for potentially 5 nights. Letters will be delivered to all businesses and residents in the immediate vicinity within the next couple of days.

Diversions will be in place from 08:00pm to 05:00am throughout the re surfacing.

For Reference

Works on the highway at the War Memorial roundabout are being carried out by Network Power and opposite Kelsey Square there is a gas installation to a new commercial unit. These works are not connected to the High street improvements.

This bulletin is courtesy of FM Conway, contractor for Beckenham High Street Improvement Works:

Advance warning of Overnight resurfacing work From Monday 20th November for five nights at Thornton’s Corner.

As the town centre improvements continue, please do be aware that overnight resurfacing work will be taking place on Monday 20th November. As before this night work will start at 8 p.m. and could continue until 3a.m on the morning of 26th November.

The work will initially consist of the existing road surface being taken or ‘planed’ off, with a new surface then re-laid, with the ‘planing’ be the noisier element.

We anticipate all noisy work to be completed by midnight, with only deliveries after that.  To facilitate this work, the junctions of Manor Road and Kelsey Park Road with The High Street, will be closed from 8:00pm.  The High Street from The War Memorial to the crossroads with Manor Road and Kelsey Park Road (Thornton’s Corner) will also be closed.  The road will re-open from 5:00am on all of the given dates.

Residents:  There will be diversions signs in place to aid traffic flow.  Residents with permitted parking, which is accessed via The High Street, who wish to access or exit their space after  08:00pm on any of these given days, apart from 26th November, should contact me on Mobile Tel 07917 518 529 or email Beckenham@fmconway.co.uk

As this is a major road, which is extremely busy in the daytime, there is no option but to carry out this work at night but we are mindful of local residents and the impact on town centre visitors and businesses.  Be assured that we will keep noise to a minimum as far as possible and we do apologise for any inconvenience or disturbance in advance during this period.

At the end of the night work, the road surface along this stretch of The High Street will have been greatly improved from the current condition, with the overall town centre improvement initiative making Beckenham a more attractive and safer place for residents, visitors and businesses.

If you want to keep up to date with the improvement progress in the town, please sign up for the newsletter by visiting www.bromley.gov.uk/beckenhamimprovements.

Many thanks

Helen McConnell

Business Liaison Officer FM CONWAY