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Consultations to date

The Old Kent Road community forum

The Old Kent Road community forum met roughly every 4 to 8 weeks between February 2015 and September 2016 in different venues around the Old Kent Road opportunity area. The forum was set up to start a dialogue between the council local residents, businesses owners and employees, community groups and any other interested stakeholders, thought about the Old Kent Road. We wanted to gather views and gain understanding of why people felt the Old Kent Road was unique and what could be improved.

Each session was themed with a variety of council-led and guest presentations, workshops and discussion. You can find information including the invitation flyer, any presentation slides and a feedback summary of each session below.

Session 1 - February 2015: introduction and future sessions

The first session of the community forum sought to set out why the council and the Greater London Authority was looking to engage the local community, why we need to plan for growth in the area and what we should cover in future community forum meetings. There was also a workshop looking at the history and character of the area.

Session 2 - March 2016: history, heritage and character

The second meeting of the Old Kent Road community forum had presentations on history and heritage from english heritage (now historic england) and the Walworth society. The workshop had attendees draw their own mental maps of the area showing different and common perceptions.

Session 3 - May 2015: local businesses and jobs

Session 3 of the community forum focused on local businesses in the Old Kent Road Opportunity Area. There were presentations from GLA officers about the findings of the research they and the council carried out on the local businesses around the Old Kent Road, as well as several local businesses owners and operators in the area. You can find feedback and comments summarised in the session notes below.

Session 4 - July 2015: shopping and high streets

This community forum meeting was about retail and town centre uses along the Old Kent Road and the surrounding area. There were presentations from council officers, the owner of Robertos café, Latin Elephant, people working on a project to improve East Street Market and the local annual Latin American carnival, Carnival del Pueblo in nearby Burgess Park. You can find feedback and notes of the group discussions in the feedback notes below.

Session 5 - July 2015: surface transport

Session 5 looked into what the Old Kent Road and the surrounding streets is currently like for pedestrians, cyclists, buses and other motorists, and how it could be improved in the future. There were presentations from Transport for London, London Assembly member Val Shawcross looking at the improved highway and public realm works on Streatham High Road, and Southwark Cyclists.

Session 6 - September 2015: vision and place-making

The sixth Old Kent Road Community Forum meeting was led by Allies and Morrison Urban Practitioners who had been commissioned by the council to analyse the urban character of the different parts of the Old Kent Road Opportunity Area (see the Old Kent Road Characterisation Study). The work shop had attendees place pre-made and newly created key word cards from scratch on various parts of the a map of the Old Kent Road Opportunity Area. The key words represented the participants aspirations for the future of the area and directly fed into Allies and Morrison’s subsequent place-making study.

Session 7 - November 2015: place-making and regeneration options

Session 7 of the Old Kent Road Community Forum was also led by Allies and Morrison Urban Practitioners, who were in the process of preparing their Old Kent Road Place-making study. Attendees took part in a “planning for real” exercise, in which they were tasked with meeting lower and higher growth targets for housing, social infrastructure, shops, open space and business space by using different-sized lego bricks on a map. The results of the exercise fed directly into the place-making study and the draft Old Kent Road Area Action Plan / Opportunity Area Planning Framework.

Session 8 - January 2016: planning for real re-cap and open space

The first Old Kent Road Community Forum meeting of the new year saw a re-cap of the results of the “planning for real” exercise and the direction of travel the draft Old Kent Road Area Action Plan was likely to take. This was based on local community and business engagement feedback and the evidence base studies and strategies prepared so far. Building on the results of the planning for real exercise, a further workshop was held on open space.

Session 9 - March 2016: faith

Session 9 of the Old Kent Road Community Forum saw a series of presentations from faith leaders in the Old Kent Road Opportunity about their perception and interaction of their community and environment and their hopes for the future. Some participants of a separate young people’s workshop also presented their ideas and aspirations for how the area should change for the next generation of young people. The presentations were followed by a “fishbowl” discussion of the future impact of the plan and regeneration of the Old Kent Road.

Session 10 - July 2016: vision, homes, jobs and community

July’s session saw the Community Forum discuss the first draft of the Old Kent Road Area Action Plan/Opportunity Area Planning Framework. Councillor Williams, Cabinet Member for Regeneration and New homes,  presented the key themes of the plan. This was followed with two workshops on vision and homes and jobs and community.

PDF downloads will be uploaded in the near future, so check back soon.

Session 11 - September 2016: transport and public realm

The eleventh and final session of the first run of Old Kent Road community forum events saw a presentation from Transport for London on the potential Bakerloo Line Extension and surface transport options. The subsequent workshop tasked attendees with coming up with key design principles for the Surrey Canal green route from Burgess park east through to the edge of the opportunity area.

PDF downloads will be uploaded on this page in the near future.

Page last updated: 28 October 2022

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