The Dulwich Society Journal for Autumn 2024.
I hope that you have had a good summer. Whilst the long summer holidays at the many local schools signal a quieter time in Dulwich, there still has been a lot going on in the Society.
Our work on strategic planning for the Society, mentioned in the Summer Journal, continues afoot. As the next stage of this, we have launched a survey of our members to help us better understand who our members are, what you think the Society is doing well and what more we could be doing. I encourage you all to complete the survey. This will help inform our longer-term planning for the Society’s strategic development. Details of the survey and how to complete it can be found on page 6.
I’m also pleased that we have a number of social events coming up over the next few months, and we would particularly encourage our newer members to join us at these so that we can get to know you. As part of our membership engagement programme, we will be having "Meet the Trustees" drinks on Monday, 30 September in Dulwich Village and on Thursday, 17 October in East Dulwich. This will be an opportunity for new members and members from East Dulwich in particular, to hear more about what the Society does and for the trustees to understand our members’ priorities. Our re-arranged talk by Dr Spence on Sir Ernest Shackleton will take place on the evening of Tuesday, 26 November. Note that further details for all of these events will be sent out by email to our members, so keep an eye on your inbox. If you have not yet provided us with your email address, please do so by emailing
The Dulwich Society is pleased once again to support local gardens opening for charity, where the area punches well above its weight. Many of you will have had the pleasure of visiting some of these wonderful gardens, which both inspire visitors and raise money for a number of local charities (St Christopher’s and Link Age Southwark for example), as well as National Garden Scheme charities. Thank you to all the garden owners and those involved, particularly Ann Rutherford who compiles the annual brochure and the advertisers who part-fund the printing. If you would consider opening your garden next year, please contact
As well as our own charitable work, the Society collaborates with other local charities to achieve its objectives. Kingswood House was once one of the great houses of Dulwich and the current house dates from the late 19th century. Originally the home of John Lawson Johnston, the inventor of Bovril, and then a family of Russian royalty, the house is now the home of Kingswood Arts, a brilliant local charity. Our local history group is working with Kingswood Arts on a project called Seasons of Kingswood Life, with the aim of collecting memories of the house and estate. Do you have any memories or family stories of Kingswood? If so please let us know. The project will culminate in an exhibition at the house.
I hope that you enjoy this autumn edition of the Journal. For sports enthusiasts we have an article on the planned development at Dulwich Sports Club on page 7. Public transport in the area is always a focus of our work and you will find an update on page 10. For those of you interested in culture, look out for the article on the Dulwich Choral Society on page 18. The Choral Society is collaborating with the Dulwich Symphony Orchestra on a major concert in the autumn which will comprise some 90 performers. An event not to be missed!
Finally, we have had a number of enquiries relating to the additional cost incurred as a result of the SGM that was held in May. For those interested, a summary of the costs, reviewed by our independent examiner of accounts, has been posted to the website under the section ‘About the Dulwich Society’.
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Journal Deliveries
We are delighted that the popularity of the AGM has resulted in more member engagement with the Society. Thank you in particular to those who have recently volunteered to deliver the Journal. Your efforts will ensure that more of our subscription income goes to local good causes. We should still be pleased to find volunteers to deliver around East Dulwich Grove, Goose Green, Champion Hill and Peckham Rye. Please contact our Membership Secretary on
WiFi in Dulwich Village
The Dulwich Estate is still working on introducing public WiFi across the North and South Parade in Dulwich Village. At the time of writing, the internet lines are in place and the system is at the testing phase. This should enable better access to the Pay by Phone parking app. The Dulwich Society has been pushing for a solution to this problem for many years.
Dulwich Picture Gallery
Work has begun on developing the Lovington Sculpture Meadow, intended to be a ‘land art form’, home to 130 trees as well as sculptures and a ground source heat pump.
The London Festival of Architecture has also announced a competition for a new ‘playable sculptural structure’ at the Dulwich Picture Gallery. This comes five years after Pricegore and Yinka Ilori completed a ‘Colour Palace’ pavilion at the gallery.
The winning team, to be announced in December, will receive a build budget of £80,000 to develop and deliver their installation within the sculpture garden. The project is expected to have a 10-year lifespan.
Hunts Slip Road
Throughout August the Hunts Slip Road roundabout was closed to carry out a Cycle Safety Scheme.
Through September and October, Hunts Slip Road itself will be closed to vehicles, although pedestrian and cyclist access will be permitted.
Let It Grow!
The Dulwich Estate joined the national campaign No Mow May by leaving more than 30 sites to grow this year. This is part of the Estate’s commitment to enhance biodiversity, by boosting habitats for local wildlife on road sides and residential estates. The meadow flowers and grasses which grew attracted bees, beetles, butterflies and moths and the Dulwich Society whole-heartedly approves of this measure.
Cox’s Walk Footbridge
The weather in May and June delayed progress in rebuilding the footbridge. The requirement to install new foundations and access has made rebuilding a lengthy process. Additional work has also been required to the beams supporting the bridge deck. Completion of the works is expected in October 2024.
Dulwich Estate Scheme of Management
The Scheme of Management has updated its Guidelines for Residents to prioritise carbon reduction and energy efficiency when planning home development.
Guidelines now include advice on installation of mechanical plants, like ground source heat pumps, and electric vehicle charging points. The guidelines can be found at www.thedulwichestate.org.uk/property-on-the-estate/residential-freehold/applications-for-building-works
East Dulwich Road
Southwark Council is undertaking a flood alleviation scheme in Peckham Rye Park and Common. Two bunds (gentle embankments) will be built, with drainage and landscaping. One of these will border East Dulwich Road, where it crosses the Park.
Dulwich Village Roadworks
The Council began work in July 2024 and it is estimated to run though to 15 November 2024. This scheme involves putting in new, wider pavements, more pedestrian crossings, more trees, separating pedestrians, cyclists and motorists, traffic calming to reduce cyclists’ speed, road resurfacing and new outdoor seating.
During the autumn, the Dulwich Estate will resurface the forecourt to the front of the shops in the North Parade. For details visit www.thedulwichestate.org.uk.
Road resurfacing, carried out by Aquinna Homes, will take place at the new housing development on Gilkes Place, between July and September 2024.
The Council expects to carry out a statutory consultation for a proposed Controlled Parking Zone scheme on Gilkes Crescent, Gilkes Place, Calton Avenue and East Dulwich Grove in September 2024.
The Council further intends to remove the diagonal (echelon) parking outside the shops in Dulwich Village, following a road safety audit which showed safety concerns for pedestrians and cyclists. New kerbside parking for shoppers will be created outside the shops, Gilkes Place and Gilkes Crescent, which will be timed paid-for parking.
The Council intends to implement the new parking schemes during November and December 2024, although this is subject to the outcome of the formal statutory consultation process. At the end of the scheme there is expected to be new disabled parking, cycle parking and a new loading bay outside the shops.
Plans for changes to the Red Post Hill / Dulwich Village junction are still being developed and the Council hopes to implement this in early 2025.
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By Richard Wingfield, Development Director
In the Summer Journal, James, our Chair, highlighted a new project that the Society is undertaking to look at its long-term strategic development. Building on the adoption of the new Rules at the AGM, this project aims to ensure the long-term sustainability and success of the Society. Amongst other things, we are looking at how the Society can grow and diversify its membership across the whole of the Dulwich area, encourage more members to volunteer and become active, and best meet its charitable objects and members’ needs through its activities and events. Ultimately, we’ll be developing a strategy that can guide the Society over the next few years.
A small subgroup of the Trustees will be driving this work. But with a significant increase in membership in the last twelve months, and the recent SGM and AGM demonstrating a keenness among many members to share their thoughts and ideas on how the Society should develop, we are keen to hear from our membership as an input into our strategic planning. As such, we have put together a survey open to all members, available at www.dulwichsociety.com/membership, and open until Thursday, 31 October. The survey asks a range of questions about the Society’s current activities and events, what people think is working well, and where the Society could look to develop and improve further.
We encourage as many members as possible to participate. The results of the survey will feed into a strategy to guide how we work to deliver the Society’s objects, and we look forward to providing updates on this as it develops. If you have any questions, please do get in touch with me by emailing
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By Claire Richards
Members of the Dulwich Society Executive Committee were pleased to visit Dulwich Sports Club in July, to meet with the Club President, Nikhil Roy, Secretary, Susie Giles and others. We were shown their development plans and pressed them on the environmental issues which matter to us. The work planned affects many in Dulwich, offering on the one hand improved sports facilities for people of all ages in this long-established and much-loved club, and on the other, the likelihood of increased traffic.
By the date of publication of this Journal, the period for comments to Southwark Council will be closed and there is likely to be a ruling. At the time of writing, 261 comments had been made on the Southwark Planning Applications website, of which 225 were in support and 34 against. The objections centre mostly on the effect of noise and light pollution for local residents, the relocation of the croquet lawns and an anticipated increase in traffic.
Dulwich Sports Club has been planning this development for more than three years, and we were pleased to note how extensively they have thought through the proposed changes. The new padel tennis courts are being placed in the western corner of the grounds, behind the embankment where the railway lines intersect, in order to keep this somewhat noisy sport away from residential houses as far as possible. Inevitably, some residents in Stradella Road are worried that new noise and light pollution will consequently affect them and the Dulwich Society has asked that this be assessed once the facilities are in use, with mitigation measures introduced if necessary.
The quieter croquet lawns, mostly used by older age groups, are being moved to the Turney Road side of the grounds and although this will make them slightly further away for people arriving via Giant Arches, it is hoped that improvements to the Turney Road gate and improved pathways throughout the club may compensate. The club is proposing, and the Dulwich Society encourages, the introduction of a golf buggy or similar vehicle to assist less mobile users in reaching the croquet lawns. A fully accessible mini-pavilion is being built near the new croquet lawns, with toilet facilities for the comfort of users. As it takes time to grow the grass for a new croquet lawn, some of the current grass tennis courts will be re-purposed to provide temporary croquet space. Other accessibility improvements are also being made to the main pavilions to benefit members and their guests.
The club is keen to provide wider access to sport across the local community and offer sports options for members of all ages. It has almost 1000 adult members, and some 1100 junior tennis and cricket players. The retention of croquet and the introduction of padel, which is a lower impact sport than tennis, signal their wish to provide facilities for everyone, not just the super-fit. Padel courts are smaller than tennis courts and consequently there is less running and less impact on the knees. Less physical strength is required too, making it ideal for both older and younger players. As padel is typically played in a doubles format, it is also highly sociable.
Consideration is also being given to safety, with a new high ball net installed around the eastern side of the cricket pitch to protect other users of the club from flying cricket balls.
The Wildlife, Garden and Tree Committees of the Dulwich Society have an interest in seeing an increase in biodiversity. While the club has committed to make a 17% increase in biodiversity as a result of their development, in practice they hope to do rather more, with varied planting and more native species. A positive is the concrete retaining wall by the car park being replaced by a grassy bank, planted with wild flowers. A negative is the synthetic turf which forms the playing surface of the new padel tennis courts. The overall 17% increase in biodiversity takes all this into account.
Our Environment Committee has a keen interest in traffic matters and pedestrian safety. The club is aware of the safety issues where Giant Arches Road meets Burbage Road, but it doesn’t own this access road, which limits its ability to take action. The club is nonetheless discussing with the road owner and the Council ways of improving safety for pedestrians, who are not always aware of the danger of cars suddenly emerging from Giant Arches Road across the pavement.
On pursuing the ‘green’ agenda which is important to so many of us, we learnt that the south-facing roof of the main pavilion building will in due course have solar panels, a borehole will be created for irrigating the grounds and a new cycle hub will be created, encouraging members to arrive at the club by bike. In future it is possible that parking will be provided for Lime bikes and e-scooters. The number of car park spaces is not being increased, in order to discourage members from arriving by car, but Burbage Road residents are naturally very concerned that there will be an increase in traffic as a result of the new facilities at the club. It is reassuring to learn that 50% of members live within a one-mile radius, enabling them to walk and cycle and that more than 50% already travel there by non-car methods.
Nikhil Roy, President of Dulwich Sports Club, said “This is an exciting scheme, but it is important to remember that the starting point is the need to secure the financial future of the club. This will enable these and future investments, whether they be environmental or the essential maintenance and improvement of our ageing infrastructure. The plan was designed in collaboration with all our sections to find a suitable solution to this need.”
The development at Dulwich Sports Club clearly entails a difficult compromise between providing excellent leisure facilities and protecting the environment. We hope that the Club will continue to listen and respond to the concerns of its neighbours and we were reassured by the level of care it has taken in developing its plans.
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By Sharon O’Connor
When Peckham Town FC’s ground on Dulwich Common was repeatedly vandalised during the pandemic, the club’s volunteers rolled up their sleeves and set to work. The fly-tipped rubble was cleared away, the BBQ burns on the pitch repaired and the broken windows replaced. Vandalism still sometimes occurs but now the club concentrates on what matters: playing football and providing opportunities for young people.
Peckham Town FC was established in 1982 by the then 13-year-old Bryan Hall, who still runs the club today. He put a flyer on a lamppost near Barry Rd: ‘Players Wanted’. ‘Our first ever match we got beaten 18-0. The kit we wore was made by the residents of the old people’s home where my auntie worked - she took me to the market to get the material. I wrote the player numbers on the shirts with felt tip pen!’.
Fast forward 40 years: Bryan is a PE teacher at South Bank University Academy, a secondary school in Southwark, and hugely proud of the club, which now fields 28 affiliated and school teams. He is at the ground after work practically every day: mending fences, repairing the toilets and most of all tending the pitch. He laughs that when visiting supporters admire the pitch, ‘I’m like a peacock, the feathers come out’. Bryan even designed the club’s crest which contains the English flag to represent Henry I (who once owned Peckham) and blue wavy lines to signify the River Peck. And as Peckham is inextricably linked to the BBC classic sitcom ‘Only Fools and Horses’, Brian added yellow and black to the crest for the Trotter’s Reliant van.
For a small club, Peckham have big dreams. Currently at Level 11, Step 7 in the English football pyramid (the top level of amateur football), they play in the Kent County Premier League, where attendances average 30-50. Peckham regularly get 200-300 supporters. A few years ago, Peckham secured promotion, making them eligible to play in the FA Vase and potentially in the FA Cup, but they were unable to accept the promotion as the ground has no floodlights. They do, however, boast the world’s smallest football stand: a tiny replica of their actual stand, made with some leftover materials. Promotion remains firmly in their sights, and with it that football fairytale dream of playing in an FA Cup tie.
Grassroots football is totally reliant on volunteers and Peckham Town is no exception. Duncan Hart is another unsung hero who keeps the club going and is Club Development Manager. Duncan was once asked the difference between grassroots football and the Premier Division and replied ‘You can’t shout abuse at the players, partly because they aren’t getting paid so don’t deserve it but mostly because they are big burly builders from Kent. And they are only three metres away!’.
Another volunteer is Mary Phillip, first team coach and the only female manager of a senior men’s team. She was a distinguished footballer herself and one of the first female footballers to turn professional. She won Premier League and FA Cup titles with three London clubs, and with Arsenal she was part of the only team so far (male or female) to win the Quadruple: the Premier League, the FA Cup, the Premier League Cup and the European Cup. Mary played for England 65 times including in two World Cups and was the first black female captain of England. She says that one of the challenges she faces as the manager of the men’s team is recognition: ‘At away matches I get bypassed all the time. People walk past me to the first male coach, expecting him to be the manager. Opposition teams often mistake me for the physio or a player’s girlfriend. When they realise I’m the manager, I get a little look’.
Mary has volunteered at Peckham since around 2000, when she started the club’s youth sides, and despite working at a Bermondsey primary school, having four children and coaching the senior side, still rolls up her sleeves to wash the Peckham kits or mark the pitch if needed. Mary says ‘I like to think it’s the community feel that attracts people to Peckham Town’. Mary has big dreams for the club: to keep the youth teams going and push the senior team up a couple of ranks.
Community partners include the Damilola Taylor Trust, which seeks to reduce violence in communities. The late Richard Taylor OBE, Damilola’s father, delivered a poignant speech at the ground, highlighting the club’s support for the charity. The club also partners with the MS Society and helps raise awareness and funding for the charity. Even Bell House in College Rd gets involved and sponsors Gustavo Oliveira, a Peckham Town FC football coach who also works at Arsenal!
If you’re walking in Dulwich Park on a Saturday afternoon, you might hear a Peckham Town crowd across the park. We would encourage you to get along to a match. Tickets are £4 for adults and free for children. There’s a bar with hot drinks and Brick Brewery beers, and a warm welcome.
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Visit to Fulham Palace Gardens
11am, Wednesday 18th September 2024
Bishop’s Avenue, SW6 6EA
We have arranged a guided tour of these Grade II* listed historic gardens. Fulham Palace was the historic home of the Bishops of London until the 1970s. Set within 13 acres, there is a three-acre walled garden, largely laid out in the 18th Century; a knot garden laid out in the 1830s; and a magnificent vinery. The garden was fully restored in 2011 and has a café on site. Our tour will last approximately 75 minutes.
Tickets for the visit and tour are £10 via buytickets.at/dulwichsocietyvisit/1199896. At the time of writing, a small number of tickets were still available.
Fungus Walk
11am, Sunday 13th October 2024
Dulwich Park
Join Fabrice Boltho for a guided fungus walk in Dulwich Park. As former countryside with ancient trees and some woodland, the Park is home to a wide variety of mushrooms, brackets, jellies and slime moulds, all of which play important roles in its ecology that will be explained during the walk. Fabrice leads fungus identification sessions at the South London Botanical Institute (SLBI). The walk will last about 1½ hours. Please note that this is not a culinary or foraging walk. No dogs please.
Tickets for the walk are limited and cost £7 each, with proceeds to the SLBI. buytickets.at/dulwichsocietyvisit/1327318
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By Barry Coker, retiring Environment Group member
Rail
For over 160 years Dulwich has benefited from a network of trains serving stations in East, West, North and South Dulwich (Sydenham Hill for Crystal Palace as it was formerly called). In addition, on our borders are stations of increasing importance at Herne Hill with its Thameslink Services (and connection to the Elizabeth Line at Farringdon), and Denmark Hill with its London Overground Services (including the soon-to-be-renamed Windrush Line). For many Dulwich residents rail travel around London has never been easier. However, this is not the case for all.
Our stations can present challenges and serious obstacles for families with small children, the elderly and the disabled. For example, North Dulwich, with its excellent exterior design and road bridge (heavily influenced by the Dulwich Estate), is inaccessible to many with its lack of step-free access.
The Dulwich Society has been arguing for improvements at all of our stations for many years. Some of these achievements are small, for example the relocation of London-bound trains at North Dulwich. Trains now stop at the northern end of platform 1, avoiding the former considerable climb into or out of carriages when trains stopped at the southern end of the platform.
While we have achieved other improvements at our stations, such as additional seating and shelters, step-free access remains a challenge. In simple terms, our requests have not been considered by Government (who control the money) as a priority. The need for improvements is measured by a variety of factors, including passenger numbers and stations with interchange facilities. Hence Peckham Rye and Denmark Hill, with their considerable numbers of passengers visiting the station or changing trains, have, in recent years, been given priority.
Improvements to any station involve navigating specific problems. For example, at West Dulwich the embankment places complicated demands on any design to provide step-free access. North Dulwich station has an additional challenge as any structural changes, such as installing lifts, require the involvement of English Heritage. A further issue identified by Network Rail at this station is the need to relocate signals!
Providing improved access to our rail stations remains a priority for the Dulwich Society.
To achieve improvements in access to the railways and improvements in services requires regular contact with a range of bodies, such as the railway operators, Network Rail and the Department for Transport, in addition to Councillors and our local MP.
Buses
In contrast to railways, bus services through Dulwich have a much shorter history. The no. 37 bus route (originally Peckham to Hounslow Bus Garage) has been in existence since before the formation of London Transport. In the early 1970s the route was divided into two, with the section through Dulwich running between Peckham and Putney Heath.
Similarly, West Dulwich is served by the no. 3 bus route - another very old bus route, formerly running between Crystal Place and Camden Town. Now you could ride this bus the length of South and Croxted Roads to Herne Hill, Brixton and then on to Victoria.
Indeed, it was not until the construction of the Victoria Line that a London Transport bus service was to run through Dulwich Village to Brockley. The P4 route was established as a feeder service to the new underground line. This originally ran from Brixton into North Dulwich and then along Court Lane - it was subsequently rerouted to run through the Village and on to the South Circular and extended to Lewisham.
Improvements in bus services can also take a considerable time to achieve. It took over 15 years to achieve the objective of extending the no. 42 bus route from its previous terminus at Red Post Hill to East Dulwich. This route provides easier access for residents living in North Dulwich to the Tessa Jowell Health Centre and to Kings College Hospital.
London Transport is now moving towards the introduction of an all-electric fleet of buses, which will result in environmental improvements (and the ability to recharge your phone at the same time). There are already some examples of bus routes near to Dulwich which are “all electric” e.g. nos. 63 and 484, but the bus services within Dulwich are yet to be converted or replaced.
Priority bus improvements for the Dulwich Society include East - West travel across Dulwich. This could include:
- East Dulwich to West Dulwich via Dulwich Village (this route could be extended to the new second entrance at Peckham Rye Station (being built) in Bellenden Rd, which provides lifts to all platforms. At the western end a logical extension of this new route would be to West Norwood.
- Diverting the no. 201 bus route from the South Circular (Croxted Road) to Herne Hill via the Art Gallery, Dulwich Village and Half Moon Lane.
- The conversion of all Dulwich buses to electric.
We Need You!
There are considerable opportunities to help improve all aspects of public transport within Dulwich and in the surrounding area for the benefit of all Dulwich Residents. This involves meeting with transport companies and consultation groups and considering a range of local issues, for example the siting of bus stops, seeking the provision of information boards which show when the next bus will arrive, or the provision of a covered bus shelter (with seats) at the popular Dulwich Village bus stop in East Dulwich Grove. There are also opportunities to provide local input into one significant development. Over the next ten years, with the extension of the Bakerloo Line to Lewisham, there needs to be a new inter-change at the Elephant and Castle between the Thameslink service and the Bakerloo/Northern Lines.
Continued improvements in Public Transport are only possible by the active involvement of local people who can work with the Dulwich Society Environment Committee and public transport providers, etc. If you are interested, we need local people to get involved and support our wider community. Please email
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By Tom Palmer, Environment Group member
In and around Dulwich we are blessed with extensive green areas made up of woodland, playing fields, sports grounds, cemeteries and numerous public parks, both large and small. A rich variety of private gardens and the wilderness next to train lines make up an ecological haven within London, to be protected, enhanced, cherished and enjoyed. There is space here to allow nature to find its rhythm, with the potential to thrive, year after year.
Our parks are central to this network, requiring ever more nourishment, faced with the challenges of a changing climate. They are also essential for the community to enjoy a variety of activities and escape from urban living. To quote Peter Roseveare, Chair of the Dulwich Society’s Wildlife Group, “Parks are for people and oases for wildlife. As habitats, they are our creation for adaptable woodland and wetland creatures that can thrive or suffer according to the quality of our management.”
Like all public space within cities, parks are subject to various pressures from different interests. They provide open space to play sports and to exercise, space for children and for much needed adult leisure time, all essential for our physical and mental wellbeing. This is particularly important to those without private outside space.
‘Friends’ groups work tirelessly to maintain and improve the balance and allowing uncut grass meadows to flourish has particular ecological benefits. Britain has lost 98% of its natural grass meadow since the end of WWII. We have also lost around 80% of our insects since 2004. Providing this habitat within urban parks presents a tremendously exciting opportunity and such areas need not be to the exclusion of human interaction. Indeed, the opposite is true, with wild flowers to be enjoyed, paths cut through or long grass mazes for children to explore, allowing an increasingly rare sense of freedom.
However, these programmes, which aim to create a greater variety of natural habitats within our parks, are subject to an immediate and increasing threat. Festivals!
The word ‘festival’ is profoundly positive: the coming together of large numbers of people in celebration. Festivals held in local parks across London have increased dramatically in number and scale, testament to their popularity, particularly amongst younger age groups. They are easily accessible by public transport or active travel and a proportion of people in surrounding areas enjoy having them on their doorstep. Some festivals are long-running and have cultural significance, including the free Lambeth Country Show, held in Brockwell Park. Financially exhausted councils are desperate for the additional revenue commercial festivals bring in, which can then be used to fund the park’s maintenance costs and pay for improvements, whilst providing free, community-focused events.
But the word ‘festival’ has taken on a different connotation to many across the capital, including in Dulwich. One of dread and disruption; exclusion and noise oppression. This year the greatest impact has occurred at Brockwell Park, as the insolvency of Brand Events tm, the promoter of ‘Pub in the Park’, means Dulwich Park has been left relatively undisturbed (though a six-figure bill is left unpaid to the council). A substantial area of Brockwell Park was enclosed with high, heavy, metal fencing, constructed using thunderous machinery and HGVs. Diesel generators whirled and access to the events was restricted by cost and taste. Afternoons and evenings were endured through a backdrop of invasive sound levels and huge increases in traffic, bringing more pollution and parking issues, which in turn deteriorated walking and cycling conditions. A trail of destruction has been left for the remaining weeks of summer.
Representations can be made both for and against the granting of festival licences. Objections must be made on specific grounds, namely the prevention of crime and disorder, public safety, the prevention of public nuisance and the protection of children from harm. Complaints regarding excessive noise levels or dangerous road conditions should elicit an immediate response from the relevant authority. Matters causing human disturbance have comparable effects on wildlife. Noise levels disturb animals and birds, often during the critical spring and summer months. Many festivals are held during early summer, coinciding with peak wildlife activity.
Heavy machinery and festival infrastructure compact the ground. Where this occurs over tree roots, pore space within the soil is reduced, which can lead to poor tree health, disease and death. Mature trees are impossible to immediately replace and whilst tree planting is essential, saplings offer relatively little carbon capture during the decades they take to reach maturity. Especially in unfavourable weather conditions, as happened this year, large areas of grass can be torn up by heavy footfall, vehicles and infrastructure. It can take many weeks for nature to recover.
These are issues of which politicians, councils and park management teams are acutely aware, with much public debate. They were addressed at the Dulwich and West Norwood General Election Hustings, where access, noise and park health were set against festival popularity, financial realities, green event strategies and current environmental projects within parks. There has been no commitment to reduce the scale of events, nor to schedule away from critical periods for nature and wildlife. However, the Dulwich Society and ‘Friends’ Groups are constantly seeking ways to limit festival impact on all aspects of our local parks and surrounding areas.
Smaller festival sites would create an opportunity to rotate the area used for events within a park yearly, allowing the ground used for the previous year’s events to recover after being aerated, seeded and planted. Current planning dictates that areas of low ecological importance should be used year after year and other areas of a park used to improve habitats. Whilst acknowledging physical practicalities and this rationale, it is neither inevitable nor desirable that such areas of low biodiversity exist at all, and questions might be asked where this sacrificial approach leads.
Other mitigation strategies could include limiting heavy infrastructure to essentials, placed far away from tree roots. HGVs might unload on park perimeters with much smaller shuttle vehicles used in the park. Boarding might be employed to distribute weight more evenly. Longer periods of calm between acts might be scheduled. Surrounding roads might be further restricted to bus, taxi and ‘blue badge holder’ access, to address parking and pollution. Some of the above is already part of best practice.
This all has the potential to increase costs and reduce revenue, however there is already a debate as to whether public parks should be enclosed for private festivals at all, and if they are, such compromises to better protect access, sports pitches and natural habitats would seem reasonable. Not every festival site needs to be turned into a theme park where musical acts are the main attraction.
The strength of feeling on this issue is something in which we take some heart. ‘Friends’ groups and related charities offer volunteering opportunities and welcome community involvement. Contact details are provided below. More support would add weight to these groups’ voices in decision making processes, whilst volunteers help enormously to enhance and preserve the valuable natural environments which our parks offer, enjoyed by wildlife and ourselves.
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By Ian McInnes
It is good to see the new development in Dulwich Village, on the old S G Smith garage and motor repair site, finally coming to completion - a few weeks over nine years since planning permission was first granted on 14 July 2015. It was designed for the Dulwich Estate and S G Smith by Panter Hudspith, the architects for the Estate’s recent GP surgery, shop and residential building in Croxted Road. The original scheme had 12 units made up of four four-bedroom houses, four five-bedroom houses, three ‘affordable‘ one-bedroom apartments and one ‘affordable’ wheelchair accessible three-bedroom house. Car parking was in the basement, accessed from Gilkes Place.
Planning consent was granted, despite nearly 500 objections from local residents. The site was then sold to a housing developer, McCulloch Homes, for £5.25m. They called the development ‘The Gilkes’ and decided to use their own architects to develop the detailed design. They also tried unsuccessfully to have the social housing provision removed but did gain approval to some detail design amendments. Unfortunately, by the time work was due to start, the financial situation, exacerbated by the Covid shutdowns in 2020, meant that, other than demolition, nothing was happening. McCulloch Homes subsequently sold the site on to Aquinna Homes in 2021 - they changed the development’s name to ‘Soane Place’ and have built out the scheme over the last three years. They also managed to remove the affordable housing requirement. The sales brochure appeared to target wealthy overseas investors, whereas you would have thought that the most likely purchasers already live locally or are families moving to the area for the schools.
The completed scheme is similar to the consented one. The five-bedroom homes have been lost, but the overall number of units remains the same. While the row of gable roofs is not something that is typical Dulwich, the houses fit in well in the street context and the overall massing responds to the scale of the surrounding houses, tall in the middle and lower at each end - although the section over the entrance to the underground car park and opposite the Village Hall is fussier and less successful. Construction is traditional brick and block with projecting precast reconstituted stone bays, bronze aluminium windows, and tiled, artificial slate, sloping roofs. All units also have photovoltaic solar panels. Money has been spent on the external works, particularly the front steps and railings. Closer examination reveals slightly clunky detailing in the reconstructed stone panels and parapets, some crude lead flashings, and an annoying offset of the down pipes on the front and rear elevations. The specification of the interior finishes is high, as you would expect for the price. Nearly every bedroom has an ensuite, while the larger houses have underfloor heating (with air-conditioning in some rooms). All units have door entry, security and sprinkler systems.
Overall, the development is clearly a considerable improvement on the old brick and metal-clad workshops that used to be on the site. While some will argue that apartments for elderly downsizers might have been a better option on the site and the lack of ‘affordable’ housing is unfortunate, the result is certainly an enhancement to the centre of the Village and the builder should be given credit for building the scheme out without major disruption to the local area.
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As part of the research into the Soane Place article, the Society asked local Village Ward councillor Margy Newens if she could provide information on two points: how the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) for the site was allocated; and what happened to the social housing content that was an integral part of the original planning application. We received a full and prompt response.
CIL is a payment made by developers which theoretically goes towards the costs of any work required to increase the capacity of the existing local infrastructure to support development. It covers additional facilities like libraries, healthcare, education, council-run sports facilities and enhancement to local parks. The CIL on the Soane Place project amounted to £593,000. There is an agreed Council protocol on how the money is allocated, including a nominal 5% overall service charge to cover the administration costs of the whole system. In this case £100k went to the Greater London Authority and £360k to the Borough Strategic CIL fund (contributing to funding the proposed Bakerloo Line extension, for example). This left £102k to be spent locally; some of the money was used to upgrade the basketball courts in Dulwich Park (£20k), while the remainder is going towards the improvement works to the pavement in front of the north shopping parade in Dulwich Village and the enhancement of Dulwich Square.
The 2015 planning consent also required three of the twelve units to be available to rent for social housing tenants. Both the two housing developers involved, McCulloch Homes and Aquinna Homes, found considerable difficulty in persuading any social housing provider to take over the three units. This is becoming a common problem with small numbers of social housing units which come as part of infill housing developments - social housing landlords are uninterested. For them, the ongoing costs and practicalities of managing a small number of these units are just not viable.
In this kind of situation, Southwark Council operated a ‘payment in lieu’ system as a way for smaller developments to meet the Council’s minimum policy requirement for ‘affordable’ and social housing. In the case of Soane Place the developer paid the Council just under £2.5m and the money was allocated to the Council’s own social housing fund. Southwark is the largest social landlord in London, and the fourth largest in the country after Birmingham, Leeds and Sheffield. Since 2014 it has built over 3,000 council homes, mainly in the Faraday, Old Kent Road and Peckham wards.
It appears that, owing to financial pressures, a decision was made at the last Council cabinet meeting to stop building its own developments on its own land holdings, and instead to rely entirely on a ‘development agreement’ model which involves leasing land to a developer. The current redevelopment of the Aylesbury Estate at the Elephant and Castle is an example. Realistically, the chance of the Soane Place funding being spent in the Dulwich area was small anyway, as the larger sites that make stand-alone social housing schemes viable are not readily found in this area.
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