If you would like to see more details of this project, please see the PDF document below:

 FLORENCE GREEN VISUAL DOCUMENT

Background:

In 2017 the need for Bike storage was raised as an issue at a Residents Association (TRA) meeting, following which the TRA negotiated with Lewisham Council to have 6 bike racks on the estate. The Council organised the installation of the bike racks with a private company and arranged for residents who applied for bike storage to pay a token fee for the first year, which would increase to £60 per year after that.

The private company has since gone bust, which means that the racks have ceased to be managed, so in order to find out when there are spaces that may have become free (eg when a resident leaves the estate), the TRA are about to put notices on the racks for current users to contact us, and information regarding further demand for cycle storage.

Currently:

What we are sure of though, is that there is definitely a need for more bike racks! Residents at meetings express how difficult and inconvenient it is carrying bikes up flights of stairs, especially in Deloraine House where there are no lifts, and also due to the ‘Clear Corridors’ policy, they have to store bikes in small flats. The TRA viewed the initial installation as a ‘pilot’ to see how much demand there was and whether it was running smoothly, the intention has always been that there would be more, for example the TRA rep for Florence Terrace had met and agreed with a local Councillor the site of at least 1 rack for that part of the estate, but more racks have still not materialised, despite assurances.

The TRA raised the issue again with Lewisham Homes (LH), and in 2021 the then LH Community Relations Officer joined TRA reps on an estate inspection, as the TRA had identified the basement of Heston House as potential bike storage. The basement was originally a communal laundry/drying area for residents to hang their washing, which has since been neglected and been disused for many decades and needs work done on it regardless (due to damp and and mosquito infestations!) but it is a substantial space and the suggestion was that an area could quite easily be secured to provide a smaller but secure area for bikes. It would also be an ideal place to provide electric bike charging points.

We have raised this again to our new Councillor Brenda Dacres, when she attended our TRA meeting in July this year, she explained that historically funding was provided by TFL, but whether funding is available now is uncertain, but Cllr Dacres also said she would raise the issue with the Community Relations Officer, and also advised the following:

What You can do:

Residents should register their interest – the more people that need them, the more of a priority it becomes!

You can register with Lewisham Council via this link, and please let us know, by email, or comment below, so we can show how much of a demand there is for them across the estate – and better still, come to a TRA meeting and bring it up with Lewisham Homes Officers and our local Councillors in person!