Herne Hill Junction Regeneration: FAQs
Is it true that HLF funding for the regeneration of Brockwell Park will be affected by the Junction proposals?
Dulwich & West Norwood MP Tessa Jowell has secured a reassurance through the Heritage Lottery Fund that plans to improve the junction at Herne Hill will not have an impact on HLF funding for the restoration of Brockwell Park.
Tessa Jowell said: 'I am pleased to report, after discussions with the Director of the HLF, that plans for improving the junction near the gates at Dulwich Road/Norwood Road will have no impact on the funding of improvements to the park itself.
‘The uncertainty that has been generated by the Project Monitor has been unhelpful and unsettling for all those involved in these two projects.
'The plans for the junction are well thought through and have been the subject of a long and detailed consultation process stretching over a number of years.
'Plans to restore and improve the park using HLF funding are very exciting and we have already seen some of the improvements being delivered. I now look forward to these two projects progressing to the benefit of those living in Herne Hill now and for generations to come.'
Val Shawcross, GLA Member for Lambeth and Southwark also welcomed the news: 'I have been working with Tessa, local Councillors and local residents and representatives from across the community to secure an improved park and an improved junction.
'The proposed new pedestrian crossings will dramatically improve safety and will make the park more accessible and pleasant to users. The current configuration of the junction is congested, dangerous and makes Herne Hill unattractive to visitors. The proposed scheme is the result of great efforts on behalf of many local stakeholders and is the best possible compromise for all concerned.
'I am pleased that Tessa has been able to obtain reassurances on this key local issue.'
What is the reason for the Project?
The Centre of Herne Hill is ill-defined and lacks a community focal point. As a result, the area does not have the commercial and social vitality it merits. The entrance to Brockwell Park is unworthy of one of London’s premier open spaces. It is difficult to access with limited or non-existent facilities for pedestrians and cyclists and has a hostile urban environment. The junction is poorly designed, which causes long tail-backs and bus delays; it encourages dangerous and illegal traffic manoeuvres making life very hazardous for pedestrians and the six approach roads suffer from congestion resulting in poor air quality in the area.
What are the Project’s Aims?
The aims are to provide a holistic solution to these problems, incorporating high quality design and environmental improvements, which integrate the Park with the urban centre and help economic regeneration of the area. This will be to the benefit of everyone – park users, residents, shoppers, traders, pedestrians, cyclists, public transport users and vehicle drivers.
What are the priorities?
In developing the design proposals, the order of priority has been: better pedestrian and cycle safety and ease of movement, overall environmental improvements, access to the park, area regeneration, public transport interchange with shorter bus journey times and vehicle movement.
How is the Project managed?
The project, involves Lambeth Transport and Highways Officers working together with the local community and with the cooperation of Lambeth Parks, Southwark Council, and Transport for London (TfL). It is managed by a Project Board whose members include Lambeth and Southwark Councillors and Officers, as well as representatives of local residents and traders.
Where will the funding come from?
The latest estimate shows the cost of the project will be some £1.6 million. This will come from a variety of sources including: Bus Priority Allocation, London Cycle Network, ‘Streets for People’, Local Safety Schemes, Lambeth’s Borough Spending/Local Implementation Plan and a ‘Section 106’ allocation – most of which will be inward investment into the Borough.
What are the Project’s main features?
- Pedestrian priority for the southern end of Railton and closing it to through traffic.
- An open space in the centre of the Junction linking Herne Hill and the Park, providing safer access to the Park and reducing the dominance of traffic in the junction.
- Improvements to Brockwell Passage to make it safer, providing direct access to Dulwich Road.
- Removal of double-decker buses from the narrow residential side streets.
- Simplifying the junction to reduce excess vehicle movements and providing more public space.
- Light-controlled crossings of all roads and an additional pedestrian crossing in Milkwood Road.
- Forward cycle stop-lines throughout and safer crossing points for cyclists.
- Improvements to road junctions giving more pavement space and direct crossings.
- A narrow slip road to improve traffic flow between Norwood Road and Dulwich Road.
- Additional bus lanes and a northbound bus stop in Norwood Road.
- Additional parking bays and more short-term parking for local shoppers.
- High-quality landscape throughout providing visual linkage between the streets and the park.
What are the main benefits?
- It will bring a renewed economic and social vitality to Herne Hill.
- Significantly improved park entrance, with pleasanter and safer access to Brockwell Park.
- Increased space and safety for pedestrians and cyclists in the junction and surrounding areas.
- Environmental improvements which will make the area and park entrance more attractive.
- Improved trading environment and encouragement for economic regeneration.
- More bus lanes, fewer bus delays and more rational interchanges, reducing journey times.
- Rerouting of double-decker buses away from narrow residential streets.
- Less pollution, smoother traffic flows and fewer hold-ups.
- Retention of the mature maple tree and more tree-planting in the junction and approach roads.
- Improved disabled access to the station.
Who supports the Project?
The 2004 consultation exercise showed 79% of respondents in favour of the scheme. Over 1,000 local people later signed a petition urging Lambeth to implement it. All Herne Hill and Village Ward Councillors support the scheme, as does our GLA member, Val Shawcross, and MP, Tessa Jowell. With only one exception, all local societies, residents’ groups and traders’ organisations support the project. Living Streets has also given its backing. English Heritage has been consulted since 2004 and has provided valuable advice and support for the demolition of the toilet block and the proposed changes at the Park boundary.
What will be the impact on Brockwell Park?
The redundant and unsightly toilet block will be removed, as will the unappealing walls and flower beds at the Herne Hill entrance. The mature maple tree will be retained on the new island with very little loss of vegetation. The view from the Park to Herne Hill will be simpler and more coherent with railings replacing the unsightly brick walls. People coming into the Park will be presented with an appropriate, attractive and uninterrupted 180° vista. Access to the Park will be very much safer for all pedestrians. With the re-landscaping of parts of Railton Road, there will be a ‘green corridor’ from the station to the park via the island – a unique pathway linking the community with the Park.
What alternative designs have been considered?
Initial proposals for the scheme, prepared by Atkins working to the London Bus Priority Network brief on behalf of TfL, were rejected as they favoured traffic measures at the expense of the holistic solution sought by the community. Likewise more radical solutions were discounted as having an unacceptable impact on the Park without the commensurate benefits. As well as the design scheme proposed in 2004, three other options were considered and modelled by independent consultants, MVA, to show the effect on the junction and the Park. Analysis of all four options has clearly shown that in terms of pedestrian, cycle and vehicle safety, bus movements, environmental quality, landscape design and smoothing vehicle flows, the option chosen provides the best ‘fit’ in achieving the project objectives, including minimising the impact on the Park. All four options and their modelling have been submitted in the planning application and are available to all for scrutiny.
Do the proposals not just mean more traffic?
This is emphatically not a traffic scheme, but a holistic solution to a problem that affects everyone living or working near, or using the Junction; as well as traders and the Park itself. The Junction will be simplified, with one less road coming into it and there will be more space for pedestrians. The design of the slip road will ensure that the speed of traffic using it is reduced. Overall traffic volumes are not set to go up, but traffic will flow more smoothly. Each of the roads leading into the junction has been examined. In most cases, the pavement area has been increased and the road space marginally reduced. The increased pavement area will support new tree planting in Railton Road, Rymer Street, Milkwood Road, Herne Hill and Half Moon Lane, as well as the island.
Could the impact on the Park have been less?
Ignoring the current very unsatisfactory arrangement at the Herne Hill gate entrance has never been considered a viable option. It is unsightly with a low level of public accessibility. Improving access is a central plank in the Heritage Lottery Fund requirements for the improvement of parks and the junction is part of this access. The need to take a small area of land from the Park for these improvements is recognised in Lambeth’s adopted Unitary Development Plan (UDP) 2007; and by English Heritage. The project also comes within the guidelines set out in Southwark’s current UDP. The area used for the scheme (0.2% of the total Brockwell Park area) is currently of low quality, compensated for by new public spaces created and the recognised benefits of the overall scheme. It would not be possible to reduce the area further without compromising the safety of all users, the quality of entrance design and the ease of access to the Park. In mitigation for the small loss of park area the adopted scheme will increase the amount of attractive open space available for public access. The option exists to increase the Metropolitan Open Land to include the island.
What consultations have been carried out?
A consultation exercise was carried out by Lambeth Council in November/December 2004, when views were sought from nearly 3,000 people. Park interests and representatives from a variety of local organisations have sat on the Project Steering Committee, which led to the adoption of the current scheme. Fully updated information has been available in the Herne Hill Society Newsletter and website, the Herne Hill Forum Blogspot and articles in the FoBP Newsletter. Information on the scheme has been displayed at the last three Country Shows; and in many local restaurants and shops. Updates on the project have been a feature of all Herne Hill Forum meetings; and a number of discussions have been held with FoBP representatives in meetings and on site.
What about the toilets?
The existing unsightly toilet block, which has been unused for many years, will be demolished. As the provision for new facilities was removed from the current Heritage Lottery Fund bid for the Park, the Project Board is pressing for replacement facilities to be built, whose design enhances rather than detracts from the Park. This is being considered separately by Lambeth Council.
What will happen to the drinkers?
The temporary current ‘drinkers’ corner’ will disappear. However, discussions are taking place with St Mungo's to identify alternative provisions within the Park.
What trees will be affected?
The scheme is designed to minimise the impact on the area’s mature trees. Of the eight trees and bushes affected, only one semi mature tree, a birch, will be removed, along with three small to medium sized ash trees, one thorn tree and one elder. A medium-sized horse chestnut and a large maple will be retained and there is provision for further planting in the Park and on the island.
What will happen if the project does not go ahead?
The current adopted scheme, which has been submitted for planning consent, is the result of many years work by the local community and council officers in consultation with all local societies and interested parties. Many options have been considered as the process has worked towards a logical and balanced solution that has gained the support of the vast majority in the community and will bring a wide range of benefits in mitigation of the very small loss of area with the park boundary.
There are no plans or funds from any other source for separate changes to the Park entrance, the immediate surrounding area or the road layout. The Junction will remain unchanged. The entrance to the Park will remain unsightly and unsafe to the disadvantage of everyone who uses it, including the people, traders and businesses of Herne Hill and to the detriment of the Park itself.
