Ladywell streetworks update

Conway had some staff working last Sunday and today, and there's some evidence that the pace of work is increasing.  I note, incidentally, that two of the four new trees on Algernon Road have been planted.

Robert Sheppard

Big Gun enlisted to deliver Conway rocket

Following representations from LVIG and Ladywell traders, Mayor Sir Steve Bullock will on Friday meet representatives of the Ladywell business community - and has invited contractor Conway to attend.  In its recent letter to the Mayor, LVIG Chairman Tony Rich wrote:

" . . . the Ladywell Village Improvement Group has fought hard for, and is strongly supportive of, the Ladywell public realm improvements currently underway . . . We write to you now, however, because we've been notified of further major slippage on the scheme - in particular that Ladywell Road is unlikely to be reopened until the end of October.  This significantly prolongs the disruption to local businesses, residents and others for whom Ladywell Road is the obvious route to work.  Whilst the scheme has experienced some unforeseen disruption I do feel that some of the delays could have been anticipated, obviated and/or minimised by better management of the contract, and the application of greater pressure on Conways to adhere to agreed timescales and to bring in more staff as necessary.  Clearly Ladywell is going to be a better, brighter, place once the works are completed, but I urge you to do everything you can to expedite completion of this project, especially for the sake of the businesses who, if we're not careful, will be out of business before the scheme is completed so will never see the benefit - which would be cruel. Whilst I appreciate you would not normally intervene personally in matters such as this I wonder whether you'd consider, in this instance, meeting with the senior manager at Conways responsible for this scheme to seek assurances in relation to early completion on-site.  The overrun of this scheme is causing a lot of bad feeling locally - which is shame as this is an excellent scheme - so LVIG urges you to do all you can to build bridges: in particular local business would, I am sure, welcome the Council's help in 're-launching' Ladywell, in the week the streetworks end, in the form of flyer, blog, twitter and website publicity so that nobody in SE13/SE4 in unaware that the brighter, better Ladywell is again "open for business".

Ladywell Tavern refurb underway . . . or so it seems

Whilst there were signs today of refurbishment works underway (see photo above), there was no obvious evidence upstairs or downstairs of the squatting first suggested on the Brockley Central Blogspot in early August.

Robert Sheppard

Local Business Exasperated by Slippage on Streetscape Works

Ladywell Road, looking east (taken today, 5 Sept 2013)

The Council has this week published the following statement:

"The [Ladywell Public Realm Improvements] scheme was originally expected to finish in September 2013.  However, work has been delayed because of ongoing and unforeseeable problems with underground services being located at an unusually shallow depth.  This has proved to be particularly true between Malyons Road and Chudleigh Road.  The carriageway work is now expected to be completed in mid October when the road will be reopened, and the paving of the footways will continue with an expected completion of the work around the end of November.

"A further issue, relating to underground cellars in Algernon Road, is currently being resolved. The contractor has now deployed additional staff and undertaken some working on weekends and Bank Holidays to speed up progress overall.  Many of these extra workers will focus on completing the works in Algernon Road and on the carriageway and drainage works in the remainder of Ladywell Road, before moving onto the footway works in Ladywell Road.

"The buses will be diverted down Phoebeth Road and Francemary Road whilst Chudleigh Road is closed at its junction with Ladywell Road. In order to facilitate this the humps in Phoebeth Road and Francemary Road will be replaced temporarily with speed cushions."

The Ladywell Village Improvement Group, which fought hard for these improvements, continues to believe they'll transform Ladywell for the better and, ultimately, boost the local economy.  Whilst some unforeseen problems have been encountered by Conways (the contractors), local traders have been suffering unreasonably because of the protracted works.  The Council must ensure Conways get Ladywell Road open quickly (i.e. earlier than specified above) and meet Ladywell traders to develop an action plan to get businesses up and running again as quickly as possible.