A job centre with 80 staff would bring increased business to dartmouth road during lunch trade so it would be favourable
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I agree with you Insight - but the downside will be that many poor unfortunate unemployed souls will be be forced to park their BMWs and Mercs on the yellow lines outside while they sign-on. Of course, thereās no fear of the parking fines being paid but the trafficās gonna be murder!
Going back over this thread thoughā¦
I was brought up to make do with whatever I could afford whilst trying my best to get to where Iād rather be as and when I could. So, is there anything wrong with that?
I shared a 9ft x 10ft bedroom with my brother and sister until we were 11, 12 and 13yrs old - and we were happy, well turned-out and well-balanced individuals with no signs of Jeremy Kylism about any of us.
At the age of 29, when my wife & I had our first child, we were living in a rented bedsit with a shared bathroom on the landing below - but I didnāt have a chip on my shoulder so it has never occurred to me that I may have been a victim of some cruel exploitation.
Back to the application, I accept that some of the windows being split by room partitions is a bit weird but apart from that I think the flats work quite well. But coming from the places Iāve lived in I would wouldnāt I!
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This convo is starting to verge into Politicos territory folks - which is fine, but please do reply as a new topic in the Politicos category where appropriate.
Note to all: to see political conversation on SE23.life, please join the Politicos group
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The amount of expensive cars that park on D Rd to quickly run in to sign on at the JC is shocking!
Weāre there day in day out so see this Mr & NONE of them visit the shops, BUT THEY SURE TAKE UP THE PARKING SPACES!
@anon5422159 please donāt move this into Politicos as itās about our community too x
I completely agree with what @Anotherjohn has said as I too was brought up to appreciate the simple things in life & strive to do better.
Completely with you on this boss x
Also have to say here that @Anotherjohn is the best shop landlord in FH & you wouldnāt find a more decent, fairer, down to earth, & involved landlord in our community that cares so much as he does.
Sorry Boss, had to be said 
Hello Chris, with respect, I only described the places where Iāve lived.
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Hi John, for what itās worth I totally agree with and respect your sentiments. Thereās no problem at all with what you said.
Itās just Iāve seen similar conversations turn political, so I wanted to pre-empt this and ask that any future political replies from other people are made as new topic(s).
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So can we agree to keep this convo here Chris as long as it relates to D Rd, regardless if itās our opinions on peeps claiming rightly or wrongly at the JC with their cars they shouldnāt be able to afford IF they really are not in employment or should I say making money one way or the other 
Yes, donāt panic! 
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Thanks dude 
Iād agree with Chris that this thread is wandering off topic. The future of Heron House is important to Dartmouth Road and this thread will be useful for keeping everyone informed about future plans. So letās keep it focused.
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I agree Rachael, letās get back on the Heron House development 
Please donāt preach to me about the obvious importance of Dartmouth Road to the town and to many, many people.
My main point is that a 350 sq ft one bedroom flat is very livable, despite the governmentās minimum living standards. So, on balance, notwithstanding my agreement with previous posters about the odd split-window & partition arrangements on some of the flats, I think theyād be nice, relatively affordable pads for lots of people.
I also wholly agree that the 80-employees office block would be good for local businesses.
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So the two options we know about at the moment are:
-
Office space for the whole building with 80 staff (and clients) for a JC
-
20 1 bed flats & 4 two bedroom flats with office space on the ground floor
I think both of these would work & give more business to cafes & coffee shops on D Rd.
But does anyone think Iām mad wishing that the ground floor could be shop units (I reckon you could get 6 shop fronts in there OR 4 shopfronts with an entrance to an indoor market using the back half of the ground floor space) I think this would be brilliant for shoppers in FH.
Then the flats could still go ahead above.
I donāt know the ins and outs of planning & costings for this but think it would be brilliant for D Rd shopping experience 
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Would that be an attractive thing for a developer, @Pauline, given that there are going to be empty units elsewhere on DR? I know Heron House has a prime location, but Iām thinking about Sydenham and the new development behind the Greyhound, and also the Orb - new build flats with a shop unit below. Those have all taken a long time to let. I donāt know if the one in the Orb has even been taken, and itās been at least a year. And itās not like there are a lot of free units on Sydenham Road, so these should be attractive. But very slow to let. Empty units in a prime location look bad.
When living in SE5 there was a plethora of new housing developments all with commercial units and almost always empty. Unless taken by Tesco Metro. Was not pleasant for the community.
Not sure if it would be attractive to a developer, also not sure how long units would take to be rented out.
My thinking. and wanting is a few quirky shops that fit in with our merry gang.
A gal can wish I suppose 
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Rachel, I agree that empty units can do a lot of harm, however, donāt know of any units that are being vacated on DR (he says with his fingers and toes crossed) and the currently empty ones, Montage (31), Cabin Cafe (57), Best of Both (71?) and Kids on the Hill (73?) are, as I understand it, all under offer and the ex-bakery at 41 is being refurbed with a view to letting in the near future. Iām afraid I donāt have a clue whatās going on with the old Indian restaurant at 61a though.
I would also doubt that a developer would see any value in converting the ground floor offices to retail as it would probably take a while to let but, hopefully, the supposedly-imminent start to the road and pavement improvements might make get the attention of some outside business owners whoāve been sitting on the fence.
Another thing that would make the ground floor of Heron House more attractive is if the blank-fronted old Midland Bank next door opened out onto the street again with some sort of interesting business. (One can dream!).
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Great to hear that the units that are being vacated will be filled again quickly.
Agreed - there are too many empty shops and I hope this is just a temporary situation. But I wonder how many will become hairdressers, tanning salons, money exchange, betting shops, and nail bars?
If the job centre was to close, it would be a good sized unit for Morrisons, Nandos, Cafe Rouge, Poundland, a GP surgery, or a small cinema. I think some of these ideas would be preferable to breaking it into small shops to become more hairdressers, nail bars, and betting shops. There are not enough large units in Forest Hill, so I would prefer not to lose another.
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Youāre right Michael - some of these shops are reopening as just more of those types of businesses, which, as you rightly say, arenāt good for the town.
I also agree that a larger anchor type store would be a help, but I wondered if the floor area is large enough - and if larger scale loading might be a problem with the new bus stop bang opposite.
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