Bellenden Residents' Group (BRG)

It would be so wonderful if the Zoetrope above the entrance to Rye Lane from the Choumert car park were actually made to work (never has to my knowledge and it has been there for years) and if the planting in the area below it were given a creative overhaul, with perhaps a bench or two to enjoy it from?

Thanks to Southwark Council and especially to all who signed the petition!

Following a petition from Keston Road residents and a grant of £50,000 from Rye Lane and Nunhead Community Council, Southwark Council have agreed to resurface our road. We look forward to showing you the results in due course.

The traffic island outside the shops is in the wrong postion. The road is too narrow, and it is too close to the bus stop. It causes a dangerous build up of traffic where people are crossing the road. It is also close to the dangerous junction with Chadwick Road. The cars and buses coming out of Chadwick Road are not fully visible to the traffic coming along Bellenden Road which is often speeding.  It all needs redesigning.

Our street is full of ornamental fruit trees that would be more at home in a park. I would love them if they were properly maintained; regular pruning etc. They look beautiful for a day until the traffic mangles them due to their size, (see picture) and then when the wind and rain arrive, two tons of wet petals descend on everything, then turn brown and slippery.
We have had several replacement trees in recent years- it would have been good to have been consulted on the species planted.

This house is prominent on the corner of Danby Street and Copleston Road, and is currently (April 2009) being renovated. The developer/owner who is sometimes present during the building works says he is converting the house into apartments but retaining original features. Let us hope this is so as this is an attractive building in a very prominent place.

Copleston Passage is one of two short pleasant walks in the neighbourhood unsullied by road traffic. The other is Rye Passage at the other end of Bellenden. This Passage is the exit and entrance between the Bellenden neighbourhood and the beginning of Camberwell around Ivanhoe Road and the well known Hoopers Bar & Cafe. Although a bit neglected, there is a welcome charm to these two passages because they are pedestrian only, and used and known only by locals. This Passage is a pedestrian bridge over the railway line from Peckham Rye station to East Dulwich station. There is a good view of the expanse of the railway cutting that is impossible to get from any other place. It is possible to see how it acts as a fantastic haven for wildlife and their own passageway in and out of the city.

This ugly site in Highshore Road (near the postal sorting office) has been the scene of a number of aborted developments for around two years. It would be interesting to know what is going on. Meanwhile, waste bins frequently block the pavement. Complaint to Southwark Council (which is hot on cars that do no harm) has been unavailing.

This 'nature reserve' in Bellenden Road, fronting the DWP (Department of Work & Pensions) building, has great potential but is sadly neglected and used as a dump by those passing people who eat on the hoof.

This is another small terrace of attractive buldings opposite the Nigel Road junction. Just right for the 'facelift' treatment that some Bellenden streets got, but they wait in vain, and this and the other street frontages in this important gateway to the town centre remain so neglected.