West Beckenham Residents’ Association

There are proposals to close the Library at Clock House and redevelop the land for housing. Associated with this proposal are plans to develop a scheme for Beckenham Public Halls on Bromley Road so that most of it can be converted to Library use.

It seems that the proposals for Beckenham Public Halls would mean that only the large hall would remain available for public hire. It appears the library would occupy the ground floor room and the smaller room on the first floor which currently has the bar. It seems likely that the hire fees for the large hall would be too high for many current users of the smaller rooms. The first stage in this proposal is an appointment of a multi-disciplinary team to develop a scheme at a preliminary cost of £70,000, rising to £300,000 for the full scheme. The total cost of renovation and fitting out Beckenham Halls for a library is estimated, at this time, as £2m.

The relocation of the library from Clock House has been rumoured for some time. Cllr Tickner floated the idea at our recent open meeting on 16 October, but got no support. The Clock House area around Clock House Parade, The Spa, Venue 28 and of course the Library, has seen a recent turn round in fortunes. When “The Studio” was mothballed and then subject to several years of renovation surrounded by horrible green hoardings, the area looked unloved and the shops on Clock House Parade were mainly vacant. Now the shops are mostly occupied again and there are social and community activities in the area between the Library, The Spa and Venue 28. The Library plays a big role in keeping this sense of community. It is well used, not least by students at Kings School opposite.

Clock House is also well served by public transport, in many ways better than the allegedly more central Beckenham Halls. It is served by buses from all over Beckenham – 358 and 194 from Eden Park, 227 from Bromley Road area, 354 from Foxgrove. The 54 and 352 go close by at the War Memorial, as do trams at Beckenham Road. The trains at Clock House also make it accessible from the Cator Park and Eden Park/ West Wickham areas. Beckenham Halls is less directly accessible from Eden Park and Cator.

The proposed housing development on the site of the library is for a five storey block of flats. The council hope to make £2m on the land if 50% of the homes are “affordable”. The current drawings do not show a “traditional build, in an architectural style to complement the surround conservation area”, as stated in the report.

WBRA has a suggestion. It is reported that the current library building is need of extensive repair. Why not build the housing on this site, but have a purpose built library on the ground floor? This would make more sense than trying to retrofit a library into Beckenham halls, a building that is not designed for modern library use. The housing development could pay a large part of the costs of the new library.

The Local Government Boundary Commission for England is reviewing ward boundaries in Bromley. There are some recommendations involving changes to the boundaries between the three wards in WBRA’s area and Copers Cope ward.

Clock House and Penge and Cator

The area between the Hayes railway line, the Beckenham Junction railway line and Kent House Road is proposed to be transferred from Penge and Cator to Clock House.

Clock House and Copers Cope

The area between Rectory Road, Beckenham Junction railway line to New Beckenham and the Hayes line from new Beckenham to Clock House stations is proposed to move to Copers Cope ward, which would be renamed Beckenham Town and Copers Cope Ward.

Clock House and Kelsey and Eden Park

This is an area between Croydon Road at Elmers End Green, south of Elmers End Road to the Hayes railway line, along the line to Tannery Close crossing Croydon Road between Kingfisher Way and The Glades then going north to the Hayes railway line, again following the line to Upper Elmers End Road and then along Upper Elmers End Road back to Elmers End Green. This area would move from Kelsey and Eden Park to Clock House, which would be renamed Clock House and Elmers End ward.

Kelsey and Eden Park and Copers Cope

A small area between Bromley Road, Limes Road, Crescent Road and Wickham Road would move from Copers Cope ward to Kelsey and Eden Park ward.

See the proposals here

Although Phase 1 was completed a week early, they have encountered engineering difficulties on Phase 2 and now expect it to be completed by 21 August. They still expect the whole thing to last the original 6 weeks. There have been a few incidents such as all three of the temporary traffic lights showing red for some time, causing tempers to fray and lots of angry horn tooting. But SGN have responded quickly when we reported this. Below is their latest message. Marie

…………………………………………………………….

Phase One – Croydon Road, junction with Elmers End Road This phase progressed well and was completed a week earlier than planned on Saturday 27 July Phase Two – Croydon Road, between junction of Elmers End Road and Clock House Road Phase Two started on Monday 29 July, a week earlier than originally planned Our engineers moved location to the other side of the Elmers End Road junction from phase one and began working on the next section of Croydon Road We now expect this phase to last approximately three and a half weeks in total To ensure everyone’s safety we have temporarily closed the eastbound lane of Croydon Road across the Elmers End Road junction up to the junction of Clock House Road We have temporarily closed the southbound left-hand turn lane of Elmers End Road. Motorists will not be able to turn left from Elmers End Road onto Croydon Road during this phase Clock House Road will be temporarily closed at its junction with Croydon Road during this phase Elmers End Station Parade bus stop D remains suspended Phase Three – Elmerside Road, junction with Croydon Road Following on from phase 2, our engineers will move away from the junction of Croydon Road and Elmers End Road to begin work on Elmerside Road at its junction with Croydon Road in the right-hand turn junction for approximately two weeks To allow us to complete our work safely we need to temporarily close the right-hand turn lane of Elmerside Road at the junction of Croydon Road. Motorists will not be able to turn right from Elmerside Road onto Croydon Road Signed diversions will be in place for diverted traffic The pedestrian crossing around our work area will also be suspended