What else do Forest Hill and Honor Oak need? [2020]

Continuing our polls from 2016 and 2017:

Which new venues would you like to see in Forest Hill and Honor Oak? Vote for those that would get your business (you can vote for more than one option), and feel free to reply with new suggestions.

I’d love to have a health food shop in the neighbourhood. It could be something like the funky colourful one found in Rye Lane (Peckham Rye) or the one that feels almost like a chemist in the Crystal Palace triange, or like the Planet Organic shops that also act as cafes and take-away for healthy foods.

Or a good Mexican?

Apologies all - we seem to have lost the poll results from earlier voters after the poll was edited by a moderator. We’ll avoid such edits in future

@AnnieYes @Leah_C thanks for the suggestions!

When creating this poll I copied the 2017 poll and added some of the suggestions mentioned in the comments that followed it (premium supermarkets, post office, Japanese Kaiten etc).

In the 2021 poll I’ll similarly add Mexican and Health Food as options.

Definitely a cool menswear shop

I also love the idea of a health food/zero waste shop, but also really would like a bank!

Comparing 2017 (left) and 2020 (right):

Screenshot from 2020-10-27 23-21-041094×969 274 KB

• Bakery and Asian Supermarket remain in the top 3
• New entrants Premium Supermarket, Cinema, American Diner, Soft Play and Cook store all doing well.
• Less demand for Greengrocers and DIY stores in 2020. More for Fishmongers

I think Greengrocers and DIY stores have gone down because there is a zero waste greengrocer on Dartmouth Road and up the road is a small shop that does a bit of everything including DIY. I was stuck during painting and didn’t feel like going to Bell Green, so popped in there to see if they had anything and they had both emulsion and gloss rollers which I needed.

There is a new health food/zero waste shop, just opened on Brockley Rise opposite the Honor Oak pub.

There is a health food shop in Sydenham High Street, also a Chinese medicine shop. But can always do with another one!

OK, thanks! Will check out the Sydenham High Street one, which I haven’t spotted yet (I’m fairly new to South East London, still exploring!)

And also an excellent fishmongers

I’d really like to see the WHSmiths and dentist buildings knocked down to create a nice square in front of the station with new cafes and shops.

I’d like to see a co-working space.

I think it will be very interesting to see what happens to our local High Streets in the next 5 years or so. w
With many people now working from home, will this lead to a different demand for local high streets, will people move out, move in, will people spend more money locally (you’d think so…)?

In HOP we now have a few greengrocers, butchers, fish from Querce all in reasonably short period of time.

My primary hope is we keep some of our established businesses like @Shannonsgc and some outstanding restaurants like Babur, but also that the high streets offer something for everyone.

With all that said, as a young child, I would spend my holidays with my Aunt in France (she is French!) and I will forever remember the first time I had an almond croissant from a French Boulangerie \ Patisserie - I’d never taste anything so amazing in all my life. So that has got my vote.

I don’t know the answer but I suspect this thread may also highlight a number of businesses people just don’t know already exist near them - how we publicise and help those businesses would be one of the best things we could do, and that should include local tradespeople as well as shops etc.

More community spaces with environmental impact, would be great to see a Library of Things, like in Crystal Palace.

Exactly my thoughts

This is something on the Forest Hill Society’s agenda.
Originally from 2017 - proposals are here…

I had a walk around the site and discussed plans with Simon from Discourse Architecture this morning. We’re planning how to make a plan. It’s going to be a major effort if we do think we can take it on. I’m meeting Ellie Reeves (MP) on Monday too and this, and transport issues are all on my agenda.

If we do decide to try to take this forward then we will need a lot of help from the community to make it happen. FH Soc already has committees looking at Planning, Transport, Environment and Communications but this is going to be a big programme with a lot of moving parts.

When I get some time later, I’ll do a post with some pictures and commentary about what Simon said. Also feel free to join or email us via email@foresthillsociety.com if you want to potentially help out with relevant skills. Thanks.

With so many people working remotely and with not that much on offer in the surrounding areas it would be nice if there was an alternative to sitting in a coffee shop. Ideally it would be some sort of a professional setting. Just speaking from my own needs of course.

Some great ideas. However, as an “older person” (non-millennial anyway), I’m not sure we qualify for “cool” menswear anymore. Accept the slippers, embrace the cardigan and even fire up a pipe.

I think there’s a few around, thefoldspace just off of Dartmouth Rd which is a co working space, there’s also Keynote Studios on Dalmain Road, not co working it’s individual small units in a serviced office block but great if you’re looking for somewhere relatively affordable. I’ve worked from both.

A post was split to a new topic: Personal attack

Thats a great little shop with lovely bread !

Having had today off work I fancied treating myself to lunch/brunch locally.
I really wanted a nice interesting salad or hot dish like the kind you’d find at Blue Brick In East Dulwich pr The Japanese place on Northcross road
I honestly couldn’t find anywhere-It was mainly sandwich type offerings or standard caff
Have I missed something?
I ended up at Canvas and cream and not for the first time felt I’d overpaid and what I got was pretty underwhelming and a tiny portion.

There is a great greengrocer on Brockley Rise - the Chandos end - Marvellous Greens and Beans