| 1. Walworth Society September meeting – 7pm Weds 16th September (in person only) Our next general WS meeting will be held at 7pm on Wednesday 16th September at the Crypt, St Peter’s Church Liverpool Grove, SE17 2HH. The meeting will be in person only. The draft agenda for the meeting – please do submit agenda items that you would like to see discussed – is: 1. Welcome, apologies and introductions. 2. Action points from our July 2026 meeting and matters arising. 3. Planning matters inc. proposed McDonalds (26/AP/1108, 1109 and 1110), planning application 26/AP/1732 for 111-123 Crampton St and planning applications 26/AP/1554, 26/AP/1535 and 26/AP/2155 all for large digital advertisements. 4. Other issues. 5. AOB and date of next meeting (Weds 21st October). The minutes of our July meeting can be downloaded here Proposed McDonalds at Poundland (284-286 W Rd). Please note that while planning application 26/AP/1110 relating to the opening times of the proposed McDonalds has not yet been decided (and is likely to go to a planning committee meeting), two supporting applications have been approved: a) 26/AP/1109 for advertising promoting the store has now been approved (BUT from the planning officer’s report “The applicant has amended the scheme to address concerns regarding visual amenity and heritage impact, including the removal of the previously proposed large custom arch. The remaining Custom Letters and Custom Projection Sign would be externally illuminated and are considered to have an acceptable impact on the character and appearance of the Walworth Road Conservation Area.”) b) 26/AP/1108 for the proposed shopfront has also been approved (BUT from the planning officer’s report “Amendments have also been made to the shopfront design, including the introduction of increased stall risers and a timber shopfront, which provide a more traditional and sympathetic frontage treatment”. In another part of the report, this is expanded on a little to say “increased, continuous stall risers, timber frontage treatment and more consistent detailing to the pilaster plinths and reveals”). |
| 2. Walworth’s Pick ‘n’ Mics – Sat 26th Sep 2026 6pm to 11pm From the Walworth Community Pub Project and Southwark Branch Royal British Legion, a night of entertainment at the Southwark Legion Community Club, Kennington, Saturday 26th September Live music from: Father Hell Iko Chérie Nail Bar And: raffle, stand up bingo, open mic…and moreTickets £10. All profits go to the Legion’s building fundThe Legion Bar, £4.80 a pint. Orbit Beer will be serving craft beer in the snug.Brought to you by the Southwark Branch Royal British Legion and the Walworth Community Pub SocietyOpen mic (free) from 4pm, main event from 6pm Address: Southwark Legion Community Club, 34 Braganza Street, SE17 3RJ. Tickets: https://www.tickettailor.com/events/walworthcommunitypubsociety/2361752  |
| 3. Large Digital Advertisements across Walworth Thanks to everyone who submitted objections to these proposed advertisements. The three Walworth applications still have relatively few objections to date (compared to the ones in other parts of Southwark) so please do consider objecting if you have time and especially the one at the Bricklayers Arms (26/AP/2155) which has just 3 objections to date. Although the formal consultation period has ended it is still OK (and helpful) to make comments right up until the decision is made. Details of the grounds and how to object are below. The main grounds that we are using to object are as follows: Visual clutter: The proposal adds another large commercial structure to an already busy streetscape, creating significant and cumulative visual clutter. Scale: Digital 48 displays and Digital Mega 6 displays are substantially larger than ordinary street furniture and will dominate nearby buildings and pedestrians. Brightness: LED illumination is visually intrusive, particularly during hours of darkness and during the long hours without daylight in winter. Road safety: Rapidly moving or changing images as are proposed here can distract drivers, cyclists and pedestrians, particularly near signal-controlled junctions and crossings. Data shows that there are already high numbers of road casualties in each of these locations all of which are close to a complex junctions; the addition of further distraction will add to pedestrian and cyclist danger. This is contrary to the Vision Zero targets and policies for London and Southwark. Public realm: The proposal commercialises public space without providing a corresponding public benefit. Residential amenity: Nearby homes overlook the display and issues of light spill, glare and changing illumination will affect residents. Cumulative impact: It is important to note that this is one of nine currently live applications for large digital advertisements across north Southwark focused on the Walworth and Elephant & Castle, Old Kent Road and Rotherhithe areas. It is important that they are viewed both singly and cumulatively as, if approved, they are in danger of altering the character of these locations across the borough degrading aspirations of improving the sense of place to highly commercialised, motor vehicle dominated locations which are focused far more on movement only. To object: a) go to the Southwark planning portal: planning.southwark.gov.uk/online-applications/search.do?action=simple&searchType=Application b) type in the application that you would like to comment on: 26/AP/1554 – Newington Butts (8 objections to date), 26/AP/1535 – Draper House (9 objections) and 26/AP/2155 – Bricklayers Arms (3 objections). c) Make a comment. Your personal details will not be shown but nowadays you will need to log in to make a comment. Please feel free to make use of our suggestions and add your own thoughts about the impact these advertisements will have. |
| 4. The Cinema Museum – Fundraising Don’t forget to support the Cinema Museum in its bid to buy its amazing home in the old Lambeth Workhouse. The latest update on the campaign says that they have now raised almost £100,000 towards their £500,000 total. For full details see: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/the-cinema-museum-buy-our-home There is a feature on the excellent Ian Visits website: https://www.ianvisits.co.uk/articles/cinema-museum-launches-campaign-to-secure-its-future-in-south-london-91774/ Here is the donation link https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/the-cinema-museum-buy-our-home Here is the contact email address if you want to discuss a direct donation or how you can donate helpusbuy@cinemamuseum.org.uk  |
| 5. Chamber music concert at St Peter’s Church on Saturday 24 October at 2pm News of the latest in the series of chamber music concerts at St Peter’s Church on Saturday 24 October at 2pm. Free entry with a collection for the Building Beyond project.  |
| 6. St John’s Church – Parish History Day videos Following the very successful Parish History Day at St John’s Church in early June, two videos of the day are now available to watch. Short video (1m34s): https://drive.google.com/file/d/1geayLcLk5elRxyJP2LATuj-4QaRhlfLc/view?usp=sharing  Longer video (2m47s): https://drive.google.com/file/d/1_xkxQLyoJWTCW1-rr-vtKRWbkIbgL3JC/view?usp=sharing |
| 7. Local News. 1. Plans submitted for the redevelopment of 711-733 Old Kent Road: https://www.architectsjournal.co.uk/news/prp-submits-plans-for-245-homes-on-old-kent-road 2. News that the Elephant & Castle tube station’s Northern Line entrance is expected to remain closed until late September: https://www.ianvisits.co.uk/articles/elephant-castle-stations-northern-line-entrance-closed-until-late-september-91905/?showadverts=no 3. Southwark News feature that E-bike costs will be capped at £1.75 for 20 minutes for Southwark residents and key workers: https://southwarknews.co.uk/news/community/e-bikes-capped-at-1-75-for-20-minutes-for-southwark-residents-and-key-workers/ 4. We understand that the M&S at the new E&C Town Centre is due to open on 29th October. 5. Change.org petition against plane noise affecting Southwark: https://www.change.org/p/minister-for-aviation-plane-hell-too-early-too-late-too-noisy-too-low-too-many-too-dirty-too-polluting 6. Better Bus Southwark – consultation about proposals to improve journey times between Camberwell and East Dulwich station: https://engage.southwark.gov.uk/en-GB/projects/bbs-section-3 (closes 20th Sept) 7. Progress on the demolition of the arcade in front of the Peckham railway station: https://www.ianvisits.co.uk/articles/peckham-rye-stations-arcade-demolition-down-to-ground-level-91466/  (Credit: https://www.ianvisits.co.uk) 8. Feature in the Londoner about the demolition of the Heygate Estate (free sign up for the whole article): https://www.the-londoner.co.uk/londons-lost-brutalist-estate/ |
The Walworth Society 