Tell Lambeth what you think

[netbob]

The consultation for Revitalise seems to have been a bit of a joke (hence the dodgy posters). But gimmicks or not it does seem to be a big deal so Ive put an editable copy of the Brixton plans here:

http://mysayonrevitalise.blogspot.com/

You can leave your comments on each paragraph and I'll mail them to the council after a couple of months.

 

[Orang Utan]

Revitalise? Wossat?

 

[Mrs Magpie]

Ah, another Brixton resident who probably hasn't been posted a questionnaire.....

 

[Orang Utan]

Questionnaire? Not I - though I do get lots of self-congratulatory guff through the door from good old Lambeth

 

[RushcroftRoader]

As is always the case with such surveys, it's not the answers that are important but the questions.
I am going to stick in a FoI request and find out all the details of the survey.

 

[Mrs Magpie]

Questionnaire? Not I - though I do get lots of self-congratulatory guff through the door from good old Lambeth

I read everything they send, but then I'd read a cornflake packet, but I shall be asking everyone I know locally whether they got one.

 

[Orang Utan]

I read everything too, so I'm sure I'd have noticed a questionnaire

 

[Monkeygrinder's Organ]

As is always the case with such surveys, it's not the answers that are important but the questions.
I am going to stick in a FoI request and find out all the details of the survey.

Yep. I never saw the questionnaire (like everybody else, apparently) but I bet it didn't include a question along the lines of 'do you want any of your council tax money to be spent on general advertising?'

 

[netbob]

If someone can find a copy I'll do an online version.

 

[wiskey]

we havent had it, mind you we havent had any post for ages

 

[suzee blue cheese]

We haven't had it either..

 

[shakespearegirl]

Haven't had one through either, asked a couple of other Brixton resident and no one else has seen it

 

[netbob]

Cafe Culture

This is from the Lambeth feedback document published after the first "consultation":

A number of replies expressed the desire that a ‘café
culture’ is fostered in Brixton with more cafés and
restaurants.

I wonder how many "a number" is? Its also missing from the later document on blogger though. A change of mind maybe?

 

[Mrs Magpie]

I'd prefer a greasy spoon culture, meself....and a straw poll of people I know on the Brixton Forum mailing list tells me that only one person I know actually got the consultation/questionnaire which would explain the piss-poor response.

 

[netbob]

I'd prefer a greasy spoon culture, meself....and a straw poll of people I know on the Brixton Forum mailing list tells me that only one person I know actually got the consultation/questionnaire which would explain the piss-poor response.

hhhmmm greasy spoon.

Via FOI it should be possiable to find out

1) how many questionnaires were sent out
2) how many were returned
3) the contents of the returned questionnaires

 

[Orang Utan]

I'd like a bit of cafe culture - what's wrong with that? As long as there are some greasy spoons to balance it out.

 

[aurora green]

cafe culture

Surely I cant be the only one in the borough who hardly ever eats out in cafes and restaurants?

 

[colacubes]

hhhmmm greasy spoon.

Via FOI it should be possiable to find out

1) how many questionnaires were sent out
2) how many were returned
3) the contents of the returned questionnaires

I went along to the Brixton Area Forum meeting when the presentation on revitalise was on. From what I remember the amount of people questioned was tiny (no more than 800 IIRC), and of those about a third were people visiting Lambeth (I think they were apparently questioned by market research type people in the market).

I do remember being a bit gobsmacked that the consultaion figures were so low, but I can't remember for definite about the numbers. I think pooka was at the meeting too so he may have a better memory than me

 

[Orang Utan]

Surely I cant be the only one in the borough who hardly ever eats out in cafes and restaurants?

I don't but only cos there aren't any places to do so.
There's a lot of cafes in the CBD in Leeds that have outdoor seating and it's a nice continental vibe.

 

[pooka]

I went along to the Brixton Area Forum meeting when the presentation on revitalise was on. From what I remember the amount of people questioned was tiny (no more than 800 IIRC), and of those about a third were people visiting Lambeth (I think they were apparently questioned by market research type people in the market).

I do remember being a bit gobsmacked that the consultaion figures were so low, but I can't remember for definite about the numbers. I think pooka was at the meeting too so he may have a better memory than me

There's a report of the market research here (the number interviewed was just over 500).

I think there may have been some kind of questions on the form that people used to register interest for Revitalise? Perhaps that's what's being referred to? I've registered once on the internet and twice on paper and yet I still seem to get nothing much through mail.

 

[tarannau]

I don't but only cos there aren't any places to do so.
There's a lot of cafes in the CBD in Leeds that have outdoor seating and it's a nice continental vibe.

There are plenty of places to eat cafewise in Brixton, from the Colombian in Brixton Village through to West Indian cafes and the traditional like the Phoenix.

What's true is that there aren't many places with outdoor seating. Which, given the roads and area surrounding the high street, is perhaps understandable. The tables outside Ecco, despite being surrounded by a dodgy undergarment stall and facing a fish trader, are pretty bearable, but show the difficulty of balancing a 'cafe culture' with the needs of a working market.

I'd argue that there is room for both, but I'd want any attempt to encourage 'cafe culture' to be linked to improving the market as a matter of course as well. The whole centre needs more improvement than a half-hearted pedestrianised zone and a few tables on a concrete island.

 

[Monkeygrinder's Organ]

Surely I cant be the only one in the borough who hardly ever eats out in cafes and restaurants?

I very rarely do, because I can't really afford it. On the occasions I do, though, it tends to not be where I live. I'm not going to pay two quid for a coffee in Brixton when I can get home and make one in five minutes.

 

[aurora green]

I very rarely do, because I can't really afford it. On the occasions I do, though, it tends to not be where I live. I'm not going to pay two quid for a coffee in Brixton when I can get home and make one in five minutes.

Exactly! That is totally my situation.