Camberwell Station Road

Update summer 2022

A huge amount of engagement has recently taken place during the process of designing improvements to Camberwell Station road. We have worked with Sacred hearts School, knocked on every door on the street, listening to the big and small businesses along the street, hosted walkabouts, and attended local meetings. The feedback we received has been valuable and has been fed into the following strategic ambitions for the road:

• a street for all - how we can look at making everyone welcome and for the street to be accessible, including recommendations from the women and girls safety walkabout
• connecting Camberwell – as a centre to wider areas
• making good impressions – how we can establish a feel for CSR that is reflective of the types of activity that take place on the road

At this end of the street, at the junction with Camberwell Station Road, we're planning to:

• widen the pavements and narrow the road, leaving enough room for buses and large vehicles but making it's easier to cross
• install a raised table to slow vehicles entering the street and help people with pushchairs or wheelchairs to cross
• enrich the street with rain gardens and more trees
• install 1-2 electric vehicle charging points in locations that are accessible, but where people won’t be disturbed if people are charging vehicles at night
• improve street lighting
• install bespoke street furniture including beautifully designed bollards and beacons to deter pavement parking and to support the character and identity of the street
  • the beacon has been designed with pupils from the nearby Sacred Hearts School and will include engravings with quotes from young people
  • our street lighting team is part of the design process and has agreed to undertake future maintenance
• a local group, the Camberwell Identity Group has a wonderful logo which forms a C to represent the well in Camberwell
  • you may have seen this in other locations across Camberwell including the beautiful banners across the town centre
  • this logo will be included around the base of the beacons and in other areas too

View example Beacon images ^{(PDF, 321kb)}

• we've tried to achieve a fine balance between reducing anything that gets in the way of pavement such as badly positioned bins and posts alongside making the street welcoming, installing measures to stop cars from being stored off the highway, and highlighting the character of the street to make it a more welcoming environment
• please note that ArchCo is still looking at investing in the five arches on Camberwell Station Road between Knatchbull Road and Camberwell New Road; contact ArchCo directly if you have any questions

Outside the old Camberwell Station building we're planning to:

• create an open plaza outside the station building
• painting the station building and working with the Camberwell Identity Group to install art in the window recesses and on the shutters
• remove one tree in very poor condition
• remove concrete from the bases of the two remaining mature trees and surround them with planting and greenery
• narrow the road significantly to reduce traffic to one lane with give way to the north
• install a raised table to slow traffic and to help people cross the road
• cycle priority in both directions with a cycle lane going north
• relocating the pavement on the west to improve sight lines following feedback about women and girls in particular feeling unsafe in that location
• install bespoke street furniture including a beacon as described above

Timeline

• start on site - Spring 2023
• finish on site -  Autumn 2023

Background

What we're working on

You may already know that over the past couple of years we've been speaking with and listening to hundreds of local people who came up with lots of great ideas to improve Camberwell.

As part of this, we looked at ways of unlocking the potential of neglected areas in Camberwell, like along Camberwell Station Road, including:

• how to make the road more inviting and make people feel safe and welcome
  • the road is currently very wide and does not encourage pedestrian travel. Instead, the road can be difficult to navigate and is dominated by buses, cars and vans
• how to encourage more local businesses and jobs to move into the area; this will help to activate “dead frontages” (boarded up, shuttered, derelict or empty ground floor premises) by working with landlords to secure tenants
  • through this opening up the businesses to the road, generating activity and supporting jobs
• how to provide pleasant spaces to relax so people can connect with others and create a stronger sense of community
• how to improve air quality and public health in the vicinity
  • this includes providing opportunities for electric vehicle charging and encouraging people to walk or cycle along the road
• how to make the road greener
  • this includes supporting existing mature trees, introducing new planting and supporting biodiversity
• how to capture the area’s character with its rich history and heritage
  • this helps to engender a stronger sense of pride
• how people move through the area, not just now but in the future
  • for example, there's strong local support for the Camberwell railway station to reopen, and people will need to be able walk from the high street to the station without having to walk a long way around
  • designs being developed now must address this

In spring 2021 we worked in partnership with local residents from the SE5 Forum and Camberwell Society, and the GLA to choose designers. We were delighted to appoint JA Projects who have been working closely with residents and key partners ever since.

In summer 2021, we spent time engaging with local people described above. In December, we invited local people to join a walking tour, led by students from Sacred Hearts School. We worked with students and Southwark Young Advisors who prepared an inspirational tour sharing the issues and articulating the vision for the road beautifully. They covered four themes:

• green spaces
• an inclusive and diverse street
• Camberwell station
• mechanics and industry

We were so lucky to work with such a talented group of students. We are looking forward taking them back to the road when works are in progress.

After the walking tour, we shared these initial concept designs for feedback. We received some really useful comments and suggestions that will support us in developing these designs in detail.

Background

In 2019 the following concept designs were developed by working in partnership with local residents, businesses and land owners:

• Camberwell Station Road ^{(PDF, 910kb)}

These concept designs formed part of a funding bid which resulted in Camberwell being awarded £1.5m by the GLA's Good Growth Fund. This was the third largest allocation in London! Of this £1.5m, almost £1m has been allocated to spend on Camberwell Station Road in order to develop designs further and to undertake works.

Some of the consultation information we've used during this project included:

• presentation to multi-ward forum made on 4 March 2020 ^{(PDF, 2mb)}
• consultation boards from February 2019 ^{(PDF, 4.7mb)}
• consultation boards from July 2019 ^{(PDF, 80.2mb)}

A huge thank you!

We are so grateful to everybody who has and who are sharing their views with us. There's a wealth of precious local knowledge and valuable expertise in the area which is pivotal to us getting this right. THANK YOU!

If you have any queries or feedback in relation to Camberwell Station Road only, or if you wish to be included in future consultations, email CSR@southwark.gov.uk.

For all other queries relating to area improvements, email Regen.Info@southwark.gov.uk.

Page last updated: 17 October 2022