Sad-looking Tower Bridge Road

orione wrote:

Oh my god.. not again the "I was here before!".. typical many times in this forum (only certain users though).
I am off this thread than as I am here only since 2003 and on this forum only since two years.. Think what you wish. It does not bother me. It was just a suggestion.

Thank you anyway.

So established communities clearly mean nothing to you.
At least your honest I suppose.

PS:how long have you been in the country?

Not sure why everyone is always so aggressive when jumping on Orione's comments? He's not said anything that hasn't been seen in the thread before

Because he/she called someone arrogant whilst displaying unbelievable arrogance.

Of for goodness sake, "unbelievable arrogance"? I think some people just enjoy being offended

Thanks Lucy. Seriously. I am very surprised as well. Because As you rightly said this issue has been pointed by several others. In different threads. And many people consider it worth to be addressed. But when I see comments like "I was here before" or "how long have you been in this country" I just lose the passion for any further discussion.
If we come to these terms,.. I am not English and therefore I should just listen what you guys say. And I accept it. I am happy to be here in SE1 anyway.
Cheers.

lucysalisbury wrote:

Not sure why everyone is always so aggressive when jumping on Orione's comments? He's not said anything that hasn't been seen in the thread before

Personally, I didn't think I was jumping on anyone with my initial comment.

My issue was with:
(i) the illogical assertion that services which can be accessed online should not have a physical presence. That would lead to a high st with very few shops indeed.
(ii) the Soviet-style idea that someone (?Orione themselves?) should set quotas for various types of business, based entirely on personal tastes and paying no regard to actual supply and demand

I was a bit disappointed with the tone of orione's reply, but I think I'm reasonably thick-skinned and it's easy to misunderstand and take too much offence, so I thought it best not to make anything of it.

lucysalisbury wrote:

Of for goodness sake, "unbelievable arrogance"? I think some people just enjoy being offended

To be fair, O did basically say that high streets should be remodelled according to their own tastes, and has refused over a long period of time to come up with any answer to the point that (betting or any other type of) shops will only exist in the long term if there is a demand for them.

Add to that the attitude of: "Gambling is bad (because I say it is). I know best. You will thank me for it if I restrict your access to this bad thing.", and I can quite easily see where an accusation of arrogance could be supported.

Ivanhoe it is fine. Let's quit this.
You simply distort and exaggerate everything I say.
Which in fact I haven't.
Like: "Gambling is bad" or "it shouldn't be allowed"..or "modelling the society to my taste"..
It is becoming a joke. I was making a completely different point.
Maybe, I was simply not good enough to explain. Ok?

On top, after being addressed as "not enough local" or "not British" (the latter true, the former I wouldn't know..) I think I cannot proceed further.
Have a great day. Seriously.

lucysalisbury wrote:

Of for goodness sake, "unbelievable arrogance"? I think some people just enjoy being offended

Too true, but the meta-discussion about the meta-discussion about the discussion is rather sublimely ludicrous. Discuss.

Sorry to have taken a while to come back on this thread and apologies for the long post.

I want along some of the shops/restaurants today (from Decima St/Grange Rd down). I need to go back again at a different time of day as it was late afternoon/early evening when we were there, but I got some useful thoughts from businesses that I thought I would share now and add to later.

There were quite a range of views on what needed to happen but sadly the most common response was that business is down and that this January has been particularly bad due to the economic climate. I overheard similar statements from stallholders on Lower Marsh the other day.

There were mixed feelings on chains. Convenience / general stores are said they were suffering as a result of Tescos / Sainsbury's, but others were keen to see more chains because they thought it would bring trade to the street and send the signal that the street was on the up. They have seen Bermondsey St transformed. This makes some people optimistic that the same can happen to Tower Bridge Road, others felt it was drawing people away from them.

A number of people complained about parking. A few raised the general look of the street - including the triangle at the top which has the remnants of the old market. I have already discussed this with council officers as well as residents. A number of people said the street could be made more welcoming.

As I said in earlier posts, there are no easy solutions - but I hope we can at least start a gradual process of improvement by raising these issues.

A number of people posting on this threat have talked about the proposed pay day loan shop. As reported on this website, I have already objected to the planning application for one at 82 Tower Bridge Rd and hope to do so when it is considered at Bermondsey Community Council on 16th Feb.

As ever, thoughts very welcome.