Improving Borough High Street

I have just started a campaign on the BBC's Action Network, aiming to get support to try and persuade Southwark Council, local traders and businesses to take an interest in improving the look of Borough High Street, SE1. There are at least three derelict shops (Shoefayre and others), plus other empty businesses. As the gateway to the City of London, this ancient street (one of the oldest in London) is sadly neglected. Visitors to Borough Market cannot find their way from Borough Tube Station to the market; signage is generally not good at the Elephant and Castle end of the street. No information on this historic thoroughfare is provided for tourists.

The campaign is called BOROUGH HIGH STREET: http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/actionnetwork/G1767

There is also a link from the Borough High Street campaign pages back to this site to encourage two-way flow between the two.

The mayor's office has been informed that the campaign has started. Please give your support by either leaving a message on the Action Network, or, if you haven't the time to do that, leave a comment or indication of support, here. All comments and ideas welcome too, as I hope to send the Mayor a full list of ideas and suggestions.

As for signage - there is already a project under way to sign radial routes from the Elephant, under the auspices of Green Lanes. Last I heard the signs were being manufactured.

http://www.greenlanes.org/glnlandmarksigns.htm

This is brilliant! Just yesterday i was walking down the street and thinking the exact same thing. Telepathy or not i am so glad someone is doing this - you can definitely count on my support.

I have just signed up to this and also found a link to campaign against the planned rail line running across Borough Market. To add your objection follow this link: http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/actionnetwork/A2790399

wonderful. I hope that there will be signs to all the little out-of-the-way places that no one would find otherwise.

We used to have two shoe shops no i lie three at the Borough......Bacons opposite the tube near The Windmill cafe and post office.. Shoefayre ...then near the london bridge p.o. Mansfields....Now it's busier why cant we have a good shoe shop in the borough instead of more coffee shops/foodie bits etc.? any business men out there with spare cash!

This is fantastic and I applaud your vision as well as the fact that you're actually doing something about it! Borough High Street has indeed the potetntial to become one of the nicest High Street in London.

I don't think Borough High Street is *that* bad by any means. (Though that's not to say that there's no room for improvement.) The main problem is the volume of traffic which makes it rather people-unfriendly. And at least the old shops like Shoefayre give it a bit of character.

Re. your point about greening - part of BHS is in the Better Bankside area, which offers greening grants to local businesses:
http://www.betterbankside.co.uk/site/services/greening.htm

Small-scale environmental improvements can be funded by the council's Cleaner Greener Safer programme. These funded are allocated by Community Councils based on suggestions from members of the public. It would be worth going along to meetings of Borough & Bankside Community Council once they get going again after today's elections. Watch 'in SE1' and SE1 Direct for dates and venues.

I do agree that the southern end of the street is looking sadly shabby, but whatever are you talking about when you say:

LizzieJ wrote:

Visitors to Borough Market cannot find their way from Borough Tube Station to the market; signage is generally not good at the Elephant and Castle end of the street.

I've never met anyone who would recommend using any tube stop other than London Bridge for the Market???

And I am strongly tempted to launch a rival campaign for direct action against hanging baskets, having seen a fine Victorian former bank opposite my office despoiled a few weeks ago by an idiot bar company - including drilling half way up the granite columns which have stood unmolested for a century just to put the naff wrought iron hangers up with no respect for the (listed!) building's architecture, let alone the vile neon green of the miniature conifers in the centre of each basket.

Lang Rabbie wrote:

I do agree that the southern end of the street is looking sadly shabby, but whatever are you talking about when you say:

LizzieJ wrote:

Visitors to Borough Market cannot find their way from Borough Tube Station to the market; signage is generally not good at the Elephant and Castle end of the street.

Leaving the distance aside, I noticed this afternoon that there's a fingerpost pointing to Borough Market right outside Borough station (and more signs when you get closer)