Green light for Grow Brixton
The empty site at Pope’s Road
A team of award winning architects, urban designers and food growershas won the chance to transform empty space at Pope’s Road in Brixton.
Grow Brixton has now submitted a planning application for the scheme and you have until Wednesday 13 August to make any comments. You can read more about the scheme here and find out where to go for more information, or to talk to the team in person.
Meanwhile … what happened?
Rather than put up with an empty space at Pope’s Road, where the ice rink used to be, we have worked with the Market Traders’ Federation to hold a competition for someone to use the space to add to the buzz of Brixton and create jobs and opportunities for local people.
The competition captured public imagination at events, in the press and on social media and the last stage was to choose between two locally based finalists.
The Grow Brixton team consists of award-winning Carl Turner Architects, The Edible Bus Stop - guerilla gardeners and landscape experts - Canteen – socially minded food organisation – and Engineers Structure Workshop, all based in Lambeth.
Makaela Gilchrist of The Edible Bus Stop says: “We’re delighted to be given the opportunity by the council to create a place for people, ideas, inspiration, fun and food to grow right in the heart of Brixton. We’ve had some great input from locals and look forward to the project flourishing together with the community. There’ll be lots of opportunity to get involved, to enjoy the space and help grow.”
Grow Brixton will create a green public space as well as giving people the chance to acquire new skills and rent affordable work space.
Grow Brixton proposals and planning application
Grow Brixton submitted a planning application at the beginning of July so it can start to build the vision that won it the chance to transform the Pope’s Road site.
The scheme will use shipping containers to create work spaces, growing spaces, cafes and shops, as well as live/ work units. There will be a covered space for community events such as cinema, theatre and music, and the team has already trialed its first pop-up cinema in June.
How to find out more
There’s a number of ways you can find out more and have your say or talk to the team if you’re interested in renting space:
- Read all about the scheme at the Carl Turner website here.
- Read the Grow Brixton Design and Access Statement from the planning application here
- Visit the team and see a display about the scheme at the former skate shop, 53 Brixton Station Road, between 2pm and 5pm on Friday 25 July, 1 August, 8 August, 15 August, 22 August and 29 August.
- Come to the Grow Brixton stall on Brixton Station Road Market on Saturday 26 July
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14 February 2014 at 11:15 am
The space seemed to serve local traders very well as a car park for their customers, so the best thing to do would be to build another one and support local employment and commerce while creating a long-term and secure income stream for the council.
Or you can spend three years faffing about creating “community spaces” at great expense and for little or no effect.
18 March 2014 at 11:56 am
Very excited to be proposing a detailed business plan for the site including a pop-up gallery & event space, affordable tourist accommodation (45 deluxe en suite cabins), with a cross-cultural bar & cafe.
The project we have proposed today has attracted a lot of attention, with incredible people getting involved. It will create over 20 new jobs for young people, and can attract over 50,000 extra tourists to Brixton in a year. Very happy to hear from you about working together creatively. We’re planning on working with both Art Against Knives and The Bureau of Silly Ideas, who do amazing projects. The gallery will host 12 exhibitions a year, to promote emerging young artists and photographers. Lots of opportunity to put the space to good use! It can be used for pop-up events and workshops.
26 March 2014 at 2:28 pm
I agree with Mick James. What Brixton is in desperate need of is more parking (affordable). The removal of the old car park has been detrimental to local traders and as a Lambeth resident, I find myself driving all the way to peckham out of fustration of no parking spaces in Brixton. When there was a car park, I had no reason to step foot in Peckham. A safe, CCTV monitored incl site management car park will serve the local area and traders well and will bring in tourists and shoppers to the area. Local residents will also be thankful of no more parking problems and a easier shopping experience.
9 April 2014 at 9:46 pm
If you’re a Lambeth resident, why on earth would you be driving to central Brixton? Brixton seems to be thriving - the thing that would make it a lot more pleasant, and attract more people, would be removing more traffic. 60% of Lambeth households don’t even own a car and the majority of car journeys in London are less than 2 miles - a walkable distance.
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27 March 2014 at 10:48 am
Both bids look equally exciting and are offering much needed opportunities for local people. So the key criteria will have to be effective delivery and also implementing innovative and green ways of doing things. Shame its only going to be for 18mths - hardly long enough for anyone to really make an impact.
Whatever you do afterwards, please don’t put back another carpark - people should appreciate walking and using public transport.
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2 April 2014 at 8:41 am
Good ideas. I do hope however things are not going to be priced out of range of local people as with the food fests for example. We are still in a low income borough. Market traders often use up most of the parking spaces and local residents are unable to park while shopping. as a disabled resident it can be very difficult to get parking spaces
2 April 2014 at 11:07 am
This looks really interesting. Brixton has plenty of transport links, not enough bike parking or enclosed space for relaxation. No parking needed!
2 April 2014 at 11:57 am
The animus against parking is all very well but not everyone is a fit young person bringing home an evening meal on a bicycle or the bus. Many of the suppliers in the market sell in bulk to restaurants or people with large families. If the opportunity to park is taken away they don’t come by bus, they drive to a supermarket with parking.
2 April 2014 at 6:47 pm
I think the Brixton Toolbox bid should be supported for what it offers many sectors of the local community. It would be an excellent use of the space. I’ve lived in Brixton for more than 26 years, and it is exciting to see a proposal like this one.
3 April 2014 at 1:19 pm
Thanks for the feedback Anne. Did anyone else have a reason for liking one of the bids more than the other? There’s a chance for people to meet both the bidders on Wednesday 9 April - see calendar on the right.
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7 April 2014 at 10:48 pm
How on earth does one vote for one or other of these schemes? i don’t understand why it isn’t just super obvious.
8 April 2014 at 9:50 am
I really loved having an ice-rink here, and miss it a great deal, I’d be happy for them to just bring it back!
But I love the idea of having some greenery growing in this space - especially the polytunnel greenhouse/cafe - I’ve seen this done in Scotland and it was wonderful, it’d also be similar to the cafe at Petersham nurseries, which is also a pleasure to be in.
I love the idea of a self-sufficient community, though it’s hard to see how that would work with management by ‘local residents and small businesses’?
My main concern is the focus of both projects on the young - great though it is to provide new facilities and means of expression for young people, shouldn’t it be more inclusive? Instead of dividing communities into age groups, to create a community where there’s a spread of people working together and all feel welcome? Where the young benefit from experience and matured ideas of the older people, the older ones benefit from the energy and fresh ideas of the younger?
8 April 2014 at 12:48 pm
I’d usually be totally against more cars in the centre of Brixton, but in this case the market really does need more parking, otherwise they’ll just lose shoppers to the supermarkets. It’s all very well to say people should walk or cycle - I do the majority of my shopping by bike as it is, which is why it seems weird to be backing more car parking. This really is one of those rare cases where the needs of the market are more important than extra traffic. It’d be a tragedy if the market ceases to be a place where people do their food shopping as well as going to the newer restaurants and unfortunately that means taking into account that many people will only go there if they can park nearby. Some secure cycle parking wouldn’t do any harm of course + I’d like to see strong enforcement of considerate driving around the centre of Brixton…
9 April 2014 at 8:16 am
Great idea for the Toolbox, but shpuldn’t just be about skills for young people. Those over 25 seem to get looked over time and time again. many out there need help with gaining new skills after being made jobless. Don’t like the the second option, there are plenty of gardening opportunities in the Borough already. What is really needed are parking spaces. To those who think people should walk, not everyone is able to do so, or if they can they may not be able to carry heavy bags of shopping far. Cycle racks are not the most secure in Brixton either and not anough in number. Having saud that it’s a pity that the lovely old building the Canterbury Arms is being knockef diown to make way for flats where there is space right next door that would have accommodated both fllats and space for either public parking or a smaller Toolbox scheme
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