What do you think would keep and help make East Dulwich even more special?

 For your local Lib Dem councillors, protecting and nurturing the unique character of our local community has been at the core of everything we have done over the last four years. It remains the driving force behind everything we do. Keeping East Dulwich special is a cause we are constantly fighting for, and it is a promise we are determined to keep.

We’veall witnessed first hand the remarkable transformation of our area, and Southwark generally. Southwark now has the fastest improving schools in the country, some of the cleanest and safest streets in London. Most striking of all has been the evolution of the thriving hub of our community: Lordship Lane. The quirky mix of independent shops, bars and restaurants makes for a completely unique shopping experience, which is not something that can be said for many of Britain’s clone high streets. We believe a crucial part of keeping East Dulwich special is making sure that we do not let Lordship Lane be monopolised by the same generic mix of chain stores which feature on thousands of dull high streets up and down the country.

With this in mind we have been tireless and innovative in trying to solve the challenges faced by local small business owners.

 

We have equipped every small business in the area with an Alert Box. These are interconnected alarms, which, when one sounds, triggers alarms in all boxes in the network. Everyone comes out to help take care of a neighbouring business. Our feedback has shown that this has significantly reduced fear of crime, and improved the sense of safety and security felt by independent business owners. This gives them the potential to extend their opening hours if they wish, but also, as a side effect, creates a sense of community among businesses in the network, because their interests have become intertwined. (In fact this has been so successful we’ve introduced a residents version linking Rycott Path with Norcroft Gardens).

 Our recent residents survey, identified one clear way of improving the shopping experience on Lordship Lane: better crossings. At the moment crossing Lordship Lane- except at either end- is not only difficult but, frankly dangerous. We have recently been granted two year funding starting in April to make Lordship Lane safer and we expect this to include installation of a new zebra crossing opposite Somerfield, right in the centre of the main parade of shops without reducing car parking. This should offer everyone much better access to bothsides of the street- and the wonderful, eclectic range of retailers which each has to offer. Improving the shopping experience on Lordship Lane will clearly have widespread benefits for East Dulwich. For consumers it means more local convenience and better access to local choice. For traders it means more customers and more profit, equipping them with the means to cushion themselves from the blows, which the market might throw at them, and to resist being bought out by big high street retailers.