Crossthwaite Avenue

The parade of shops in Crossthwaite Avenue are a vital community resource, but at the moment they are all struggling to survive. Two of the shops are currently shuttered up while the others are facing difficulties in meeting the rent increases which Southwark Council want to impose.

So I hope that a meeting between Veronica and myself together with the Deputy Chief Executive of the Council and the Head of the Property section will result in some real help for the shopkeepers. We visited the shopping parade and spoke with Mr Patelia from the Post Office, Hugh Dawes from St Faiths Church and others who highlighted the problems Crossthwaite Avenue has been facing. With uncertainty over the future of the Post Office it is really important that everything possible is done to help the shops continue trading. Although it may be difficult to do anything directly about rents, money could be spent to regenerate the area around the parade and make it a more welcoming shopping environment. Better signage would alert people to the fact that the shops are there! The shops serve the Denmark Hill and Cleve Hall Estates, together with the residents of Sunray Avenue and surrounding roads, so it would be a disaster if they were lost.

Veronica and I are committed to fighting for the future of Crossthwaite Avenue and will continue to pursue this issue until some greater help is provided by the Council.