Deptford is.. reviewing recent progress

After something of a hiatus over the summer, this week members of the Deptford Is.. team got together to discuss progress since their last meeting.

At the Convoys Wharf public exhibition in July, the architects were confident that they would be holding another open day in September to show us the final masterplan that they intend to submit to the council as a planning application. With no contact from them at time of writing, we assume that progress has been rather slower than predicted.

Renderings from the previous scheme - little change was seen on the latest masterplan

The Build the Lenox team shared the exciting news that they have acquired two patrons for their Community Interest Company (CIC) - local MP Dame Joan Ruddock, and historian and broadcaster Dan Snow - lending the campaign additional gravitas and respectability that will no doubt stand it in good stead for the months ahead.

Having stepped up the marketing campaign by producing new postcard flyers to distribute in Deptford and environs, and having been featured in the South London Press and News Shopper newspapers, the campaign is starting to attract attention from a wider audience and the team is recruiting new volunteers and continuing to seek donations towards the costs.

They have also launched a Facebook page for the campaign and invite you to 'like' it if you have a Facebook account!

Meanwhile Sayes Court Garden has constituted itself as a CIC and is forging exciting links with high-profile charities and organisations which have similar interests and aspirations. The project also has a Facebook page and a Twitter feed through which they can keep in touch with supporters.

An invitation to meet Tim Smit, the founder of the Eden Project in Cornwall, has led to a continuing dialogue and consolidation of the aims of the Sayes Court Garden project, and this has been given additional impetus by a new collaboration with the National Trust.

The founder of the National Trust, Octavia Hill, has links to Deptford and Sayes Court Garden, and it was discussions over how the gardens could be preserved in perpetuity for the people of Deptford that prompted the creation of the National Trust.

The Sayes Court Garden project is in the process of developing a series of workshops with local schools as part of its long-term aim to get young children interested in gardening, food growing and using and exploring the urban green spaces that are often overlooked. These workshops will be held in November.

On a more general level, the team is working with leading landscape academics and design professionals, moving towards presenting developed proposals for the Sayes Court Garden site and manor house.