23 NOVEMBER 2016
Our anchor petition reaches 4,000 signatures.
26 NOVEMBER 2016
Mayor Bullock opens Artmonger's latest mural which received £2k in public funding without any public consultation or planning permission. DIF protest across the road with a chalk anchor.
Later on the site, photographer and resident Ben Graville launches his new book "rip anchor/I luv you anker".
10 DECEMBER 2016
DIF have a stall at Deptford Housewives Xmas Bazaar at The Albany, and raise £135 for Deptford Reach.
TIMELINE 2016
2 DEC 2015
The petition gets in the local press, reporting 2,251 signatures so far.
5 MARCH 2016
DIF chalk up some anchors to accompany the Deptford Society's push to get petition signatures in the high street.
2 JUNE 2016
The Job Centre pub acquires a handsome anchor.
30 SEPTEMBER 2016
The Wayfinder obelisk finally fulfils its function after three years of neglect.
4 MARCH 2016
The Wayfinder obelisk was installed in 2013 at the top of the high street but never completed. DIF decide to spruce it up for a special message.
23 FEBRUARY 2016
DIF begin advertising the petition in the high street, using some great comments from previous signatories.
2 OCTOBER 2016
DIF chalk an anchor for Deptford X (pic Ben Graville).
17 NOVEMBER 2016
Cllrs Joe Dromey and Brenda Dacres convene a meeting the Civic Suite for the Deptford Society with council officers and Deputy Mayor Alan Smith.
Council officers deny the removal of the anchor had anything to do with street drinking, while the Crime Prevention officer says things had improved at the previous anchor site, but agrees the street drinking problem has now moved to Giffin Square.
Council officers say reinstatement cannot go ahead without a new public consultation, despite our petition reaching almost 4,000 signatures.
They have drawn up some costs of reinstatement of around £24,000, but commit to review all costs involved.
Deputy Mayor Alan Smith claims, with characteristic superciliousness, that the Deptford Anchor isn't even a real anchor as it isn't made of iron. (It is!).
Alan Smith says there's no money and the Deptford Society will have to raise the funds itself through crowdfunding or via Local Assembly funding (where it would be in competition with more needy projects).
The Society agues that there is no need for further consultation as we had already done that through the petition.
It maintains that funding can come from the Community Infrastructure Levy. (CIL is a levy extracted by the Council on all new development, however big or small). We argue that this is just the sort of project that the CIL is intended for – money that should be spent in the area where presently huge sums are being levied, instead of being used elsewhere in the borough.
In addition, locals have offered to contribute to costs by providing professional services in kind.
19 DECEMBER 2016
Our anchor wreath hangs in High Street Flowers' shop window.
13 DECEMBER 2016
The petition has now reached over 4,000 signatures, but before we present it to the Mayor, Cllr Alan Hall, Chair of the Council's Scrutiny Committee, pre-empts us by forcing the issue onto the Mayor & Cabinet's agenda.
A keen supporter of The Lenox Project, Cllr Hall embraces a nautical theme with an announcement in the local press:
"Let's Get Deptford Shipshape! I am fully on board with the Deptford Society's campaign...and have formally hoisted the flag on the matter at the Town Hall. Me and my shipmates on the Overview & Scrutiny Committee agree that the Mayor should bring back the anchor to Deptford High Street...
"The original reason given for the removal in 2013 was because it attracted street drinkers. I really don't think we can blame the anchor for street drinking, which is a problem to be addressed through other means. The restoration of the anchor is long overdue and as time and tide wait for no man, we put it to the Mayor & Cabinet to see what can be done. We received the following message which we will consider at our meeting tonight:
"Having been informed that discussions on relocation had been held with the Deptford Society, the Mayor agreed officers would continue to work with the society to see if the aspirations of residents could be met".
© Deptford Is Forever 2013-22