Wells Park Place, Sydenham SE26 – What if? !!!

 What if .... you could wake up to breathtaking 

London sky views every morning?

(above and below)

What if .... you could wake up to breathtaking London 
sky views every morning?
I guess by definition developers have to be optimists? Financing, building houses and flats in the hope that people are going to want to buy indicates the need to think positively and probably creatively. 

Wells Park Place is a new development by Crest Nicholson along Sydenham Hill close to the Dulwich Wood House pub. Adverts on the hoardings surrounding the development ask: What if .... you could wake up to breathtaking London sky views every morning? 

The view shown stretches from the west of the Shard eastwards to the O2 venue. Although it is true that this part of South London does enjoy some remarkable views of the centre of London and beyond, it is highly unlikely that any of the prospective purchasers at Wells Park Place will ever wake up to the 'breathtaking' view promised. Some will wake up to a doubtless attractive view over South East London but not, I think, the view shown on the hoardings. They might well if the Wells Park Place included a skyscraper but it doesn't  

Wells Park Place is on the south side of Sydenham Hill, so its views will likely be southwards and south-east over these parts of London and Kent. 

It is very likely that the 'breathtaking view' shown on the hoardings were taken from the air. One big giveaway is the view of the O2 venue, which shows much of the stadium. Yet from along Sydenham Hill most of O2 cannot be seen as it is behind Honor Oak Hill. Even from a flat a good half mile further eastwards along the ridge, only the cocktails sticks of O2 can be glimpsed. 

It is interesting that the Crest Nicholson site does not repeat the picture on the hoarding instead shows a view looking out southwards.   

       

O2 as apparently viewed from Wells Park Place 

(apologies for the rather fuzzy pic)  

Detail of part of the 'breathtaking London sky views'

again includes the O2 stadium 

O2 stadium cannot be seen fully from Sydenham Hill

Image from the Crest Nicholson website 

– showing a view over South East London

The Advertising Standards Authority 

latest poster campaign

What if ..... you could leave your London office and be home in under 23 minutes?

As Wells Park Place is in London this is a totally meaningless claim. If your office happened to be in the nearby Dulwich Wood House pub you could leave your 'office' and be home in around three minutes max. Unless, of course, you had overdone the pints of Youngs' Special; in which case the return home might take a little longer. 

However, the photo on the hoarding suggests that tour office is somewhere in the centre or at Canary Wharf, for example. If this is the case 23 minutes is a much tougher proposition. Crest Nicholson allow eight minutes to walk from Wells Park Place to Sydenham Hill Station, which has services into Victoria. This is reasonable going down to Sydenham Hill but the return from 'your office' may well take longer as it is a very steady climb up from the station to Sydenham Hill.     

What if ..... you could leave your London office 

and be home in under 23 minutes?

25 Eccleston Street to Dulwich Wood House: 

37 minutes according to Transport for London

The speediest journey into the centre of London from Wells Park Place is to Victoria with the train journey taking 14/15 minutes. Assuming that your office is at Victoria Station itself and that you can time your arrival on the platform just before the train leaves a journey from Victoria to Wells Park Place in under 23 minutes is just about possible. 

If, however, your office is in Eccelston Street, Victoria then 23 minutes is not possible. 

Other journeys:

 Canary Wharf to Wells Park Place by public transport: 45 minutes 

     London Bridge to Wells Park Place: 47 minutes Transport for London

London Bridge to Wells Park Place: 43 minutes by bike – Transport for London

Very relevant Press Release today (20th December 2017) from the Advertising Standards Authority:

Advertising regulator issues enforcement notice in relation to estate agents advertising

The Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP), the body that writes the advertising rules, is today (Wednesday December 20^th) publishing an enforcement notice issued following problems with some advertising in the property sector.  The effect of the notice is to advise providers in the sector to take immediate action to ensure their ads comply with the relevant standards. 

 

The notice covers a range of areas where CAP and the ASA have seen misleading claims, including: qualifications or exclusions to advertised fees, presentation of VAT on fees, ‘fact-stretching’ on property descriptions, accuracy of comparative savings claims, and reliability of claims about local expertise.

 

The notice makes clear that the regulator will take targeted enforcement action in 2018 if there are further problems in these area, up to and including referral to our legal backstop Trading Standards.

 

For more information please contact the number below.

 

Craig Jones

Director of Communications

 

Direct line 020 7492 2246

 

Advertising Standards Authority

Mid City Place, 71 High Holborn

London WC1V 6QT

Telephone 020 7492 2222

www.asa.org.uk

 

Tom Kearney: Politico's fine profile of Tom and his TFL bus campaign

The opening of Politico's profile of Tom Kearney.

Tom Kearney, a US executive living in London, was hit by a bus on London's Oxford Street in 2009 and left in a coma. Fortunately he survived and has subsequently waged a persistent campaign to improve the safety record of London's buses. Politico has recently published a fine profile of Kearney and his campaign.

Read the rest here. 

On October 15th 2015 The Evening Standard reported on official figures that showed that one person is killed by a London bus every three weeks.

'Between April 2007 and March this year (2015), bus collisions killed 128 people on the capital’s roads. A further 14 died following “slips, trips and falls” while on board.' 

Read the rest here. 

From my own experience either while riding on London buses as well as out on my bike is that some London bus drivers drive recklessly often exceeding the speed limit, especially when out of the centre of London or when traffic is light.  This is particularly noticeable late in the evening when traveling back from the centre to Forest Hill

For instance it would be interesting to know how many 363 buses travel along Sydenham Hill at 20 mph – the speed limit. 

Doubtless there is a temptation to make up time lost in heavy traffic in the centre of London on quieter roads in the suburbs. Bus operators and Transport for London (Tfl) should be insisting that safety rather than timetables are paramount. 

The difference between the amount of media and official interest in bus accidents and the horrific Croydon tram accident on 9th November 2016 is stark. May be this is because tram accidents are very rare, while those involving buses are more frequent. 

Follow Tom's campaign on Twitter and also his blog.   

Dulwich View: null points the view!

dulwich view!! Sydenham/ Forest Hill views more like!

Towards the top of Kirkdale, just before the roundabout with Sydenham Hill, some new three and five bedroom houses are under construction. The development is called dulwich view and will be sold through local estate agents Pedder 'south east london's premier agent'.

'dulwich view to the left' the higher Sedley Court to the right (above and below)

One can assume that the development once complete will be 'high specification' as promised but can it properly be called 'dulwich view'? Dulwich lies to the north west of the dulwich view site over the hill. Between 'dulwich view' the top of the hill is Sedley Court, built higher up the hill and which surely obscures any possible view of Dulwich there might be from 'dulwich view'.     

The side of the 'dulwich view' development that faces Sedley Court – 

no windows except for velux in roof

Only a giant with a long periscope could see Dulwich from here!

I suppose you could argue what's in a name, except that these new homes are priced at from £489,950. Would the price be as high if the development was accurately described as either Forest Hill or Sydenham view? Indeed the majority of the front view from the three bedroom house will be of the large tree just feet from the house. 

Does 'dulwich view' match the Trades' Descriptions Act? Might it contravene the Property Misdescriptions Act 1991 or fall foul of the Advertising Standards Authority? 

I am awaiting a comment from Pedder's two local offices – Forest Hill and Sydenham – on whether any part of Dulwich can be seen from this development.  

 ***

8th February 2013

The post originally suggested that Goldstar were the developers of this site. This I understand is not the case and the necessary amendments have been made. They were contracted by the developers to built the houses. They had nothing to do with the naming, sale price and location of this developement. My apologies to Simon White, the managing director, and his company.

I do suggest, however, that Simon White and his company take care in future to ensure that they do the necessary due diligence before linking the company name and its reputation so publicly to a misleading name.