Deptford beats the bookies (again)

After a week of grim tidings up and down the country, it was heartening to receive an email that actually had some good news about that little piece of London that stole my heart and never gave it back.

In April 2011, TRWS ran a brief story about Betfred’s failure to get planning use altered from building society only to include betting shops in a vacant high street premises. Just what Deptford needed; yet another turf accountant on the high street. Sanity prevailed and the bookies were turned down.

But that wasn’t the end of the affair. When it came to taking the matter further, Betfred were as good as their word. They appealed to the Planning Inspectorate.

Sue Lawes has campaigned passionately against Betfred’s plans and it was a real pleasure to open her email this evening; informing TRWS that the bookmaker’s Deptford planning appeal had failed on 16 August.

The whole story has already been well-covered by several blogs in the locale so I’ll not go into too much detail, save to observe that the prospect of anti-social behaviour generated by another bookie office seems to have played a strong role in the failure of the bookmaker’s appeal. 

Perhaps in the grand scheme of things, this story of local opposition triumphing against corporate interests doesn’t add up to much but in these less than happy times, any victory for the little guy is to be savoured. (That said, given the financial purpose of the unit, one can't help wondering what kind of 'sub-prime' financial services provider is likely to fill the vacancy left after scuppering the bookies.)

If you want read more on the story, the redoubtable Sue Lawes provided these links:

• The Deptford Dame
• Deptford Misc
• The Planning Portal, where the decision was originally published

For more Deptfordian goings-on, check out Crosswhatfields