Heritage lamp posts - how are we doing?

Heritage lamp posts
'How are we doing?
- half way, see the detail'

For those new to Downe Mailing- in brief:
We* have embarked on a project to raise funds for the replacement of lamp posts with 'heritage' style ones in the roads** leading into Downe- to compliment those in the central village conservation area. We know that this will add to the unique character of the village, enhancing the amenity for villagers and visitors alike. We hope that you will consider donating.

The detail:
A huge "thank you" to all in the village who have generously donated so far to the fund for replacing a range of concrete and steel lamp posts with "heritage" style posts.

I am pleased to say that we have enough money now to go ahead and pay Bromley Council so they can start the process of ordering lamps and planning for the implementation.

We are half-way towards our fund raising target (we have collected approaching £7,000) - and this has been supplemented by a generous loan from one villager (obviously to be repaid).

Bromley Council have come back with a revised pricing for the units they plan to install, and the good news is that we will be saving £1,145 over the previous costing. The whole project (eight concrete and five steel replacements) now comes out at a total cost to the village of £13,878 (previously £15,023).

It was previously stated that the replacement programme would be done in two phases. However as a result of the excellent village response so far and the loan mentioned above, we are now able to instruct Bromley Council to go ahead with the complete replacement in one go. This avoids any risk of further price increases if we had left some lamp posts to a later date. Bromley have said they hope to complete the works by the end of June, though they may need some flexibility on this date.

However, we still need to raise another £7,000 approximately, to be able to cover the full costs and repay the loan (and the cost of the separately sourced posts themselves).

So this Downe Mailing is a request to those who are yet to donate to please do so, and to appeal to the generosity of those in the village who feel they may be able to contribute over and above what they had originally intended.

If you feel you can make a donation (or a further donation) towards the costs, this would be greatly appreciated. All donations will be kept strictly confidential.

Please make cheques payable to "Downe Residents' Association" and send them to me at the address below. Alternatively, if you prefer to donate via an electronic bank transfer, just send me an e-mail to: zoemknight@yahoo.co.uk - and I will send you the bank account details.

Should anyone wish to see a copy of the full plan document, please e-mail me at the address above.

Many thanks in advance to all those who are helping to preserve the unique character of our village by assisting in paying for the heritage lamp posts.

Zoe Knight
Chair
On behalf of the Committee of
*Downe Residents' Association

** the areas:
-Rookery Road (from North End Lane to Farthing Street)
-Luxted Road North (from the Baptist Church to Down House)
-Luxted Road South (from Keith Cottages to Eastcroft Villas)
-West Hill
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Downe Mailing (113)