How Coulgate Street became Brockley's favourite square

FRIDAY 24 JULY 2026

Coulgate Street today: people sitting out at Browns of Brockley beside the community garden, on the car-free space created during Covid

On a busy weekend, Coulgate Street feels like the centre of Brockley. Cafés put tables out on the pavement and people stop to talk on their way to and from the station.

It is a long way from the Coulgate Street of twenty years ago, when cars and parking took up much of the space.

Coulgate Street lined with parked cars on both sides in 2010, looking towards the railway bridge — Coulgate Street in 2010, lined with parked cars on both sides, before the Covid closure removed through traffic. Photo by Stacey Harris, CC BY-SA 2.0

A campaign before Covid

Residents had argued for change long before Covid. One of the main organisations behind the campaign was the Brockley Cross Action Group, usually known as BCAG. The group was set up in 2000 to encourage community involvement and improve Brockley Cross and the area around the station.^[1]

BCAG also helped create Brockley Station Community Gardens. The garden was developed with Lewisham Council and Network Rail, then designed and planted by local volunteers in 2010. BCAG volunteers still look after its flower beds, woodland, herb garden and wildlife habitats.^[1]

The garden and the campaign for a more pedestrian-friendly street were closely linked. BCAG believed the road could become a proper community space rather than just an approach to the station.

Vans and cars parked nose to tail along Coulgate Street beside the newly built steps and ramp to Brockley station — Coulgate Street in 2010 after the ground beside the station had been cleared and the steps and ramp built, but before volunteers planted the community garden

Years of asking for change

By 2009, BCAG was openly campaigning for partial pedestrianisation.^[2] It collected signatures for a petition, and in 2010 the Brockley Assembly voted to ask Lewisham Council to consider the idea. The council report records both the petition and the request.^[3]

The Speedicars minicab office and Browns of Brockley on Coulgate Street in 2011, with cars parked along the kerb — Coulgate Street in 2011, with the Speedicars minicab office beside Browns of Brockley and cars parked along the kerb. Photo by Stephen Craven, CC BY-SA 2.0

The proposal met opposition, mainly over parking and access. Coulgate Street was later named by campaigners against Lewisham's Covid road closures.^[4]

A large white van parked directly in front of Browns of Brockley, hiding the shopfront — Parking on Coulgate Street often blocked the shopfronts. Here a van hides Browns of Brockley from view

Council transport plans from 2010 proposed making Coulgate Street more pedestrian-friendly, with the possibility of a part-time street market.^[5]

More improvements followed in 2015. According to BCAG's history of the project, a long campaign by the group led to an upgrade paid for through contributions from the Langtry Court development and Transport for London. The work made the street more comfortable for walking, but it did not remove traffic.^[6]

The Covid closure

The bigger change came during Covid. In 2020, hospitality businesses needed more outdoor space so they could keep serving customers while following social distancing rules. Lewisham Council brought in a timed closure of Coulgate Street between 8am and 10pm, using temporary barriers to stop through traffic.^[7]

The council described Coulgate Street as its first road closure of this kind. It let businesses provide outdoor dining and gave people more room while restrictions were in place.^[8]

What residents and BCAG had spent years asking for was suddenly happening as an emergency measure.

Once traffic was gone, the street could be used in a different way. Cafés and restaurants gained space for tables, pedestrians had more room outside the station, and the community garden became part of a larger public space.

The closure also drew further investment. In 2021, Transport for London allocated £145,000 for the Coulgate Street closure, pedestrianisation and planters.^[9] Later council documents recorded more spending on improvements to the street.^[10] The closure has since become permanent, and Coulgate Street is now described as a pedestrianised part of Brockley. BCAG says the change made the area the calm, sociable place its volunteers had imagined years earlier, and that it has benefited the gardens, local wildlife and people using the street.^[1]

Coulgate Street today

The independent shops and cafés draw people to the street, and the car-free space and community garden give them room to stay. Browns of Brockley and The Broca, once hidden behind parked vans, now put tables out on the paving, and the restaurant Parlez uses the reclaimed space in the same way.

People sitting out at Browns of Brockley beside the Coulgate Street community garden on the car-free space — Coulgate Street today: people sitting out at Browns of Brockley beside the community garden, on the car-free space created during Covid

Lewisham was ranked last among the 14 inner London boroughs in the 2025 Healthy Streets Scorecard, so there is still much to do.^[11] Coulgate Street is the borough's clearest example of what a car-free street can become.

Sources

1.^
Brockley Cross Action Group, Brockley Station Community Gardens — brockleycrossactiongroup.co.uk (Source archive)
2.^
Brockley Central, Brockley Cross Action Group monthly meetings, May 2009 — brockleycentral.blogspot.com (Source archive)
3.^
Lewisham Council, Referral by Brockley Assembly: Coulgate Street, March 2010 — councilmeetings.lewisham.gov.uk (Source archive)
4.^
Stop Road Closures in Lewisham campaign, Update naming Coulgate Street, 2020 — change.org (Source archive)
5.^
Lewisham Council, Local Implementation Plan report, November 2010 — councilmeetings.lewisham.gov.uk (Source archive)
6.^
Brockley Cross Action Group, History of the gardens and Coulgate Street campaign — brockleycrossactiongroup.co.uk (Source archive)
7.^
Lewisham Council, Update on temporary measures to support safer walking and cycling in response to COVID-19, September 2020 — councilmeetings.lewisham.gov.uk (Source archive)
8.^
Lewisham Council, How local businesses are adapting and thriving in low traffic areas, August 2020 — lewisham.gov.uk (Source archive)
9.^
Transport for London, Funding allocation letter to Lewisham Council, July 2021 — tfl.gov.uk (Source archive)
10.^
Lewisham Council, Infrastructure Funding Statement 2023 to 2024 — lewisham.gov.uk (Source archive)
11.^
Healthy Streets Scorecard, Lewisham results, 2025 — healthystreetsscorecard.london (Source archive)