Council offers £40,000 to help revive Tower Bridge Road

The £40,000 grant, signed off last week by council leader Peter John, is part of a borough-wide £440,340 package of grants for business initiatives from the Community Restoration Fund set up in the wake of last summer's riots.

We reported in May on efforts spearheaded by Suhel Ahmed of the Tower Tandoori to gather support from neighbouring businesses for an application to the fund.

"I'm very thankful to the local councillors and businesses for their much-needed support and advice," says Suhel Ahmed.

"Our councillors Claire Hickson and Mark Gettleson along with MP Simon Hughes have been instrumental and have provided endless encouragement since we decided to bid for the fund.

Moving on, I now hope we – Tower Tandoori, businesses, residents, councillors, Southwark Council, Transport for London and others – can all work together to tackle the issues we face on Tower Bridge Road.

"I hope we can work towards restoring this once vibrant community and high street.

"We will now devise an action plan which will take into account the various needs of residents and businesses of Tower Bridge Road before putting the funds to appropriate use.

"Various meetings and a launch event for the association will be held in the coming months."

• A final decision on the controversial planning application for a payday loan shop in Tower Bridge Road will be made on Tuesday night by one of the council's new planning sub-committees.