Local news and opportunities to get involved from your local Labour and Co-operative councillors in Thurlow Park.
Author: thurlowparklabour
Thurlow Park's Labour councillors sharing news and ways to get involved in the local area - including West Norwood, Herne Hill, Tulse Hill and West Dulwich.
Lambeth Council’s ‘healthy routes’ consultation went live on Friday 20 October 2017. Running alongside the Local Plan Review and Transport Strategy Issues consultations, the healthy routes consultation is seeking feedback on current and potential routes for walking and cycling in the borough.
This is intended to help focus our investment in improving conditions on strategic routes / locations for walking and cycling – something that will be key in the Transport Strategy which we will be developing further next year.
In preparation for the forthcoming Lambeth fireworks display in Brockwell Park a temporary vehicle restrictions notice has been put in place.
(a) ban vehicles from:
(i) entering the slip road that links Norwood Road to Dulwich Road (by the Herne Hill entrance to Brockwell Park) from 7 am on Thursday 02 November 2017 until 11pm on Sunday 05 November 2017 (the banned left turn from the main carriageway of Norwood Road into the main carriageway of Dulwich Road would be suspended so as to provide an alternative route for affected vehicles)
(ii) entering or waiting (including for loading/unloading purposes) in that length of Railton Road, which lies between Rymer Street and the junction of Dulwich Road/Norwood Road/Half Moon Lane from 2pm until 11pm on Saturday 04 November 2017
(iii) entering or waiting (including for loading/unloading purposes) in that length of Brockwell Park Gardens which lies between Norwood Road and the party wall of Nos. 42 and 43 Brockwell Park Gardens from 6am until 11pm on Saturday 4th November 2017 (an alternative route would be available via Norwood Road and Trinity Rise)
(iv) entering or waiting in the lengths of roads specified in Schedule 1 to this Notice from 6.30pm until 9.30pm on Saturday 04 November 2017 (alternative routes would be available via adjacent roads as indicated by traffic signs)
(v) waiting (except for loading/unloading purposes) in the lengths of roads specified in Schedule 2 to this Notice and waiting (including for loading/unloading purposes) in the lengths of roads specified in Schedule 3 to this Notice, from 7am until 11pm on 04 November 2017
(b) suspend the banned right turn from Carver Road into Herne Hill.
2. The restrictions are necessary to enable safe access for vehicles connected with the event and because of the likelihood of danger to the public caused by an increase in traffic and parking related to a fireworks display in Brockwell Park and would only apply at such times and to such extent as shall be indicated by the placing of the appropriate traffic signs.
Following the tragic death of Dr. Jasjot Singhota at
the zebra crossing on Thurlow Park Road, by Birkbeck Hill, in February, we have
been working to tackle speeding and improve safety on the South Circular.
In March, we organised a walkabout with TfL
officers, local residents, friends of Jas, the local Labour London Assembly
Member Flo Eshalomi, and the local Labour MP Helen Hayes. We discussed a number
of issues with the speed of traffic, the visibility of crossings and the lack
of enforcement when drivers are disregarding road safety.
We have been working with TfL to follow up on these
actions behind the scenes, and while the police inquiry into the tragic
accident is still ongoing, we are able to provide an update on this work from
TfL officers.
We asked TfL to commission a speed survey at the
crossing to give us the evidence we need to push for improvements. This took
place between 18 April and 24 April and the results are here:
Clearly, far too many drivers are exceeding the speed limit – and we are committed to continuing to work with residents to campaign for measures to tackle this.
We also asked for a collision study, so that we
could gain a better understanding of the dangers of this crossing.
TfL officers say:
“We have completed a collision study, which revealed at this location
there were five collisions in the 36 months up to 31st October 2016 (which is
the latest Police recorded data available, so it does not include the collision
involving Dr Singhota). Two collisions occurred on the zebra crossing involving
pedestrian’s being struck by a vehicle, whilst crossing the road. One of these
collisions resulted in a serious injury, with the other resulting in slight
injury. Three of the collisions involved vehicle shunt incidents on the
approach to the zebra crossing. Two of these three collisions involved vehicles
travelling westbound, with the other collision involving vehicles travelling
eastbound. All three shunt incidents were attributed to inappropriate speeds
and the driver failing to look properly. Two of these collisions involved cars
only, with the other involving a car and a motorcycle.”
While the ongoing police inquiry has advised that
the highway layout was not being seen as a contributory factor to the fatal
accident in February, TfL have agreed to review the layout to begin to address
our concerns. These are all things which they are able to include in the
ongoing maintenance programme so the required works can be delivered fairly
promptly.
In summary, these works include:
The belisha beacon (the pole with an orange ball on top by the zebra crossings) post on the north-eastern side of A205 Thurlow Park Road is solid black, and will be made black and white striped to be consistent with other crossings of this type. This should make is more visible for oncoming traffic.
The belisha beacons on either side of Thurlow Park Road will be re-orientated to improve their visibility.
Two replacement keep left bollards will be installed on the pedestrian refuge area (island) in the middle of the road.
In addition, TfL have agreed to get in touch with
the police to set up some community-led speed checks under the Community
Roadwatch scheme, which will complement the surveys that TfL have undertaken.
This scheme gives residents the opportunity to work with local police teams,
and use speed detection equipment to deter speeding on their roads.
Dates are
yet to be finalised for this event – if you would like to be part of this please sign up here.
TfL are also considering other interventions that
could be made in the longer term and progressed as part of their programme with
the aim of reducing speeds and improving safety along this section of Thurlow
Park Road. They say, “We intend to work with all stakeholders
to ensure that all our roads are safe for all road users.”
Friday 13th October 2017 proved unlucky for some speeding motorists on Lancaster Avenue as LARA ran its first Community Roadwatch event with the Lambeth Safer Transport Team led on the day by Police Community Support Officer Bruce Hay accompanied by two of his colleagues and ably assisted by residents from the Avenue.
Using a speed gun supplied by the Lambeth police team and expertly handled by one of the residents the Roadwatch team captured 78 vehicles travelling at 25mph or more in just 75 minutes between 4pm and 5:25pm. Of those 78 vehicles, 20 were captured travelling at over 27 mph and the worst offender was clocked at a staggering 42 mph.
The registration numbers of all vehicles registering 25mph or more on the laser gun were recorded and have been reported to TfL by the police team. Drivers who are subsequently caught speeding a second time will receive warnings, which for the worst offenders may involve a knock at the door from Bruce and his team, and further infringements will incur stiffer penalties.
Bearing in mind the presence of a nursery, two care homes and an infant school on our road and the long-standing nature of the 20mph speed limit the speeds some motorists were travelling at really does beggar belief.
PCSO Hay declared the event “very busy by any standard” and plans to return, this time with 2 speed guns, for a further event in the November. He assures us that the need to return so quickly is driven by the evident problem which affects our road and not by the excellent cups of tea and good company supplied to him and his team.
As we enter the autumn months a leaf clearing schedule began earlier this month. Below is a break down of when each street will be cleared. If you have any questions please get in touch.
Lambeth is a great place to live, work and invest because of its location, its people, its character and assets. The existing Lambeth Local Plan, adopted in 2015, contains a strong vision for the development of the borough to improve opportunities for local people.
However, we need to partially update it and this updated Lambeth Local Plan, together with the Mayor of London’s London Plan and neighbourhood plans, will set out the vision and robust planning policies needed to direct and guide development in the borough over the next 15 years to meet our future needs.
As a part of updating Lambeth’s Local Plan we are consulting with residents and stakeholders – we want you to have your say. We are at the beginning of the process and this consultation is your chance to tell us what issues you think need to be reviewed in the Plan.
Thames Water are to carry out water main connection works which will lead to a temporarily ban vehicles from entering or exiting Ullswater Road at its junction with Norwood Road.
Alternative routes will be available for affected vehicles via (a) Norwood Road, Harpenden Road and Ulverstone Road and vice versa; (b) Norwood Road, York Hill and Harpenden Road and vice versa.
This will come into force on 23rd October 2017 and will continue for a maximum duration of 2 months (allowing for contingencies) or until the works have been completed whichever is the sooner.
Having recently held a meeting with officers overseeing the Rosendale Playing Fields fence proposal the timetable for residents to respond to the planning application is still on track. This means December 2017.
Quietway 7 is part of a network of proposed quieter, low-traffic routes across London designed to make cycling and walking safer and more pleasant. The proposed Quietway 7 runs from Elephant & Castle to Crystal Palace, with the Lambeth section running through Thurlow Park and Gipsy Hill wards.
We have consistently sought to ensure residents and local businesses have the opportunity to input into the design of the Quietway – pushing officers and TfL to withdraw plans for an experimental road closure and organising events, workshops and online questionnaires over the last two years. Recently, we were concerned that a decision had been made without some key changes residents asked for being implemented, and without any further opportunities for the local community to engage.
We therefore got this decision reversed, and over the summer we organised a number of meetings with groups such as the local businesses and the allotments with officers and designers, as well as a public meeting in each ward and meetings with individual residents who have requested them, and some changes have been made to accommodate concerns raised. Where changes we wanted to be made weren’t able to be accommodated by designers, we escalated to a meeting with the London Cycling and Walking Commissioner to make sure residents’ voices were heard at the highest possible level.
A consultation and detailed feedback from officers has been launched here – lambeth.gov.uk/quietway7 – where you can provide feedback until 5 November 2017.
We have also organised an event in the afternoon of Saturday 21 October at All Saints Church. This is to ensure residents have further opportunities to discuss the designs with councillors and look at hard copies of the plans.
We anticipate this being a busy event, so ask that you choose a timeslot to enable us to accommodate everyone who wishes to participate. Please stick to your chosen timeslot so that we can make sure we are able to hear everyone’s views. You can sign up here.
If you can’t make it, please do get in touch and we are happy to visit you at a later date to discuss individually.
The Old Library West Norwood which currently delivers the West Norwood library service, has temporarily closed from Tuesday 3rd to Thursday 26th October whilst Rathbone carries out some refurbishing works.
Drop boxes are available on site for returned items which will be collected on a daily basis by library service couriers and discharged at other libraries.
Black History Month and other planned events at the library has been moved to other libraries including the Upper Norwood Library. Users and members of the public have been informed via libraries website, leaflets and social media.
Any concerns or enquiries please contact us and we’ll talk with library services.
Thurlow Park News 