This year’s Community Pride awards are changing. Incredible Edible Lambeth are managing the ‘Blooming Lambeth’ awards for gardens and food growing.

Residents can nominate themselves/neighbour but the deadline is June 16th. Entries can be posted to Getting Involved at Blue Star House or emailed to bloom@lambeth.gov.uk. The awards ceremony will be held 12 October at the Garden Museum, Lambeth Palace.

If residents were thinking of food growing but have not started yet, Lambeth have partnered up with Urban Growth to provide help and support with this http://urbangrowth.london/

If residents are interested in starting such a project please contact Flora@urbangrowth.london or ring Lambeth on 0207 926 3401.

One of the StreetWorks community priorities is to create a diagonal crossing for pedestrians at the junction of York Hill and Lancaster Avenue and the project want local residents to design it! Above is an example of a crossing design in Brixton.

The STreetWorks project team are looking for outstanding two dimensional artwork that will be applied to the surface of the crossing area.

Submit your designs via this link http://bit.ly/designstreets by 4th June 2017

There are 3 categories:
Primary School (4-10)
Secondary School (11-16)
Anything over (17+)

Public voting will open on 12th June to select the winning entry from each of the categories. Working in collaboration with local businesses via the Station to Station Business Improvement District there will be an arts trail to help you vote for your favourite designs.

The overall winner will be announced in September 2017

Get creating and submit your designs which could soon be on our streets! http://bit.ly/designstreets

Lloyds Bank plan to close the West Dulwich branch in Croxted Road later this year. The closure was announced without any consultation with local residents, businesses or Lloyds customers. Customers are directed to the Lloyds Bank East Dulwich branch, some two miles away on no direct public transport route and with very limited parking.

Helen Hayes MP has been working with residents on this and sent round the above leaflet to local residents asking for feedback to help her represent your views.

Temporary road closures in Thurlow Park

Due to the construction of raised entry treatments in Avenue Park Road and Elmcourt Road and a Copenhagen crossing in Station Rise at their junctions with Norwood Road there will be some temporary road closures.

Lambeth Council have made an Order the effect of which will be to temporarily ban vehicles from entering:

(a) that length of Avenue Park Road which lies between Norwood Road and a point 32 metres north-east of Norwood Road (alternative routes for vehicles will be available via (i) Norwood Road, Elmcourt Road and Maley Avenue; and (ii) Norwood Road, Elmcourt Road and Thurlow Park Road)

(b) that length of Elmcourt Road which lies between Norwood Road and a point 2 metres north-east of the common boundary of No. 415 Norwood Road and No. 1 Elmcourt Road (alternative routes for vehicles will be available via (i) Norwood Road, Avenue Park Road and Thurlow Park Road; and (ii) Thurlow Park Road, Lancaster Avenue and Norwood Road)

This will come into force on Monday 24th April 2017 and it will continue for a maximum duration of 6 months or until the works have been completed whichever is the sooner.

If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to contact us.

Proposed Dalton street planning development refused

Cllr Fred Cowell has recently been busy working to investigate a development application that covered 21-27 and 28 Dalton Street, SE27. It’s the forth such development attempt over the last three years.

The new development project was for 17 luxury flats in a 4-storey build plus a basement building, to a height of 12m. Despite planning objections made in 2016 around issues of height, density, traffic/parking, daylight/sunlight restrictions, overlooking balconies, loss of commercial space, employment and negative impact on local amenities the new development plan did not seem take into adequate consideration these concerns within the new proposed scheme.

The plan was strongly opposed by local residents of Dalton Street, Lancaster Avenue, Chatsworth Way and Hawkley Gardens, all of whom would of been negatively affected by this proposal on a number of grounds. Cllr Fred Cowell worked with residents and the Planning Committee to share their concerns and we are pleased that this proposal was refused.

While we, and many local residents, support new housing in Lambeth we would also like to see schemes that reflects and enhance the adjoining areas and we will continue to work for, and behalf of, residents to this end.

West Norwood and Tulse Hill: A Manual for Delivery

West Norwood and Tulse Hill are undergoing a programme of change ranging from street and park improvements to research and development around key business and industrial areas. Over recent years and across the next few years the area will have benefitted from a total of around 30 million pounds worth of capital investment. It is an exciting period for the communities in this area, who have a real opportunity to get involved and support positive change.

Lambeth Council have committed to a cooperative approach to project planning and project delivery within neighbourhoods undergoing regeneration therefore consultation is key to their success. Within the locality a number of communities and forums are building neighbourhoods plans.

The Visioning West Norwood and Tulse Hill programme has seen a process of information gathering and masterplanning being developed for the local area over the last year. This programme has outlined the vision for the area, identified local community priorities and highlighted opportunities for development and investment in the area.

The Visioning West Norwood and Tulse Hill programme consists of four strands:

An Economic Vision for the area
A Refresh of the 2009 Masterplan
A Health Check for the Key Industrial Business Area (KIBA)
The production of a Co-operative Local Investment Plan (CLIP)

For more information and access to the complete report please visit – https://www.lambeth.gov.uk/sites/default/files/West%20Norwood%20and%20Tulse%20Hill%20A%20Manual%20for%20Delivery.pdf

The link to he Lambeth site is here – https://www.lambeth.gov.uk/housing-and-regeneration/regeneration/regeneration-activity-in-lambeth

Streetworks – Outreach and Communications Worker needed

StreetWorks is a unique community – led project to improve the Norwood Road and re-design the Tulse Hill one-way system. We are looking for a part time Outreach and Communications worker, self-employed, initially for a period of 6 months conditional on funding.

The hourly rate for this post is £15

If you are passionate about community issues and would like to work closely with people to make a difference in your local area, then please get in touch attaching your CV and a covering letter, outlining what makes you suitable for the post. The closing date for applications is Thursday 13th April at 5pm.

To submit your application, or for more information please email: hello@streetworks.london

The hours are very flexible but are likely to be in the region of 10 hours per week on average. The role will involve some evening and weekend work.

The main purpose of the role is to support the Streetworks project and its engagement activities within the community, to ensure that we reach the diverse communities in the local area

The duties are likely to include:

Website update, newsletter production and email updates.

Managing our social media presence

Promoting specific events, for example the upcoming public art competition

Facilitating collaboration with local schools ( City Heights, St Martins and Elmgreen) on various community projects along Norwood Road.

Building relationships with the business community

Collating the information collected from the open discussions to inform a future plan feeding into updates and the gyratory development

Assisting with gathering information to support monitoring and evaluation

Developing and updating the Streetworks communications plan

Norwood Planning Assembly – local input in planning

The Norwood Planning Assembly (NPA) was established by the Norwood Forum and the Norwood Action Group. It is hope that such an assembly will allow local people to decide where future shops, houses, community and workspaces should be and what they look like, and press for property to be more affordable too.

Cllr Fred Cowell has been working with the above group as well as with other residents to help enable local people and businesses to have a greater say in planning development in our local area.

Having received an update towards the end of January 2017 at the NPA public meeting about the bid for designation, ratification of the NPA constitution and the election of officers, plus the creation of a volunteer led sub-groups to develop aspects of the neighbourhood plan, the NPA is now going to public consultation.

It is expected that the decision on whether to formally designate the NPA will be made by the Council’s Cabinet in July 2017.

The map of the area covered is available here – https://www.norwoodplanning.org/the-neighbourhood-boundary

You can support the application whether you live in the area of the NPA or not. The more support that can be demonstrate in and around the area, the more representative we can be of our community. Please respond by 15 May 2017.

You can send your views by email or respond by post:

Email: localplan@lambeth.gov.uk

Post: Planning Strategy and Policy Team, London Borough of Lambeth, 1st Floor, Phoenix House, 10 Wandsworth Road, London SW8 2LL

Details of the application can be found on the Lambeth website – https://www.lambeth.gov.uk/consultations/norwood-planning-assembly-neighbourhood-forum-and-neighbourhood-area-application

Printed copies of the application are also available for inspection at West Norwood library during their normal opening hours and at the Council’s office at Ground Floor, Phoenix House, 10 Wandsworth Road, London, SW8 2LL from 9am-5pm Monday to Friday.

More information can be found on the Norwood Planning Assembly website – https://www.norwoodplanning.org/

The Regeneris report on Norwood, produced after extensive consultation, which includes the Commonplace map can be found here – https://www.norwoodplanning.org/consultation-activity

Station to Station – volunteer call out

Station to Station Business Improvement District is dedicated to making West Norwood and Tulse Hill a great place to live, work and play. It will also work to draw visitors and businesses from across London to the area.

The BID is run by a number of local businesses and will be managed by an appointed, dedicated BID manager. Our theme groups focus on raising the profile of the area, growing your businesses and making sure the public realm is one of the best in Lambeth.

In July 2016 the BID achieved a successful ballot result on with over 75% of business who voted, voting yes! And now, they are calling our for Volunteer Ambassadors.

Do you care about local businesses? Do you want to see Tulse Hill & West Norwood improve?

Become a Volunteer Ambassador for Station to Station Business Improvement District for West Norwood and Tulse Hill. Build relationships with local businesses. Attend events. Keep updated with local projects and more…

To participate please let us know more about you http://bit.ly/joinvass (open to businesses and residents that care about the area). Apply now!

For more information email georgina@stationtostation.london

Burst Water Mains Scrutiny Commission

Lambeth scrutiny commission is meeting on Tuesday 25th April 2017 at the Karibu Education Centre, 7 Gresham Road SW9 7PH to look at issues related to burst water mains.

The commission – comprising four cross-party backbench councillors – will be questioning representatives of Thames Water regarding the causes and effects of recent bursts in the borough, and the customer response to residents and businesses affected by flooding, as well as examining the longer term plans for maintenance and investment in the network.

The commission is part of a London-wide scrutiny approach involving several boroughs and the Greater London Assembly’s Environment Committee, which is expected to result in a joint report with a series of recommendations aimed at improving performance in the areas outlined.

The commission will begin with an informal surgery-type session from 6-7pm when members of the public are encouraged to give evidence on the topic by speaking to councillors about their experiences. Following this will be a formal meeting from 7-9pm during which the members of the commission will put questions to Thames Water.

All residents are very welcome to attend. The agenda papers will be published in the week prior to the meeting at:
http://moderngov.lambeth.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=775&MId=10100&Ver=4