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.

West Norwood Masterplan update

The West Norwood Masterplan refresh is in the final stage of consultation. Work on the masterplan began over a year ago and it’s purpose was to refresh the 2009 masterplan to acknowledge the new changes in the area, provide a detailed economic survey of the area and develop a Co-operative Local Investment Plan. 

The Masterplan has focused on four areas between West Norwood and Tulse Hill. These are the Tulse Hill station area, the central retail area, West Norwood Station and the Commercial and Industrial Area. There has been extensive consultation on priorities for the area and detailed engagement with stakeholders, such as the Norwood Forum. The Masterplan is designed to create a dynamic new series of opportunities for the area and is being used to attract new sources of private and public money to help improve the area.

You can see part of the final report here – https://www.lambeth.gov.uk/sites/default/files/pl-Public-Consultation-final-boards_0.pdf

Further Thames Water update

Thames Water are in the process of hand delivering letters to the immediate vicinity of recent water leaks, which will include Leigham Vale, Palace Road and the affected part of Norwood Road.

In regards to continued leaks in the local area Thames Water have carried out repairs at the following locations:

Half Moon Lane (small leak near Herne Hill) not on Norwood road although traffic may have been impacted. Now complete. 

Tulse Hill (leak on trunk main) single lane closure on Tulse Hill, again may have impacted traffic but no work on Norwood road.

Palace Road/Norwood road junction (leak on 7”) main. Have been working since Friday but have had some challenges repairing the leak. We have a team on site working to repair this and hope re-open the road as quickly as possible.

Come along to tomorrow’s Safer Neighbourhood meeting

The next Thurlow Park Panel Meeting will be held tomorrow, Thursday 2nd February, at 7pm. It will be held at the Chatsworth Baptist Church, Chatsworth Way SE27.

Safe Neighbourhood meetings are an opportunity to hear about the work of the local police, find out details of crimes in the area and to help decide their priorities for the coming quarter.

Thames Water – multiple repairs on the Lambeth network

Thames Water are currently carrying out multiple repairs on the Lambeth network. To enable these works to happen Thames Water have had to either install temporary traffic lights or implement Lane/Road closures (see list below). This may cause delays at peak times and Thames Water advise residents, where possible, to seek an alternative route.

As the Central and Southern London rep for the Thames Flooding and Coastal Committee Cllr J Brathwaite will be raising these repairs at the next committee meeting. In the meantime she will also be writing to the CEO of Thames Water for an explanation. 

Coldharbour Lane – Westbound directional closure between the junction of Atlantic Road and Brixton Road    01/02/2017 – TBC  

Shakespeare Road – Closed at the junction with Coldharbour Lane, Access only                                                     31/01/2017 – TBC          

Leigham Vale – Closed at the junction with Palace Road to Railway bridge, Access only                                  09/12/2016 – TBC

Half Moon Lane – Temporary 4 phase traffic lights at the junction with Dulwich Road                                          31/01/2017 – TBC

Norwood Road – Temporary 4 phase traffic lights at the junction with Croxted Road                                          31/01/2017 – TBC

Brixton Road (TFL) – Northbound lane closure opposite Brixton Station Road. Ferndale Road Closed                        31/01/2017 – TBC

Tulse Hill – Northbound directional closure at the junction with the South Circular                                    04/02/2017 – 05/02/2017

Flood risk reduction around Ardlui Road

A few years ago Lambeth held an extensive consultation to design a rain garden scheme to reduce flood risk around Ardlui Road. Following this engagement, a design was agreed, but unfortunately there was a delay in implementation. Lambeth is now ready to build this scheme and will be doing so in the coming months.

The changes form part of Lambeth’s flood risk reduction strategy, particularly relevant in this part of the ward because the River Effra runs underneath the streets and houses here. As the area has become more tarmac-ed and built up, rainwater runs off much more quickly down drains and into the Effra, which is now a mains sewer. If a large volume of water flows into the Effra all at once, there is a risk that it will overflow into streets, homes, gardens and basements. The proposed greening would slow run off into drains, because of more permeable surfaces, more plants to intercept rain and new sustainable urban drainage systems.

There were some concerns about the design of the scheme, and some residents were not part of the workshops a few years ago, so we will be organising a public meeting to discuss the plans with officers.

Some residents have suggested they would like some street greening on their streets too. We have looked at securing some additional budget to do this and officers are happy to discuss your ideas for Hexham Road, Tulsemere Road, Towton Road, Chatsworth Way, Lavengro Road, and Chancellor Grove. We will ask for feedback at the public meeting, once the date has been finalised, and you are welcome to email us with your thoughts too.

The public toilets towards the Norwood road end of Robson Road that have stood unused for several years are about to be transformed. They were bought from Lambeth at public auction in May 2015. 

Cllr Fred Cowell and Cllr Anna Bierly recently went to have a look and discuss future plans. 

The new owners are looking for planning consent for A1 use, as a cafe, but plan to apply for a licence so that they can run a bar/kitchen. They aim to keep as many of the original features as they reasonably can including retaining the first row of urinals in the Gents, with shelves between each one so that people can sit at them with their laptops. They also hope to retain a couple of cubicles in the Ladies, opened up, to provide intimate alcoves. 

Work will hopefully start soon!

Trinity Rise, Brockwell Park Gardens & Norwood Rd CPZ update

Lambeth Council recently held informal CPZ community engagement work carried out before Christmas 2016 with residents on Brockwell Park Gardens, Trinity Rise and Norwood Rd.

As we await the outcome of that engagement work, we wanted to let you now that once the report is made public we will endeavour to work with residents on the statutory consultation that may follow. And its important to remember that anyone can respond to this, not just residents in the affected area.

If a next stage were to progress residents will receive a letter in the post, statutory notices would be placed on lampposts for example, and as your local cllrs we would be happy to attend any resident meetings.

Possible local change and the impact that this can have on residents is important which is why we have looked to engage and communicate as much as possible. If you do have any questions or concerns please get in contact.

Traffic disruption as Thames Water fix a leak on Tulse Hill

Thames Water are investigating a leak on one of their pipes on Tulse Hill.

They have a number of teams currently working on contingency plans with regards to turning off the main and the repair. They are aiming to have these plans in place within the next 24 hours so that they can then begin the repair job.

Residents should not experience any interruption to their water supply.

In terms of customer disruption they have two-way traffic lights in place on the junction between Tulse Hill and S.Circular Road.

In order to carry out the full repair, they will need to close a road and will be working very closely with Lambeth council in order to ensure that causes as little disruption as possible.

They are keen to reassure residents that they are working hard to ensure the leak in the pipe does not get worse.

Ahead of Full Council tomorrow evening here is Cllr Fred Cowell’s exchange during the last Council meeting in October 2016 where he asked the Leader of the Council what plan there was locally to handle the impact of Brexit within Lambeth. 

Cllr Cowell went on to say that central government seems to have little by way of a plan to help local authorities with the impact of Brexit. The LGA has alerted the government to the £5.3 billion that has been allocated through the European Social fund across the UK, including £750 000 here in Lambeth all which is being spent promoting social inclusion and providing employment support for those furthest fro the job market, all of which is set to disappear.  

In closing Cllr Cowell gave the example that in Thurlow Park, much like across the rest of the borough, 4 out of 5 residents voted to Remain in the EU and given that it is not clear why the most vulnerable of Lambeth should suffer post Brexit. 

In response the Leader of Lambeth Council, Cllr Lib Peck, said that she was working with other council leaders to devise a lobby strategy to ensure that communities such as Lambeth don’t suffer when Britain leaves the EU.