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.

This week we saw the celebration of the Community Shop first Anniversary! A year ago the Community Shop opened its doors to the people of West Norwood and it’s been an incredible year with many fantastic successes. Over seven hundred local residents have signed up so far, receiving access to great quality food at low prices as well as a holistic range of services that we deliver alongside our fantastic community partners.

The supermarket and its services complement the great work that is already being done by other local organisations. Free membership is open to anybody living in the local area and receiving means tested benefits.

If you would like to check if somebody is eligible or make a referral, please call the Community Shop directly on (020) 8761 9660. Please note that local residents are also very welcome to self-refer.

Information update from Sustrans

Below is the most recent information update from Sustrans regarding the Quietways designs for Rosendale road;

Dear Residents and Stakeholders,              

We’re extending the time available for you to feedback to us on the concept designs for Rosendale Road. To make sure as many people can contribute as possible, you can now complete the online feedback form up until the end of Sunday 20th December. Please let us know which features you’d like to see in the consultation design, and any specific comments you have. See more information about the process below:

Concept Designs:                          
The concept designs incorporate a number of different ideas and options. They aim to address issues raised and include suggestions for improvements made through our Co Design workshops, where 135 design sheets were completed by residents.

Concept Design Feedback:
Click on the link below to see all the design drawings with accompanied information, and follow the link from there to our online feedback form.

https://lambethenvironment.wordpress.com/2015/12/02/an-update-on-rosendale-road-quietways/

If you have problems following this link please copy and paste it into you internet browser.

Public Consultation by Lambeth Council:                      
Following feedback we’ll create one consultation design, incorporating a selection of these ideas. This design will then go into formal public consultation in January. Residents will be notified by post and you’ll be able to contribute your views online.

If you have any questions please get in touch with us at: RosendaleFeedback@sustrans.org.uk

Find more information about Quietways in Lambeth at: https://lambethenvironment.wordpress.com/2015/09/28/lambeth-quietway-routes/

END

Lock it and Stop it is one of our manifesto commitments and the project has been recommissioned to Age UK until March 2017. It provides free locks and a range of burglary prevention measures for victims of burglary. The vision for 2016-2017 is to work more collaboratively with partners, to promote the scheme to vulnerable residents and to conduct evidence-led, joint operations with police in areas where burglary is prevalent. The scheme also aims to increase Neighbourhood Watch take up.

As at December 2015, residential burglary in Lambeth reduced by 20% or 552 less reports/victims compared to the same time last year. Lambeth have doubled the number of referrals that have been received compared to same time last year, and this is down to improved partnership working with our police and the operations we have conducted in hotspot areas.

Met Trace is also being implemented across London to sustain burglary reduction. This project provides free Smartwater to properties in burglary hotspots and went live in Lambeth in September with 1 sergeant and 4 PCSOs assigned to deliver this project, and 5469 properties will be visited in first year.

Environment Enforcement team update

The Council’s temporary Environmental Enforcement (Behaviour Change) team have been active in Thurlow Park ward recently, investigating and labelling dumped residential waste and domestic fly tipping and taking action including issuing fixed penalty notices (FPN’s). The team covered the following locations:

·         Thurlow Hill
·         Norwood Road
·         Rosendale Road
·         Turney Road
·         Deronda Road
·         Romola Road
·         Deerbrook Road
·         Berwyn Road
·         Birkbeck Place
·         Dalkeith Road
·         Birkbeck Hill
·         Bello Close

1 fixed penalty notice was issued in respect of residential waste, and the running total of FPNs issued in Thurlow Park ward since the beginning of September is 9.

Should you have any suggestions for further problematic locations for dumped waste or fly tipping please report these via the council’s website at:

http://www.lambeth.gov.uk/rubbish-and-recycling/report-rubbish/report-dumped-rubbish-in-a-public-place

Another bridge strike on Thurlow Park Road

This morning another bridge strike involving a large lorry disrupted commuter trains and traffic. This bridge is the worst in London for strikes and the disruption has a huge impact and cost.

As we shared a couple of months ago, we have raised this issue with TfL and action is being taken as a result. Senior officers are looking to invest in better signage to replace the existing temporary signs before the Spring. These should provide a short term improvement – and signs can be reused so if and when they are no longer needed in Thurlow Park, we can ensure they are reinstalled elsewhere to make best use of resources.

To tackle the problem in the long term, a business case for the large amount of funding it would take to lower the road is being put together. This would also be a significant engineering challenge – there is a sewer below the south circular and the side roads like St Faith’s would need to be examined to work out how to accommodate lower junctions.

Senior TfL officers have offered to meet with Lancaster Avenue residents this month as their road is currently the diversion route for oversized vehicles. We will be discussing new signage, improving 20mph signage to reduce speeding, and the long term plans for the bridge.

Invitation to Quietways concept design showcase events

Thank you to everyone who has been involved in Quietways so far – although it’s been a rocky journey, huge numbers of local residents and businesses have engaged and lots of ideas and feedback have been put forward. Residents have been clear on their priorities – tackling speeding and making the road safer. There has also been some great discussions on how to enhance the parade of shops to make our mini “town centre” even more of a destination for the community.

Sustrans have been busy processing all the feedback and engineers are developing designs based on your suggestions.

These will be shared for your feedback at two concept design showcase events. Please come and see what you think – your input is invaluable.

  • Sunday 6th December 10.30-1.30pm
  • Wednesday 9th December 6.30pm-8.30pm

You can drop in at any time. Both events will be at Rosendale Primary School SE21 8LR. Sustrans will be present at both events and Richard Lancaster, who is taking over managing Quietways, along with the rollout of 20mph and a review of parking in the borough, will be attending the Sunday session and is happy to answer any questions. At least one of us will be at each event – as councillors we are doing what we can to be involved and available throughout the process.

Designs will also be available online and you can feedback by email. We will post a link when they’re uploaded.

One final design will be created based on your feedback from these showcase events and online engagement. This will go to a formal public consultation in January. You will be notified of this online and by post.

Twist on Station Rise first time success

Twist is a new monthly pop-up market on Station Rise by Tulse Hill station. Thursday was the first event and it was a great success! 

Organised by Tree Shepherd, Twist is an opportunity for local business owners to trade at affordable prices. Tree Shepherd offer enterprise training to help first time startups and jobless people become self-employed and Twist as an opportunity for them to test and showcase their skills and businesses. 

We were at Twist talking to commuters about Streetworks – asking for priorities and ideas on how we can work together to improve Norwood Road and the one way system by Tulse Hill station.

Streetworks will have a stall every month so please come and share your ideas.

Park maintenance to come back in-house – good news for Brockwell Park

The parks maintenance contract is coming to an end in April 2016 and Cllr Jane Edbrooke, cabinet member for culture, has led on reviewing how we take the service forward – especially in light of the parks maintenance specification as set out in Culture 2020.

There is a significant reduction to the parks budget from next year thanks to severe central Government cuts to our funding, and we’ve been determined to find a way forward which safeguards our parks and provides value for money.

We had a really clear steer from residents involved with Brockwell Park and from local Labour Party members that the possibility of taking the grounds maintenance contract in house should be explored as a means to get better value for money from available funds. We raised this aspiration with the cabinet members.

We are therefore really pleased that it has been recommended to cabinet that the parks service be brought back in-house.We believe this is great news – not only will the grounds staff have better terms and conditions than they currently have, we will be able to look towards integration with other services like our grounds maintenance on housing estates.

More information can be found here and we are happy to answer any questions. We expect the decision on this recommendation to take place on 14th December, and anticipate that should we go ahead we will establish a direct labour force from April 2016.

Age UK grant for the Peabody Hill Over-60s Club

We’re really delighted that the new Over-60s Club on Peabody Hill was awarded £200 from Age UK Lambeth to hold an event this winter helping older residents stay happy and healthy during the cold weather.

Michael and Margaret, Peabody Hill residents, started the club when they were doorknocking on the estate with a petition about a bus service. They met many older residents who rarely got out because of the steep hill, social isolation and poor health. They decided that they would do something about this – we supported them to book the community hall once a week and organise a coffee afternoon. They delivered invitations across the estate and on the day they drive round to pick up any residents with mobility issues in their car.

It has been a huge success – twenty older residents regularly attend and the club are organising a coach trip to see the Christmas lights in Oxford Street and have fish and chips together in a couple of weeks.

On 22nd December, the funding from Age UK will be used to have a Christmas party. There will be hot food, fun activities and decorations. Speakers and special guests will be invited to share tips on keeping energy bills low, staying warm and active, and where to find advice, and Helen Hayes MP will be there to officially start the party!