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.
Transport for London have written letters to local residents to inform them of plans to improve the junction at Thurlow Park Road and Rosendale Road. TfL will install new pedestrian and junction signals, repave the footpath at the junction and improve cycle facilities. Works begin from Thursday 01 March. This is part of their Quietways programme.
Works will take place from 08:00 until 18:00 and 20:00 until 05:00 on Mondays to Fridays, and from 08:00 until 16:00 on Saturdays, between 01 March and 10 April. The noisiest works will be completed 23:00.
TfL will signpost diversion routes during any closures, though the advice is to plan ahead, and allow more time /use alternative routes where possible. Visit tfl.gov.uk/trafficnews or follow @TfLTrafficNews on Twitter for live road travel updates.
Bus routes 201 and P13 will be temporarily diverted and bus stop Lancaster Avenue / West Dulwich, which serves these routes, will be temporarily closed. We will place notices at the affected stops to guide you to the nearest alternative. Visit tfl.gov.uk/bus/status or follow @TfLBusAlerts on Twitter for live updates.
Please visit tfl.gov.uk/roads for more information.
Helen Hayes MP recently wrote to the Royal Mail’s CEO about their plans to close West Norwood delivery office. Having been involved in the campaign to stop this from happening since the start, all three of us were happy to sign the letter and help continue the fight against Royal Mail’s plans that would have damaging consequences for residents.
“Quietway 7” – Proposed Traffic Orders, Road Humps and Pedestrian Crossings in the Turney Road, Rosendale Road to Gipsy Road, Gipsy Hill area.
Statutory consultation for the above Quietway 7 begins today. Lambeth Council have placed an advert in the South London Press and London Gazette, street notices have gone up on lampposts along the route and information will be placed on the Lambeth traffic orders web pages.
Information about the scheme and this stage of consultation can be found on the site: www.lambeth.gov.uk/quietway7
If you have any questions about the consultation please do contact us.
In Lambeth’s forthcoming budget we have set out our plans to exempt our care leavers from paying Council Tax until they are 25, to help give them the most stable start possible to their adult lives.
We know that many young people leaving council care are less likely to be in full time employment and more likely to struggle to manage their finances and fall into debt. This small step is at a relatively low cost to the council and will help hundreds of care leavers from April. We have worked closely with the Children’s Society on this issue.
We want to do everything we can to ensure our children leaving care have the best possible start to their adult lives, and we hope to set out plans on how we can do that in the coming months and in the manifesto.
As your three local Labour cllrs here in Thurlow Park we campaigned across Lambeth urging a Remain vote in the referendum, and have received many emails and had many conversations with local residents about the outcome.
In Thurlow Park 78% voted to Remain in the EU which was in line with the average across Lambeth where 79% voted to Remain – the highest level of support for Remain in mainland Britain.
The outcome of the referendum continues to raise a large number of complex questions but in particular the issue surrounding the 1000s of EU citizens living in Lambeth. While the Leader of the Council Lib Peck and the London Mayor, Sadiq Khan, have issued statements strongly defending their rights to reside in the UK after Britain leaves the EU, we were disappointed to learn at Full Council this week that having sent ‘a joint letter to the Government with 21 other Local Authorities back in November 2016 urging the Government to guarantee the rights of EU citizens Lambeth Council has still not received any response’.
Please find the full exchange between Cllr Ed Davie and Leader of the Council Cllr Lib Peck below;
Future of EU citizens in Lambeth
Cllr. Ed Davie – Can the leader provide Council with an update on any communications received from the government advising councils on how to cope with the impact of Brexit or any specific guarantees the borough has been given about the future of EU citizens living in our community?
Cllr. Lib Peck – Despite written communications from Lambeth Council to the government, including from the Leader of the Council in a joint letter with 21 other London council leaders to the Prime Minister in November urging her to guarantee the rights of EU citizens, Lambeth council has not received any response from the government. While we welcome the step forward in the Brexit negotiations that offered some reassurance to EU citizens, many people are still extremely worried that the agreement does not guarantee sufficient rights for existing residents, that the rights are time limited and are not clear on who will qualify, as the campaign group 3 Million has made clear.
We have argued consistently as a council that this government should have acted immediately to guarantee EU citizens’ rights after the referendum and that it is disgraceful to use people as a bargaining chip in negotiations. We will continue to fight for their rights and make clear that a Labour government would absolutely guarantee the rights of our friends and neighbours on day one.
On the wider issue of Brexit, the government has offered no guarantees about EU funding that funds vital programmes in our borough, particularly in relation to employment.
Having listened to residents and worked closely with local community groups, we have been clear that Brockwell Park is not a suitable venue for such a large event and that it isn’t acceptable for the park to be fenced off for so many days during the summer holidays.
For more detail on our view on events in Brockwell Park, please see here.
Former MP for Dulwich and West Norwood, Tessa Jowell, recently spoke with great courage about having a “clear sense of purpose” despite being diagnosed with brain cancer last year.
As local community activists we very much appreciated her warm support, and generous time as we campaigned to be Thurlow Park’s three Lambeth councillors, and have endeavoured to continue her relentless work for those in the community, and in always seeing the best in people.
There was warm round of applause for Tessa Jowell at our recent Full Council meeting and we also wanted to add our thanks and good wishes to her and family at this time.
Last night, Lambeth Council debated the rollout of universal credit, calling on the Conservative Government to listen to the examples from across the country on the flaws and failures of the rollout, and to pause the scheme until it has fixed the significant problems that are causing misery for too many residents.
Thurlow Park councillor, Anna Birley, spoke in favour of Labour’s motion – standing up for residents impacted by benefits cuts and sanctions, calling for proper funding for local councils to provide support and a national safety net which doesn’t push people into poverty or harm.
Her speech said:
“Tonight, I
want to talk about financial resilience.
“But first,
I’ll share a story about one of my residents. I bumped into her as she was
begging for food from a local corner shop. We talked about her situation and
she revealed that her benefits had been stopped as she had missed a couple of
appointments – originally because of a bereavement but when the sanctions meant
she couldn’t afford proper food, she could no longer take her medication on an
empty stomach so missed another meeting from ill health. After two sanctions,
she could no longer afford the bus fare either.
“I drove her
to her next appointments and after some fraught meetings, and support from
Lambeth’s Every Pound Counts and emergency support scheme, we got things back
on track. But the health impact and the trauma of the experience of having so
little she had to unscrew lightbulbs and stop eating will stay with her
forever.
“A benefits
system which forces claimants to wait up to 6 weeks for a payment, and which
has shown from its rollout so far to be flawed in its design and
implementation, will push more people into the same unacceptably difficult circumstances
that my resident experienced.
“For example,
81% of tenants on Universal Credit are currently in rent arrears compared to
38% of all Lambeth tenancies.
“And we
mustn’t lose sight of the fact that most people claim benefits precisely
because they are already in difficult personal circumstances. They have lost
their job, gotten sick, or broken up with a partner and had to move house.
“Those same
circumstances make dealing with bureaucracy more challenging. When the computer
says no, the fact that it stops a single payment of all the benefits rolled up
together can disrupt the only assistance people are getting.
“I’m really
proud of the support that Lambeth provides its residents who are struggling.
Our One Lambeth Advice service has supported over 12,000 residents – over half
of which already related to benefits issues. In the absence of a proper
national safety net, our discretionary housing payment scheme, council tax
support scheme and emergency support are some of the most generous in London –
helping residents with rent, white goods, food, fuel, council tax and
furniture.
“But in an
increasingly flawed national context, even this isn’t enough. 40,000 Lambeth
residents are likely to be affected by the rollout in our borough, and as the
Conservative Government continues to cut the council’s budget and close our Job
Centres, our ability to deliver the financial advice and support that we’re so
proud of to our affected residents becomes harder. The Government must take
urgent action to properly fund local councils to provide vital support and
pause the rollout until it has fixed the significant problems being experienced
across the country.”
The Labour motion is here:
Lambeth Council announced a new wave of tree planting in the borough, including various roads in Thurlow Park. We’ve always championed the planting of trees in the ward and are really pleased that this further programme will bring the overall number of trees Lambeth wide since 2009 up to 4,000.
This is good news for our community and continues our pledge to make local streets cleaner and greener for residents.
The planting of new trees will include:
Ardlui Raod Lancaster Avenue Romola Road Rosendale Road Thurlow Hill
Whilst contributing to creating a more attractive environment for all, tree planting will also improve the overall environmental quality, (including air quality and noise reduction), of our roads and local community.
The tree species will be carefully selected and will be appropriate for their locations.
Trees benefit local communities in many ways including:- * They absorb greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, which in turn helps to combat climate change. * They offer not only shade as protection from the sun, but also cool places for people to enjoy during periods of high temperature. * They intercept rainwater helping to prevent localised flooding. * They are an essential element of our local biodiversity, supporting wildlife through providing habitats for feeding and breeding as well as shelter. * They can help to reduce noise pollution within the busy environment if they are planted as dense walls, hedges or avenues.
Back in October 2017 we wrote on this blog the latest update on the situation regarding the proposed fence. Though we were hoping the planning consultation would begin in December 2017 it is now underway. Lambeth Council have sent a letter to local residents that might be affected by such a proposal.
As you may recall this has been an on-going issue for some time. Following a review of the condition of the fencing around the perimeter of the fields and previous residents engagement we feel it’s necessary to upgrade the existing fencing with new, robust materials.
Three local schools make use of the facilities at Rosendale Playing Fields for physical education activities and outdoor learning. It is also home to the Lambeth & Southwark Primary Schools Football League and its 35 schools that play competitive football every Saturday morning of term time and occasional spring afternoons. Safeguarding these children while they’re making use of the facilities is a priority, as well as making sure that the area remains free from damage that might be caused through anti-social behaviour by people accessing the fields and vandalising the area.
The fence that is currently in place is wooden picket style fencing and we feel that at present, it doesn’t meet our standards and requirements for keeping the area secure, and as part of the Lambeth Parks Capital Investment Plan, we’ve made funds available to install a new perimeter fence around the full boundary of the facility.
This will certainly ensure that all children are safeguarded more effectively, and will also mean that more sport and outdoor learning resources such as new football goals and cricket nets can be installed, free in the knowledge that they won’t be affected by vandalism, which has also been an ongoing concern for its users.
In effect, the proposal is the replacement of the existing timber (picket-style) perimeter fencing with 2.4m high Protek 2000 perimeter fencing. The existing timber double leaf gates will be replaced by Protek Spectator gates designed to compliment the robustness and design of the Protek 2000 fencing.
Details of the planning application, including the drawings and any other related documents can be viewed on the council’s website (www.lambeth.gov.uk/planningdatabase), which also provides detailed information about the planning process, a frequently asked questions page, details of council policies relating to development (Lambeth Local Plan 2015) and links to other useful Planning websites. Comments are to be submitted online through our Planning applications database (www.lambeth.gov.uk/planningdatabase) and searching for the application reference:18/00156/RG3.
To discuss this application, please contact the Case Officer, Mr Gareth Ball, on telephone number 020 7926 0541, or via email: GBall2@lambeth.gov.uk.
UPDATE – 07 February 2018
Having worked with officers we can inform residents that the deadline for submissions to the planning consultation has been extended. The Planning Department have therefore requested site notices be printed and a press notice be issued, which should help inform the wider public of the proposal.
Site notices were placed/issued on 09 February 2018 which means therefore that the new expiry of the consultation period is set for Friday 02 March 2018.
Thurlow Park News 