Update on Lambeth Parking Review

Cabinet lead, Cllr Jennifer Brathwaite has provided the below update; 

The Lambeth Parking Study has been underway since summer 2015 and is now ahead of schedule, with good progress made on improving the parking situation for many Lambeth residents who are currently most affected by parking stress.
The study’s work programme has been shaped by feedback from both residents and councillors who have been influential in deciding the priority areas.

The first phase of the Parking Study, focusing on the non CPZ area of Vassall / Coldharbour and the southern part of Brixton Hill, has now been completed.

Proposed CPZs for both areas have been designed and costed by engineers and an application for funding is now underway.  That funding should be in place by late summer and we plan to consult with all residents in the affected areas in September; the outcome of that consultation will help inform the decision on whether to proceed or not.

Some concerns were raised about the timetable for this phase, which was initially estimated to take 18 months to 2 years. However, I’m pleased to let you know that we have managed to significantly reduce this. If everything goes to plan consultation and implementation will take around 12 months, meaning the CPZ could be operational by July 2017. This is a best case scenario but we will work hard to make it happen.

The second phase of the study is now underway, focusing a review of the parking situation in existing CPZs and many of the non-CPZ areas of the borough. Officers are due to report back on the findings in October.

Reducing bridge strikes on Thurlow Park Road – work starts next week

The railway bridge over the South Circular is hit by HGVs more than any other railway bridge in the UK. Every time a lorry drives into the bridge, trains to and from central London are delayed and traffic is redirected down residential streets. In the meantime, large vehicles are indiscriminately redirected down Lancaster Avenue.  It is disruptive and dangerous, and we want to do something to solve the problem.

We have been working with TfL to address the issue. Officers met with residents a couple of months ago, and recently our new London Assembly Member, Flo Eshalomi, visited the ward to discuss this issue ahead of her election.
In the short term, we have pushed for better signage – which takes into account the actual height of vehicles to ensure oversized vehicles are targeted. In the long term, we want the road to be lowered so that no vehicle is at risk of hitting the bridge, and so that no lorries are diverted down Lancaster Avenue.

We are pleased that action is being taken this week. London Highways Alliance Contract (LoHAC) workers, on behalf of Transport for London (TfL), are planning to modernise the Overheight Vehicle Detection Systems on the A205 Thurlow Park Road, on both approaches to the Network Rail Bridge near Tulse Hill Gyratory. The contractors will be installing new Overheight Vehicle Detection Systems and associated loop sensors, ducting and electrical connections, in order to give overheight vehicles more advanced warning of the low bridge and to divert them via alternative routes.

Works are planned to start on Tuesday 24 May 2016 and will be phased over approximately 10 weeks, depending on weather conditions. Footway works will take place from Mondays to Fridays between 08:00 and 18:00, and on Saturdays between 08:00 and 14:00. Carriageway works will take place from Mondays to Fridays between 20:00 and 05:00, nights only, with noisy works completed before 23:00.

Report anti-social behaviour | Lambeth Council

Due to the continued financial situation imposed on Lambeth Council by central government – which have seen a 56% cut in our funding since 2010 – the Council has had to make difficult decisions that are increasingly impacting on our frontline services. 

Recent changes to the Community Safety Service has established a single point of contact for all Council related crime and disorder issues. 

For the service to remain effective the Council has separated Anti Social Behaviour (ASB) / environmental / noise / enforcement teams and they have now been replaced by neighbourhood teams. The restructure of the community safety team does not affect the important work the council does with community groups and the Police to tackle gang violence. 

ASB is an important issue and we will continue to work in partnership with our Safer Neighbourhood Team, our community leaders, and various residents groups. 

Please make a note of the team’s contact details:  

Community Safeguarding: 020 7926 5000

Police non-emergency number: 101

Please note, the Council will no longer provide an out of hours noise hotline. The new service will now assess every complaint and only respond if a complaint is judged to be having a serious community impact. Residents who are experiencing repeated noise issues will be contacted during office hours by the service and supported to tackle the problem (including out of hours visits if necessary).

Report anti-social behaviour | Lambeth Council

As many of you may have know Lambeth’s core government funding will have been cut by 56% between 2010 and 2018 and since 2011, the Council has identified £182m of savings – including more than £40m this year – while a further £55m needs to be found by 2020.

If you’d like to find out more about the current financial challenge which Lambeth Council faces see –  http://love.lambeth.gov.uk/toughchoices/budget-figures/ 

There are a number of informative graphs and pie charts and a section on frequently asked questions that may help residents understand the financial situation the Council is in. 

As your Thurlow Park ward representatives in Lambeth we’ve supported a proposal to make London the world’s first National Park City. ‘A city where people and nature are better connected’.

‘A city that is rich with wildlife and every child benefits from exploring, playing and learning outdoors. A city where we all enjoy high-quality green spaces, the air is clean to breathe, it’s a pleasure to swim in its rivers and green homes are affordable. Together we can make London a greener, healthier and fairer place to live. Together we can make London a National Park City.

In the UK, we have 15 unique and inspiring National Parks. These parks are home to more than 400,000 people and host over 80 million visitors each year. They are extraordinarily important resources, managed for relatively low cost. In 2012 England’s National Parks contributed as much to the economy as the UK aerospace sector. Each year they cost each of us just 80p’.

If you’d like to find out more, or see which other wards have signed up, please follow this link – http://www.nationalparkcity.london/ward_support

Celebrate the community’s involvement in improving the neighbourhood

Streetworks is a community-led, TfL-funded project to improve West Norwood and Tulse Hill. The first phase of the project is to improve Norwood Road, and the second phase will look at improvements to the one way system and area around Tulse Hill station.

Hundreds of residents have been involved – from attending workshops and tweeting us their ideas to taking part in training and hosting their own community engagement events. 

We want to celebrate the involvement and enthusiasm of the community so on 23rd May we would like to invite you to come to our party and awards ceremony at Elmgreen School. We will hear from students at Elmgreen and members of the steering group about their involvement, and about future opportunities to get stuck in, and the Mayor of Lambeth will be awarding certificates to students. The event will conclude with a drinks and nibbles and a ‘marketplace’ of groups and local projects, should you want to find out more about this and other local opportunities.

  • Elmgreen School
  • 23 May
  • 5-6.30pm

RSVP here

Open Orchard party tonight

Open Orchard is celebrating the end of the tree planting season with a party tonight Friday 13 May, 6-8pm at the L’arche
Garden Lodge, 21 Idmiston Road, West Norwood, SE27 9HE

Whether you bought a tree, sponsored the Open Orchard’s work, got involved in planting, tweeted, liked or simply supported what they do, this party is for you.

There will be a potluck dinner at the lovely L’Arche Garden Lodge on Idmiston
Road, West Norwood- one of the orchard locations from 2015. Please bring a dish
to share – Open Orchard will provide some cider, made from apples some of
the volunteers picked last year. And for those that want to carry on the celebration,
they plan to head to a local pub afterwards. 

So they know you are coming, and to avoid everyone bringing quiche, please RSVP here.

Projects like the Open Orchard are what makes us so proud to be councillors in Thurlow Park and West Norwood – this is a community where people get involved and make positive changes happen. We want to do all we can to support community projects like this, so if you have an idea but you’re not sure of the next steps, please get in touch.

Florence Eshalomi | London City Hall

Congratulations to Flo who successfully campaigned to win the 2016 GLA Elections in Lambeth & Southwark. Fighting to continue the excellent work of Val Shawcross CBE Flo was able to gain the support of 96,946 votes with the Tories far behind in second followed by the Greens and then the Lib Dems. 

Congratulations must also go to Mayor Sadiq Khan who successfully gained the support of over 1.3 million voters during a long and hard fought campaign. With 46% turnout during the election and over 44% of the first preference vote going to Sadiq we look forward to working with the Mayor’s office for the residents of Thurlow Park. 

Florence Eshalomi | London City Hall

The West Norwood and Tulse Hill Business Improvement District (BID) is set to be voted on next month by local businesses in the area. Known as ‘Station to Station’ the project it is an association of businesses between Tulse Hill and West Norwood Station that will have the power to promote businesses, invest in common services and help shape the area more generally to make it more friendly for everyone who uses local shops and businesses. 

The BID will now need to be formally constituted which involves all local businesses voting in a referendum on constituting a BID which will be held via a postal vote over the next month. 

If you need any details about this or are a local business that has not yet got involved – get in touch we would love to help. 

The BID hosted an impressive fashion show at the Portcio Gallery recently show casing local fashion designs and using local models. Station to Staion launched their manifesto which included aims to ring in more customers locally, and to make the area greener. It was a glamorous showcase for business, entrepreneurship and creativity in the Norwood community.

This is just the start. Lt’s hope that in the coming months this is the springboard for future events.  

For more information please see – 

http://stationtostation.london

https://westnorwoodandtulsehill.commonplace.is