Field Day Licensing Application for Brockwell Park – we want to hear your views

Brockwell park is host to Field Day from the 1-3 of June. This is a much larger commercial event than the park has previously hosted and we are currently working with the organisers on managing and controlling the event.

We understand the concern about large events in Brockwell Park. We fought to block another larger event, Lovebox, from coming to the park, have refused permission for previous events that have not met the standards required in the park to return, and will
be having a post event consultation on whether Field Day comes back to the park next year.

As part of the authorisation process, Field Day has to go through a licensing application. This determines whether under the 2003 Licensing Act it can be granted a licence to sell alcohol and host live music. The Council’s licensing committee then has to review the application. This is a statutory process which is independent from political considerations. The committee is required to take the following four things into account.

the prevention of crime and disorder
the prevention of public nuisance
the promotion of public safety
the protection of children from harm

Field day are currently applying for a licence which runs from midday each day of the festivals and ends at 11pm on Friday and Saturday and 10:30pm on Sunday.

As your local councillors, we have been consistent in engaging with local residents, listening to views and concerns, and working on your behalf. Since Field Day and Lovebox first applied to come to Brockwell park, we have met with many residents’ groups, worked with community and park organisations, doorknocked local streets and organised a public meeting for Thurlow Park residents to have their say. We published our view on this website here before Christmas and lobbied hard to stop Lovebox from coming, and for Field Day to reduce the size of the event.

We are currently drafting a submission for the licensing committee to consider, on behalf of Thurlow Park residents, though we would also like residents to make their own submissions on the application itself, and how the event should be managed.

In particular we would like your views on:

We are concerned about the lateness of the times on all evenings. In particular, we are concerned about the Sunday close time given that GCSE exams are the next day. We would like to move these hours back. What is your view on appropriate hours for the events to finish?
How the dispersal should be managed in order to maximise public safety? – at the moment the plan is to exit largely through the Herne Hill entrance.
Should there be a lower upper limit on the noise than the festivals last summer? There were a number of complaints about the noise and we want to get it right.
Field Day have made some extensive commitments about immediate clear up as
well as a general clear up. Where should there resources be targeted?
Under the terms of the Licensing Act, is there anything else we should take
into account?

To tell us what you think, you can email Cllr Fred Cowell on fcowell@lambeth.gov.uk or respond using our online survey here.

Have you visited our monthly ASB surgery on the Peabody Estate yet?

Anti-social behaviour and crime are the top concern for many residents on the Peabody Estates – both Rosendale Road and Peabody Hill. It is very important to us that residents are, and feel, safe in their homes and neighbourhoods, and have been working hard to tackle this issue.

It’s a complicated issue, and no one agency on its own is going to be able to resolve it. So, we have been developing a multi-agency approach,

regularly coordinating meetings which bring together Peabody, the police, the council, community and youth groups, and local residents. We have ensured that Peabody prioritise our estate, and over the last year we have secured wardens who regularly patrol.

To complement this, we have started a new anti-social behaviour and community safety surgery and walkabout. Every month, one of your local Labour councillors, the community safety officer from Peabody and the Peabody estate manager will be on site on the last Monday of the month from 10.30-12.30.

Residents can make an appointment to see us at the community centre, organise for us to visit your home, or drop-in to see us. It’s an opportunity to raise any issue with us and get the support you need to resolve it. We also do a walkabout and visit any parts of the estate which residents have flagged for concern.

This week, our session included a walkabout of Blocks E and F, and a letter delivery to residents in those blocks reminding them of their responsibilities to be considerate neighbours. We also met with the local police who were visiting some households, and had a drop-in surgery where we discussed issues from domestic violence to noise complaints with residents.

Extra gritting for West Norwood

Anyone who has braved the outdoors for the last couple of days will have seen that we are in the middle of a cold snap, with snow and ice.

Because of the inclement weather, extra care is taken to make roads across Lambeth accessible. Where possible we pre-grit the main routes before ice forms or snow falls in a decided priority order across the borough.

This priority order is:

Priority
1 roads = All main roads (most bus routes).
Priority
2 roads = Roads that access essential public services such as hospitals, fire
stations, ambulance stations plus at least one access route from the main road
network to every community.

A map showing these routes is available here – https://www.lambeth.gov.uk/parking-transport-and-streets/streets-and-roads/winter-gritting-guide

Tomorrow morning at 3am, all Priority
1 and 2 routes in Norwood, Streatham, Clapham, Brixton and Waterloo will be
salted at 3am Wednesday morning. Cul de sacs will also be salted, as will roads with sheltered housing on them.

Because West Norwood is hillier than other parts of the borough, our neighbourhood will be given special focus.

You can volunteer to become a snow warden to clear ice and snow from your pavements to help keep your street safe.You can individually, or as part of a group. All snow wardens receive tools and training. If you, or a group of neighbours, would like to do this, you can email SnowWardens@lambeth.gov.uk, or any of Anna, Fred and Max for more information.

Thurlow Park Road: junction improvement works planned

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 traffic orders issued

“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.

Exempting care leavers from council tax until their 25th birthday

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.

See press release here – http://love.lambeth.gov.uk/budget-2018/

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.

Lovebox not coming to Brockwell Park

We welcome the announcement that Lovebox plan to hold their festival in Gunnersbury rather than Brockwell Park.

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.