Labour in Lambeth guarantees weekly bin collections in Lambeth

Lambeth Labour has committed to maintaining weekly bin collections as part of its manifesto for May’s local elections.

Despite government funding cuts of over £250 million forced on Lambeth council by the Conservatives, Labour has pledged to protect weekly collections of residual waste and recycling. Across the country, over three-quarters of councils have abandoned weekly collections due to government cuts in funding but Lambeth has always maintained the service.

Since 2014, Lambeth Labour has saved £450,000 a year by introducing new green bins and at the same time increased the rate of recycling.

Councillor Jennifer Brathwaite, Cabinet Member for Environment and Housing said: “Collecting people’s bins is the most basic service that the council delivers – and residents rightly expect that it should happen regularly and efficiently.

We guarantee to collect people’s bins every week – it’s one of the key services that residents pay their council tax for. We’re able to do that because Labour has managed Lambeth council well, improving services and cutting down on waste despite huge government cuts.

And after the Green Party leader, who is standing for election in Lambeth, went on national TV to argue for an end to weekly collections, residents rightly are concerned that Lambeth could end up looking like Brighton when it was run by the Greens, with huge mounds of rubbish piled up in the streets.”

Ambitious plans to make Lambeth cleaner and greener are at the heart of Labour’s manifesto. Labour has committed to continuing its record investment in fixing potholes and resurfacing roads. The Vale Street recycle and refuse centre will be kept open and free to use, and we will continue our crackdown on fly-tipping and littering by expanding the street enforcement team.

Labour’s full manifesto for a better, fairer Lambeth is available at lambeth-labour-manifesto.org

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Friday 13th October 2017 proved unlucky for some speeding motorists on Lancaster Avenue as LARA ran its first Community Roadwatch event with the Lambeth Safer Transport Team led on the day by Police Community Support Officer Bruce Hay accompanied by two of his colleagues and ably assisted by residents from the Avenue.

Using a speed gun supplied by the Lambeth police team and expertly handled by one of the residents the Roadwatch team captured 78 vehicles travelling at 25mph or more in just 75 minutes between 4pm and 5:25pm. Of those 78 vehicles, 20 were captured travelling at over 27 mph and the worst offender was clocked at a staggering 42 mph.

The registration numbers of all vehicles registering 25mph or more on the laser gun were recorded and have been reported to TfL by the police team. Drivers who are subsequently caught speeding a second time will receive warnings, which for the worst offenders may involve a knock at the door from Bruce and his team, and further infringements will incur stiffer penalties.

Bearing in mind the presence of a nursery, two care homes and an infant school on our road and the long-standing nature of the 20mph speed limit the speeds some motorists were travelling at really does beggar belief.

PCSO Hay declared the event “very busy by any standard” and plans to return, this time with 2 speed guns, for a further event in the November. He assures us that the need to return so quickly is driven by the evident problem which affects our road and not by the excellent cups of tea and good company supplied to him and his team.

Speeders watch out!

Lambeth Local Plan Review: Your chance to shape Lambeth’s future

Lambeth is a great place to live, work and invest because of its location, its people, its character and assets. The existing Lambeth Local Plan, adopted in 2015, contains a strong vision for the development of the borough to improve opportunities for local people.

However, we need to partially update it and this updated Lambeth Local Plan, together with the Mayor of London’s London Plan and neighbourhood plans, will set out the vision and robust planning policies needed to direct and guide development in the borough over the next 15 years to meet our future needs.

As a part of updating Lambeth’s Local Plan we are consulting with residents and stakeholders – we want you to have your say. We are at the beginning of the process and this consultation is your chance to tell us what issues you think need to be reviewed in the Plan.

Follow this link to the survey – https://www.lambeth.gov.uk/consultations/lambeth-local-plan-review-2017?utm_source=Sign-Up.to&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=17118-407546-Lambeth%20Local%20Plan%20Review%20generic-Preview

Lambeth Council has recently sent a Household Enquiry Form to every household in Lambeth in order to check the right people are registered to vote. This is part of the national annual canvass undertaken by the Electoral Commission.

As a resident you would need to sign and send the form back to confirm all is correct or to update the details if changes are necessary.

If you have any questions please contact Lambeth Electoral Services by email or phone: 020 7926 2254.

Further proposed removal and introduction of disabled parking places

Lambeth Council will; 1. remove the disabled persons’ parking places from the locations specified in Schedule 1 to this notice, and 2 introduce new disabled persons’ parking places at various locations across the borough.

In Thurlow Park a space will be removed outside 129 Deerbrooke, while a new space will be created outside 83-85 Chancellor Grve and also outside 150 Trinity Rise.

If you have any enquiries, please telephone the Council’s Highways Group on 020 7926 9318 or email: highways@lambeth.gov.uk.g

Knife Crime in the Community

In the last couple of months there have been a number of incidents of stabbing and knife crime across the borough. Thankfully, none of these have resulted in a fatality.

While the number of knife crime incidents in Lambeth has actually fallen over the last twelve months, this is a problem that still blights too many of our communities and we wanted to reassure residents that our Cabinet lead Cllr M. Seedat and officers have been working closely with the police and a number of measures have been taken. These include;

Extra officers at schools
Extra patrolling officers in hot spot areas
Meetings with head teachers, facilitated by Lambeth Council
Dispersal zones implemented at key schools
Working with key community contacts to try to dissuade young people from participating in further altercations
Intelligence-led use of stop and search to recover knives and other weapons
Requested additional police resources to provide a deterrent and reassurance

With regards to the schools in the Norwood area, Lambeth has been working with the schools affected and there has already been meetings between the heads, council and police which has led to the simmering down of tensions. These initial meetings, plus several others between council officers, police, and councillors will aim to set out some longer term partnership work with the GLA, the Young Lambeth Coop, grassroots organisations and the police.

If you have any questions or concerns please get in touch.

Lambeth LED Street Lighting

From June 2016 Lambeth will begin a programme which will will convert 12,981 of Lambeth’s street lighting stock from SON-T (sodium) bulbs to LED (Light Emitting Diode) bulbs. The work will be carried out over a 18 month period.

The existing lamp will be re-used with a new LED fitting being installed into the lantern. The programme of works will start in the North of the borough with Thurlow Park ward being visited in mid-October this year, and Parks, Footpaths and A Roads being visited across Lambeth between Feb-April 2017.

What are the benefits of carrying out this work? LED
The two main benefits of converting to LED are a reduction in Lambeth’s CO2 emissions and reduced energy bill for the council, thereby fulfilling our manifesto pledge to protect the environment by reducing the amount of energy the council uses and saving up to £600,000 per year.

How will residents be advised of works on their roads?
A letter will be sent to you 10 days before work commences on your road giving details of what will be carried out. The time spent on your street will depend on the extent of the work that has to be done on the road. As the light fittings are replaced rather than the any cabling being changed, no significant risks or delays are expected.

Lambeth is preparing to roll out a borough-wide 20mph speed limit in Lambeth in April 2016. By reducing speeds to 20mph, it will reduce the number of casualties in the borough, improve pedestrian safety, encourage more confidence among cyclists and cut the number of incidents around schools.

If you have any enquiries or require any additional information please contact the Council’s Highways and Transport Group at the following e-mail address 20mph@lambeth.gov.uk or view this link – http://www.lambeth.gov.uk/parking-transport-and-streets/streets-and-roads/lambeth-goes-20mph

In December 2015 Lambeth granted planning permission for Picturehouse Cinema to proceed with the detailed costings of the redevelopment of Nettlefold Hall and the West Norwood Library, and last week the final stage of authorisation was completed for the new Cinema and Library. This finalises Lambeth’s £3m of investment.

Like so many in the local community we are thrilled this has finally been given the go ahead and are pleased that we will have a thriving town centre that will sit alongside a three screen Picturehouse Cinema.

Max, Anna and Fred toured the site along with other local cllrs and planning officers late last year and were pleased that a significant part of the new building will be retained for library and community use.

Work is due to begin soon with an estimated reopening date due to take place in 2017-18. This should be an excellent addition to the Norwood town centre and provide a valuable community asset.

See this link for more information – http://moderngov.lambeth.gov.uk/mgIssueHistoryHome.aspx?IssueId=41910&OptionNum=0