Tag: Peabody hill

Peabody invested in new play equipment and an outdoor gym on Peabody Hill. Across London this year, this was their biggest investment, and included a new playpark and sandpit, adventure play equipment and a treehouse for older children and an outdoor gym for residents of all ages.

For the full album of photos, see here.

Cllrs Anna and Max were invited to open the new facilities and joined in with a day of fun and games, including testing the new play parks, joining in with a sports day, free health checks, and meeting the gym instructor to learn about the new gym.

Peabody Hill is an isolated estate and one of the least affluent parts of the ward. Anna, Max and Fred have done a lot of work to engage and empower local residents – they helped to set up an Over-60s Club, Christmas daytrips for residents, litter picking and estate clean ups, and support the local youth club.

The lovely photos are thanks to Brian Aldrich Photography.

Update: the consultation on a bus to Peabody Hill

Between June and September last year, there was a public consultation about a proposed extension to the 315 bus to Peabody Hill. 

We expected to be able to share feedback from the consultation in January. However, as over 500 responses were received, it is taking TfL longer than usual to compile their report – the responses were very detailed and they are drafting responses to the long list of questions raised. 

We met with officers recently and discussed timelines for feedback. We expect to have both a Consultation Report and “Response to Issues Raised” by the end of February and will share them both here as soon as we receive them.

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!

Route 315 Bus service proposal consultation begins

The consultation regarding the Route 315 Bus service proposal began today. The consultation will run from Monday 22 June to Monday 10 August 2015, and we hope you have your say. There is an online survey. Here is the link – http://consultations.tfl.gov.uk/buses/route-315

Transport for London (TfL) will be distributing leaflets next week to addresses within 400m of the current route 315 (east of Streatham High Rd) and the proposed route between West Norwood and Peabody Hill, and in addition to this, there will be an email to current users of the 315 bus.

Furthermore, there will be two drop-in sessions for people to discuss the proposals with TfL staff and we would be delighted if you can take part:

Thursday 2 July, 15.00-20.30, at Aspire Wellbeing Centre, 1 Park Hall Road, London SE21 8EH
Thursday 9 July, 15.00-18.30, at Peabody Hill Centre, Peabody Hill, London SE21 8LA

Proposed Peabody Bus public meeting notes

Dear Resident – below is a copy of the meeting notes which Anna and Max took down while at the Peabody Community Hall public meeting held at the end of March to discuss proposals to introduce a bus service to Peabody Hill. These notes were sent to TfL last week as a way to provide TfL with an insight into Peabody estate and Birkbeck triangle residents’ thoughts, suggestions and questions ahead of the consultation in June 2015.

Dear Peter, 

As you’re aware, we recently hosted a public meeting to discuss proposals to introduce a bus service to Peabody Hill. The meeting came about due to increasing community awareness of the proposals and Peabody Estate’s ongoing maintenance work which included the drawing of double yellow lines and prompted a discussion about parking and the potential impact of a bus service locally.

With the suggested consultation taking place in June, we thought it would be valuable to engage residents early, update them on the proposal as best we could and gauge their views in order to feed into your work. We were really pleased that over 100 local residents from Peabody and the Birkbeck Triangle attended the meeting. We have compiled their questions and suggestions, below, and hope that this will help to shape both the proposal and the consultation.

We think it very important that any proposals consider these points of view as it is an emotive issue for some residents, and hope that the questions can be answered fully before or during the consultation so that residents can make an informed decision.

Bus route:
– Which bus route is being proposed? Where will it come from/ go to?
– Will residents be given a choice of bus route? If not, why is that route being suggested?
– What frequency will the bus visit the estate?
– What time will it start in the morning and finish in the evening?
– Exactly what route through Birkbeck Triangle will the bus take?

Bus stops:
– Where will bus stop(s) be situated? Will residents be offered a choice?

Parking:
– What will the impact on parking be in terms of exact number of spaces? Can you be specific about where the parking spaces will be lost?
– How will you work with Lambeth and Peabody to mitigate any effects on parking?
– Will you conduct a parking survey?
– How will this align with the council’s review of controlled parking zones in the area?

Impact on residents:
– Do you have examples of buses traveling through other estates like Peabody Hill that you can share?
– Can TfL suggest a low carbon bus to reduce impact on air quality and noise?
– Will noise be measured in an ongoing way?

Children
– How will TfL work with Lambeth to ensure the play street in the Birkbeck Triangle goes ahead?
– What can TfL do to ensure that children playing on the estate or outside their homes are safe?

Logistics:
– How will the narrowness of streets be overcome, eg bus needing to pass oncoming traffic, delivery vans stopped in the street?
– Is it possible for the bus to turn outside the community hall instead of going round the estate? If not why not?
– How will emergency services and bin trucks be affected? How can this be managed?
– What will happen in the winter, as the estate is not normally gritted? Will TfL grit the estate?

Crime:
– Will you get any advice from the police regarding the impact new bus services have on local criminal activity?

Maintenance:
– Will TfL contribute to maintenance of roads on the estate?

Implementation:
– What is the suggested date for implementation?
– What alternatives have been considered?
– How would the bus be financed?
– If a bus goes ahead, will it be permanent? Is there scope for a pilot?

Residents also had some questions about the consultation process:

– How many people must ask for/ use the service to create enough demand for the bus to go ahead?
– How long will residents have to contribute?
– Will residents elsewhere on the bus route, not on Peabody Hill and the Birkbeck Triangle, also be able to have their say, and how will you engage them?
– How will TfL engage residents thoroughly in the consultation to ensure everyone feels included?

We also received feedback regarding the process of consultation and have some suggestions to make this more productive in June.

– Host drop in sessions rather than meetings, as some residents felt intimidated by the atmosphere at the public meeting and weren’t therefore comfortable contributing.
– Events held over a longer period of time will give more residents an opportunity to have their say
– Holding sessions at different times of day would mean people can come during the day or after work
– There should be the option to respond to written information and engage online
– It would be good if residents were presented with more than one option – being asked for “yes or no” for one bus proposal was seen as too black and white. Would it be possible for residents to choose from 3-5 options?

We apologise for the long letter, but many views were expressed and we are keen that everyone can have an input. We hope that considering the above questions and suggestions will improve the proposals and the process.

For your information, a copy of this letter will be forwarded to residents who attended the event so that they are aware of what is happening. We would like to be able to share your response to any of the questions above.

Please don’t hesitate to get in touch if this raises any questions or if you would like to meet to discuss further.

Best wishes,

Anna and Max

Peabody bus – public meeting this Thursday

We hope that lots of you will be able to join us at 7.30 on Thursday 26th March to discuss proposals for a bus service to the Peabody Estate. The proposal comes out of many years of campaigning by residents on the estate and seeks to help connect up an isolated part of the ward with shops, transport links, places of work and local services.

The meeting this week will be attended by your local councillors, the residents’ association, Val Shawcross, deputy chair of the London Assembly Transport Committee and Dania Fitzgerald, Head of Neighbourhoods at Peabody.

This is not a formal consultation – this is scheduled to take place in June. Transport for London will be fully involved then. Until then, we hope the meeting will allow us to feedback community thoughts, comments or questions to TfL.

The purpose on Thursday’s meeting is to –
• Hear from councillors, Peabody, the residents’ association and Val Shawcross
• Share your views ahead of the consultation
• Ask questions
• Meet your neighbours!

We will be recording and feeding everything back to TfL so that residents’ ideas and concerns can be taken into account as TfL officers develop their detailed proposal.

In the past, residents rarely have much opportunity to have input into proposals before the consultation begins, by which point the detailed plans have already been drawn up. We’re keen that residents are included much earlier in the process.

Peabody bus proposal – update

In response to many years of work by the Peabody Tenants’ Association, local councillors and our local Assembly Member, Transport for London have said that a bus route to the Upper Peabody estate would be practical
and have agreed in principle that such a service is possible. In taking
this proposal forward, they will thoroughly test and consult before anything
is decided or put in place. 

To be clear, no bus route to
the Upper Peabody estate has been decided on, and it would not go ahead
without a full consultation involving local residents. Its route, its
impact on local streets, and the bus stops
will all be up for discussion.

In order to start this process we are
holding a public meeting on 26th March, 7:30 – 9pm, at the community hall on the Upper Peabody estate. Please join us – we want to hear what you have to say.

To answer a few questions
that have been circulating recently – we don’t anticipate a significant
reduction in parking, although we do hope that a local bus service
would reduce the need for car travel. In regard to
the recent drawing of double yellow lines on the Upper Peabody estate in
supposed advance of a bus service coming this has not been done in
response to councillors, Lambeth Council or Transport for London. This
is a Peabody decision and we were not consulted,
informed or advised of yellow lines being drawn.

Tenants on the Peabody estate – both Lower and Upper – have been asking
for a bus service for a long time and were instrumental in getting the
proposal this far. A survey of residents on
the Upper Peabody estate has been conducted and Peabody received an
overwhelming response in favour of it. Residents of both the Upper
Peabody estate and the Birkbeck Triangle have written to us to express
their support – for many, particularly older residents,
parents with young children and disabled, the steep hill is a huge
barrier to going to the shops, visiting friends or getting to work, and a
bus will go a long way to helping. 

All the above is open for discussion and consultation. We hope that
you look to attend the public meeting next month in order to help shape
the debate surrounding this bus proposal.

Update 20/02/2015: In response to residents’ concerns that work was being carried out without their consultation, Peabody have halted the line drawing. We have had a guarantee from them that they will wait until anything is certain before drawing lines for a bus. Some yellow lines have been drawn which are nothing to do with the potential bus service, but which reiterate no parking zones already there. An additional carparking facility is being added to the estate which should create an additional 30 car parking spaces, so any loss of space should a bus service commence will be at least equalled by this new facility. We expressed residents’ concerns that carparks are poorly lit and do not feel safe, so better lighting will also be installed.

Progress for the Peabody bus

Max and Fred were joined by Val Shawcross, your London Assembly member, and officers from Lambeth and Transport for London to discuss the proposal of a new bus route to the Upper Peabody estate. While there are a few final hurdles, we are excited to have a timeline for the bus service to start!

The current plan would see the 315 single decker bus route being extended to the estate – this route was deemed to be the best as it is frequent and reliable. There are proposals for two bus stops on the estate, at the entrance by the community centre and at the other end by the grass, and the service could run from 6am to midnight 7 days a week.

Over 90% of residents in a recent survey would like to see a bus service extended to the estate – given the estate’s location with poor access to local shops and services this bus could make a huge difference.

The full business case should be complete this Autumn with a full consultation in the new year. We are looking to host a drop in event in February and hope the service will be running by the end of 2015.