In May 2014 we committed to working with local businesses to improve our local town centre. We have been working with businesses to take the necessary steps to become a Business Improvement District. The Means were recenty appointed by local businesses to take this work forward in West Norwood and Tulse Hill and the first steering group meeting last month resulted in lots of positive conversation about the issues the BID could tackle.
If you own or work at a local business, we would love to have your input. Our next West Norwood and Tulse Hill steering group meeting will
be held on:
Wednesday 30th September 2015, 6-7.30pm at
Portico Gallery Knights Hall 23a Knights Hill SE27 0HS
Following a petition from local Labour councillors and hundreds of local residents, the Mayor of London granted £5m to transform the one-way system in Tulse Hill. Officers secured an additional £2m to improve Norwood Road.
We believe that local people and businesses are best placed to make decisions about how to improve their neighbourhood, so Cllr Anna Birley has been working to ensure the project is led by the local community. StreetWorks was therefore set up to create a partnership between the Norwood Forum, the Tulse Hill Forum, local councillors, residents and businesses, Lambeth Council and Transport for London. The budget for community engagement has been devolved to StreetWorks and the community chose the design consultants to support the project.
To ensure as many people as possible can have their say, we have organised a series of co-design workshops. These are a forum for local people and businesses to feed in ideas and suggestions, and to choose the final scheme design.
The first StreetWorks co-design workshop was last Tuesday and it was a huge success! With 50 people attending, the discussions were lively and constructive. Updates will be posted to www.streetworks.london – you can also post further ideas on the online forum and find out how to get more involved.
The next workshops are –
13 October 2015
10 November 2015
8 December 2015
– all at 6.30-8.30pm at the Salvation Army Hall on Norwood Road.
In the last few weeks, the problems of lorries driving into the railway bridge over Thurlow Park Road near Tulse Hill have resurfaced with two recent strikes which delayed trains into London and closed off the South Circular.
We have been talking to local residents about the problem of this low bridge – not only is it hugely disruptive to local people, drivers and passengers, it also means most large vehicles are rerouted down Lancaster Avenue, a residential street with speed bumps and a 20mph limit.
Cllr Anna Birley has had a number of discussions with Transport for London regarding the bridge. They have acknowledged that it is in the top ten railway bridges in the country for strikes by vehicles and that this causes huge cost and disruption to their strategic network. They have agreed that this should be a priority to fix.
However, there is no quick solution. In the short term, TfL hope to improve signage to prevent large vehicles travelling under the bridge at all. This will prevent strikes and delays but will not solve the problem of large vehicles travelling along Lancaster Avenue. We have asked that any new signage includes clear reminders of the 20mph speed limit to try to mitigate the impact of the lorries.
Anna has also ensured that officers only see this as a short term approach, and that it is essential in the longer term to either raise the bridge or lower the road so that larger vehicles can fit under the bridge without needing to divert along Lancaster Avenue.
Officers have agreed to look at how this could be funded but are keen to stress that it would be a very difficult and expensive project. TfL have conducted an initial report into the situation and have spoken to Network Rail. They have agreed to try and conduct some tests in the road and pavement below the bridge to identify the location and depth of utilities, and we hope this can be completed over the next 6-12 months. This should help to identify viable options and will support the work we are doing to find funding.
We’ve written a web brief and budget with the local community – if you think you have something to offer, please come along to our Web Speed Dating event on Thursday 25th June 4-6pm at the James Wilson Coffee Shop.
Why speed dating?
We want to do something fun and informal where you can meet the people who will be purchasing and using the website – so that they can ask you questions and listen to your brilliant ideas.
Members of the project group will be on hand so that you can have a short discussion with each. They’ll be listening out for approaches and ideas that impress them and that will help us to decide a local web design and develop partner.
Please let us know if you can make it here. And if there’s anything you’re unsure about, get in touch on abirley@lambeth.gov.uk or @annamayb
We are starting work on a
project which will bring real improvements to Norwood Road and Tulse
Hill, with funding from Transport for London. There is an opportunity to
come together with others from your community on 6th and 7th of June to share ideas and come up with projects that can make a real difference to the area.
Don’t worry if you haven’t been involved in a neighbourhood project
before. Just come along and meet other people from your community who
want to make a difference. There will be plenty of people on hand to
make you feel welcome, answer any questions you might have and help you
to turn your ideas into live projects.
Not only will you be able to get involved in making your area a
better place to live, you will also be offered training and support to
develop and realise your ideas. Who knows? You may end up running your
own community project.
The sessions will be at the Old Library on Saturday 6th June (10-4pm) and Sunday 7th June (11-2pm). The Sunday session is being run as part of the Norwood Feast and you can also find us at a stall near St Luke’s Church.
Don’t worry if you can’t come to both days, or even to all of one
session. Just come along and join in for as long as you can, you’ll be
very welcome.
Light refreshments will be available on both days and children are
welcome too. If you would like to book a space or have any questions,
please contact abirley@lambeth.gov.uk or georgina@jameswilsoncoffee.co.uk. Alternatively, just turn up on the day!
During a themed debate at Lambeth Council Town Hall Anna spoke at length about how the Council can build a Lambeth borough that is sustainable, green and one that has an effective transport system.
Anna explained that she had used Twitter to gauge public opinion on transport, and noted that the key issue was safety, with driver injuries falling as cyclist injuries rose, while clean air was also a problem. She also raised the fact that children and young people needed to be persuaded to use sustainable transport, and that policies such as the 20mph speed limit and schools encouraging walking and cycling could help to achieve this. Anna also commented that while councils had made achievements in changing people’s methods of transport, she expressed the need for a grass roots approach, as had been seen in Tulse Hill.
Tree Shepherd are organising a campaign for a new monthly ‘pop-up market in the pm’ at Station Rise Tulse Hill. It’s called ‘Twist on Station Rise’ (@TwistRise) and follows several months of local campaigning by the Norwood and Tulse Hill Forums working together with Lambeth councillors and local businesses.
Last summer, we helped to secure £5million to improve the Tulse Hill gyratory over the next five years as part of the Mayor of London’s gyratory improvement programme, and a further £2million to improve Norwood Road.
We have been working with Lambeth officers and Transport for London to make sure the community takes the steering wheel for this – we hope that you and your neighbours will be part of the project. Even if you’ve not been involved in something like this before, there are lots of opportunities to contribute, lead and get training whatever your experience.
We’re kicking things off this Tuesday with a Supper Club at the James Wilson Coffee Shop in Tulse Hill, hosted by the Norwood and Tulse Hill Forums – please join us, and bring a dish if you can. There will be plenty of opportunity to discuss the project and how you can get involved, or just enjoy the food and meet your neighbours.
The first community consultation of the major works involving Norwood Road and the Tulse Hill gyratory will be at the James Wilson coffee shop – 357 Norwood Road, on Tuesday 14th April from 6.30pm
Come along and have your input about improving Norwood Road which has been allocated £2m funding over the next two years by Transport for London. Funding for developing ideas for removing the gyratory has also been approved by Transport for London, and so we hope there will be lots of interest.
How can this area be improved to benefit you? We have a fantastic opportunity to really influence how our local communty will look and feel, so please come along and have your say!
The council, with Cycle Hoop, have installed temporary cycle parking at Tulse Hill station to test demand for the service – using one car space creates 10 cycle parking spaces.
If you would like to see permanent cycle parking, please email survey@cyclehoop.com to show your support.
Thurlow Park News 