Royal Mail wants to move its SE27 sorting office in Windsor Grove – so we have to travel nearly as far as Penge to the Royal Mail Anerley office at Blenheim Road SE20 8AA to collect undelivered mail & parcels.
Helen Hayes MP is hosting a public meeting this Monday , 10th April, at The Portico Gallery 23a Knights Hill SE27 0HS at 7pm to discuss the plans. Norwood Forum will be chairing the meeting.
See our earlier post 3/3/17 for more details and a petition opposing the closure.
Fair Funding for All Schools – Lambeth is holding a public forum on Wednesday 15th March 7pm at Sunnyhill School SW16 2UW . Parents, teachers, school governors are opposed to the government’s real terms cuts to the education budget which could be £485 per Lambeth pupil per year.
The event will be chaired by parents of Fair Funding for All Schools – Lambeth who are building a local coalition of parents, teachers and leaders against these devastating cuts. Lib Peck, leader of Lambeth council , local MPs Chuka Umunna & Helen Hayes and Kevin Courtney from the NUT will be speaking.
Royal Mail wants to close it sorting office at Windsor Grove SE27 9LS for SE27 addresses and move it into the Anerley office at Blenheim Road SE20 8AA. Increase in email means many fewer letters and the increase in on-line shopping means many more parcels are delivered to our homes. So Royal Mail is looking at bigger & fewer sorting offices and selling off the smaller ones.
Our local MP Helen Hayes & Cllr Jackie Meldrum met with Royal Mail to try to persuade them to keep the SE27 sorting office open. Moving it several miles away to SE20 in Anerley is much too far away. Royal Mail says the nearer sorting office at 20 Westow Hill SE19 3RS is just too small to take all the SE27 post.
Most of us use the sorting office to pick up parcels or registered letters delivered when no–one was at home. But Royal Mail do not have to consult us when they make changes to their sorting offices.
Royal Mail do have to consult their staff on changes and are currently talking to the CWU union. The union have set up a petition for people opposed to SE27 losing its local sorting office & parcel collection point. 1500 people have signed already. Online Petition
Dr Fernandes will be retiring from his GP practice on Norwood Road SE27 2DJ and selling the premises.
The London Primary Care team at NHS England will be meeting Dr Fernandes patients next month to answer questions and explain what is happening about moving patients to neighbouring GP practices.
There is a petition to sign opposing the loss of a local GP practice, in Ardashj chemist, next door. Our MP Helen Hayes has written to Simon Stevens , who runs NHS England.
Thames water are relining the water main under Leigham Vale after it burst in December and January . The works are expected to be completed towards the May 2017. Road diversions will continue whilst Leigham Vale remains closed for the next few months.
Thames Water will be working Monday to Saturday and Sunday mornings to get this major piece of work done. To find out more you can drop in to Hitherfield Baptist Church, Hitherfield Road SW16 2LN to meet representative of Thames Water on Thursday 16th February between 12.30 to 7.30.
Or phone Thames Water on 0800 316 9800 selection 1 quoting ref: BB 210376.
Local councillors & Streatham MP Chuka Umunna took Steve Robertson, Chief Executive of Thames Water on a walkabout of the houses flooded in December and demanded action to prevent houses flooding in future. Our local MP Helen Hayes will be meeting Thames Water next month to discuss a wide range of water-related issues and the number of serious leaks this winter.
To start off the new year 2017 train fares have gone up another 2.3% since last year. The total increase in rail ticket prices since 2010 is 27% – far in excess of the inflation rate & wage increases.
In West Norwood the train situation is made worse by very poor services from Southern rail causing ever more misery & stress to commuters reliant on trains to get to & from work. For example during an hour this last Tuesday morning’s rush hour commuters said one train was cancelled and another doubly overcrowded as it had only 5 carriages instead of the normal 10 carriages.
The Southern rail situation is exacerbated by the government’s Transport Secretary cancelling plans, at the last minute, to transfer responsibility for running London suburban train services to Transport for London (TfL) and the Labour London Mayor.
Our MP, Helen Hayes, is a founding member of the newly formed All Party Parliamentary Group on Southern rail and campaigning for the government to remove the failing Southern rail service from Govia’s contract. You can help the campaign by recording your recent experiences of using Southern Rail in this short survey .
Cllrs Anna Birley & Lib Peck admiring Norwood’s Christmas tree
Don’t miss the West Norwood Christmas Lights on Saturday 10th December at St Luke’s church SE27 0HS. Light switch on at 4pm by Helen Hayes MP followed by carol singing, craft stalls, hot food, lanterns, Santa until 8pm. Organised by our volunteer powered West Norwood Feast with St Lukes church.
Knights Hill, one of the 3 wards in West Norwood, is to move under the new Streatham & Mitcham MP’s constituency according to latest proposals by the Boundary Commission. Check this map to see your new constituency https://www.bce2018.org.uk/node/6485?postcode=SE270HS
The Boundary Commission is aiming to give each MP the same number of constituents, between 71,000 and 79,000. Despite London’s rising population that means a drop from 73 MPs in London down to 68 MPs.
Helen Hayes MP for West Norwood
The calculations are based on the number of registered electors at the end of 2015. In London a high proportion of people move each year and do not always re-register immediately. A new process of registration had just been introduced for 2015 requiring new electors to provide their NI number for the first time. This also reduced the number of residents registered to vote.
Across the country it is estimated 2m voters were not counted in the figures used by the Boundary Commission. The highly respected Electoral Reform Association argues the new boundaries for MP’s constituencies should be based on the number of residents not the number of registered voters – http://www.electoral-reform.org.uk/boundary-reform#sthash.JSFDcjmb.dpuf
Christmas gift market , hot food, bar, carol singing, lantern procession and music (Uffington 357 band, DJ Tim Allen, Prevailing Prototype band).
In and around St Lukes’s church SE27 0HS in West Norwood this Saturday 12th December.
Enjoy some Christmas shopping locally and meet up with friends. Christmas lights in the churchyard to be turned on by Helen Hayes MP around 5pm. Look out for Father Christmas . A big thanks to the organisers – our West Norwood Feast volunteer team. http://westnorwoodfeast.com/
Helen Hayes, the newly elected Labour MP for West Norwood, holds regular advice sessions every second Friday of the month (except August) at 10am-11.30am in West Norwood Leisure Centre , Devane Way SE27 0DF.
Other sessions take place (except August) every:
first Friday 12.30pm to 2pm at East Dulwich Community Centre, Darrell Road SE22 9NL
third Friday 10am – 11.30am at Brixton Advice Centre, 165-167 Railton Road SE24 0LU
and every fourth Friday 10am to 11.30am at Kingswood House, Seeley Drive SE21 8QN
