Tag Archives: Lambeth

March 21, 2013 · 11:25 pm

Mayor to sell off Gipsy Hill police station

Gipsy Hill police station

Gipsy Hill police station

Gipsy Hill police station at 66 Central Hill SE19 1DT has been closed to the public temporarily for many months but our local police teams are still based there. Residents have been campaigning to get Gipsy Hill police station re-opened ( see  http://www.streathamguardian.co.uk/news/9943060.Growing_fears_of_police_station_closure/ )
But  despite the views of local people London’s Tory mayor is now planning to close Gipsy Hill  police station permanently and sell off the building. Local people will have to travel all the way to Brixton if they want to speak to a member of the police and report a crime.
Policing across London is the responsibility of the Mayor of London who has cut the number of police officers in Lambeth by 214 since 2010. Lambeth is asking for a fairer deal and 100 more police to bring the borough in line with the London average. To show your support for the campaign for 100 more police just  sign the council petition at   http://www.lambeth.gov.uk/moderngov/mgEPetitionDisplay.aspx?ID=329&RPID=17243862&HPID=17243862

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August 13, 2011 · 11:51 pm

Disturbances hit West Norwood

Tessa Jowell outside damaged Money Shop

Tessa Jowell outside damaged Money Shop

Ward councillors and local MP Tessa Jowell visited West Norwood businesses following the disturbances on night of  Monday 8th August. Everyone is keen to get back to business as usual.

Attempts made to break into  several  shop premises in Norwood Road and the door of  The Money Shop was broken down. The break in was recorded on CCTV and  the police have posted pictures of suspects:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/metropolitanpolice/6025500434/in/set-72157627267892973/. What  happened in West Norwood was  opportunistic attempts to rob a few shops, rather than the overwhelming looting seen elsewhere.

The police are now making hundreds of arrests of people involved in looting across London and courts are sitting for long hours to process the cases quickly.   To get up to date advice and information directly from official police sources you can subscribe to the Community safe web site and choose  the information alerts for the areas you are interested in. http://www.communitysafe.gov.uk.

The good news is that following the widespread recent public disorders of this week  there has been a fantastic response from Lambeth residents offering  to come &  help clean up. The council is now co-ordinating a Volunteering Speed Dating event next week. If you have been inspired by the recent community responses or you have always just wanted to volunteer then come along talk to like minded people. Just drop in between 6pm to 8pm on Wednesday 17th August at The Assembly Hall in Acre Lane  SW2 1RW (between  the Town Hall & Tesco). For details see: http://www.lambeth.gov.uk/News/2011/120811VolunteeringSpeedDating.htm

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Filed under Community / voluntary, Crime, Labour Councillors, Lambeth Council, Local Business, Police, Shopping, West Norwood

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July 5, 2011 · 8:21 am

Tennis club challenges council refusal

West Norwood Tennis Club

West Norwood Tennis Club

Plans to replace the existing West Norwood Tennis Club buildings off Cheviot Road with a six-storey mixed use building were turned down by the council on the 3rd December 2010. The developers have appealed against the council decision and a public hearing will take place on Tuesday 26th July at the South London YMCA, King George’s House, 40-46 Stockwell Road, London SW9 9ES. If you wish to speak at the hearing you must let the Planning Inspector know at the very start of the hearing . It is expected to last for two days. The reference of the appeal is APP/N5660/A/11/2144277.

For more details contact Sarah Dickens at Lambeth Planning, Phoenix House, Wandsworth Road, London SW8 2LL or  telephone  020 7926 1248.  Local councillor Jane Pickard is co-ordinating the views of local residents – contact Jane at jpickard@lambeth.gov.uk .

To see details of the original planning application look at the Public Access database on Lambeth‘s web site http://planning.lambeth.gov.uk/publicaccess/ and quote ref 10/01836. The council’s reasons for refusing this planning application are given in the decision notice on the database

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Filed under Charity, Community / voluntary, Health, Housing, Lambeth Council, Leisure, West Norwood

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September 24, 2010 · 7:49 am

Update on West Norwood new primary school

Julian's school

Julian's school

The new West Norwood primary school will open as 2 forms of entry (60 children) from September 2011 and be run as part of Julian’s school. Negotiations to acquire the site will be completed soon. The architects Shepheard, Epstein & Hunter (who designed the rebuild of Kings Avenue school)  are already working on initial plans for the school.

Parents can now apply for a place for their child to start in September 2011 at the new school. Whilst the school is being built children attending the new school will use temporary  classrooms at the current Julian’s site. However the distance from home to school, as part of the admissions criteria for the new school, will be based on the new school site – the location should be made public by December 2010.

When the building work is complete in 2012 the children in the new school will move to it’s new site.

The Lambeth primary school booklet has just been published class in 2011/12 and is full of information about Lambeth primary schools. You can see a copy on the Lambeth web site.

Applications for children starting in reception class in September 2011 need to be in by 14th January 2011.

A general meeting for parents interested in information about admissions to any Lambeth primary school will be at 5.30pm on Thursday 18 November 2010 at Julian’s Primary School, 226 Leigham Court Road SW16 2RB

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September 5, 2010 · 10:03 pm

Norwood Community Projects Funding

Opening the Norwood Park new play ground

Opening the Norwood Park new play ground

Last year residents voted to spend money on projects which included the new water playground at Norwood Park.

This year the council has set aside £250,000 for 4 new projects. The council is looking for suggestions for projects needing £25,000, £50,000, £75,000 or £100,000 that would benefit the local community.

Suggested projects  will be shortlisted before being put to the public to vote on final projects. The closing date for submissions is 30 September 2010. For more information on how to submit a proposal please contact 020 7926 2583, email yourchoice@lambeth.gov.uk .
See www.lambeth.gov.uk/yourchoice for details

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Filed under Arts, Charity, Churches, Education, Health, Kids, Labour Councillors, Lambeth Council, Leisure, Parks, West Norwood

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June 7, 2010 · 9:27 am

Lambeth’s cooperative council challenges Cameron’s Big Society

Lambeth cooperative councilLambeth Council is launching detailed proposals that will see the South London authority become Britain’s first-ever cooperative council.

Lambeth’s cooperative council model – first trailed in the national media in February  2010, months before David Cameron announced his Big Society proposals – will see residents take on a bigger role in running and shaping local services.  The model contrasts with the Tory ‘EasyCouncil’ model in the London Borough of Barnet that aims to create two-tier services with substandard services for the majority and better options available only to those wealthy enough to pay for them. Find out more about the Council’s plans here.

While there are some similarities with the coalition Government’s Big Society proposals, Labour’s model in Lambeth takes a more thorough-going approach applying the cooperative values of fairness, accountability and responsibility across a broad range of services.  It is built on four years experience trialling the approach in specific services in Lambeth.

Read more here

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May 8, 2010 · 10:47 am

Council Election Results

An exceptionally high number of people turned out to vote in the council elections on May 6th and the newly elected councillors for West Norwood are:

Gipsy Hill ward
Matthew Bennett – Labour
Jennifer Brathwaite – Labour
Niranjan Francis – Labour

Knights Hill ward
Jackie Meldrum – Labour
Jane Pickard – Labour
Mike Smith – Labour

Thurlow Park ward
Ann Kingsbury – Labour
Clare Whelan – Conservative
John Whelan – Conservative.

Lambeth  council now has 44 Labour councillors, 15 Lib Dem councillors and 4 Conservatives.
For details of the election results see:

election results

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April 9, 2010 · 10:55 am

Fixing this winter’s potholes

Fixing potholes on crown lane

Road resurfacing on Crown Lane

The most severe winter weather for 30 years has had a terrible effect on road surfaces right across the country.

The council is using the latest technology to make quick patch repairs and over 1,000 have been filled since January.   Larger patching, using traditional  ‘hot rolled asphalt’, takes longer to do –  so Ernest Avenue, Elder Road and Crown Dale will be done within the next few weeks. Crown Lane from Knights Hill to Leigham Court Road  is due to be completely resurfaced by end of April and  Robson Road soon after.

The  Government has just announced an extra £100m to fix potholes, and Lambeth will get a share of that money.  But too many of our local roads are still sub-standard and vulnerable to damage in freezing or very wet weather.

Unfortunately when the Lib Dems  & Tories were running Lambeth the council used a  cheaper road resurfacing material on many roads including Norwood High Street and Ernest Avenue in 2005. Stone mastic asphalt is cheaper but does not last long on roads used by heavy vehicles such as buses and HGVs. Cracks started to appear within a couple of years and have got much worse during this winter.

Road resurfacing costs £25-£30 per sq metre varying with the price of oil.   Lambeth’s roads need quality investment not patching. Labour, if re-elected on May 6th,  has  promised to  make the biggest-ever investment to replace Lambeth’s crumbling roads and broken pavements by selling off surplus council office blocks

In the meantime to report  potholes requiring urgent repair please phone 020 7926 9000  or email Streetscene@lambeth.gov.uk giving details  of the location. Red routes are the responsibility of the London Mayor’s Transport for London – call 0845 305 1234 to report any potholes on red routes .

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February 28, 2010 · 5:22 pm

Discount gardening supplies

Mike Smith shopping at the LHS

Mike Smith shopping at the LHS

Join the Lambeth Horticultural Society (LHS)  to spend less on gardening supplies and get lots of friendly advice. The LHS is open every Saturday afternoon 2pm-4.30pm  and Sunday morning 10am-12.30pm at their premises on Cedar Tree Grove (off Lakeview Rd) with easy parking. Map
Membership is only  £5 a year and you will probably save this on your first shop!

The LHS also run flower shows including the famous  Flower Show at Lambeth Country Show every July.

For more details see the LHS  web site  http://www.lambethhorticulturalsociety.org.uk.

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February 20, 2010 · 12:54 pm

Lambeth Labour’s co-operative council

Lambeth Town Hall

Labour Lambeth Council's Vision of a new approach to services

Lambeth Labour have been making headlines in the Guardian Newspaper (18th February 2010). In a pioneering new vision of creating a co operative style council Labour Lambeth are setting a challenge to Tory style ‘easy councils’.

The leader of Lambeth council, Steve Reed, said: “We are all looking at a reduction of 20% of funding from central government, and no council can afford to keep on doing what it’s been doing. But while Barnet have come up with a plan to pare back what services they offer, we don’t want to. Instead we’re looking at a different settlement that will move the boundaries of who does what, getting users involved in putting together the services they want. Mutual and co-operative values will be our compass. We’ll give the voters a clear choice – cuts if you vote Tory but with us, not only fewer cuts, but also positive side- effects around community cohesion.”

To read more about this exciting pioneering new vision please check out the article in the Guardian Newspaper.

For an insight into the future of local government and how Labour plans to give more say to local residents please click here.

In another piece of good news for Lambeth the Guardian have also given coverage to Lambeth Labour’s vision of a community led future led by a community hub. The Guardian reports on a 24 hour sports facility  includings basketball, boxing, swimming and tennis where  young people can also take part in art, education, music and other activities.

To read more about how Lambeth Labour is working with communities to build ties and create a sense of ownership and belonging please click here.

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