I frequently hear people moaning about Lambeth Life as a propaganda rag par excellence, and there are many denouncements of free council run newspapers, which take advertising business away from other noble enterprises eg. The South London Press. (I think it's highly likely that Lambeth Life will go under when the next administration (whoever they are) come to power because of the huge shortfall in public funds, but we shall see.) Then it will be back to the SLP and numerous "massage" offers. Joy.
I don't read the freebie (as noted in comment on last post) because Lambeth don't deliver it to me, even though I live in Lambeth! (Should I complain?) However, in not reading it, I might be missing juicy snippets! I've just realised that it is stuffed full of SE11 related info. Here's a run down of items pertinent to locals (notice that I don't mention how wonderful the council is at all):
1. 319 Kennington Road (the old Field and Sons Estate Agent that briefly became a solicitors) is considering change of use to a Tattoo Shop. (A potential first for SE11, I believe.) [Edit @ 17:16 - I love having readers. Apparently, we used to have a tattoo shop near the Vauxhall bit of SE11 that closed down a few years ago, so this will be the second one ever (don't sound as impressive), if it gets planning permission.]
2. Classical music in St Peter's Vauxhall (£5) on 6th Feb from 7.30pm. Call 07951 488 220 for more info.
3. Plays at both the Oval House Theatre and White Bear Theatre (these you can generally discover in Time Out).
4. The second KOV meeting re Nine Elms (I already mentioned this a few days ago).
5. A bellydance party at The Doghouse on Feb 12th, £5, proceeds to Great Ormond Street. Call 07863 560 219 for more info.
6. The new olympic sized swimming pool (mentioned yesterday).
I can't decide whether the Belly Dancing party or the potential tattoo shop is the most exciting.
It seems I shall have to start reading Lambeth Life unless I'm to miss out on extra local news, or you could just email me with your events, and I'll advertise them for you for free (with the added bonus that you don't need to read about why the council are so fantastic) and the environmental benefit. My blog is totally green and printed on recycled web-pages.
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If your blog is printed on recycled webpages, do Blogger provide a logo to place on your site to demonstrate your environmental worthiness? ;)
There was a tattoo and piercing place at the Vauxhall end of Kennington Lane (near the Catholic church) until around 2001/2002. Not sure if that counts as SE11, but I think it does...
As a follow: licence refused for Kurdish Centre
http://www.lambeth.gov.uk/moderngov/mgAi.aspx?ID=10281
And, speaking of Stannary Street, whatever happened to Mark the Councillor's promise during the election to repair the horrible conditions on the street?
Stannary Street is certainly a mess. I saw workmen filling in pot holes last week, but these quick fixes never last long because of the street's use by heavy goods vehicles loading up / dropping off at the builders merchants.
Any news on what is happening with the '$6 million' redevelopment at St. Anselm's Church?
Word on the grapevine is that the project includes building a half-way house for homeless/jobless ex-cons fresh out of the nick.
There's a similar facility in Westminster that seems to get raided by the police every other week. I can't say I'm excited about the prospect of having one in the heart of Kennington.
yes, they are shipping in prisoners from Surrey:
http://se11actionteam.blogspot.com/2010/01/st-anselms-planning-consultation.html
NIMBYism aside, the rest of it looks good. I always wondered what went on in that church.
don't you have to have do something really jolly nasty to go to prison these days. not sure I like the sound of this, "carefully selected" or not...
Re Stannary Street- Stannary Street was one of many streets in Prince's ward we submitted to the Highways department this year as needing resurfacing. The officers assess the state of all roads submitted in the borough and rank them - resurfacing the most needy first. So as far the officers have judged other streets as more needy. We'll continue to argue Stannary Street's case over the coming year(s). Lambeth Labour has spent far more on resurfacing roads than previous administrations, but it still isn't sufficient to clear the huge repairs backlog. We're looking at innovative ways we might unlock significant funds to do this as part of our manifesto for May's election.
St Anselm's Church will be submitting their planning application in the next few weeks. They are not planning a standard half-way-house hostel for prisoners. Instead they're planning to provide work in a new restaurant in the church that will provide an employment path on from the work done at the Clink restaurant at HMP HighDown. There will be flats in the Church development providing them with somewhere to live, along with the church's curate and young people setting up business units. If you take the time to find out about what they have planned I hope you'll agree it's a positive project that doesn't threaten the community but should benefit us. 300 local residents went to the public exhibition and were incredibly positive about the plans- nobody voiced any concern about this project.
The released prisoners will have proved their commitment by having worked in the prison restaurant, will be carefully selected, will have a job to occupy themselves, and accommodation in a busy and responsible community. Speak to Angus if you would like further reassurance or find out more: www.theclinkonline.com
Re Lambeth Life
Its available on the Lambeth website at http://www.lambeth.gov.uk/News/LambethLife.htm
I think Lambeth Life does a reasonable job in telling us what the council is doing - the council does afterall have a duty to keep residents informed; inevitably its a bit of a propoganda sheet, its a corporate publication and will present the council in a good light. Its a source of vital information as you have discovered on planning etc.
The cost of Lambeth Life is very small when compared to other areas of council expenditure and the council would have to find some other way of communicating with residents if it didnt have LL. The South London Press cannot cover Lambeth in any depth because it is focused on four/five South London boroughs (also the circulation is small when compared to the population of Lambeth nevermind the population of South London.)
It is interesting that opposition politicans always moan about the cost of LL and similar publications - that is until they get into power when they find them very useful. If you do a bit of googling you will see that before the last council elections Labour were moaning about LL and so recent Lib Dem campaigns against LL are in the same vein - you can bet they will change if they ever get re-elected in Lambeth.
Stannary Street continues to resemble Juno beach following an artillery bombardment. I can only conclude that no inspection of this road has ever actually taken place, despite protestations to the contrary, otherwise it would be at the top of the priority list. I counted 30 (yes THIRTY) potholes last night... on a street not more than 50 yards long.
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