Proposed 44-storey tower scheme on Newington Butts revived and Cycling on Southern Elephant Roundabout?

London-SE1 is reporting that the planned 44-storey tower on 80 Newington Butts (site of the former London Park Hotel) has been revived.  In its former incarnation, it was named by the developer First Base as "London 360" and recognisable by the unusual "fins" planned for the the top of the tower.  Southwark Council approved the site for the development of a 44 storey (mostly) residential tower back in 2007, but the scheme failed to complete due to the Homes and Communities Agency deciding it no longer represented good value for money.   The Homes and Community's Agency apparently intend to appoint a new developer to continue with the old scheme (which somewhat fails to make sense of the "not good value for money" point).

You can take a look at the most recent planning application for the site (transport related proposals) on Southwark's Planning site at 11/AP/0406.  Note that the postcode is wrong on the Southwark Planning Portal; it should be SE11 4QU. 

On a geograpically related note... Last July, Kennington People on Bikes wrote to Transport for London to check whether Toucan crossings (which allow pedestrian/cyclist use) were being installed at the junction that replaced the old Southern Elephant roundabout.  TFL confirmed that they'd install a toucan crossing, but KPOB has noticed they're installing pelicans... Naughty...

70th Anniversary of Kennington Park air-raid shelter disaster - photos from Kennington Park

Today, about 60 people gathered in Kennington Park for a memorial ceremony to mark the 70th anniversary of the deaths of 104 Londoners at an air raid shelter during the Blitz.

During the second world war, many Londoners did not have gardens and due to the fact that authorities closed nearby Underground stations eg. Oval, were forced to seek shelter in communal trench shelters.  The trench shelters were considered unsafe on account of their structure, as nearby reverberations could cause the sides to cave in.  That's exactly what happened on October 16th 1940 when a 15lb bomb fell directly on the shelter in Kennington Park.  The estimated death toll was 104, but only 48 bodies were recovered.  The rest are still lying beneath the park.

The massive death toll at Kennington Park is widely considered to have been hushed up by the authorities, on account of damaging Londoner's morale and alerting the Axis' pilots to the presence of additional civilians.  It wasn't until 2003 that the specific event in Kennington Park (which saw the highest number of casualties in Lambeth during WW2) received its own memorial.

For more info (and the sources from where I drew the above), take a look at a Friends of Kennington Park guide named  "Kennington's Forgotton Tragedy" authored by Rob Pateman, this recent BBC article, also by Rob Pateman and a further article on the WW2 Today website.

Gordon Johnston, Chair of the Friends of Kennington Park, introduced the order of ceremony and the Mayor.  The words on the memorial are by Maya Angelou:

Cllr Catherine Bowman, representing Southwark Council helped to plant a memorial rose bush:

Pauline Harrison, a relative of two victims of the air-raid shelter, and representing the relatives of those who died in the blast, also planted a rosebush:

A representative from the Friends of Kennington Park planted a rose bush:

And finally, local children from Archbishop Sumner Primary school planted a rose bush:

With that, the evocative bugles sounded, and coincidentally a bi-plane flew over Kennington Park, and we remembered those that will not grow old and whom the years will not condemn:

Swimming pool at Elephant and Castle, or How Co-operative is the Co-operative Council?

Thanks to an article on London-SE1, we've learned that Southwark Council are consulting residents on whether they desire a swimming pool in the re-developed Fusion centre in Elephant and Castle.  A swimming pool would be of considerable benefit to the residents of SE11, and the north of the Borough of Lambeth.  Anybody in Princes, Oval, Bishops, Vassall or Stockwell ward would certainly benefit from this facility, as the nearest available public pool is currently located in Brixton.  Lambeth Council have proposed a pool in Waterloo underneath the Coin Street tower, but many North Lambeth residents actually live closer to Elephant than they do to Waterloo.  Swimming has provable health benefits for the elderly and the young, residents for whom even short trips can prove particularly difficult, so I suggest that Lambeth residents with any interest in the matter fill out the consultation questionnaire here.  (Be aware that the number "5" on the questionnaire means "most important").

"What a good idea!  I'd really like a local swimming pool", you might think to yourself.  What you might not know is that one exists at present; it's in the Elephant & Castle Fusion Leisure centre.  Unfortunately, it has fallen into disrepair and needs to be replaced.  So Southwark Council are consulting on whether or not to replace a facility that they should be providing at present.  The reason given for this pointless consultation is that Southwark council officers are concerned that they might be unable to meet their leisure commitments on the basis of the financial squeeze.  However, due to the fact that most of SE11 is in Lambeth, many local residents will not be included in the consultation.  Obviously, residents living in Kennington, Oval or Vauxhall would be much closer to the propsed pool than Southwark residents in Peckham or East Dulwich.  So, I'm proposing that the news of the potential pool be circulated as widely as possible to Lambeth residents so that we have a chance to comment on the consultation.

On the basis that we're all good friends really (since Lambeth, Southwark and Lewisham Councils are all Labour controlled) and we're meant to be thinking of ways to be co-operative and share services, I thought it might be worth suggesting to Cllr Mark Harrison (Princes Ward) that he could campaign on behalf of Princes residents to enable the pool in the complex to be replaced.  After all, according to London-SE1,

[Southwark] "Council leader Peter John said last month: 'We do want to see a swimming pool at the site and we're determined to deliver'".

So, it should be a done deal, a fait accompli....  But unfortunately, despite our very poor local leisure coverage in the area (kindly mapped for us by Jason Cobb), Cllr Harrison considers the matter would be better taken up by individual residents.  After all, maybe many local residents wouldn't consider a pool a priority.  Bah.  Unlikely.  Here are the Tweets in question:

And this is Cllr Harrison's response:

So, let's demonstrate to Southwark / Lambeth Labour group that local residents would seek to prioritize a local swimming pool, and put pressure on them to provide this type of essential service, despite cuts. Let's demonstrate that there is a clear majority view in favour of such a service. 

Why not write to Cllr Mark Harrison outlining your views (if you're a Princes Ward constituent) at mharrison@lambeth.gov.uk to ask him to put pressure on the Labour coalition of councils?  Here's the link again to fill out the Southwark Council questionnaire (it's very short).  After all, shouldn't the Co-operative Council actually, y'know, co-operate?

Recycling and going green in Lambeth

According to an article in 24dash, Lambeth Council have just employed Susan Sheehan to be a "Green Community Champion Coordinator". Fortunately, that coincides with your host, the three wheeled one, attempting (with some neighbours) to encourage this little corner of SE11 to become a green space.

As many of you might know, whilst Lambeth Council offers an opportunity to recycle garden waste, they do not (yet) offer recycling facilities for green kitchen waste (peelings, orange skins etc). My fellow residents and I (or some of them, anyway) have decided to do our bit by installing a composter in our communal area (which is what the Council encourage here).

Surprisingly, well, it was to me, Lambeth Council offers all Lambeth residents subsidised compost bins of either 220 litres or 330 litres. Despite what it says on the Lambeth website, (and displaying an odd bit of Council ludicrousness) both the 220 and 330 litre bins cost £39 (at least according to a guy I spoke to from Blackwall). Unfortunately, at a composting seminar I attended a few weeks ago, the type of bin available, from Evergreener/Blackwall is the type that is not recommended for composting because, being entirely enclosed, it's difficult to "turn" in order to let the air flow through it. Apparently, it can also be difficult to get the compost out at the bottom. Consequently, I have sent an email off to our new Green Community Champions Coordinator asking whether Lambeth Council might be prepared to subsidise the wooden style composter.

Additionally, Lambeth Council don't subsidise wormeries. I've ordered a personal wormery from a different site, but it would be great to have a corporate wormery (which I'd be happy to look after), and Southwark Council once ran this offer in conjunction with St Mungos that I think has probably now finished. I could be wrong, it might still be going, but since I'm not resident in the Borough of Southwark, I can't access a subsidised wormery anyway. I'm actually quite tempted to have a friend write to our local councillor (I wouldn't want to reveal my secret identity) and ask about subsidising wormeries. What does everybody think? Is this an esoteric interest?

Oh yes, according to phone man, Lambeth Council also subsidises 190 litre water butts (£42.95, normally £47.95).

Because I'm a reponsible, civic-minded and "trying to go green" three wheeled one, I've asked our new Green Community Champions Coordinator what becoming a (presumably voluntary) "Green Community Champion" entails. As soon as I have a response, I'll let you all know in case any other readers are interested.

And just in case you wondered what else Susan will be doing, the article quoted above quotes her as saying:

"My role will be to give people practical help, inspiration and advice, whether it be helping them organise their first neighbourhood meeting, put them in touch with organisations that offer grants home insulation or solar panelling, or advice on how to set up a food-growing group."

I suggest that we all encourage her in her work by emailing her at ssheehan@lambeth.gov.uk or phoning her on 020 7926 6210 and asking how we might all go green. Also, she has set up a "farm" for all communities living on an estate in Balham. There's a website here.