Update on Walworth Road Shooting

Furthur to my earlier post about the Walworth Road shooting (and one reason not to trust the Daily Mail) is that the male, now named as Ryan Bravo, has been revealed to be an innocent bystander, shot in the back during gunfire between local gangs. Some reports are saying the incident took place on Camberwell Road, but it appeared to happen at the point of the road just where Camberwell Road becomes Walworth Road.

The Telegraph reports that police suspect the shooting might be linked to an incident in Myatts Field earlier the same day.

Anybody who has furthur information relating to those involved in the incident has been asked to contact the police's Operation Trident.

Walworth Road Shooting in Costcutter

I've just seen the BBC news and Sky News of a shooting yesterday just outside the SE11 area in the Walworth Road (SE17).

From the brief details available, the killing took place in Costcutter. The victim was aged 18 and male. He is the 22nd victim to die in London this year from shooting or stabbing.

The Daily Mail (not a preferred source) states:

Onlookers said the shooting at 9.45pm yesterday was gang related and part of a vicious "postcode warfare".

I'm posting this because I want everybody to keep noticing that our young people are killing each other. It can't be written off as just "gang related" killing as though that either explains sufficiently or justifies in any way. A death should not become just another statistic.

I'll post more news as it becomes available.

My thoughts and prayers are with the family of this young man.

Trying to find a flatshare in SE11 [Part 2 of house hunting in SE11]

This is Part 2 of an ongoing series for people interested in buying, renting, flatshares, obtaining local authority or housing association property, squatting or crashing on somebody's floor in the SE11 area.

Today's post is about finding a flatshare in SE11 (or around the area).

First things first... There's no point in trekking around the Kennington or Vauxhall branches of letting agents in order to try and find a room to rent. If you're new to London, you may not realise that letting agents do not advertise flatshares. This is mostly because there's no money in it for them. Consequently, the only sort of property that you'll find in SE11 from letting agents are studios, advertised somewhere between £180 - £210 per week (around £780 - £910 per month). And the likelihood is that if you're looking for a room to rent, you won't be able to afford a studio.

There are a couple of reliable ways of finding flatshares:

1. You could try the age old Gumtree website. http://www.gumtree.com/ Searching through the listings is one option, although you might want to set up email alerts because property will go quite quickly.

2. One new development that I think provides the best way for searching for a Flatshare is from Globrix. The search engine provides the ability to search for lettings properties using the new criterion "Flat Shares" in the box at the top left of the screen. Typing in SE11 and clicking "Flat Shares" reveals that there are currently 23 flat shares available in the area, ranging from £69 to £160 per week. It squeezes information from all of the property portals and puts it in one place, thus reducing the time you'll spend Googling.

3. There are a number of specific websites that deal with flat-shares only. A quick Google reveals:
a. Move flat
b. Spare room

There are at least another 12 sites that seem to specialise in this area.

Once you have spent 10 years sharing a flat, you might be able to afford to buy a run-down studio in SE11. Please then refer to the link below for one idea about buying a property in SE11.

A useful website for those looking for houses in SE11 - [Part 1 of house hunting in SE11]

My personal quest to make SE11 a bit greener

Following on from a recent article in the East London advertiser that suggested that Vauxhall Cross and Brixton Road are within the top 10 most air-polluted roads in London, perhaps it's time that car drivers other than trades related people or minicab drivers start to reduce their car use. Some of Vauxhall Cross is included in the SE11 area, and I was surprised that one neither Kennington Road, Kennington Lane nor Kennington Park Road were included in the top 10 list, especially considering their proximity to Brixton Road and Vauxhall Cross.

Current petrol prices might encourage the trend to abandon cars in favour of other methods of transport. (C'mon, the Cross River Tram would be a real asset...) I imagine a move from petrol to LPG powered vehicles might help the cause... But best of all, it would be really exciting if London could become more cycle friendly. I was reading an article in the Independent by James Daley who has changed his cycling route from being based around the quiet back streets of Stockwell to a new busy route along the Thames Embankment. Having seen Clapham Road/Kennington Park Road also become a route for cyclist anarchy, I'm not surprised that he notes

"much of my route seems to turn into a cycle racetrack"

I try and cycle responsibly (not going through red traffic lights, sporting bike lights at night etc.) but I hope the trend towards cycling will lead to some form of stiffer penalty for cyclists that break the rules in a dangerous manner. As a driver, cyclist and pedestrian, it's fairly clear to me that cyclists are the worst transgressors of the highway code (especially couriers). On the other hand, there's nothing more frustrating than facing red light after red light when on a bike, because the traffic lights are phased for motorists. Obviously, I'm not suggesting changing all of the lights in favour of cyclists, but some innovative thinking re. roads that could be "cycle only" or more cycle paths (preferably not on pavements) might mean that cyclists could ride around more safely.

Once the move has taken place, I hope to get the trusty old bike out again (am a bit worried about the level of bike theft, so a folding bike might be a better option), and cycle to work where possible. That will probably turn Lurking about SE11 into a list of traffic violation grievances, but hopefully it will also help SE11 go green!

The new Kennington Oval reservoir... oops

Although I saw yesterday the devastating traffic effects of the burst water main between the end of Kennington Park and Oval tube, I didn't have the camera in order to photograph the chaos itself. Fortunately, a blogger passing through the area has captured it in his post entitled Flooding in Kennington and photographed the carnage in a useful photo which he's placed on Flicker here.

It was still causing traffic chaos today, but hopefully they'll sort it out soon! Still, Kennington Park Road is wonderfully quiet.

Lambeth Council does something

There is a piece in the Guardian today (topped off with a lovely picture of lots of knives) that suggest Lambeth Council are launching an initiative. I realise that this, in itself, might be shocking to some people. However, having been a resident of an north London council who will not be mentioned, I will at least defend Lambeth on the matter of recycling. Apparently, since I last lived in Lambeth (2006), they've even brought in tetrapack recycling. *squee* How exciting! But since I'm nearly as much a recycling geek as I am a public transport geek, I shall save all of the posts about recycling goodness, and the possibility/likelihood of obtaining orange bags etc. until the move has taken place.

What's interesting from the three wheeled pleb's point of view is that Lambeth Council's initiative is about knife crime, which has some bearing on the SE11 area.

I have grave doubts that any council initiative can "solve" knife crime. I suspect that public money being spent in a certain manner might well go to solve the issue, but it's likely (although not guaranteed) that the money will be put to short term fixes rather than long term solutions. It seems to me obvious that the key to tackling crime is to tackle poverty. Whilst it is not clear that it is only those who live in poverty who commit crime, it seems that there is significant correlation. I was persuaded some years ago that one solution to the poverty/crime dynamic is to spend significantly on early years projects. If one engages with women on a single income at the stage when they are first pregnant, and teaches them about healthy eating / alcohol/drug consumption risk during pregnancy, then their child is significantly less likely (due to early intervention from development agencies) to engage in a life of crime. It must be stressed that such early intervention means that they and their children are given access to services and education that mean they're not left to fend for themselves. It's been quite a while sine I've looked at any of this, but Google for the "Cambridge Study in Delinquent Development" for a source about these ideas.

So... how long is the initiative?

The Guardian says:

the five-year strategy is the first "long-term comprehensive" initiative of its kind to be set up in England

It depends what they do over the five years as to how effective it is. I'm not convinced that a 5 year strategy is long enough to tackle the causes of crime. There's too much risk that fundign can be obtained for helpful services which will then fold in 5 years time.

So... where are Lambeth Council spending their money?

The Guardian says:

a series of initiatives that include increased investment in youth services run by and for local people, a specialist outreach team for hard-to-reach youngsters, parenting classes, and a network of police officers in primary schools.

I like the sound of the parenting classes, but I'd prefer it to say "ante-natal classes" since I think that the earlier the intervention, the better. I'm also a massive fan of Camilla Batmanghelidj's charity, Kids Company. It's a self-referring charity for children in South east London, and I believe they do some great work, offering mentoring, skills, and a safe place to hang about. I hope that they'll be on the receiving end of some of the cash (rather than somebody wasting money setting up new Lambeth bodies) to do the same thing. I'm a bit sceptical about the police officers in primary schools, but we'll see. I believe I also once read a BBC article on some research which suggests that teenagers who attend /unstructured/ youth clubs are more exposed to becoming involved with criminal activities. So let's hope that we have fewer youth clubs with very structured activities, rather than more youth clubs that effectively offer little more than a pool table.

Also, I figure that since most of Lambeth's initiative will have occurred too late to offer hope to those people in the 16-19 bracket, we won't have seen the end of the knife crime / stabbings for a while yet. So... The Lambeth Council initiative (if effective) will not really kick in for another 5 years (at least) especially if targeted at younger children, and things could get worse in the meantime. That means (and here I'm being rather pessimistic) that just as the initiative starts working, the public won't have seen the effects, and the whole initiative will be pulled just as it has begun to work (if it does) on the grounds that the public will claim that knife crime has risen, and that the scheme is a waste of public money.

I hope they prove me wrong.

My strategy (and personal goals):

1. Know your nearest neighbours (at least 2 households) well enough to offer them a cup of tea.
2. Know 15 people in your postcode (preferably outside if you're on a boundary) that are also on good enough terms with their nearest neighbours to be able to offer them a cup of tea.
3. Become involved in one youth initiative in your area (youth club, Guides, Scouts, parenting classes, Sunday school, mosque group, school reading scheme).

I figure that if everybody followed all three steps that we could virtually prevent all knife crime in the Borough of Lambeth... Even if we only followed the top 2 steps, we'd have created such a web of people that a great many social ills coudl be solved.

Maybe I should start a "have a cup of tea" campaign. The drawback? I don't drink tea :)

Cross River Tram - more news

There's a new article on London-SE1 about a group that has been put together to attempt to ensure the Cross River Tram does not drop off the list of Boris Johnson's City Hall priorities. The photo shows a rather small group of people; I wonder where all of the activist types have gone. Also, I noticed that Lambeth Council weren't represented on the banner. I'd have thought that some of the Lambeth councillors would have been very supportive.

The members of the Back the Cross River Tram group have also put together a petition here. I'm not generally a fan of petitions, but nobody else appears to be doing anything... It would be good to get a large number of signature from SE11 people to show demand.

Anyhow, the SE1 article states that an answer is expected in Autumn re. Boris' tram review. My last post suggested that an answer was expected in July 2008, but that doesn't leave many more days...

Update: Freddie Moody murder

Bathsheba over at Stockwell News (see blog roll) has a brief news round up and a few facts relating to those accused of the Freddie Moody stabbing. I don't have much more to add, and she's giving better coverage as it falls within her patch and slightly outside of SE11.

New SE11 blog

There are not many really local blogs to Kennington. I think I've got most of the generic "about the location ones" (ie. the ones that are /not/, proponents of the "I'm really into and I happen to live in Kennington school of thought"). However, a new blog has recently been launched for the residents of Denny Street (just off Chester Way), Denny Crescent and the people that use the communal garden of Denny street. I don't know Denny Street very well at all, but the few photos of the blog make it look like a great place to lurk about.

I've added their blog "Dennygarden" to my blog roll, so it might be worth subscribing if you are a part, or live near to that community. Click here for a quick link to dennygarden.wordpress.com/. It's excellent that this is another like-minded blog that exists, in their words to "share news, share views and generally be good neighbours."

Natasha Panas puts Kennington on (or possibly off) the map!

Thank you to the commentator of the last post who pointed out that a pop singer; Natasha Panas, has just released a single named after our lovely SE11 locale "Kennington".

I did download to Itunes for a quick listen, but found that I could have listened and watched the video for free by following this link from Music Remedy. It must be noted however, that the Itunes file was of a much better quality...

That being said, I'm not quite sure what the single is about. It lacks depth and profundity. Natasha appears either to be entreating that her audience emerge from the tube station and meet her somewhere down Brangaza Street, Kennington Park Place, or indeed, possibly at 41 Kennington Park Road. I was hoping it might sound a little like "I left my heart in San Francisco" or even "24 hours from Tulsa" or possibly "Baker Street" in terms of celebrating places, but I'm afraid that it only mentions Kennington once at the beginning of the song. It then mostly repeats itself about having been much too long since she last saw somebody.

Maybe I wasn't thrilled because pop is not quite my genre, and my inate "I was born 40 years old feeling" means that I can't appreciate new music, but I think not... In lyrics, it lacks imagination, and the tune is rather bland. But, what can I say? It does, after all, mention Kennington.

[Please do feel free to comment if I've been desperately unfair! This blog welcomes disagreement.]

Cinema museum

There is a good article posted by the Kennington News blog about the Cinema Museum on Duggard Way, in SE11, which is in danger of having to close due to needing a new premises.

More frequent buses in South London

The chaps and chapesses over at Oval News have got wind from TFL that there are to be extra buses laid on in and around the SE11 area. They report here that:

1. The 155 bus will increase frequency from every 12 mins, to every 10 mins, but only on Sunday. [That seems to me to be a fairly minor change.] In case you wondered, the rough route for the 155 is as follows:

St George's Hospital - Tooting - Balham - Clapham - Stockwell - Kennington - Elephant & Castle

2. The 88 bus is due to increase in frequency from 12 mins to 10 mins on Sundays and during every evening. In addition, the weekly night buses will increase in frequency from 30 to 20 minutes. Again, if you're not sure, the route for the 88 is as follows:

Clapham Common - Vauxhall - Westminster - Oxford Circus - Camden Town

This public transport geek is pleased.

Unfortunately, we've still no update on proposals for the Cross River Tram. I'm getting rather pessimistic as the days go by.

Gasometers, hotel development and the Kennington Oval

I've not spotted any of the other blogs picking up on this, but Construction News plus have reported here that the Buncefield Major Incident Investigation Board (set up after a tanker explosion near an oil plant) have called for reviews of building around "dangerous" sites.

The reason that this affects us around SE11 is because of the proposed hotel development at the Kennington Oval. There is still to be a public enquiry, but the decision about whether building work might be taking place too close to the gasometers could well slow down the planning process once the public enquiry (which is due to take place soon) has happened. I'm in two minds about the development. A well built hotel, offering jobs and facilities for local people, is not to be immediately shouted down. On the other hand, there will be a definite increase in traffic around the roads that would lead to the hotel, and those roads are in very residential areas. The proposals would have to be thought through to demonstrate that people weren't kept awake or furthur polluted by having the roads around the Oval used for deliveries.

Lilian Baylis surfing ahead

I just caught this news item in publictechnology.net today about Lilian Baylis Technology School (on Kennington Lane) winning 10k funding in order to promote computer use in the homes of some of their students.

The e-learning foundation (who have handed over the cash) consider that low income families often do not have computers at home, and so children from the low income families have less access to the opportunities that technology provides. Also, apparently providing households with computers allows members of the wider family to use the same computer for job searching, so providing a computer gives benefit to the entire household.

It all sounds rather good, but I do wonder how they know that the computer will be used mainly? primarily? sometimes? for educational purposes (which is why they think the enterprise is worthwhile). Maybe they consider that the sheer existence of computer technology in the home, is, of itself of educational value, whatever the use the computer is put to.

Anyhow, I'm all for Lilian Baylis receiving grants (they don't exactly charge fees), so good for them!

New SE11 related blogs and a look at the political wards

I've resisted adding SE11 councillor blogs to the list until recently because I do not support any particular political party. However, I today discovered two blogs both written by different parties, so I do not appear partisan and since they both cover the area, it seems a shame not to link to them. They are as follows:

1. Oval News - by 3 lib dem councillors in the Oval Ward

2. SE11 Action team - by 3 labour councillors (and some of their supporters) in the Princes Ward

That made me wonder about the rest of the Lambeth political wards, and whether they are represented. (SE11 is largely spread across the Borough of Lambeth, but there are a few bits at the north end that come under Southwark's control). There's a nice handy map of the Lambeth Wards on the Lambeth Council website.

As you can see, the ones that are relevant to SE11 and surrounds are:

1. Princes Ward - This is really the northern part of SE11. It goes up as far as the southern half of Brook Drive, runs down the middle of Kennington Park Road and does not go any furthur south than Kennington Lane. The map also indicates that it covers half of the river Thames! [Labour - as of July 2008]

2. Oval Ward - This is a major constituent part of SE11 and also covers quite a lot of SW8. It includes the whole of Kennington Park, Oval cricket ground (which is its centre) and Vauxhall Park. It goes south as far as Dorset Road and Thorne Road, east to cover a small portion of Brixton Road, and in the north, it runs down the middle of Kennington Lane. [Lib-Dem - as of July 2008]

3. Bishop's Ward - There is a very tiny part of the north east corner of SE11 that is covered by Bishop's Ward. The northern part of Old Paradise Street, the northern part of Fitzalan Street, the whole of Walnut Tree Walk and a very small segment of Kennington Road all fall into this ward. I think, however, that my own postcode map boundaries are a little hazy around here, because SE1 creeps into some of the streets around here. [Lib Dem - as of July 2008]

4. Vassall Ward - This is not strictly a part of SE11, but it's very close to Oval, and covers the area south-east of SE11. For our purposes, it goes down the middle of Camberwell New Road in the north, and Clapham Road on the west. [Labour / Lib Dem Split as of July 2008]

5. Stockwell Ward - Again, this also does not cover SE11, but is situated to the south west of SE11. [Labour as of July 2008]

The political parties of the councillors and the councillor details are all condensed on very helpful Lambeth Council page here.