Incident on Oakden Street (leading from Bishop's Terrace)

An incident took place on Oakden Street at 18:30 last night, when a section of a house on the road collapsed.  Four houses on the street had their rooves and attics exposed as a parapet linking them together became detached.  At first, the cause was thought to be a gas explosion, but this claim was dismissed by the on scene firefolk.  Approximately 50 residents were evacuated and there were no injuries.

ITV news were present, so there's a report you can watch here.  11 fire appliances were called to the scene, and a crane was brought in to assess damage.

Photos from @disappointment here:


And here's another photo from @mrsdog showing the crane:


And here's how it all looked this morning in the cold light of day:

Business closures, business openings and a potential fire

This post is a brief update with lots of bits and pieces that people send me, and questions asked.  None of it quite warrants a post of its own.

Business Closures
* St Aubyn's Holistic centre on Cleaver Street closed down (or appears to have done) in late December.

*  The antique dealer on Windmill Row (opposite Thai Ming) has sold, but construction appears to be taking place there, so that might yield something interesting.

* Finishing Touch on Kennington Lane (apparently, Kennington's longest serving hairdresser) closed on 3rd January and the building is up for sale.  (It's just on the corner of White Hart Street).

Business Openings
* The burned out old sandwich shop at 345 Kennington Road next to the Pizza Hut takeaway has a planning application on it.  According to a an email sent to me by a reader (thank you), it's been burned out for 20 years so it's about time something happened.  Unfortunately, it doesn't appear from the application 10/04211/FUL that any retail space is planned, and the proposal is for a some type of 4 room bedsit.  However, it's probably far better used for accommodation than left in its burnt out state.  It's still in the planning process so has yet to be agreed.

* A new bar has opened in Vauxhall, JD's place, at 353A Kennington Lane.  The interior is minimalist and quite funky with sprayed murals of Tower Bridge on one side and St Paul's and the city on the other.  Lunch is served from 12pm to 6pm (baguettes from £2.50) and dinner from 6pm to 10pm (burgers from £5.49), but when I popped in on Friday night, the music was so loud that I felt it was more a place to drink than a place to eat.  For pre-clubbing drinks and snacks, I can see it might be popular..

* Tesco on Kennington Park Road (around the corner from Toulouse Lautrec) opened in late December.  The site goes much further than I expected, and it's not a bad size for a small store.  I spoke to the folk next door in the fantastic Old Red Lion pub who think that business has improved as a result of the new store opening (which is one good thing) and I have to admit that I prefer Tesco to the previous store that was on the site.  Tesco need somebody to manage their community notice board, so go and feel free to speak to the manager if you want to do that.  Another plus point is that they've stuck a free cash point on the front of the store, and it's not easy to get cash around those parts.

* A new Londis has opened on Kennington Park Road opposite Kennington Park.

Refurbishments
* The laundrette next to the funeral parlour on the corner of Kennington Road and Kennington Park Road is being refurbished and turned into something (not clear what yet).  That's quite positive as that row of shops looked quite drab.

* One reader tells me that the Old Amici's is alive with construction (I think this is the one on Kennington Road).  Anybody any further news?

Fire?
* One reader wonders whether anybody heard or saw anything reported in relation to Costa Coffee, as apparently, the smell of burned coffee could be detected in the area and smoke was viewed from Lambeth Walk.  (It might just be normal operation.  Who knows?)

Recladding
* The Ethelred Estate tower blocks have been reclad, and are now no longer a dingy brown colour.  They look very very good, and one of them had its scaffolding removed, only to be re-scaffolded to be cleaned when dirty streaks were revealed!  The towers are still mostly covered as we speak, but when they're finished, they're going to be impressive again.

Yoga in Vauxhall

Losing weight after Christmas or hoping to keep fit?  This is a quick note to let you know that yoga classes are due to take place on Tuesdays from 7pm - 8pm in the Vauxhall Gardens Community Centre on 100 Vauxhall Walk, SE11 starting 25th January and continuing until 1st March. 

£5 per class, or if you pay for 6 classes up front, it's £25.  See poster below for more details on how to register:

6 people stabbed / shot on Vassall Road last night - When we needed the Big Society, were you there?

It's slightly south of the SE11 area, but I was horrified to read the SLP report of 6 people shot/stabbed on Vassall Road yesterday at about 21:30 yesterday.  The SLP also state that the youngest victim was 14, but this contradicts the following from Stockwell Park Neighbourhood Watch.

Stockwell Park Neighbourhood Watch have stated that two of the victims were stabbed at about 20:41 on Cowley Road.  An ambulance was called, and whilst the crew were attending, two youths on bikes cycled past and firde several shots on a hand gun.  Consequently, four additional people were injured.  None of the injuries are life threatening and the ambulance crew remained unharmed.  After initial assessment, the police believe the incident was gang related and that none of the victims were "neutral".  (I take that to mean that they were innocent bystanders).  The victims are said to be within the age range of 16-18.  No suspects have been detained and police presence in the area will remain high to deter further violence.

I regularly defend this part of South London as a safe place to live against voices to the contrary.  Violence around here is sporadic and usually not against innocent bystanders, but that doesn't excuse it. Sometimes  the distance between Cleaver Square and Vassall Road seems huge.  Lambeth Council currently spend money on youth and anti-gang activities, and yet such funding is at risk in our new Big Society.  Does the funding make any difference?  After each stabbing or shooting, I always ask, "what can we do?".  And I'll keep asking it because I don't want us to stop being shocked. 

As residents, bloggers, commuters and workers, what are our options to prevent young people from turning to crime?  What do we do about the disparity between the haves and have nots?  Is it disparity that is the problem here?  Are the residents who live in relative poverty having a chance to meet the residents who are affluent?  Where is the forum in which we can discuss these issues?  We have neighbourhood groups and residents associations, blogs, and newspapers, but how often do we meet people who are different from us?  Is our response to stay in after dark and to keep our heads down when we walk along our streets?  Do we know the young people in our midst, and how might our neighbourhood be a community that shares its gifts?

I maintain that these stabbings and shootings are not what define our area.  We're defined by our friendliness and our openness to celebrate and share cultural differences.  We're defined by the number of community groups and "friends of" groups that are regularly set up in our midst.  And then something like this happens, and we talk of youth, gangs, drugs, opportunities and education, but I'm not sure if we're seeing any change.  When we needed the Big Society, were you there, were you there?

For an 18th January update on this incident, please continue reading at Stockwell News.

Who is the weakest link in Lambeth? Which department would you cut this week?

Ever wondered what it felt like to be Cllr Steve Reed, our esteemed Lambeth Leader?  It's the 2011-2012 budget consultation.  You have to save £80 million over the next four years.  £40 million of that must be cut in 2011-20102 although you're fighting the government to prevent immediate (or frontloaded) cuts.  You know that jobs will be slashed.  You know that services will be be eliminated.  Education will suffer.  Elderly people won't receive care at home any more.  Crime will rise as police services will be cut.  Children's services will suffer, risking more Baby P cases.  The youth budget is at risk, wiping out the good work done to prevent knife crinme.  Preventative and education services will go, costing the Council more in the long run.  Recycling and rubbish collection will happen less often.  Peoples' calls to the Council will go unanswered for days.  It sounds horrendous.  What would you cut?  Who is the weakest link?  The real Steve Reed is seeking to protect the £5 million youth budget in a bid to prevent future youth offending.  Note how the Evening Standard have used a photo of the Triangle Adventure Playground,  currently at risk of eviction by Lambeth.

Thanks to a free service, You Choose, provided by You Gov, Lambeth have been able to set up a simulation so that you can try on Cllr Reed's shoes, and attain control of the budgets.  Figure out how you'd make £25 million of cuts.  You control the money being spent at the moment, and you're told how much save.  You are given a few ways to bring in income, but these really don't amount to much.  You're not allowed to raise Council Tax. The choice is yours.  Each time you make a cut, you'll be told who is impacted and to what degree.  I started by slashing lots of back office stuff and was warned that I couldn't sustain those cuts because Lambeth would drop below statutory levels in various areas, so I had to make frontline cuts.  When you've finished with the simulator, email Lambeth Council and tell them what services you want to see protected, and where you'd place fees.

Working on a similar premise to Dostoevsky, who noted, "The degree of civilization in a society can be judged by entering its prisons", I figured that the same sentiment is true for the most vulnerable.  I resolved, in my budget, to lessen cuts to children who require the intervention of social services and to preserve provision for the elderly and those who have learning disabilities...  How did I do?  Do you agree with me?

1.  In children's services, I only cut £5.36 million (reducing the current budget by 8.4%), but I reduced provison of care to vulnerable children, introduced fees and reduced opening hours to youth centres and stooed the youth offending services.  I also reduced in school support.  That sounds like a large cut, but the spend on children's services is huge at £63.88 million.

2.  In adult social care, I kept reductions as low as possible and similarly cut £5.74 million (reducing the current budget by 9.2%).  Unfortunately, this resulted in reduced care in peoples homes, helping them to dress etc. and remain at home and reduced funding for residential day services.  Again, it sounds like a large cut, but under the simulation, £62 million was spent on adult social care.

3.  I decided that "Corporate services and benefits" didn't sound important so I reduced the current budget by 22%, and saved £6.75 million.  Of course, this had the effect of reducing internal support severely, increasing the risk of fraud and produced "significant delays" in contacting the council.  I cut the performance, policy, equalities and research to the minimum, just enough to continue statutory provision and I increased the delay in processing benefit applications (but I only delayed it, rather than cutting it to the bone).  I also reduced the communication budget substantially, but that means there are less staff to focus on core campaigns.

4.  Next I had to look at streets, waste, recycling and consumer protection.  I reduced the current budget by 11.2%, and managed a saving of £2.74 million.  I had to stop the food waste collection pilot.  Our roads will be covered in pot holes because the highways are now only inspected once a year.  I ceased all food premises inspections and stopped product safety checks.  After that, I reduced the operational hours for the noise service.  It now doesn't work on week days.

5.  My next budget was libraries, sports, parks and culture.  Oh dear.  I'm a huge champion of libraries, so I didn't want to cut those.  And cutting sport would be a mistake.  I ended up cutting £2.11 million, much of it in parks, reducing that budget by 13.6%.  I didn't merge any libraries.  I had to restructure the sport and leisure department to deliver the same level of service at lower cost (eek, how does that work?).  Culturally, we're now unable to deliver any arts development.  (Argh, but remember, I was focused on reducing cuts to the children and elderly).  But parks took the brunt of my cuts, since I felt that having no wardens and increasing cemetry charges and reducing tree maintenace wouldn't actually remove the parks as a resource.  They could always be recovered at some later date, right?

6.  Next, regeneration and enterprise.  I'm afraid that took a big hit.  I saved a mere £757k, but reduced the department by a shocking 24%.  It's only a small department, but I was trying to preserve services for youth etc.  Now, unfortunately, we will reduced investment in town centre management, local business promotion and job creation.  A small price to pay, but won't the recession be slowed by the fact that we're less able to assist with job creation?  I had to cut something!

7.  Finally, I took a look at community safety.  I slashed it by 19% (deciding that it was the police's responsibility), but it only had a small budget anyway, so I only sliced off £302k, nothing compared to the other departments.  Now Lambeth is unable to deal with drug and alcohol issues, and tackle offenders.  (And slashing my park rangers above isn't going to help either).

Positively, I was able to bring money in through events income (I did wonder whether there would be a department left to run the events), and through parking by £400k (ouch), but I chose not to raise fees for cultural services because that would hit sport.  I also managed to save some money by working more closely with health services (but that only netted 90k) and altered the way I provided social and welfare advice.  Note, I did not renegotiate Adult Social Care contracts or find efficiencies in Adult social services management costs.  I thought that those sounded like they'd make the care worse.  I also decided not to cut the few public toilets we'd got left.  The 175k saving was barely worth making.

The electorate are rightly angry.  Did I do the right thing?  What would you do?

The Con Dems are cutting local council budgets, but it was under a Labour administration that we ran up the debt in the first place.  Should we just keep blaming the bankers?  Welcome to the Big Society.

Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens: £250k for a gold statue & Tea House Theatre refurb

(Photo taken from Tea House Theatre blog)

The Tea House Theatre (formely the Queen Anne strip pub) are moving ahead rapidly with their renovations.  They've got a new Tea House Theatre blog, where you can view photos of their renovation work and track their progress.  They've uncovered centuries of old wallpaper, discovered original fire places and cleared and cleared and cleared to reveal 1200 square feet of space.  It's very positve and will hopefully encourage further development of an "arts quarter" in SE11.

(Photo taken from Friends of Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens site)

What are they building on Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens?  Two 18 metre lit-columns to mark the entrance to the park.  Last night, as I was waiting for a lift outside Vauxhall station, I noticed that the two Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens "columns" appear to be surrounded by scaffolding, but progressing quite well.  They look a bit tall and rather strange in comparison with the surrounding buildings (reminding me of two down turned cigarettes), but art appreciation has never been my strong point.  What do readers think?

(Photos from Cinema Museum website and Bangalore.metblogs respectively)

Finally, how much does it cost to erect a statue of your favourite guru (or guruette) in Lambeth?  It appears that all you need is the backing of the Mayor and a £250,000 bribe (or, ahem, offering) to a local "friends of" group for regeneration of the Gardens.  Obviously, with looming council cuts, the money is attractive to the Friends of the Pleasure Gardens, but it does beg the question of whether local residents want a 3.5 foot bust (on plinth) of Basavanna, a 12th century Indian philosopher, on the Albert Embankment?  (I must make it clear that I'm not against public busts of important cultural figures from all over the place, and this Indian chap sounds like a thoroughly progressive guy, but I question the manner in which this has been proposed.  Which councillors would consider objecting and upsetting the mayor?)  It seems that the bust won't technically be in the Pleasure Gardens (which only accepts busts of local dignitaries), but on a grass verge opposite the Texaco garage which is not quite in the park, and therefore qualifies as an appropriate place for the statue.  Sounds a bit, well, below the belt...  Thanks to Vauxhall Society for the heads up on that story, and read more information about the proposal here.

All of this does lead me to wonder whether Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens might accept money for the often proposed (and somewhat unattractive) giant 20 foot outline of Charlie Chaplin that frequently does the rounds?  Will Charlie look down from the park on Basavanna?  And who will have the last laugh?

A new civic organisation for Oval

In addition to the Kennington Association, Vauxhall Civic Society, Riverside Community Development Trust, Lady Margaret Hall Settlement, Kennington Oval Vauxhall Forum and a gazillion "Friends of" groups, please put your hands together to welcome the recently relaunched Oval Partnership.  They're focusing on developing Oval Farmers' market in the grounds of St Mark's church and have recently launched a campaign to ensure adequate green space provision around Vauxhall, considering all of the new developments.  If you're interested in joining, no doubt there must be some method, but I couldn't find contact details or a form on their website.

I reproduce text from their recent email below and note that I may have more to conribute on the matter as I hope to attend local organisation VNEB consultation this evening.

The Oval Partnership is concerned that there is a real lack of additional open green space for all the proposed developments in Vauxhall. The proposed density of building and population is not balanced by an appropriate supply of green open space.  As the proposals for Vauxhall/Nine Elms are still in the development stage, everyone concerned needs to ask their local councillors to press Lambeth to make provision for some proper green space.

The problem and green spaces promised so far: The greenery proposed to date is at best decorative and aptly called 'parsley' by ecologists. For instance, the linear 'park' in Nine Elms turns out to be no more than front gardens for the new buildings, and the Sainsbury's site's proposed open spaces are small and paved. The Bondway, Vauxhall Cross and Wyvil Road developments are not offering new green open space of any substance at all.

Why we need green open spaces neighbouring onto the new developments:  Green open spaces need to be close to the new developments, so that new residents can use them for (for instance) walking the dog, family picnics and sending children put to play football or family cricket. It is London's parks and green spaces that make this such a great city to live in, and without adequate provision of green open space Vauxhall will risk looking like Canary Wharf rather than a place designed for living.

Although Spring Gardens is being invested in, it is in practice too far from the new developments in Vauxhall for any of the activities described above.  Spring Gardens will not be the park of choice.  It is quite far to walk if you have any encumbrance or not much time. Instead, the park that will be used for family picnics, walking the dog and sending children out to play football, will be the one closest to the Vauxhall developments - Vauxhall Park. The same applies to lunch hours and office workers - of which there will also be a considerable increase in Vauxhall. This means that we are looking at standing room only on sunny weekends and busy lunch hours in the summer in Vauxhall Park.

The overall lack of additional green open space to counterbalance the proposed increase in density of building and population will have a negative impact on the Vauxhall area and its vicinity.  The purpose of allowing new development is to produce an general improvement of the area.  Without adequate green open space the hoped for improvements will not be forthcoming.

What you can do: Please can you contact your local councillors and ask them to lobby for additional and substantial green open space.  You can find your local councillors’ contact details on this link: http://www.lambeth.gov.uk/moderngov/mgMemberIndex.aspx?FN=WARD&J=3

Ghislaine Stewart, Chair The Oval Partnership

The controversial closure of Offley Works and Starlight Academy's move to Peckham

In March 2009, the Guardian's Dave Hill published a piece on the potential closure of Offley Works, an LDA building in Oval.  Offley Works is in the middle of Offley Road and it housed, amongst other projects, the Starlight Academy, a non-profit youth programme designed to provide young people with skills in performance and drama, and potentially enable them to build a career in the music industry.  The closure of the site for redevelopment would have meant that Starlight and similar groups were without a home.  Fortunately, the Starlight Academy gained a reprise in 2009 (mostly due to an unfavourable economic climate, which put off impending building works) and were granted permission to stay for another year.  In February 2010 (just as the lease was up), a new lease was offered, but it was felt that this did not grant the Academy or Code 7 (a gang intervention project) enough security so they refused to sign.  The projects held fast in the Works until October 2010, when the LDA filed for possession, payment for continued occupation building at £878 per day(!) and court costs.  Starlight claim that by the time the LDA had got their act together to help them move, there was not enough time to raise necessary funds to finance their move.  It seems that on Friday 7th January 2011, the repossession order was enforced.  Rather worryingly, the judge also upheld the decision to regain the huge occupation costs against Starlight and Code 7, which threatens (from what they've said) to leave them bankrupt.

I received an email to say that the building was boarded up some time over the weekend.  Happily the Starlight Academy have found another home in Southwark, down at Peckham Settlement in Goldsmith Road (it doesn't mention Code 7, and there's nothing on their website, so I hope they're ok).  Starlight's new site needs repairs, and they're seeking help from the LDA, Southwark Council and the public to raise money.  What's not so clear is where any of the other projects housed within Offley Works might have gone.  Perhaps they've just faded away, or maybe they gave up some months ago.  I'll update this post if anybody can supply additional information.

Small local charities are part of Our Leader's Big Society vision, but they struggle to get a hearing.  Watch one of Boris Johnson's finest moments, caught on camera by Code 7, here, as he refuses to enter into discussion and brushes Code 7 off on to James Cleverley.  Mr Cleverley agreed to meet Code 7, but was later uncontactable.  I wish I'd heard news of the possession order prior to closure, since I believe these small projects are vital for promoting social cohesion, building the confidence of young people and providing them with a constructive space, instead of the streets, to  learn new skills.  I don't know whether our hyper-local blogs influence decision makers, but I can tell from various Lurking about SE11 stats that people from the LDA, London Transport and even the Houses of Parliament do visit, and we've seen encouraging progress on other matters by campaigning from local organisations such as the Kennington Association.  Please do email me if you are aware of other organisations under threat so that we can share local knowledge and work together to sustain our community.  Through sharing news, I hope we can figure out who is worth supporting. In the interests of fairness and balance, I should note that the Evening Standard published a damning piece on both Code 7 and Starlight back in June 2009 when it alleged:

"Starlight claims it has provided arts outreach training for young people at risk since 1997, and in Lambeth since 2006. However, there are no current courses shown on its website. Its listed telephone number is a mobile which was switched off, and it failed to respond to emails from the Evening Standard posing as a would-be student asking about outreach courses"

I don't have any insider information on this matter, and it should of course be noted Starlight and Code 7 came under Ken Livingstone's remit, so it's not surprising that the new administration under Boris are reluctant to give them air time.  Whatever the truth of the matter, it's clear that Starlight have a strong enough project that they've been given a home in Southwark.

The LDA have their own plans for Offley Works.  Apparently it will be redeveloped as "an employment-led mixed use scheme".  I'm unclear on whether that means residential live/work unit flats (which usually end up just being converted into flats) or some type of business park (a strange use since Kennington Park Business Centre and the Co-op centre in Mowll Street have available units).  The buildings are in a considerable state of disrepair and do need work, but this possession order business does not seem to be the best start for this LDA project.  Design for London have a good photo of the building (and surrounding area) from above.

Several proposed docks in Lambeth missing from TFL London Cycle Scheme Olympic Expansion

I'm not ready with any detailed posts just yet, but have stumbled across the following today.  Somebody submitted a FOI request re the Olympic expansion of the Boris Bike Scheme requesting details of the proposed new bike docks.  South London people might have been hoping for additional stops to Camberwell, Peckham, Clapham, Stockwell etc. but it seems (unsurprisingly, given the Olympics), that Tower Hamlets will be the real beneficiary, with Westminster gaining substantially too.  It will be interesting to observe the Boris Bike dock on Park Lane during the Olympics...  I fear for hapless tourists.

The Lambeth (Kennington/Oval/Vauxhall) proposed docks and extensions were catalogued in a magisterial post over at the Princes Ward (Labour) blog in November last year.  In that post, it appeared that nine docking stations were submitted for planning approval, but I wasn't clear about how quickly they'd be phased in.  I'm guessing that they'll now form part of the TFL Olympic expansion because they seem to be listed on TFL's proposed Olynpic expansion list except we're four docks short of the 9 submitted, and St Thomas' Hospital appears to have made its way back on to the TFL list:

1.  Kennington Cross/Sancroft St (extension) - On TFL list.
2.  Vauxhall Walk - carriageway - On TFL list
3.  Kennington tube - footway - On TFL list listed as Kennington Park Road
4.  Lambeth Road (opposite China Walk estate) - On TFL list
5.  Oval tube - On TFL list
6.  Baylis Road (extension) (outside Lambeth North tube) - This is not on TFL's list.  Is it being expanded as part of the original phase?
7.  Kennington Lane (underpass at Vauxhall Station) - This is not on TFL's list, and again, I'm wondering what has happened to it.  The scheme needs to be expanded more fully at Vauxhall Station.  Am I missing something?
8.  Albert Embankment - Lambeth Bridge footway - This is not on TFL's list, but I suspect that it forms part an original phase dock, and is probably one of the original "missing" Lambeth stations.  I expect it will be built prior to the Olympics.
9.  Cleaver Street/ Bowden Street - This is not on TFL's list, but again, I am guessing that it is part of the original phase and not part of the Olympic expansion, but I don't know.  Can anybody confirm?
10.  St Thomas' Hospital - This didn't appear on the list from Lambeth's Dawn Rahman, but it seems to be an addition to the TFL list.

I'd be delighted to hear from anybody that could explain why the proposed expansion at Vauxhall Station seems to have disappeared from the board?

Also, I'd like to quickly plug Transport Mark's  new spreadsheet which runs from the opening day of the Cycle Hire to 12th October 2010 and calculates revenue from various docking stations as a result of longer journeys.  It doesn't say anything remarkable about Lambeth usage except to note that the Concert Hall Approach dock (2) and Vauxhall Cross (15) rank well for income and have generated £3,670 of revenue between them.  Unsurprisingly, Lollard Street (ranking last at 345) has raised only £17.  It pays to be cautious about the placement of the docking stations.  I'm wondering whether I've missed something though because although that does not include subscription fees, figures like that seem too low to pay for the scheme.

Flood at the Hurley Clinic (and Happy New Year)

Firstly, I'd like to wish a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all who read and comment on Lurking about SE11.  I've now returned for 2011.  As usual, there's lots of news and a full time job so don't expect any long posts until a little later in the week, as I need to read and catch up on local issues.  In the meantime...

You should all be aware that the NHS Hurley Clinic on Kennington Road has suffered some sort of serious flood, involving sewerage if the smell is anything to go by, and was (when I last checked) being pumped out and repaired.  They are seeing only emergency patients and are asking people to rebook non-urgent appointments.  They are still issuing prescriptions, but you might have to wait.  The clinic is expected to be out of action for two days (but it looks as though they're going to need new carpet, so it might be longer).  To their credit, the Hurley Clinic have set up a very tiny waiting room, and have people wandering around wearing bin bags on their feet, but there are queues of patients all being patient and sitting outside of the doctors' offices so if you're due to attend imminently, it might be worth trying to swap to the linked Riverside surgery in Vauxhall or something.

The Pilgrim Pub, 247 Kennington Lane (next to Tesco) extension to opening hours

I do not have good internet access over the Christmas period, hence posting frequency has been (and will be) down somewhat.  Needless to say, I'm keeping an eye on local goings on. 

One "naughty" licensing application eg. submitted over the Christmas period, pertains to The Pilgrim pub at 247 Kennington Lane.  Due to the fact that these are not normal "planning" applications, they're not picked up by the ordinary "alert" processes.

The Pilgrim have requested an extension in opening hours until 1am every day.  See here.  To approve or object to this extension, you'll need to contact one of the councillors in Oval ward.

Extension of London Cycle Hire (Boris Bike) docks at Vauxhall and Lambeth North

Just noticed that Lambeth have applied for planning permission to extend the London Cycle hire docks at Lambeth North and Vauxhall Station.

In Baylis Road (SE1), there are plans for an additional 46 docking points and another terminal: 10/04029/RG4 (is there room?) adjacent to Lambeth North tube station.

In Vauxhall (SE11), under the railway bridge that contains the existing bikes, permission has been requested for an additional 20 docking points and a new terminal:  10/03938/RG4

It sounds like good news, but I doubt that this will be sufficient to meet the demand at Vauxhall Station.  One step at a time though...

(Good?) news from the Triangle Playground & community news from Archbishop Tenison

I've been informed that Archbishop Tension School have published their first ever community news sheet.  On account of the fact that we're a caring, sharing blog that always represents two sides of any argument, I'll let you take a look:

I don't recall ever seeing an Archbishop Tension School community newsletter before, but perhaps I'm wrong and an eagle eyed reader will inform me that this is part of a long tradition.  My guess is that the letter was released because the Triangle Association have strengthened their campaign.

Now, whilst I'd acknowledge that there might be no current plans for Archbishop Tension School to take over the Triangle Adventure Playground and replace it with a car park, I simply cannot agree with their line (p1) "neither the school or Lambeth Council has ever had any plans for a car park on this site".  I make no comment other than to point you to the architectural plan 6 (the one Lambeth Council chose), which clearly shows that one corner of the space occupied by The Triangle is marked as "parking".  Also, I've still not had any good answer from the Council on the question of why plan 6 was chosen?  There are 5 other architectural plans which don't require the use of the Triangle's land for the expansion of Archbishop Tension School, and the Council chose the only one that required land from The Triangle.  Why?

In an attempt to be generous, the school acknowledge that they "desperately need more space for play..." and "want our school facilities to also be used by local residents".  But since the land is not theirs, why is the question posed in this manner?  Why do the school not graciously request permission of the Triangle Association to use the Triangle Playground, instead of attempting a take over and then "permitting" community use?  Also, the school argue that they have "strong links with the community in Oval".  Please could somebody comment on this point?  Mention of "community youth groups" is made, so it would be useful to hear which groups currently use the school site.  Also, I'd like to see a breakdown of the number of local people who attended IT training sessions at the school who were not already affiliated as parents.  Has anybody attended one of the school's IT sessions that could comment further on this?

Anyhow... The leaflet above seems to affirm that the school expansion will not take place (the BSF plans have been shelved by the Con Dems), but still states, "Once there is a clearer picture about the future refurbishment of the school we will discuss the possibilities.  The school desperately needs more space for play..."  This suggests, does it not, that the school intends to continue its attempts to get its hands on the Triangle.  It seems likely that the school is going to continue to insist that the Triangle be given to it on the grounds that the plans belatedly developed for the site under BSF represent the best use for the land and will provide a play facility for the local community adequate to replace the Triangle.  The point is though, that the Triangle Playground should not be "up gor grabs".   Founded by Marjorie Porter MBE in 1957, it is the oldest Adventure Playground in London.  She remained active on its committee up to the age of 97 and thought of the playground as one of her "greatest achievements".

There is a strong argument to be made, I think, in separating play institutions from educational institutions.  The organisation Fair Play for Children was brought into being, in part, through a letter to The Times from Bishop Trevor Huddleston, who stated in 1972:

"Since the Plowden Report it has been recognized that there must be Educational Priority Areas involving more generous financal provision from the state.  But, as the recent National Child Development Study From Birth to Seven makes clear... "equality of educational opportunity cannot be achieve solely by improving our educational institutions"... It is the total environment that must be be changed.  The local authority, the local community and many voluntary agencies in East London are doing their best to provide recreational facilities and opportunities during the school holidays.  But they are up against vast environmental difficulities in terms of disued canals, dangerous motorways and, above all, lack of open space."  Read the rest of the letter here (bold emphasis mine).

In my view, the school should be permitted to use the Triangle playground land, but it should not be handed over to them.  Play should be safeguarded alongside, but separate from education.  It's too easy to put up temporary classrooms in playground areas when schools become overcrowded, and a separate organisation can guard against this tendency more adequately.  There is an excellent Association that runs the Triangle playground for the good of all local children, and it would be a shame, in these days of an apparently resurgent co-operative movement, to abandon this good will.

But in the meantime, there's some good news... Cllr Robbins has advised the Triangle Association that it is his intention not to close the playground. However, the Triangle Association have requested a meaningful lease from the council in order to enable them to raise funds, and have requested that the council withdraw its proceedings agaisnt the Triangle's voluntary trustees.  The Triangle Association also wish to discuss the option for pupils at the Archbishop Tension School to use the playground at break times (geat idea).

Also, it has been suggested to me that there's an alternative option for expansion of the Archbishop Tension School, and for releasing more place space for them.  The car park on the school site could be immediately converted into playground space, and the school could take up an offer (from the Metropolitan Housing Trust) of one of the secure underground car-parks on the Ashmole Estate.  This would immediately release approx. 600m2 of playground space.

Woman stabbed at Hurley House, Cotton Gardens Estate last night

Residents reported a disturbance at Hurley House (part of the Cotton Gardens Estate) on Kennington Lane at about 7pm last night.  Police arrived at the Kennington tower, and sealed off the property, denying residents entry to and exit from their homes in Ebenezer, Fairford and Hurley House.  According to an eye witness, the incident lasted about three hours.  Large numbers of police were drafted in to guard the entrances to the building.  A helicopter and armed reinforcements were brought in as backup.

The South London Press has confirmed that a woman in her 30s was stabbed but is in a stable condition. One commentator (see below) noted that a female suffered multiple stab wounds.  I'll update this entry once further information becomes available.

Last year, in May, a 22 year old male was stabbed at Fairford House on the same estate..

What is the Vauxhall Business Improvement District and why is Kennington excluded? - KOV meeting writeup - Part 4

Continuing our series of "unofficial minutes" from Kennington Oval Vauxhall Forum (KOV) meeting (last month), today's write-up concerns the Vauxhall Business Improvement District (BID). The Means regeneration agency spent a spokeman, Mr Giles Semper to inform us of the proposed Vauxhall BID.  The Means promotes itself as "a regeneration and 'smarter travel' consultancy" and they like to think they're "good at making town and city centre areas better places to live in, work in and move around".  So, it's official... If the announcement of the rather expensive and ludicrously tall St George Tower hasn't regenerated the area and turned it into Voho, then we will be VoHo by the time we've been "improved".  This, of course, might not be such a bad thing.  Vauxhall is clearly the naughty school boy of the Thames who needs extra tuition and a good caning to show improvement and it does look a little rough around the edges at times (I blame the interchange), but couldn't the wider Kennington area benefit from this initiative?

I wondered from whence this sudden Business Improvement District enthusiasm in Vauxhall had emerged.  It seems that it's a Lambeth Council initiative, and Lambeth Council commissioned The Means to run a feasibility study on the matter. Anyhow, Giles Semper has a lengthy history working in the area (from 1997 - 1999), first co-ordinating the Vauxhall Employer's Group and working to regenerate St Peter's Church/Heritage Centre, which then hosted "Vision for Vauxhall" meetings.  The Means might be set to benefit from such an enterprise because they currently run the Better Bankside BID in London Bridge/Blackfriars.

On the face of it, a Business Improvement District sounds like a great idea.  Kennington Association, some months ago, tried to put Kennington businesses in touch with one another in a network, to keep in touch with the Council etc and to encourage a greater degree of co-operation. So, Lambeth Council's foray into this area should be encouraged, surely?  Maybe.  For local businesses, this promises to be a relatively mixed blessing (there's a question of cost versus benefit).  My concern is that the entire endeavour appears to be rather partisan, and biased in favour of regeneration of the Thames (favouring visitors rather than residents), rather than improvement of the area overall.

The problem is that the area which has been chosen for the BID is rather exclusive, and drawn up so as to include certain businesses that would be capable of large contributions.  Notice how the map that The Means have drawn up for the Council (marked by the orange line) stretches itself to include the Oval and Tesco, but fails to include any of the blue lines (drawn on by me) which are local and much valued shops used by local (and much valued) people.

The very long blue line, drawn at the top of the map, represents Lambeth Walk, a street that cis sadly neglected, but would be a fantastic place (especially the south end) to develop a joined up strategy for improvement.  The blue T-shape in the middle of my map indicates Vauxhall Street and Jonathan Street, that contains the Post Office which our community successfuly retained.  On those streets exists a mini cab firm, a hairdresser, a convenience store, and indeed, our very own butcher (P J Frankland) as well as other shops!  The lowest blue line on the map includes all of the busineses on Kennington Road (many estate agents and restaurants), and heads downwards to include Kennington Road post office, Barclays Bank, a funeral parlor, barber, insurance broker, a solicitor, a betting shop and several convenience stores.  Why are we not able to look at a business "improvement" district that includes Kennington?  The Oval is the Kennington Oval, not the Vauxhall Oval, and if the thing is going to extend down Kennington Lane to encompass Tesco, why wouldn't it go any further down?  Finally, the line at the bottom of the map shows where Kennington Park Road lines up with Clapham Road, and illustrates another parade of shops containing, amongst other, The Oval Lounge.  Why is the Oval cricket ground included when those businesses are not?  Essentially, because it would pay for the BID.  But the Oval's inclusion in a Vauxhall BID potentially excludes the possibility of its inclusion in a Kennington one, and thus the money is all directed at the Thames.

The following is a shortened version of what Giles Semper had to say:

"A BID is a company owned and led by businesses in a specific area, and it tries to improve that place as a commercial location.  A BID can only be set up if all businesses in the area vote in favour of it at a referendum. The organisation is funded by a tax which the businesses impose on themselves, which is a compulsory payment after a successful ballot.  Everything that the BID company does has to be extra to services provided by statutory providers such as police and council.  There are successful examples of BIDs down the South Bank; Team London Bridge, Better Bankside, Waterloo Quarter Business Improvement District; covers The Cut, Lower Marsh etc."

"The Means have spoken to 85 businesses (day and nigh time economy) in Vauxhall to discover the key issues in the area. The issues are similar with the night time businesses having additional issues to contend with.  4 key issues have been identified in the area:

1.  Protecting the area (fear of crime, environmental problems).
2. Engaging Vauxhall (bringing businesses together with residents around common themes, perhaps creating new opportunities for children and young people).  The businesses are keen to engage residents.
3.  Promoting the area as a visitor destination.  Historically, Vauxhall has been cut off from the rest of the South Bank.
4.  Transforming Vauxhall:  The traffic interchange and the environment around it.  The businesses are keen to work with other partners to see a better environment in Vauxhall."

"The tax on the business is based on the rateable value of individual commercial properties.  It's usually a percentage (1% or 1.5%).  The Means think that 250 of the largest businesses in Vauxhall could generate about £600k - £700k per year of investment, or £2.5 million to £3 million over the 5 year life of the BID."

"The Means have learned through experience at Baknside that any BID which thinks it can be parachuted in without reference to the residents has got a nasty shock coming. There are two resident board members in Bankside and desk space is gievn to the Bankside residents' forum.  The residents sit on all of the "theme groups" and the businesses are very active in a range of community engangement projects, some of which are very successful."

Tbere then followed an extended period of time for questions:
Q: Could you describe something that has been achieved in another area by a BID?

Giles Semper : 'There are 105 BIDs in UK and 25 in London and they're all different.  Most  BIDs tend to start with cleaning, greening and safety.  In Bankside, a team of dedicated cleaners have been put in place (seen in pink vehicles).  The cleaners tackle the kinds of problems that the Council's cleaners don't tackle eg. cobbled streets, tree pits, gum and jet washing.  Many BIDs operate some kind of uniformed service on the streets eg. rangers or wardens.  In Bankside, we have 7 wardens who operate 12 hours per day.  In Bankside, our best known project is the Bankside urban forest which is a design framework for the public realm between Bankside and the Elephant & Castle.  It's a partnership between the Council, the BID, Tate and some of the land owners, and challenges anybody that wants to develop to improve the standards of the public realm and develop to a high quality.'

Q: If a BID is set up, and is succesful in years 1 to 3, and businesses think it's great, but in the latter years, the businesses don't think it's good value for money.  What mechanism is there for them to end the agreement? 

Giles Semper: "The renewal ballot has to happen after 5 years.  The maximum term for any business on one ballot is 5 years.  Then follows a renweal ballot. The lesson from the US where these things were dreamed up is that they're usually more popular than less popular on renewal (and there hasn't been an unsuccessful renewal ballot in the UK yet)."

Q: Does it include Kennington businesses?

Giles Semper: "We haven't yet talked to the Kennington businesses to find out whether we should be one big thing, rather than two smaller ones."

Q: It's great that you consulted 85 businesses, with their different priorities.  At least some of the businesses want to get rid of homeless people and beggars, but the centre of Vauxhall is the centre of some major homelessness charities.  How will you link with those, rather than having the BID be a way of cleansing the area of people who live there?

Giles Semper: "The Bondway, Big Issue and other homelessness providers would be members of the Business Improvement District.  They would have as loud a say as any other party.  Our experience on the issue of homelessness in Bankside is that residents sharing their specific view that they don't want the homeless purged from the streets.  In that case, we work very closely with the Council's street population outreach team, and the approach is about housing people, and helping people, and not about kicking people out.  I do take your point though, because that's an endemic issue for Vauxhall.  The Chief Executive of the Big Issue did say to us, "do we not risk being the problem, rather than part of the solution?"  Those issues are on the table."

Q: I live quite close to Thames Reach.  I see homeless people who defecate in the corners of our parks.  I can't understand the idea of /not/ wanting to purge the streets of homelessness.

Giles Semper: "There are people who can address this issue with more knowledge than I can.  The Mayor has been trying to address the issue of homelessness pan-London."

Val Shawcross:  "One of the biggest problems we've got is that the E10 accession nationals; Eastern European workers who came to Britain to work, are not entitled to public funds or help.  So, when they fall homeless, they are not entitled to be given public housing, support or social security.  Lambeth has a contract with Thames Reach, Southwark with St Mungos, and there is some good professional work trying to outreach to Eastern European nationals, and where possible, to give them proper support to be repatriated and get into work, and deal with their problems.  People do not want to be living like that.  It's not just a housing issue, but an economic crisis."

Q: If new companies started in the Vauxhall area, would they have to sign up to being part of the BID, and are costs dependent on size of the business?

Giles Semper: "They would be brought in automatically. The businesses with bigger premises pay more than those with smaller premises.  A shop on Kennington Lane would pay £300 - £400 per year to the BID.  The police, the biggest employer in Vauxhall, would pay £80,000 - £90,000 per year.  Our largest payer in Bankside is Royal Bank of Scotland, who pay about £90,000."

Q: Would the developers building the big towers be contributing to the pot of money? 

Giles Semper: "It's currently the occupants, rather than owners who pay.  It's the other way around in the States...  The legislation to create land owner BIDS is being consulted on, and the mechnaism to tax owners, rather than occupiers may soon be available.  It would be a good one for Vauxhall!"

Q: Do you get more votes in the ballot if you have a larger rateable value?  If you're Tesco, do you get more votes? 

Giles Semper: "You have to win the BID ballot on two counts.  It's all on turnout, rather than constituency.  you need 51% of turnout by number and by aggregate rateable value.  So you add the rateable values together, and you need to get 51%.  So, the larger occupiers will have more influence on that part of the vote."

David Boardman (Kennington Association Planning Forum Chair) made a few comments and asked some questions: 

"1.  Is there any prospect of raising additional moeny for the BID in the Vauxhall area?  Is it amenable to Section 106? 

2.  People are clearly worried about crime in the area.  If I were the businesses, I'd be talking to the Borough Commander to say "put your resources where the crime is", and I wouldn't need to pay for extra wardens.  When the Council has had money in the past for Park Rangers, they've decided to give the money back to the police because they provided a better service for security.  Wouldn't it be better to pay for your own police, rather than wardens? 

3.  Kennington has its own Business Network so one doesn't need to have to have a BID to get businesses to talk. I'm not clear that the benefits of a BID are significant, from the 1%-1.5% raised, without drawing in extra funds. 

4. The main problem of Vauxhall is the gyratory.  Interesting that TfL will talk to businesses, but doesn't have the bottle to come and talk to the people.  We are concerned that TfL won't speak to the people who have the problem with it.  It should come to this forum for the community's views. 

5.  I have some reservations about the geographical coverage.  Why is the Oval inside, save for rateable value?"

Unfortunately, the Chair noted that there was no time to answer those questions (it was a very full agenda), but I'd be happy for anybody with knowledge about the proposal to add some comments to this post.  So, there we have it.