More on Battersea Power Station and Northern line Extension

Having now blogged the results from the Princes Ward 2009 election, Lurking about SE11 will return to greater commentary on news affecting the local area.

I think various other local blogs have covered this story, but it has popped up again in my local news feeds. There is currently a second public exhibition on the Battersea Power Station redevelopment. Since the first exhibition, the masterplan has been changed and various buildings have been (predictably) scaled down so the developers are reconsulting on the plans.

It's somewhat periperhal to SE11, but the reason it's interesting for us is because it would be very exciting to have the northern line connected via one or two stations to Battersea, which would open up the area for local residents here. As I said in my previous post, it's somewhat short sighted, but I favour nearly all public transport extensions. However, I notice that the new letter only states "plans for extending the Northern Line into Nine Elms" which isn't terribly clear. I know that there was one stop proposed (mentioned in my last post on the matter here), but I do vaguely recall hearing mention of a stop at Clapham Junction! Perhaps I made that up!

If you'd like to go along, there's more information on Treasury Holdings' Battersea Power Station website. You've not got long (tomorrow being your best opportunity now).

It's at Gate 2 of the Power Station site on Kirtling Street:

4th June: 12:00 - 20:00
5th June: 10:00 - 18:00
6th June: 10:00 - 17:00

The winner of Princes Ward by election is Mark Harrison

It has just emerged that Mark Harrison has won the Princes Ward by-election with 1726 votes. Congratulations to you and your party! The final count (see below) does not indicate a particularly cloe race, and Labour have performed very well in the by-election.

Here at Lurking about SE11, we'll obviously be keeping a close eye on all Princes Ward councillor contributions over the next year, so you can be sure that you'll all have your work cut out for you.

I hope some of the candidates that were unsuccessful will stand again. This year will be a good dry run for next year's local elections!

Breakdown of results:

Labour - 1726 (40.69% of votes)
Lib Dem - 1396 (32.9% of votes)
Conservative - 707 (16.67% of votes)
Green - 320 (7.5% of votes)
English Democrat - 93 (2.19% of votes)

Total Votes = 4242 (I've just added the above results. I doubt that includes spoiled papers)

The turnout was apparently an amazing 43% (which I'm assuming is for the local elections, rather than the European ones, but I'm not sure).

However... not entirely sure how the figures work...

If we assume that 4242 votes = 43% of Princes Ward, then 9865 votes would have been 100% of Princes Ward and a full turn out. That's clearly incorrect beause the 2001 census suggests that the population of Princes Ward was 11,636, and it must have risen since then because there has been a certain amount of development in the area!

So, let's assume that 2% of the ballot papers were spoiled.
Instead we will posit that 4242 votes = only 41% of Princes Ward.
That would make 100% of the vote be 10346, which is still hugely underneath what I would assume the population figure to be.

So... assume that 5% of the ballot papers were spoiled...
4242 votes = 38% of Princes Ward
That means 100% of the vote would be 11,163 (which is clearly still under par for local population figures)...

I'll have to wait to hear how many votes were actually cast to figure out whether there were a huge percentage of spoiled papers or whether 43% is too high an estimate.

Edit: One anonymous contributor has just remarked that Princes Ward has approx 10,000 registered voters (I had forgotten under 18s), so it looks as though the figure of 2% spoiled ballot papers is about right.

In any case, an approximate 43% turnout is very positive for local democracy, so well done to everybody who voted, went to hustings, spoke to their neighbours, canvassed for their party and contributed to the debate!

Election day in Princes Ward

So... today is election day in Princes Ward.

I don't know who is going to win the seat in this local election, but it's been a highly charged contest... I believe the main contenders for the seat are the Labour candidate and the Lib Dem candidate, but I think the Tory vote count could be interesting.

A closely fought contest is good news for local democracy if it alerts people to local issues that are worth arguing about. And it also makes it an interesting campaign to observe. May the best man (or the one who happened to land in the party with the money) win! If you don't win, well, it has been a good trial run for next year!

I'll provide any commentary/info that I'm sent today, but unfortunately, I have to be in work so I won't have a chance to check out the polling vibe until the end of the day.

Readers... if you live in SE11 in Princes Ward, maybe you might consider voting!

Bring on the swingometer (I'm so sad!!!)...

Accusations - response to criticism re LGBT hustings

I've received an accusation by a commentator who has called themselves "Fed up with Fib Dems" who states:

"I am very disappointed that the operator of this blog allowed an anonymous post to be written which was so blatantly from a Lib Dem. The LGBT business forum meeting was a disgrace - the organiser, who is on Lib Dem leaflets, deliberately told Mark the wrong time."

The commentator is referring to this post here. I did make clear on the guest post that was posted that I would be happy to receive guest responses from other commentators at the LGBT hustings. Nobody has emailed me with an alternative version of events, so I have no other material to offer. The commentator made no mention of their own political affiliation within the guest post and I can't quite see what marks the guest out as a Lib Dem (rather than Tory, English Democrat, Green or non-affiliated).

I will be conducting investigations into the allegations that a "wrong time" was sent deliberately to Mark Harrison. That is a serious allegation. The poster which was sent to me and other local blogs stated the time quite clearly here. However, I will need to investigate what private correspondence was sent to the speakers from the organiser, so it would be useful to see any emails or letters sent to Mark Harrison (and to confirm that he thinks he was misled).

In addition the commentator states:
"And the idea that Lambeth Council can ignore a bid from a church group is ridiculous - imagine the uproar if they refused to deal with Muslims, or the Catholic Church, both of which have aborrent views on gay people."

Obviously, I think this discussion should stay on the post upon which it started. There are a whole variety of different viewpoints on the matter of the former Lilian Baylis site and I've covered the topic in the past myself. I understand that the whole point of hustings is to hear the views of various candidates, so I will leave all commentators here to argue about the points of the debate. My only remark is that it might be more straightforward if people were to use established login names, rather than continue to refer to themselves as "anonymous".

The commentator also states:
"As for the last post, that is just pathetic. Mark has been attending Penwith Manor TRA meetings for months, not just during the byelection campaign - as he has for all estates. Unlike John Roberts, who only rediscovered his 'passion' for the area after being selected as the Lib Dem candidate...

Spare me future Lib Dem bleatings please 3 wheeled one."

In an attempt to demonstrate that this blog really attempts to be non-partisan, I've turned this comment into a post of its own. Personally, I have no idea how one could objectively compare Mark Harrison and John Robert's commitments in the area since they've both good good track records locally, but I did try by requesting answers from the candidates on a set of questions. Both Labour and Lib Dem candidates have done a considerable amount of work on different committees. However, if you remember, I did address all 5 candidates on the matter of their previous work in the area on question 2, here. Here are the two answers that the political candidates provided:

Question 2:
What, if any, organisation(s) have you been involved with which demonstrate your commitment to the area, and how long have you lived/worked locally?

Mark Harrison:
* I've lived on the Ethelred Estate for nearly five years.

* I serve on the Ethelred TMO Board; The Kennington, Oval and Vauxhall Forum Board; and The Friends of Vauxhall Spring Gardens Board.

* I am a member of the Kennington Association and attend Safer Neighbouhood Team meetings.

* I attend other residents meetings like those of the Vauxhall Five, Vauxhall Gardens and Penwith Manor.

* With neighbours I am working to investigate setting up a community garden on Lambeth Walk.

*As Labour Action Team Member for the past two years I have helped arrange several community events, including a meeting on guns and gangs with the SE1 United Youth Group, and community coffee mornings for people to meet their neighbours and councillors.

John Roberts:
* I have lived locally on the Ethelred Estate (just off Black Prince Road) for over 15 years and have been involved with a wide range of local organisations, including:

- Vauxhall City Farm – I chaired the Trustees body for 7 years and helped save it from closure 2 years ago.
- Friends of Spring Gardens – I am a member and helped the campaign to save the open space when there were plans to build on it.
- Ethelred Estate Tenant Management Organisation – I have been a resident member of this right from the start in 1999.

* I have been a member of KOV forum since the start and a member of Kennington Association.

* I regularly support the local fetes in the area and you can generally see me in the kitchen making the tea and sandwiches.

* Last year I volunteered for the Ethiopian millennium celebrations at Kennington Park and spent the day in the children’s lost and found tent. It was a great day - and fortunately only a few children were lost.

* As a first aider I also help out and volunteer to support other fun days and art events including the Vauxhall festival where you could see me wearing my first aid tabard.

* Friends of Durning Library – I supported the fight to keep this open when the Labour run council wanted to close it down.

* As a former member of the Metropolitan Police Authority, for four and half years I channelled 200k worth of funding through the community police fund to numerous local projects, to help support people make a difference to their local community. We funded SE1 united, a local youth group, to develop the leadership programme, black and lgbt history month as well as inter faith football and other sports activities. I was the person that secured funding for cctv at the LGBT clubs in and around spring gardens and at Vauxhall city farm. My tackling crime track record is well known through out the council and police. I also worked with local police to get funding for extra police officers here in Princes ward, after a strong of violent attacks and rise in crime. I also got funding for a mobile police station after a rise in attacks in the Spring Gardens area..

* My team and I have already reported dozens of local cases of graffiti, dumped rubbish and vandalism to the council – if they are not tackled, it all adds up to making the area feel neglected and unloved.

SE11 goes green for the summer

Vauxhall City Farm

I'd just like to draw people's attention to the fact that Vauxhall City Farm now have a new website. Also, somebody from the farm emailed me to say:

We do a few new things - we have a new baby anglo-Nubian goat who lives with Lulu the lamb and a gosling, called Norman all very cute and occasionally bottle fed...

We also have a sheep and wool day on the 27th of June which is part of the Love London festival and there should be some shearing among other activities!

Roots and Shoots

Stockwell News have posted information about the Roots and Shoots Open Days which will take place this weekend (6th and 7th June). Saturday is the garden open day and Sunday is the childrens' day (with bee keeping demos).

I've been before and will try to go again because there is usually a plant sale. Last year we bought an oxalis triangularis which I thought we'd killed over winter but surprised us by re-emerging a few weeks ago. It looks like this, but without the flowers yet:



It's summer now, so SE11 is a hive of activity and Roots and Shoots have finally posted to their blog... It's good news and the bee population at Roots and Shoots is stronger than in previous years.

I've also spotted a number of bees (sometimes three at a time) taking the pollen from some of the flowers I've gown, which I'm very pleased about. I know the bee population is under threat in the UK so bee keepers are doing a fabulous environmental duty. I need to try to get around to getting a bee box (a sort of place for bees to rest) and would be interested to hear whether these are advisable for people who live in a flat or whether they're more appropriate for gardens.

Kennington Garden Society

On 11th June at 7.30, Kennington Garden Society have the television gardener, Gay Search, coming to do a demonstration on planting window boxes and containers. Kennington News blog has more information for anybody interested in attending. It promises to be quite an exciting night!

Housing Demo on May 30th

A few days ago, I made mention of a leaseholder demonstration, that was due to take place outside Brixton town hall on Saturday 30th May. I was sadly unable to attend (I'm not a leaseholder, and I was on a three line whip for household chores). However, one of my regular readers has kindly forwarded me a photograph taken at the event (many thanks!) so you can see what the SE11 (and other) protestors were up to.

Update 3/6/2009: There is an article and another photo (rather blurry) of the demonstration in the Streatham Guardian which does not feature the Lib Dem candidate so prominently.

I'd be grateful for any more photos in which participants don't all sport yellow ribbons.

Guest post: attendee at John Bull Centre Hustings

For the first time, I have agreed to publish a guest post at the Lurking about SE11 blog.

Obviously, I have to publish a disclaimer, since the views presented are not my own, although I have received verification that the guest poster was present at the hustings and is not one of the candidates standing for election.

If any other participants were present at the John Bull Community Centre hustings, and wish to make a counter guest post, I will publish it (so long as it's not defamatory).

------

Dear SE11'ers

I was at the LGBGT candidate hustings last night and was utterly shocked at the response the Labour candidate gave in response to the question "would he support the use of the old Lilian Baylis site by the the All Nations Church given their teachings on homosexuality as a sin?" In a long winded response, he said that he did support them having the use of the site.

I find it incredible that an openly gay, prospective local goverment Councillor in one of the districts in the UK with a high concentration of LGBGT residents, is in support of such and organisation and has been actively helping them to secure their place on the site.

I hope that the LGBGT community will come out in force and let their elected representatives know that these organsiations have no place in multi-cultural Lambeth and should not be given the use or option of purchasing public spaces for propogating messages of intolerance of any sector of the community, let alone such a huge proportion of the Vauxhall residents.

Your truly
Concerned SE11

Protest against Lambeth Council housing sell-off and service cuts

Having been made aware (from the vocal protests at recent hustings) of the ongoing injustice felt by many local residents on matters of social housing eg. cuts in service, rent rises, non-functioning CCTV and outrageous bills from contractors, one campaigner has forwarded me details of two local events that people living on the housing estates in SE11 might wish to attend, which I've posted below.

In addition, I hope to publish a guest post from somebody present at the John Bull Centre hustings who wishes to provide their own take about the goings on. If anybody else is interested in making a guest post, please let me know. I don't want to publish anything directly from candidates themselves, as this blog attempts to be critical, but non-party political. However, if you're involved locally in any way (or have been present at an event of note), and want to make your voice heard, drop me an email: lurkingaboutse11@googlemail.com and we can discuss the possibility of a guest post.

PROTEST MARCH
North Lambeth protesters - Meet at the bus stop outside Fantasy Laundrette in Kennington at 10.30am and we can travel together.

Protest against further cuts in services and the selling off of empty flats.
Saturday, May 30th, 2009
11am Brixton Town Hall


LEASEHOLDERS REPAYMENT OPTIONS FOR SERVICE CHARGES - NORTH LAMBETH AND STOCKWELL & VASSAL MEETING
7pm June 10th, 2009 Pedlars Acre Hall, Opal St, SE11 (behind the North
Lambeth Housing Office)

For matters concerning the extraordinary meeting of the North Lambeth
Leaseholders Forum to discuss the proposed repayment options, please
contact the North Lambeth Area Housing office and ask for Frank
Tamplin or Liam Kelly who can give you details of the meeting and
provide copies of the papers.

Possible stabbing in Black Prince Road and questions about networking

Very occasionally, I wonder whether there's some form of news blackout that operates within the SE11 area. It's very difficult to find out certain pieces of information that it might be within the public interest to have made public.

A commentator yesterday remarked "I heard that there was a stabbing on black prince road on Friday 22nd May...any news?". My feeling is that this is probably not the case and nothing happened. Stabbings tend to generate a lot of hits here, with people searching for information. But the rumour of a stabbing must be grounded in something, most probably some sort of disturbance. It would be useful if there was a Lambeth police feed in which information was shared to alert residents to be on guard or remain watchful if anything was particularly amiss.

I understand that the issue of dangerous dogs was raised at Tuesday's hustings, dogs apparently being the "preferred" weapon of choice for those engaged in anti-social behaviour. However, I've not seen news reported anywhere on fights with dogs between youths. I heard that there have been a rise in burglaries on one local estate, but once again, no news.

My feeling is that the SE11 community is still not sufficiently networked. We have many civic organistions for linking people together, but many of them have significant overlap in committed members, and sporadic communication with those people who are not online. There's a low level of computer use/technological know how in both poorer and older communities locally (I saw a map of this that I might do a blog post about). The question is, how is this best overcome? I'm pleased with the contribution to this blog from regular commentators and anonymous lurkers, but my feeling is that there is still more local knowledge and resources to be shared.

In the meantime, don't forget the LGBT / gay hustings, which is on tonight at 7.30pm at the John Bull Community Centre. If you didn't make it to the last set of general hustings, I'm sure you'd be welcome to show up here, even if you've not got specifically LGBT questions to ask.

216 Kennington Road

It appears that planning consent is being sought (as from yesterday) for change of use on the ground floor of 216 Kennington Road from D1 (Assembly and leisure use) to Classes A1/A2/B1/D1 (retail or financial and professional services or business, office or community). Do look up reference 09/01201/FUL on Lambeth Council Planning database.

Additionally, permission is requested to build eight flats (and two new windows) on the first and second floors.

I don't think additional flats are necessarily contentious (although I'd be grateful for comments), but local residents have many times made clear that they do not support the ground floor being used for non D1 purposes (most notably retail purposes). Originally, I understand that the ground floor was intended for community use under an old Section 106, but I think that may now be lost to history.

I was emailed about this planning request by an informant (who I shall refrain from naming) who also adds: "Most interesting is that application is made by Gallaghers but these are acting on behalf of TESCOs so presumably they are intending Tesco express or Metro - so impact on local retailers won't be good"

I don't know how the information that Gallaghers are acting on behalf of Tesco emerged, so I shall have to leave that as merely hearsay for now, although I have no reason to doubt its veracity.

So, it's time for the people of SE11 to unite again... You know what you have to do. Click here to comment on the proposal and submit your objections. I see no reason to object to the housing (it's in keeping), but only to the change of use requested for the ground floor. However, if somebody leaves a comment with a good reason to object to the proposed housing, I'm happy to consider it and amend this post.

Accident in Kennington Lane

This morning, the tweeter named "Kennington" broke the news that there was a traffic accident involving a young boy hit by a lorry in Kennington Lane. I've had lots of requests from people for further information about the accident today, but my searches have turned up little.

Please add a comment if you know about the well being of the child involved or witnessed the accident (or know anybody that did).

Edit: 1/6/2009 - Due to the Kennington Association blog pointing out that there was more news in the South London Press re. the accident, I bought a copy. The SLP (p7) says that the accident happened at 5.30am on the corner of Cottington Street/Kennington Lane, the boy in question was 15 years and that the victim suffered serious head injuries, but was breathing on his own when the paper went to press.

I'm receiving a lot of hits from people querying for more information, and I'd be very pleased if anybody who knows the status of the boy in question could post an update. I hope the boy and his family are well supported, and good wishes for recovery are sent from Lurking about SE11.

Community Hustings for Princes Ward, SE11

Sorry for the late notice, but I just received the following information on a hustings (prior to the elections later in the week) in Princes Ward, to take place tomorrow (Tuesday 26th May, 7pm - 9pm at Vauxhall Gardens Community Centre.

Girl gangs in Kennington?

Sadly, due to not being a full time lurker in SE11 (it's not that I have a second home elsewhere... I just have to work in north London), there are certain pieces of drama that I miss.

The Evening Standard have reported a rather odd crime in which a girl gang targeted a 41 year old woman near Hyde Park, threatened her with a BB gun and then returned her money(!). The police caught the gang in Kennington, outside the post office on Kennington Road. I can't help wondering whether they just hopped on the 159 bus and landed at Kennington bus stop, only to be cuffed by police who were tracking the bus. But that's just speculation... Anyhow, there are some rather dramatic pictures here.

One difficulty with this is that we don't know where the girls are resident. The crime doesn't exactly help the Kennington's image as a safe and friendly place to live, but they could be from anywhere in London and just happen to have been arrested in Kennington

MPs in Vauxhall, Oval and Kennington?

I'd really like to know how many MPs live in Kennington, Oval and Vauxhall, in and around SE11. Estimates on Twitter vary between 30 and 90, but we're just throwing figures around. If you include Vauxhall/Stockwell and head down into SW8 or SW9, MP figures could be even higher... I never seem to see any of these MPs, but then I probably wouldn't know what most of them looked like. I'm fairly sure that most of them don't shop in the Biggest Gay Tesco in the UK, but then their allowances probably mean they can afford Ocado deliveries or hike over to the Biggest Gay Sainsburys in the UK (unless they're permanently eating out in Ghandis).

I presume that there's a list of MP second addresses somewhere. I'm not really interested in breaching their privacy and knowing what their exact addresses are. That would be rather unfair. However, I would like the figures for MPs with houses and flats in the area. Is that info in the public domain? Does anybody know?

So far, currently definitely resident:

Oliver Letwin
Jack Straw
Charles Kennedy
Phil Willis

Previously resident:

Hazel Blears used to live around here, but didn't like the sirens, so sold the flat.
Alistair Darling has a flat in Kennington, but rents it out
Geoff Hoon (sold his Kennington flat)

We know that there are many more and I commented on the Conservative boards in Kennington Road here. It seems I'm not the only blogger to notice. There's a Labour blogger on a Blog From The Back Room who also wonders why the Tories want to advertise their four storey houses in Kennington Road.

I'd appreciate comments from readers who definitely know of MPs living in and around Kennington, Oval or Vauxhall so that I can them to my MP-ometer.

Classical music and incense sticks at Vauxhall Station

I'm sure I can't be the only person to commute through Vauxhall tube station during the middle of the day to be surprised at the pervasive smell of incense and loud classical music. A friend advises that the incense comes from a shopowner who is burning sticks of it underground, but the classical music...?

Well, I caught an item in Camden New Journal that suggested there have been classical music "trials" in Vauxhall station in order to "soothe stressful journeys" and "cut crime" (they're trying it in Camden at the moment). Well, apparently, it's too early to say whether the trials are working, and I'm not sure whether the music is to be a permanent feature. They appear not to play music in the mornings when most of my commute takes place (or maybe the trial lasted only a few weeks).

Do readers have any more info? Do you like it? The quality wasn't very good, and I would prefer buskers (but I've heard some dire buskers underground too).

Oh yes, the Victoria line strikes are rather annoying (hardly "strike hell" as a certain newspaper suggested. But I'm pleased that there are still unions large enough to be able to suggest strike action, and be taken seriously. Power to the people (those that still have powerful unions, anyawy), and all that.