Lambeth Leaseholders vs Netball...

...a little tip-off...

Lambeth Leaseholders will be delighted to guess which Chief Executive (hint: the one paid over £100k to make sure Lambeth Living hits government targets to obtain Decent Homes money) considers playing a game of netball to be more important than /staying/ for an entire meeting to hear the views of Lambeth residents views (and ensure their participation, which will help guarantee the money).

Go on... have a guess or three!

[Also, I have another huge Lambeth Council screwup to be released, but I'm waiting for a few details to be confirmed prior to putting it on the blog... Keep an eye out!]

Kurdish Community Centre - request for licence

It's quite useful to see the local Princes Ward planning requests on Labour's SE11 Action team blog since some of these would otherwise be missed.  The alert system I was using seems to have disbanded, making planning requests harder to track.

I normally wouldn't cover individual licensing planning applications because they're so small eg. Samsun Kebab shop requested one recently, and there are quite a few applications for tree pruning in the area, which don't have much impact and are rather dull to post about. However, one of my readers has asked me to comment further on the following (and I ought to declare an interest, since I don't live far away) .

It transpires that the Kurdish Cultural Centre on Stannary Street have requested a 7 day a week licence from 12 noon - 12 midnight for various functions eg. live music.  See here for more information. 

Were this building being used responsibly as a Community Centre, primarily by the Kurdish Centre, I might be tempted not to see any issue.  However, I'm told it's often used by loud church groups (on Sundays) as well as a whole variety of people in the evenings for various private parties, which often spill out into Stannary Street, and cause parking problems.  Many of the users would appear to be from the non SE11 community.

I don't know how much the Kurdish community would be using it at all, and I might ask whether it will exist primarily as a revenue stream, causing disturbance for local Stannary Street (and other) residents.  The Kurdish Communtiy Centre used to have a website, which I am now unable to locate (I believe it expired), and last time I had reason to make an enquiry there, I was informed that there had been a large internal dispute.  I'd be delighted to hear from anybody working for or at the Community Centre about the services they currently provide.

I am curious about whether the Kurdish Centre requires an alcohol licence when Wikipedia suggests that the majority of Kurds are Sunni Muslims.  It's legitimate, certainly to want to hire the hall out to other groups even if one personally does not drink.  But to request a 7 day a week alcohol licence until midnight every day seems questionable in a somewhat residential area.  I think that maybe a Friday - Sunday licence from 12:00 to 22:00 would cause less disturbance and would mean the hall could still be hired out to a variety of patrons.

Are there any local residents groups who might take this up?  I think there is a Heart of Kennington friends group, but if anybody knows who is on it, perhaps it might be flagged up.

Tree of Hope - Turning on Ceremony

Tonight, the Tree of Hope (just outside St Anselm's Church) will be officially switched on by Kate Hoey from 6.30pm and there will be food and entertainment.  You might have seen the Tree of Hope already in Kennington Cross (it has small blue lights).  


The Tree of Hope project has been spearheaded by the Kennington Association and funds have been raised from various Association events over the past few years.   Alex Mulumba's violent death in 2006 prompted the idea for the Tree of Hope, but it has taken some time and the overcoming of practical difficulties to raise funds and install the lights!


Well Done to everybody involved, and hopefully, there'll be many locals present tonight!

216 Kennington Road (again)

Sorry everyone, but yet again, there is another planning application on 216 Kennington Road, SE11...

In August and September, I blogged that the application to change the use of the basement portion of 216 Kennington Road (old cinema) from D1 to commercial was refused. Prior to that, in May, I blogged that I oppose a bid by a large commercial retailer. Many residents heard on the grapevine that Gallagher are representing Tesco, who are behind the request. So, you'll be unsurprised to learn, if you've not already read it somewhere else, that another planning request has been made.

The planning request is on Lambeth Planning Database here where you can submit comments.

There are a various local voices that say that since the ground floor of the building was originally set aside for community use (this was sadly a missed opportunity), it should be used for such. The problem is that no tenant has been found (but then, I think it has been "off the market" for some time now, due to the Gallagher/Tesco planning application bombardment.

There is another body of people who have suggested it would be better to have a retailer occupy the space than nobody at all, but I do wonder why it has to be Tesco. For my very long blog moan about our local Tesco, see my post from June (and photos of empty shelves) at Trouble at the Big Gay Tesco in Kennington. The page is still getting large numbers of hits, and regular comments, and indeed a defence from somebody who (presumably) works there, alleging staff cuts. With such poor service from the brand at the moment, I hardly think we should be encouraged to support another store in the vicinity.

It all raises the question of how often any company can continually submit planning applications to the local authority, without the authority opening a debate about change of use of buildings (or new developments) to local residents.

Lambeth Mental Health and Well Being

I've received an email from the Kennington Oval Vauxhall forum re. various events taking place in Lambeth to mark good mental health and well being.

If you're interested, here are the dates and times:

1) Launch of 'Wellbeing and Happiness in Lambeth'

5-7pm, Friday, 13 November

Lambeth First will be launching “Wellbeing and happiness in Lambeth: The Lambeth Mental Wellbeing Programme 2009 -12” at Lambeth Academy, Elms Road, SW4 9ET (near Clapham Common tube station). Rsvp by November 6th to Patricia Sauer on 020 8769 2041 or email patricia@sauerfamily.com


2) Brixton Reel Film Festival

Wednesday 11 November - Thursday 12 November

A free movie celebration of wellbeing presented by NHS Lambeth and Fanon Southside Partnership in support of the Time to Change campaign. Screenings of 'The Soloist' and 'Burning an Illusion' followed by Q and A with director Menelik Shabazz.


3) Springforward Spectacular

1-6pm, Saturday, 14 November

At Lambeth Academy. A free afternoon of creative performances and workshops to promote the benefits of arts and creativity on wellbeing.

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I'm afraid I'm a bit late with the first one, but you could always email to see if there are any spaces left. As usual, none of the events are in Kennington, but it's not too far down to Brixton or Clapham on the Northern line or by bus.

Shooting in Kennington, SE17 of Daniel Duke

There was a shooting on November 2nd in Kennington in Alberta Street / Ambergate Street

London-SE1 has little more info, and names the man as Daniel Duke.

Just returned home from sunny trip away to discover the sad news :(

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Edit 7/11/2009: Stockwell News links to a BBC report that says a man has been arrested re. the above murder.

Bendy bus accident at Vauxhall station

I was travelling home on a bus last night that passed through Vauxhall, but did not use the bus station.  The Twittersphere had rumours that this was due to a bendy bus having an accident with a bollard.  See here and here, but I can't find any reports from non-Twitter sources.

Does anybody have any more information about this accident in Vauxhall, SE11?  Was anybody on the bendy bus that crashed into the bollard?  Or was the bus impaled on a bollard?  Did it delay your journey? 

Kennington scaffolding and Kennington Tandoori

One (or several) commentators have asked whether I know why various shops/flats on Kennington Road are covered in scaffolding.  I've made a few enquiries amongst local people in the know, and the answer seems to be that the shops/flats on Kennington Road are having external decoration renewed (paintwork and parapets).  Nothing more exciting than that. 

Also, I've noticed that Kennington Tandoori are gutting the restaurant for a refurbishment.  I haven't had a chance to look at the notice to see how long that will take, but the rumour-mill suggets that they have exciting plans to develop "outside eating" (hopefully not in November!!).  And excitingly, a week ago, I saw workmen in the now-defunct Franklins.  It would be great to hear what the plans are for that location (and whether it's true that the KT emporium will expand there), if anybody has more info.

81 Black Prince Road and other tall building updates

Sorry for abandoning you all for a while, but it sometimes gets exhausting and then overwhelming to keep up with the volume of local news at the same time as being involved in various local projects. I'm going to try and do a catchup.

In the meantime, there are a few big building updates that you should know about. You might remember that I posted a summary of these back in June. Here is an update:

1. 8 Albert Embankment - This is actually a series of buildings on 3 different sites and would involve the redevelopment of the London Firebrigade HQ. There was a consultation that I reported back in late June here (along with photos of the exhibition). There has recently been a second exhibition/consultation that I was unable to attend. One person that I know did attend, but said it was very much a repeat of the first exhibition. If readers have further information, I'd be delighted to receive it. Rumour has it that part of the site is due to receive a 29 storey building, which won't be popular with residents who are beginning to feel that they are being pushed away from the river, but I've not got the height confirmed in writing. Since both consultations have been performed, I imagine that we're waiting for planning permission to be submitted. There's nothing in the Lambeth planning database at present.  Ed:  Fortunately, London-SE1 seem to have been present at the second consultation and they have an article here.

2. 69-71 Bondway - I've checked the Viva Vauxhall website and the latest update is here. They report that Lambeth Planning Committee will meet twice (which is unusual) to decide whether the basic design of the tower is acceptable for the officers to make a decision about whether they think the building is proceedable. Amusingly, they note that a police station might be included as part of the building, which would undoubtedly make the siren problem worse (yes, the one that made Hazel Blears move house). I have little info. on 69-71 Bondway as it's further down in SE11 than I am and is covered very well by Viva Vauxhall, but leave comments if I've missed anything.

3. 38-46 Albert Embankment - This one is on the site of the Texaco garage, not far from Vauxhall itself. It was refused by the councilors, but the developers appealed to the Planning Inspectorate. However, interestingly, the appeal was withdrawn before there was a chance to hold a public hearing. Consequently, the proposed building will not proceed.

4.  81 Black Prince Road - Even if you only half heartedly keep up with local Planning news, you must have heard by now that on the 15th September, the Planning Inspectorate overturned the council's objections to building 81 Black Prince Road.  This is very bad news for those of us who were at all concerned by very tall buildings on the river as it will be 23 storeys high.  Sadly, it appears that the Salamanca Tower must have set a precedent.  Unfortunately, it's likely that 81 Black Prince Road will set a precedent for 8 Albert Embankment (see above) and the unattractive and tall buildings will continue to abound. 

The Prince's Ward Labour blog wrote a post to indicate that they do not agree with the Inspectorate, but as far as I'm concerned, the Council has not set out a sensible plan re. tall buildings in Vauxhall (especially considering that the Vauxhall Supplementary Planning document cannot be approved until the Mayor comes back with his own revised plan for London).  Various tall buildings are being pushed through in the interim before we have an SPD for Vauxhall that can be used to even set a sensible plan for the area.  I am somewhat at a loss to know how local residents can, with local councillors, strengthen their voices against the continual encroachment and "pushing back" of Vauxhall and Kennington residents from the river.  However, in order not to burst blood vessels of frustation, I merely content myself with making sarcastic blog posts on the matter.

Battersea Power Station and the tube...

Well, the news and outlook are not good for the much publicised tube station.

Indeed, to be fair, prospects are not good for the redevelopment of the Battersea Power Station either. The Guardian is reporting that Real Estate Opportunities, the financier of the project, is suffering from a huge debt of £1.6bn. Their auditors say that there are "material uncertainties" about the future of the business. It's all down, apparently, to the failure of the Irish property market.

It's probably too early to sound the death toll on the Battersea project yet, but the outlook doesn't appear to be bright, and the article acknowledges that the previous owners of the site have not made much headway. Don't look forward too much to the Battersea/Kennington Northern line connection until the economy improves, and even then, another firm might buy the site and change the plans entirely.

An incentive for China Walk and Vauxhall Gardens to recycle waste

Philip O'Keeffe, the waste development officer at Lambeth has asked me to blog about a current Lambeth Council Recycling Team initiative named "Recycling Champions project" on the China Walk and Vauxhall Gardens Estate.

"But why would I do this?", I hear you ask. Well, possibly "to ensure that waste on the estates does get recycled" might be a good answer. As I was strolling around at the back of Vauxhall Gardens yesterday, I noticed that some of the recycling bins are piled up with rubbish that is clearly not just waste for recycling... However, Lambeth Council have decided to offer a cash incentive of £500 towards the best individual/group ideas to encourage more effective recycling on those estates:




The blurb says: "If you are an individual or resident group, from one of the selected estates, and you are interested in getting actively involved in recycling and reducing waste in your local community, then we want to hear from you.

To take part in the scheme you must be over 18 years old and live on one of the selected Lambeth Living estates. All you need is lots of enthusiasm about recycling and the environment and be able to spare a few hours each week. We will give you all the information, materials and support you will need.

For each estate that improves their recycling there is £500 available for a project to help improve their local environment!

For more information on the scheme contact Philip O’Keeffe, Recycling Champions Co-ordinator on 020 7926 8948 or email pokeeffe@lambeth.gov.uk."

I'm quite impressed by Lambeth Council's attempt to reach the local public of those two estates through my blog! However, I suspect that I do not have huge readership on those estates due, in part to a) digital illiteracy, b) language barriers and c) older population without internet access. It's probably due to some of these barriers that the population are sending large loads of "spoiled" recycling bags, so this one might be tough to crack.

I'd be happy to see coments from readers who live on or are based on the estates (or maybe know people who do). Please feel free to copy the URL to interested parties.

Cyclist death in Oval in June - appeal for witnesses

Please go across to the Stockwell News blog and read Bathsheba's post with plea from the husband of Catriona Patel for witnesses to his wife's cycle accident (and subsequent death) on June 29th.

I know that some readers commented on the cycle accident on this blog, and all witnesses are being asked to contact Crimestoppers.

L.I.V.E rally in Kennington Park

I didn't stay long, but wanted to take a few pictures of the 7th Day Adventist organised protest / march from Whitehall to Kennington Park. It was named LIVE (Live Intentionally Versus Existing) in case you wondered what all the banners were this morning.

Here are some pics. of the marchers arriving to the park:

Oval Farmers Market and SE11 and SW9 wander

A late start to the day meant that by the time I arrived at Oval Farmers Market, much of the cake from Cakehole London had been magicked away. I'm quite excited by the fact that we have an SE11 cake business and shall therefore return at an earlier time to take a photo of the stall with its cakey goodies (they do take orders if you need cakes locally). I can recommend the blueberry apple crumble cake. Yumm.

After that, we had a wander around the top of Brixton Road. The delicatessen on the corner (number 2, I think), near the market is closing, but is being replaced by another one. See pics below:





I didn't realise there were so many good restaurants at the top of the road at the edge of SW9. Adulis (an Eritrean one) looks particularly good, and so does the Oval Tandoori (Indian).

One of my favourite adverts is at the top of Brixton Road... if you look carefully, it encourages you to smoke (for the sake of your throat), a legacy of times past:



After that, we went for a quick coffee at the Kennington Park cafe (it's worth a visit as the coffee is excellent, and the staff are very friendly). I took a picture of the underside of the helium balloon, currently advertising to everybody watching cricket at the Ashes:

March against knife crime and Ashes in Kennington might cause traffic

There is another potentially large event (other than the Ashes) to occur in the vicinity of Kennington / Oval this weekend.

It appears that a march and rally will lead to the closure of Newington Butts and Kennington Park Road (and possibly part of Elephant) at some point between 13:00 and 17:30 (according to the Met police). Further digging (and a couple of Tweets spotted earlier this week) appears to reveal that the march and rally are being held to raise awareness and campaign against knife crime.

The event is known as the "LIVE" rally (Living Intentionally Versus Existing), and appears to be linked to youth leaders in the 7th Day Adventist church (I say "good on them"). They'll be marching with a group named F.A.M.E (Families against Murder Escalating).

It's great to be able to report on positive action re. knife crime, and since the event ends at Kennington Park (rather than beginning there), I should be able to take some photos and report further tomorrow.

I hope that both the cricket fans at the Ashes and the anti-knife crime marchers are aware that due to the road closures (as a result of the march) and the closure of the Vauxhall tube station, leaving Kennington or Oval after both events might prove difficult.

That news brought courtesy of an eagle eyed commenter who spotted a sign about road closures at Elephant...