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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

And this is Cllr Harrison's response:

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

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

Red Lion pub to become Old Grey Lion and more on new Tesco

It seems as though there are some rather slow changes afoot on the northern section of Kennington Park Road. Perhaps this is spurred by the road's proximity to the long-awaited Elephant and Castle social-engineering project regeneration.

I mentioned yesterday that I'd heard a rumour about a proposed new Tesco on Kennington Park Road. I was getting confused, and thinking that this referred to the store opposite to the tube at 62 Kennington Park Road. That's the current site of Payless Food & Wine, who appear to be thriving as a result of not quite living up their name. However, upon further investigation and a helpful tip from a reader, it seems that the shop that has closed/is closing is actually at 38-40 Kennington Park Road (Right Price Food & Wine). I've walked past the site, and it hardly strikes me as large enough for a Tesco, even a Metro-sized one, but perhaps it goes back further than I remember.

Even more intriguing is a pub related piece of news that I learned of only in the past few days. Apparently the adequate, large, but somewhat characterless Red Lion pub (42 Kennington Park Road) is to become The Old Grey Lion! It has been purchased by Antic-Ltd who have it listed on their site here. No more info. about that refurbishment at present, but you'll read it here first (hopefully)!

Confusingly, there is another pub, named The Mansion House (46-48 Kennington Park Road) to the South of the Red Lion/Old Grey Lion that has been closed and derelict for some time. I'd like to know what's happening with that, because in the current climate, I doubt the road can sustain two pubs next door to one another! And just because I like to highlight small and under-publicised services in SE11, you might also be interested to know that to the right of Priceright / proposed Tesco is a small gateway that leads through to an organisation named Shaka Services who work mainly with London's African, Carribean and Asian population to provide sexual health / AIDS / social care, housing and immigration services. As far as I know, they're still operative, but I can't find any recent information confirming their status. 38-40 Kennington Park Road is also listed as a needle-exchange. I hope the rumoured Tesco proposal won't jeopardise such vital services.

Cycle Superhighway CS7 - blue paint oil slick to hit SE11

I'm sure I've mentioned this before, but can't find it in my archives. Part of Boris' masterplan for London is to build a bright blue cycle lane around central London (rather like a sort of environementally friendly version of the M25), with arterial roads leading in from far flung places (such as Balham). Each of the routes is to be called a Cycle Superhighway, but in reality, it will just be lots of (hopefully) well-maintained streaks of blue paint across certain London roads! (I am quite excited, really! I might even start cycling to work!)

The best news is that the first one to be built is going to arrive from far flung Merton, Balham, Clapham etc. and zoom into SE11 past the Oval, up Kennington Park Road, past Kennington tube and provide (at last), a safe route around the Elephant and Castle roundabout. It will go over Southwark Bridge and take you safely to the City. Check out the exact route here.

The piece of paper in my letterbox informs me that the work is due to begin "early in 2010" and that it will be launched in Summer 2010! When it starts, we'll be able to see construction works here, but in the meantime, there's just a Boris video about how much fun it will all be!

Sexual health clinic to move to Kennington or Vauxhall?

There's an interesting news item on London-se1 this morning about the fact that St Thomas' hospital are looking to relocate their sexual health clinic from the hospital itself. The article states that they think they might base it in Waterloo, Vauxhall, Elephant & Castle or Kennington.

Obviously, moving it to Vauxhall and Kennington would be of most relevance to SE11 readers, but I think either Elephant, Waterloo or Vauxhall would make good centres because they're all huge public transport interchanges, which mean it's very easy to maintain anonymity (presumably a key feature for sexual health clinics). I can't see any reason /not/ to move the clinic to any of the areas, but it would be useful to have a list of the actual sites in case they'd be problematic to access for any particular users. I think it would be better to place it in either Elephant or Vauxhall from the point of view of regeneration, in the sense that a large clinic would increase the number of users in an area who might also use other local services eg. cafes. I think Waterloo is further forward with its development than the other areas and doesn't need that extra help.

There's an opportunity to fill in an online survey or take part in a user group on the matter, so do check out the item.

69 - 71 Bondway SW8 - Planning Permission sought

Planning permission is currently being sought for: Bondway Commercial Centre, 69 - 71 Bondway, London SW8 1SQ. Application number is 09/01520/FUL and comments can be made by clicking the link. Vauxhall Bondway Ltd are proposing to develop a 42 storey building on the site. I think that would be of equivalent height to the Strata Building in Elephant and Castle. Most peoples' question is "Where's Bondway?". It's here:



I'm not sure how this one slipped under the radar (you have until 24/6/2009 to comment), so I am going to refer you to the Viva Vauxhall blog (which represents the roads around Bonnington Square) where they have an excellent post which lists their reservations about the development and might give you some basis with which to support or oppose the planning permission request.

The building is technically not in SE11. It's some way over the border in SW8. However, when proposed buildings are so tall, they impact on everybody that lives locally. I imagine the building will overshadow Fentiman Road, Bonnington Square and Vauxhall Grove. The question is... exactly which part of Vauxhall is it considered acceptable to place tall buildings? It was clarified at the Kennington Oval and Vauxhall AGM last night that it was considered appropriate in the draft Vauxhall Supplementary Planning document to raise tall buildings around Vauxhall station. The concept of what counts as Vauxhall station is somewhat hazy. I've read the draft Vauxhall Supplementary Planning document, but haven't given it the amount of analysis that I gave to the draft core plan for the Local Development Framework. It looks like it's time to go back to the Vauxhall Supplementary Planning document and provide a summary. When I've done that, I'll post it here to be of assistance for those commenting on local planning proposals.

It's worth mentioning at this point that the Vauxhall Supplementary Planning document will remain in "draft" stage until one of the wider documents related to the London Plan is released for consultation (in order to check that the two line up and Lambeth aren't heading in a different direction from the rest of London). That document won't be consulted until September 2009 so the draft Vauxhall SPD will remain in draft format for some time.

Edit (11/6/2009): Tradescant Road blog has also commented and posted a helpful picture of various elevations of the proposed development.

Traffic accident in Elephant and Castle and accident in Kennington

Post edited to reflect new information as of 9/4/2009:

I've had quite a few hits on my blog today and last night from people searching for the phrase "accident in Kennington".

I assumed at first that people were looking for information about the accident which occurred on the Elephant and Castle roundabout, and in which, tragically, a female cyclist was killed. London-SE1 has an article on that accident, and police are asking for witnesses. The Evening Standard has a more detailed report, which gives witness reports that the cyclist was trapped between an articulated lorry and iron railings.

However, it seems that there were two accidents on 8th April in the area, and (according to Twitter), a second accident occurred in SE11, on Kennington Road just in front of the Texaco garage at about 17:30. The accident in Kennington Road /also/ required an air ambulance and a commentator today noted that the helicopter landed on Lambeth Walk Open Space. Stockwell News has noted reports in the South London Press that the victim was a 14 year old male cyclist.

This is probably why reports of traffic chaos around Kennington/Elephant today were prolific.

Round of News in SE London, and quick note on Brixton market

SE11 is still very quiet at the moment. The only event of note is that the Kennington Association will be having a bazaar on Saturday (21st Feb) from 11am-1pm. More details on the KA blog.

Consequently, I bring you only the pieces of exciting news that have caught my eye in the South East:

The Peoples' Republic of Southwark (courtesy of Camberwell Online) are hoping to set up a Public Meeting to increase Real Life interaction between people in Camberwell to involve more local people with their surroundings. More details on CamberwellOnline blog.

Again from Camberwell Online, funding has been approved for Phase 2 of the East London Line extension which will put more of South East London on the overground/tube. There's a lovely map (for those sad types that like to see coloured lines linking things together) from another blog here. It will be interesting to see how this might create possibilities for better joined up thinking in South London.

I forgot to mention that the nasty, ugly 23 storey building, destined for the end of Black Prince Road in SE11 didn't get the go ahead. London-SE1 did a report on that. There is likely to be an appeal, so we'll keep our fingers crossed. My only concern is that another developer might dream up something worse!

And finally... I'm not too sure how serious this threat is, but I've caught whiff of news which suggests that there is a company who hope to build on Granville Place (part of Brixton market). It's not possible to oppose the plan yet as it hasn't been placed on Lambeth Council's online Planning database. The Friends of Brixton Market have quickly put together some info. and have given instructions about what you can do to keep the market in place and to stop Brixton becoming some sort of trendy shopping mall. I like the market down in Brixton. I think it has great character, and some of the few fresh fish stalls left in London, so I'd be sad to see it turned into a bastion of smart looking chain stores, especially considering that Elephant and Castle will probably go that way any way (and surely with better reason than Brixton). Isn't there a limit to the amount of chain stores that any town centre needs...?

Fog - Coffee morning - nasty tall building

Everything seems rather quiet at the moment in SE11. A long, dark fog descended last night making views towards the river disappear. The Tesco in Vauxhall / Kennington still appears to contain a large amount of unbought Christmas food. Quite a number of formerly occupied shops in Kennington Road are sadly empty. The dark evenings have prevented me from taking interesting photographs of the area, which was part of the intention for this blog. When I get home in the evening, it's already dark! Bring on the summer...

Oh yes, and looming large and long on the horizon is a nasty planning application for a building on 81 Black Prince Road. Now I really am not opposed to new developments. I'm actively in favour of new houses, flats, commercial property when built in an appropriate style. What I really dislike though is huge buildings, of no particular merit that do not fit the surrounds, which in all respects describes the proposed development on Black Prince Road. Quite why anybody thinks a 23 storey building appropriate for that location is a mystery to me. If you want to see the planning application, click here. I do have a vested interest, in that I might lose some views from where I currently as a result of the building (I could just move!), but I'm not too keen on the new 43 storey Strata building in Elephant and Castle either. I just do not like very tall buildings in locations other than Canary Wharf. Anyhow, if you might be affected by 81 Black Prince Road, and want to object, you can do so online using the link above.

I'm going to try and attend the Prince's Ward Councillors coffee morning on 17th January in case there are some interesting SE11 people or issues to discuss, and I'll report back on Prince's Ward news. I think it's quite novel, trying to meet people In Real Life (IRL), rather than doing an internet thing. But then people are always reminding me that not everybody that needs to access a councillor either owns a computer or would be capable of using one.

SE11 goes Scottish

I just spotted an article in The Times advising that the Scottish Piping Society will be holding lessons at the Charlotte Sharman School on West Square. I wonder whether they are at all related to the somewhat incongruous man man who plays(?) the bagpipes on Westminster Bridge.

West Square itself is worth a visit as it has a lovely open green garden in the middle of it, and it's a bit of a haven in the Elephant and Castle area, but I might go and visit at a time when I knew the bagpipers weren't about :)

SE11 to be green? SE11 to stay polluted?

Whilst we're still on the edge of our seats awaiting the results of the Cross River Tram review, Boris Johnson has been busy...

He has abolished the proposed congestion charge for large, gas guzzling four wheel drives, and decided to prevent small cars from being exempt from the charge. So that should keep the residents of Kensington and Chelsea happy... Phew. However, in order to still be seen as keen, green and good for the planet, he has proposed some more "low carbon zones". There appears to be rather little information around at the moment on their exact location, but "Elephant and Castle" has been suggested as a "low carbon" area over at the Building website.

We won't have any more details info. on the zones until September, but the question of interest is "what geographical location counts as Elephant and Castle?". If Elephant and Castle extends down Kennington Lane, Kennington Park Road, (or implausibly Kennington Road), then SE11 might be set to become a little quieter and greener too. If SE11 does not count as E&C, the question remains open; does it mean big heavy trucks won't bother passing through SE11 to reach the Elephant, or does it mean that they will all stop/park/remain in SE11 to avoid entering Elephant and Castle?

Watch this space.

Battersea Tube Home?

There's an article in today's Kennington news journal about the proposed tube extension to Battersea, which would apparently be paid for by some developers who want to put a vile building next to the lovely (but somewhat derelict) power station.

Here is a picture of the lovely Battersea power station, taken from Wikipedia:



Here is a picture of the vile building (with the power station to the right) that some people want to place in Battersea:



Now, as a self-confessed public transport geek, it would be grand to see a development of the Northern Line from Battersea to Kennington, but I want to raise a few issues that I think may be shared by other Londoners:

1. The wonderful development of a new tube station at Battersea, funded through private finance, is a waste of money when one considers that the tube could be extended much furthur than just one stop. Once one has begun digging underground, and arranged labour, material, machinery and civil engineers, one might as well go a lot furthur south. If TFL could get government money for tube expansion (or even tram lines), we wouldn't have to be so grateful to private finance for such suggestions as new bits of tube.

2. Extending the tube by one segment of line and one station just does not justify the monstrous building that has been suggested. I'm actually in favour of new housing/buildings in London, but I have one condition for all buildings. Buildings should not be considerably higher than those already surrounding them. SE11 has got off lightly because of the historic nature of its buildings, but poor Elephant and Castle is about to be dwarfed. So if you want the rocket monstrosity meant for Battersea, put it in Canary Wharf, not Battersea. I do not object to new housing, but I don't understand why new housing has to be very tall skyscrapers. Such skyscrapers are simply not designed to promote community or shared life, and I think that they're a really bad idea.

3. If the height of the building were not bad enough, there is the beautiful power station to consider. Would anybody really contemplate building the rocket next to Buckingham Palace, or Big Ben? No. Of course not. But because this is South London, and the area is in need of regeneration, it's considered that anything goes...

I really am in favour of the tube station at Battersea, (although I have no idea how long it might shut Kennington tube and/or the Northern line for) and in favour of regeneration (if it can be proven to benefit the disenfranchised of Battersa), but that building is too large a price to pay.

And finally... I discovered a really great little map, posted by somebody on the Urban75 forum, which shows all of the proposed transport links in London by 2016 if, by some miracle all of the funding were secured. The proposed Cross River Tram line is in a groovy purple colour.

The Little Apple - Sunday lunches

Last summer, it became something of a tradition to go for Sunday lunch at the Little Apple, in Kennington at the Elephant and Castle end of Kennington Lane and on the eastern end of Chester Way (itself a lovely road). It has a wondeful beer garden/patio area and it's a great place to enjoy a pint or two in the sun. Last year, the chap cooking the meals and serving people was apparently standing in for somebody else. It is a bit of a shame he has gone.

For about £8.95, it's possible to get a starter, roast dinner and pudding (per person). The starters are still excellent. We ate prawn cocktail (in lovely 80s style glass) and vegetable samosas (fairly spicy) with sweet chilli dip and fresh salad. Yum. Would definitely recommend for starters alone! For the main course, we both opted for pork, and thus counted ourselves out of Yorkshire puddings. Pork was very tender, moist and highly appetising. Roast potatoes were well-roasted and a little over-salty, but not quite as crispy as the Dippy Egg Cafe. Vegetables were slightly over-cooked and a little unimaginative, with the usual peas/carrot combination and the addition of cabbage, but we'll forgive them that due to catering for such large numbers. I think that last year, we were given a much wider selection of veg. And finally, I requested a fruit salad for dessert, expecting the exquisite and freshly prepared fruit salad of last year, and instead got a plastic tub containing the contents of a tin.

No complaints about the service, which was excellent, and the price can't be beaten anywhere else, but please bring back the imaginative vegetables and the fresh fruit salad...

We're definitely returning - this is a firm Sunday favourite roasting spot, but did miss the little touches of last year.