June 10, 2011

Good News on Road Repairs

The heavy snow and ice during the hard winter caused real damange to roads across Gipsy Hill ward. The council runs a rolling repairs programme but some roads were more badly damaged than others.

Matthew, Jenny & Francis have worked with residents across the ward to lobby the council for major repairs to be carried out where the road surface has seriously deteriorated. Yesterday we found out that two roads in the ward have been selected for the council’s major road repairs programme. Councillors were invited to nominate roads in a particularly bad state of repair after the winter for inclusion in the programme.

Due to the deep cut in Lambeth’s funding from the Tory government, across the twenty-three wards in Lambeth only seventeen roads have been able to be chosen for major repairs. We are really pleased that two of those roads, Rommany road & Woodland road, are in Gipsy Hill.

Work will start on Woodland road, in Upper Norwood, in June and Rommany road, in West Norwood, in October – residents on these roads will be contacted directly by the council about how these works will affect them. Matthew, Jenny & Francis will continue to lobby the council about the state of other roads with the council so do let us know if you’re concerned about the roads where you live, we’ll always do our best to help.

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June 7, 2011

Flooding Damage to West Norwood Library

Local residents will be angered to learn that the copper roof has been stolen from both West Norwood library and the Chapel at the crematorium in West Norwood cemetery. This happened at the same time as the very heavy rain over the end of the weekend and has resulted in serious rain damage to both buildings.

The library and the Nettlefold halls have had to be closed for two weeks to allow the building to dry out and for repair work to begin – workers are also on site at the Chapel in the cemetery so that there are as few disruptions as possible for bereaved families.

As a consequence of the closure of the Nettlefold Halls, please be advised that the regular councillor advice surgery on Friday 10th June at 10am with Tessa Jowell MP has had to be cancelled. However, Gipsy Hill councillors will be going ahead with the other scheduled advice surgeries including from 4-5pm on the 10th at Upper Norwood Library.

If you require any further information about the temporary closure of West Norwood library or the Nettlefold Halls please contact Maria Bogle-Mayne, Area Manager (South) on 020 7926 8031 or email MBogleMayne@lambeth.gov.uk

And if anyone has any information relating to the cowardly theft of the roof of the chapel or our library please let the police know on 0300 123 1212 or  anonymously via Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111

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June 1, 2011

Primary School Places

Primary school places are a real issue in Lambeth and, particularly, in Norwood. Demand for places has risen by as much as 40% in the past few years and the council has worked to increase the number of places available for local children with over 300 extra places since 2009.

The council was able to secure £9m in funding from the last Labour government to boost places in the borough and this has allowed us to double the number of places at Kingswood – from a two form entry primary to a four form entry school. The council is also opening a new primary school on Wolfington Road (by West Norwood station). This will increase the number of places in the area and should help reduce demand for places at Kingswood and Elm Wood from families living between West Norwood and Streatham.

The New School will be run in federation with the excellent Julian’s primary in Streatham Wells and will open in September 2011 (temporary classrooms) and will open onsite in West Norwood from September 2012. The council’s planning committee approved the design last week and the scheme is moving ahead.

However, even though we’ve seen a large increase in the number of primary places available we expect that demand will continue to rise. Lambeth is asking the government to stump up the money to provide these places for local families. In the past, the Labour goverment provided the funding that we needed to get every child into a local school – and we want to make sure that carries on. We’re asking parents to join our campaign – and the details are at:

Lambeth Primary School Places Campaign

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June 1, 2011

Lambeth Libraries Commission

Over the next few weeks Lambeth council is starting a discussion with local  people  about what they want from their  library service. Things like the internet, electronic books, amazon and wi-fi are changing the way we all use information, books & libraries.

As well as technological changes the council  will have less money to spend on libraries – because  the Tory government, supported by the Lib Dems, has cut Lambeth’s spending by one third.

We are lucky to have two fantastic libraries in our ward: West Norwood Library and the Upper Norwood Library, which is joint-funded with Tory-controlled Croydon.

Gipsy Hill’s Labour councillors have been very active in working with the Upper Norwood Library campaign against any threat of cuts or closure of Upper Norwood from Croydon.

There will be two “open space” sessions during June 2011 to talk about Lambeth’s libraries . Open space sessions allows everyone attending to  have an opportunity to discuss what is important to them.

Saturday 4 June 2011 – 10am to 1pm, at Lambeth Town Hall (Assembly Hall), Brixton SW2
Tuesday 14 June 2011 – 6.30 to 9.30pm at Lambeth Town Hall (Assembly Hall), Brixton SW2

For more information see: http://www.lambeth.gov.uk/Services/CouncilDemocracy/Consultations/ACSConsultations/LibrariesConsultation.htm

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March 31, 2011

West Norwood Feast – 3rd April

This Sunday, 3rd April, sees the first of a new monthly market open in West Norwood. The West Norwood Feast is a community-driven market led by local people who want to help regenerate our community. The group received start-up funding from Lambeth council and the market looks set to be a roaring success.

There’ll be four separate hubs to the market along Knights Hill & Norwood Road: the Food Fair, the Retro Village, the Artisans Market & the Gardeners’ Corner with street performers and music throughout the rest of West Norwood.

The market will be open 10am-4pm on Sunday (perfect for last minute mother’s day present shopping….) and it would be wonderful to have a big turnout for the market’s first outing. More information is available on the website for the West Norwood Feast.

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March 29, 2011

Complete the Census

Census day was Sunday 27th March and every household in Gipsy Hill should have received their form in the post. It’s extremely important that everyone fills in their form and sends it back as soon as possible. Failure to return the form can lead to a £1000 fine.

The census is used to understand population levels and diversity in different parts of the country and is used to calculate where public spending should be directed. We need as accurate a picture of our local population to make sure that we get our fair share of support for local public services (even more important given the scale of the government’s cuts to Lambeth) – each person not recorded in the census could lose our area about £300 so it’s vital that everyone takes part.

There are two events for anyone who needs help filling in their census form – both are free of charge and no appointment is needed. The first is on Thursday 31st March 3-5pm and the second is on Thursday 7th April 10am-12 noon both at the West Norwood Library.

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March 16, 2011

Protecting Our Children’s Centres

Gipsy Hill’s Labour councillors, Matthew Bennett, Jenny Brathwaite & Niranjan Francis have pledged not to close our Sure Start centres, including Kingswood Children’s Centre, despite the Tory government cutting funding for children’s centres 21% in just one year.

David Cameron and George Osborne have abandoned their promise to protect Sure Start, and are instead slashing budgets by hundreds of millions across the UK, with poor areas like Lambeth singled out for bigger cuts. The Early Intervention Grant which pays for children’s centres has been cut by over £5 million in Lambeth, equivalent to a £90 cut for every young person. We think it is deeply unfair that the Tory-led Government appears to be protecting wealthier boroughs like Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire and Windsor and Maidenhead, who are seeing a cut of only £30 a head.

Lambeth’s Labour administration has now pledged to protect Lambeth’s entire network of 27 children’s centres, which are vital to ensure very young children and their families get the very best start in life. Lambeth has lost over £6million in grants for services like Children’s Centres, which is on top of the £79m of savings the Council must make after the Tory-led government slashed its budget by a third. No Lambeth children’s centre will close this year despite the cuts, and Labour have ring fenced more than £13 million to spend on early years. By contrast, Tory-controlled Hammersmith & Fulham has withdrawn funding from nine of their children’s centres.

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January 18, 2011

Making School Journeys Safer

We’re extremely luck in Gipsy Hill to have three excellent primary schools for the children in our ward. Cllr Jenny Brathwaite (pictured) and Cllr Niranjan Francis were at Elm Wood Primary School on Carnac Street on Monday morning to speak to local parents at  the school gate and pick up any concerns or issues in the area.

One issue which came up was the safety of the roads around Elm Wood for children walking to school, particularly for children who have to cross Clive road.

Cllr Matthew Bennett has visited the school with council highways officers involved in the consultation for a new 20 mph zone for a walk around the area at the start of the school day with parents to see how the area could be made safer for children walking to school. We are hoping to see some of these ideas in the response to the 20mph zone consultation when it is published and look forward to the prospect of safer journeys in the near future.

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January 18, 2011

Nominate Roads for Resurfacing

Councillors have been asked to nominate roads in Gipsy Hill which are in need of resurfacing to the council. Lambeth already surveys roads to see which are in need of repairs but are asking for input from the community in case any have slipped under the radar.

With all the snow and ice before Christmas a number of potholes have either appeared or worsened so please let us know if your road is one of those affected and we will make sure the council is aware of the problem.

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January 7, 2011

Campaign Against Microwave Mast

Network Rail are planning on erecting a 75ft microwave (20 metre) microwave communications mast opposite homes on Finch Avenue, next to Norwood Park.

Network Rail intend to build the mast under a legal power called Permitted Development which allows construction without seeking planning permission or having to consult the local community. Local residents received no information from Network Rail and there has been no consultation.

Now, local people are coming together to oppose the mast which, if built, will obstruct the views across London from Norwood Park, one of the treasures of our community. The views from Norwood Park and the Upper Norwood area across to central London are protected from new building by planning policy but Network Rail is exempted from these rules. However, a similar campaign against a mast at Sternhold avenue in Streatham was backed by local Labour councillors in Thornton ward and, after a lengthy legal battle which went all the way to the Secretary of State.

Councillors Jenny Brathwaite, Niranjan Francis & Matthew Bennett are speaking with our member of the London Assembly, Val Shawcross, local MP, Tessa Jowell, Lambeth planning officers and the local community to try and find out further details on the mast and our rights with regards to the protected views from Norwood Park. Cllr Jenny Brathwaite has put a detailed post on Virtual Norwood.

Campaigners from the local community will be meeting at 2:30pm on Saturday 8th January at the entrance to the park on Finch Avenue to show the press the local opposition to Network Rail’s plans & all who are interested in being involved are very welcome to show their support.

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