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 By contrast, Tory-controlled Hammersmith & Fulham has withdrawn funding from nine of their children’s centres.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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January 7, 2011

Boris’ Tory Fare Hikes

The New Year sees more financial pain for rail and bus users across Norwood as fares on trains from West Norwood & Gipsy Hill and buses are rising yet again. Since the Mayoral elections in 2008 fares have been hiked far ahead of inflation.

The cost of a single bus journey by Oyster has gone  up by 44%  from 90p when Ken Livingstone was Mayor to £1.30 under Boris Johnson – a single cash fare on the bus is now £2.20; travelcards have also gone up with the annual cost of a 1-4 travelcard up by £249 since Boris became mayor.

On 2nd January, just as people make their way back to work after the Christmas and New Year break, fares have gone up again.  The fare hikes come after Boris Johnson has wasted money on vanity projects like a new Routemaster bus and scrapping the congestion charge for drivers in Kensington and Chelsea whilst we, in West Norwood, Upper Norwood & Gipsy Hill, count the cost in higher fares to get to work.

The increases come in the same week as the Tory coalition has put VAT up to 20%, the highest it has even been and 5% higher than the reduced rate that Labour introduced during the recession.

Val Shawcross, our London Assembly representative says:  These huge fare rises leave residents asking why the Mayor chose to spend millions redesigning a new ‘doubledecker’ bus, and why he chose to lose money by scrapping the Congestion Charge extension in west London.

They may also question why in October the Government decided to cut funding for London’s transport system by 21%.   These are all political choices, with people in our area paying the consequences.

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December 16, 2010

Government Cuts to Lambeth’s Funding

The Conservative-led government has announced the size of the cut to the funds used to pay for local services here in Lambeth.

In 2011-12, Lambeth’s main government grant will be cut by £28 million, or just over 11%. The funding will be cut the following year by a further £16 million in 2012-13 meaning an overall reduction over the next two years of 18.7%.

Lambeth has been hit very hard by the reductions in spending. By comparisson, Richmond on Thames has only had its funding reduced by £5 million next year and £3 million the following year.

Between now and 2013, the government will cut the money that Lambeth has to spend on local services by £155 for every resident in the borough, higher than the English average of £102 and substantially higher than the £43 a head that will be cut in Richmond.

We will be working hard to find every efficiency we can, cutting costs without cutting services where possible  and, since the election, we have been looking at how we could share services with Southwark or Lewisham if that helps reduce costs and protect local services.

The council has put together a budget simulator so that local residents are able to input to the budget-making process as we look at how these cuts might impact on local services. It isn’t perfect, but it allows for as many people who want to have their say to be able to and we strongly encourage local residents to participate. It can be accessed at http://youchoose.yougov.com/lambeth

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November 12, 2010

New 20mph Zone Proposed

Last year residents in Upper Norwood were given their say on changing their roads to a 20mph zone – reducing speeds, making the area safer and discouraging rat-running.

The Upper Norwood 20mph zone is now being introduced with work taking place across SE19.

Residents in the West Norwood (SE27) and West Dulwich (SE21) parts of the ward are now being given the chance to have a say on a 20mph zone in their area.

Matthew, Jenny & Niranjan are in favour of the scheme to stop ratrunning and to make the area safer, not least for children walking to school. Matthew recently met with parents at Elmgreen primary school to discuss how to make the walk to school safer and a 20mph zone would be a big improvement.

We keen to hear from local residents if you are in favour, or opposed to the zone and we will make sure your views are heard by Lambeth council. Consultation letters from Lambeth council are being delivered to households within the zone

 

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November 12, 2010

Better Access at Gipsy Hill Station

We’re delighted that Gipsy Hill station’s ticket hall has reopened (with a very nice cafe) but we were concerned at the lack of level access to the platform. When the station was being rebuilt there was level access to the Victoria (and some London Bridge) bound platform which made it easier for people with disabilities, mobility problems or parents with pushchairs to get the train.

Unlike Streatham Hill we haven’t been given lifts with our new station and so Gipsy Hill councillors worked with Lambeth Council, local residents and our London Assembly member, Val Shawcross, to get Southern to reinstate level access to the platform.

Now passengers needing level access can go to the side entrance on Sainsbury Road and station staff will open the gate remotely if you press the buzzer. If there are any other local transport issues then please get in touch with us and we will do our best to help.

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November 12, 2010

New Primary School Update

Over the past few years Labour Lambeth worked with the government to deliver extra primary school places for families in Norwood. Last year Kingswood primary school was doubled in size to four form entry. Another new primary will open in West Norwood next year: giving local parents more choice and taking pressure off Gipsy Hill primary school places.

The new West Norwood primary school will open as 2 forms of entry (60 children) from September 2011 and be run as part of Julian’s school. Negotiations to acquire the site will be completed soon. The architects Shepheard, Epstein & Hunter (who designed the rebuild of Kings Avenue school)  are already working on initial plans for the school.

Parents can now apply for a place for their child to start in September 2011 at the new school. Whilst the school is being built children attending the new school will use temporary  classrooms at the current Julian’s site. However the distance from home to school, as part of the admissions criteria for the new school, will be based on the new school site – the location should be made public by December 2010.

When the building work is complete in 2012 the children in the new school will move to it’s new site.

A general meeting for parents interested in information about admissions to any Lambeth primary school will be at 5.30pm on Thursday 18 November 2010 at Julian’s Primary School, 226 Leigham Court Road SW16 2RB

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November 12, 2010

Norwood Hall Planning Application Granted

On Wednesday 29th September planning permission was granted for the Norwood Hall project – for a health centre and leisure centre  with a swimming pool together with a customer contact point on site of Norwood Hall opposite the West Norwood station.

There has been enormous support for the project from residents across West Norwood over the last couple of years. At the meeting of the Planning Committee  on Wednesday the GP from Knight’s Hill surgery spoke in favour alongside Cllr Niranjan Francis represented the views of over 150 local residents who responded to the letter sent to residents in West Norwood.

A former Tory councillor for Gipsy Hill argued against the plans. After discussion a few minor changes were accepted and the plans agreed.

The next steps include getting planning permission from Boris Johnson Greater London Authority, confirming government approval for the project and appointing contractors. If all goes well  work should start on site in February 2011.

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