Paul O'Grady opens the new Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens entrance!

This evening Paul O'Grady (otherwise known as Lily Savage) came to Vauxhall to open the new entrance to the newly named Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens. Paul was invited as his career began at the Royal Vauxhall Tavern, where this evening's ceremony was held.

Chair of the Friends of Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens Eamonn McMahon thanks Paul O'Grady for coming.

Paul tells the audience about his past life living and working in Vauxhall, and how he is delighted that the history of the Pleasure Gardens is now being celebrated.

Paul opens the new entrance, with Leader of Lambeth Council Steve Reed and MP for Vauxhall Kate Hoey.

Ponies and llamas from Vauxhall City Farm joined the celebration.

The new columns were lit up pink for the occasion.

One way system for Albert Embankment service road

LONDON BOROUGH OF LAMBETH PROPOSAL TO INTRODUCE A ONE-WAY SYSTEM FOR VEHICLES IN ALBERT EMBANKMENT (SERVICE ROAD)

(Note: This notice is about the Council’s proposal to introduce a one-way system for vehicles in the service road fronting Nos. 9 to 20 Albert Embankment. Objections may be made - see paragraph 6)

1. NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that, the Council of the London Borough of Lambeth propose to make the Lambeth (Prescribed Route) (No. *) Traffic Order 2012 under section 6 of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984.

2. In brief the general effect of the Order would be to impose a one-way system for vehicles in the service road fronting Nos. 9 to 20 Albert Embankment in a direction from north-east to south-west.

3. This would improve safety for pedestrians and vehicles requiring access to and egress from properties and businesses which lie within the Albert Embankment service road.

4. If you have any enquiries about this matter, please telephone the Council’s transportation Group on 020 7926 0728.

5. Documents giving more detailed particulars of the Order are available for inspection Mondays to Fridays between 9.30am and 4.30pm (excluding bank holidays and public holidays) until the last day of a period of six weeks beginning with the date on which the Order is made, or as the case may be, the Council decides not to make the Order at the offices of Lambeth Borough Council’s Transportation group, 2nd Floor Blue Star House, 234–244 Stockwell Road, London, SW9 9SP. To arrange a viewing please contact 020 7926 900 and select the Transport and Highways option.

6. All objections and other representations relating to the proposed Order must be made in writing and all objections must specify the grounds on which they are made and should be sent to Barbara Poulter, Transportation, 2nd Floor, Blue Star House, 234-244 Stockwell Road, London SW9 9SP, by 17th February 2012. Any objection may be communicated to, or seen by, other persons who may have an interest in this matter.

Dated 27th January 2012

Abu Barkatoolah

Head of Transportation

£1000 for Broadgates Court after contractor disturbs residents' Sunday

Following complaint from residents, Councillor Steve Morgan has secured £1000 from Lambeth Living contractor Mears, for carrying out work to an empty flat on a Sunday.

Faced with legal action and a possible fine Mears decided to donate £1000 to the local residents' association for disturbing so many people.

If you notice anyone carrying out noisy work in the evening or on a Sunday than call the noise team on 020 7926 6111 - you never know what the result might be!

Spring Mews planning application

Aplanning application has been submitted by CLS Holdings for their Spring Mews development.

The application is for: Redevelopment of 2-16 (evens) Tinworth Street and 100-110 Vauxhall Walk to provide a mixed use scheme comprising a range of buildings up to 8 storeys in height; providing a 120 bedroom hotel (4,353sqm GIA), student accommodation and associated support facilities including 402 student bedrooms (11,355sqm GIA), a convenience retail store (245sqm GIA), a series of small business units (use class B1 - totalling 469sqm GIA) a replacement community centre (561sqm GIA), associated basement servicing area, new public realm, public realm improvements and disabled parking. Please note that no development works are proposed to 92-98 (evens) Vauxhall Walk, Shaftesbury House, Cromwell House and 112 Vauxhall Walk; which would be retained. These are included within the application site to allow for proposed improvements to the public realm and pavements along Vauxhall Walk to the front of these properties.

This is a particularly important development for the community as it will involve re-providing the Vauxhall Gardens Community Centre.

This is especially important for residents who live within the area created by Black Prince Road/Kennington Road/Kennington Lane/The Railway Line as the Vauxhall Gardens Community Centre was set up for the area's benefit.

If you wish to get some more information on the development you can go to the CLS site at - http://www.springmews.co.uk/

If you would like to comment on the application, whether you wish to support it or not, then you can do so at the Lambeth planning website:
http://planning.lambeth.gov.uk/online-applications/

put the reference number 11/04510/FUL in the search box and you will be able to see details of the application and comment on the scheme.

Coffee morning this Saturday!

Our fourth annual Prince's ward community coffee morning takes place this Saturday!

Residents of Prince's ward are invited to a community coffee morning on Saturday 4 February, from 11am to 12:30pm, at St Anselm's Church Hall , Kennington Cross.

It will be a chance for residents to meet their neighbours and local councillors, and to discuss issues affecting the area. Assembly Member Val Shawcross, Kate Hoey MP, and Leader of Lambeth Council Steve Reed will also be attending.

We hope to see many residents there!

Contracts exchanged on the Beaufoy site

We can today announce that Lambeth Council has exchanged contracts to sell the Beaufoy Building and surrounding land.

As you may know the council owns the car park which is being sold to Bellway Homes. The Beaufoy Building and space around it is owned by the Beaufoy Trust and that will be sold to the Tibetan Buddhist Charity, Diamond Way Buddhism.

The sale of both sites will generate around £9 million. Around £7.5m will go to the council and will contribute towards the Council's Capital Programme that is used to fund housing, roads, schools, leisure centres etc. About £1.5m will go to the Beaufoy Trust. After years of having all their money tied up in an unused building and, therefore, not actually helping anyone they will finally have the money to fulfill their objectives;

“The object of the [Beaufoy Trust] charity is the promotion of the education for the public benefit of persons under the age of 25 who are in need of financial assistance and resident in the area of benefit, with a preference for the promotion of vocational training.”

On top of this 40% of all the homes that Bellway will build on the site will be affordable.

Finally, a sum of £200,000 has been ring fenced and will be spent in Kennington on local projects. Your three councillors will be making the decision on what to spend the money on and we shall be back in touch with everyone in the near future in order to get ideas of what to spend the money on.

Buddhist Centre Scheme

The Beaufoy is an iconic local building and a lot of residents will want to know what plans there are for its future. The scheme proposes a mixed-use building which has three predominant functions:

1) Community facility
2) Place for meditation and education
3) Residential accommodation

The building would be occupied by Diamond Way Buddhism, a registered charity centred on Buddhist philosophy in the Tibetan tradition. They intend to offer a facility which would primarily be used by the Buddhist community but would also seek to engage with and benefit local communities.

At the heart of the building, largely within the historic Grade II listed section, the facility would offer a large meditation/teaching space within the existing lecture/assembly hall. There would also be a library, exhibition space, seminar room, meeting rooms, offices and a general welcome area. These areas and rooms would all be at ground and first floor levels and would form the primary location for the charity's work in terms of its public activity.

The refurbished buildings and the proposed extensions would also provide various types of residential accommodation at ground, first and second floor levels of the building which would support a community of permanent residents and guests.

Public Meetings

As you may be keen to meet the prospective new owners and find out more about who they are and what there plans are, public meetings are planned with Diamond Way Buddhism and Bellway Homes.

This will be where the planning application will be presented and discussed so that the local community will be able to give their views on what is proposed. Both Bellway and Diamond Way are introducing themselves at tonight’s KOV meeting.

Diamond Way Buddhism is holding a drop-in session 6pm-9pm, next Thursday 2 February at the Tea House Theatre, 139 Vauxhall Walk, SE11 5HL. This is in advance of their submitting their planning application as they seek your contribution and input to the renovation of the Beaufoy Institute whilst the project is still in its early stages.

The Future

At this stage we have exchanged contracts with the two groups. We will not complete the sale until they have both received planning permission for their schemes.

Everyone will have an opportunity to view the plans and comment on them when they are submitted to the planning department.

If, and when, planning permission is granted, we shall be in touch with all residents and community groups to discuss what projects you would like to spend our £200,000 windfall on.

We hope to see you at the meetings.

Replacement of Old Paradise Street railway bridge

Residents might have already noticed that Old Paradise Street and Newport Street are now closed to traffic for the next five months. This is to enable the replacement of part of the railway bridge over Old Paradise Street.

Local councillors have been campaigning for the bridge to be upgraded for many years. The bridge has a terrible problem with pigeons roosting in its rafters, causing an unpleasant and dangerous mess on the pavement below. Network Rail have assured us that the replacement bridge will have nowhere for pigeons to roost and cause a nuisance.

Residents in the area should have received a letter from Network Rail explaining the disruption which will be caused by the work. Unfortunately there will need to be overnight work between 31 March and 16 April, and noise disruption is likely. If there are any problems with the work please contact Network Rail on 08457 114141.

Councillors will be keeping a close eye on the works to ensure they have the maximim benefit for local residents. We're excited that once completed there will be further money available from new developments to improve the area around the bridge. With a new art gallery and housing being constructed the junction of Old Paradise Street and Newport Street is going to be completely transformed for the better.

2012 Labour Calendar and Coffee Morning

Over the coming days volunteers will be delivering the 2012 Prince's Labour calendar. It has contact details for all your local Labour representatives.

Alongside you should receive an invitation to our annual coffee morning. This year it's being held on Saturday 4 February, at 11am at the usual venue of St Anselm's Church Hall. All residents are invited to enjoy a tea or coffee and a chat with their Labour representatives.

Councillors will be joined by Kate Hoey MP, London Assembly Member Val Shawcross, and Leader of the Council Steve Reed.

Questionnaire from the Friends of the Durning Library

'The Durning Library is an important part of our local community. Lambeth Council is currently considering the future organisation of its library service. We know that there are to be severe budget cuts and if the community does not step in, our library may not survive.

'As the library’s Friends, we need your help to decide how best to plan for its future, and so we need to hear your views, whether or not you use the library. Please complete this short survey – it will not take long and it is important that as many local people as possible have their say. Paper copies are available at the Durning library if needed, or you can download a PDF version from the website. Please complete the survey by 30 January. And please forward it to anyone else you think might be interested.

'We shall be holding a public meeting at the Durning Library on Monday 27 February to enable everyone to give us their views and the results of the survey will contribute to this discussion. So, PLEASE complete this questionnaire, either on paper or on-line, and return it to us by Monday 30 January.

Thank you in advance,
Priscilla Baines
Chairman, Friends of the Durning Library

(Our brand new website www.durninglibraryfriends.org.uk is now live – visit it to complete the questionnaire and to find out what is going on at the Durning library).'

Help Lambeth set its Housing Standard

Lambeth Council and its management agent Lambeth Living are working with residents to set a new standard to which all council homes can be developed and maintained.

The Government is providing Lambeth with some money to invest in our homes over the coming years, though it is not nearly enough for all that we would like to do. Because of this, choices need to be made about what work residents want to prioritise.

If you are a Lambeth tenant or leaseholder please fill in the online survey.

You can also attend a meeting this Thursday at 7pm at Pedlars Acre Hall, Opal Street/ Kennington Lane.

Already, Lambeth Housing have received around 5000 responses from residents - some of the bags of mail received are pictured. We want to ensure everybody has their say.

Prince's councillors have already made the case for the following works:

- new windows for the blocks on the Cottington Close Estate which are still outstanding

- new windows for the blocks on the Vauxhall Gardens Estate which are still outstanding (Aveline Street, Brangton Road)

- new windows for Denby Court

- investment in street properties which is required

- security doors for Cottington Close and Broadgates Court

- new intercom and lifts for Cotton Gardens

- new lifts for various blocks on the Vauxhall Gardens Estate

- new kitchens and bathrooms, with those in the worst condition being prioritised

> Please let us know if there are other priorities you would like us to campaign for!

Sweeping schedule for Prince's ward

Many residents ask how frequently their street is supposed to be cleaned by the Council. We thought the map above might be of interest.

The street cleaning team say:

All roads are litter-picked on Monday, Wednesday and Friday apart from the ones that are swept every day. None of the roads are swept on weekends. Please note that these schedules do not apply during the leafing season where we attempted to sweep roads more frequently and litter-picked less frequently.

Major crackdown underway to drive out housing cheats

Lambeth Council is launching a major crackdown against illegal sub-letting across the borough.

Fraud investigators will knock on the doors of hundreds of properties over the coming months to uncover tenants who illegally sub-let, and will take legal proceedings to boot them out.

The action, in partnership with Lambeth Living, will free up desperately needed homes for people who genuinely need them.

Illegal subletting is where the registered tenant does not live at the property but rents it out for profit on the private market, and deprives people on the council’s housing waiting list, and in genuine need, of a permanent home.

Around 60 properties were recovered last year from illegal sub-letters in Lambeth, but the practice is believed to be more widespread, so the council and Lambeth Living aim to double that amount this year by carrying out more visits and investigations, and better intelligence sharing.
The initiative follows a successful pilot undertaken during September and October on the Springfield and Briant estates, in the north of the borough where around four per cent of the properties were found to be illegally sub-let.

Checks at the two estates have to date uncovered fifteen suspected fraudulent tenancies. In three of these cases the properties have been handed back to the council - voluntarily. Five of the outstanding cases have already been put in the hands of the council’s lawyers to take legal action, and investigations continue on the remaining seven cases.

The penalty for anyone subletting their home is severe and final. Tenants who sublet their property will lose their tenancy and the illegal tenants will be evicted.

Councillor Lib Peck, Lambeth Council cabinet member for housing and member of the Lambeth Living board said: 'This is not a victimless crime - housing tenancy fraud costs Lambeth dearly. It deprives people on the housing waiting list and who are in genuine need of housing, of a permanent and safe roof over their head. It means that people are leap-frogging the waiting list and tying up badly needed homes, and we will put a stop to that'.

Deputy cabinet member for housing, Cllr. Christopher Wellbelove commented: 'I know from my casework on local estates that illegal subletting is a problem that genuine tenants want tackled, as well as families who are weary of being on the waiting list for a permanent home. Council housing is a precious resource – and these homes should be available for people who really need them'.

If anyone knows of a property they suspect is being illegally sub-let, they should call the Fraud Hotline on 0207 926 1111. All calls will be handled in the strictest confidence