Paul McGlone's speech at the opening of the Diamond Way Buddhist Centre at the Beaufoy Institute

Earlier this month the Beaufoy Institute reopened its doors after years of lying empty and neglected. It's now the home of the Diamond Way Buddhist Centre, after Lambeth Council took the decision to sell the site and use the proceeds to invest in our community's priorities. Lambeth's Cabinet Member for Finance Councillor Paul McGlone made the following speech at the event:

There is a saying attributed to Mark Twain that “History Does Not Repeat Itself, but It Rhymes”.

That is the sentiment I feel most today standing in this beautiful building that has many ‘ribbons of history’ that rhyme with Lambeth’s past, present and now its future around education, learning and arts.    

The lovely red-brick facade of the Beaufoy Institute has looked over Black Prince Road in Lambeth for more than a century, and has always stopped people in their tracks with its beautiful architecture and artistry.

I am personally fascinated with the connection of this building and the progressive Doulton family and the history of Lambeth Doulton ceramics and pottery.

My understanding is that this building was built using a patented Doulton Tile system, and a Doulton was one of the original school governors of the institute.

Others are best place to reflect on the heyday of the Beaufoy Institute as a place of learning. But I would like to introduce the friend I brought with me, Mr Roger Bowdery, who went to school here at the Beaufoy Institute 55 years ago!

The many wonderful connections with Lambeth’s past that connect with this building must be captured for the future, and I hope they are.  

But fast forward to more recent times and Lambeth Council’s involvement.

I first came to this building in 2007 when I was Cabinet Member for Regeneration and then in 2008 as Cabinet member for Children and Young People.

Having stood empty and neglected for some years, there was a strong proposal to turn it into a museum for a collection of De Mogan ceramics. But that proposition floundered.

This was followed with a very real proposal to turn the building into a school again, an Arts and Crafts Academy, with an educational sponsor and backing from the Prince of Wales Trusts. But that plan also faltered to.

In a different role in 2010, as Cabinet Member for Finance, I made the decision to disposal of the building and the adjacent property and land, with the expectation that the Institute building would have a new lease of life.

Sometimes in local government you have to realise that you have to ‘let go’ to allow better things to happened. And that is what has happened here. What has been achieved has benefited everyone.

Buy disposing of the property, the sale proceeds of approx. £7 million have allowed

1. The Beaufoy Trust, of which all Lambeth councillors have historically been ‘corporate trustees’, to be financially endowed with £1.2m of funds to use for updated philanthropic purposes, as the Beaufoy family originally intended.

2. From the £600,000 Section 106 contributions, local ward councillors (Stephen Morgan, Lorna Campbell and Mark Harrison) were clear they wanted the local community to share in the benefits.

So to support Lambeth's co-operative work to give citizens greater control over their neighbourhoods, decisions have been made to spend more than £200,000 on such things as computers at Durning Library, Lollard Street Adventure Playground, re-landscaping outside Coverley Point and work into the greening of Tyers Street.

3. Importantly, I recommended to the Cabinet in July 2012 that the balance of funds of £5.6m be ‘ring fenced’ and have now been invested directly in building Lambeth schools, thus benefitting future generations of young people.

4. And now finally, by you acquiring it and conversion into the London Diamond Way Buddhist Centre, the Beaufoy Institute building has a new lease of life.

This wasn't without its difficulties! Some have said that the planning application was the second most controversial one of recent times!

But the positive outcomes of Lambeth Council's decision to grant planning permission to Diamond Way Buddhist Centre to purchase the Beaufoy Institute are now self-evident.

I also know that Diamond Way Centre will work with the local community to ensure there is a community resource for all to share.

Equally, I know my colleague Councillor Lorna Campbell is pleased and has worked to ensure that the Buddhist Centre is part of the ‘Faiths Together in Lambeth’.

This is our borough-wide independent interfaith organisation that fosters constructive relationships among religious communities, and promotes interfaith involvement in civic life in Lambeth. This relationship is really welcome.

So in concluding, all I can say personally is that I wish this centre all the best for the future, and hope it will always be a place of peace, contemplation and learning.

Thank you.

Pictured: Prince's Labour candidates Chris Marsh, Joanne Simpson and David Amos with Leader of the Council Lib Peck outside the Beaufoy Institute

Local investment projects from the Beaufoy sale announced!

Last year your Labour councillors won a commitment from Lambeth Council that £200,000 of the profits from the sale of the Beaufoy Institute on Black Prince Road would be spent locally, with the decision made by local councillors after a consultation of local people.

Last November we consulted every home in Prince's ward, and received over 100 responses. Since then we've been working closely with council officers to draw up the priorities for the money to spent on. We've also put the money from the Beaufoy Institute together with the developer's contributions from the development at Old Lilian Baylis School.

Here's what we've decided the money should be spent on:

Item	Beaufoy	Old Lilian Baylis	Total
10% administration costs (this is a standard amount applied to all projects to cover the costs of officers' time)	£20,000		£20,000
Computers at the Durning Library	£7,000	£19,000	£26,000
Lollard Street Adventure Playground	£113,000	£37,411	£150,411
Traffic study to investigate the greening of Tyers Street	£10,000		£10,000
Relandscaping ‘the pit’ outside Coverley Point	£30,000	£10,000	£40,000
10% Contingency Funds	£20,000		£20,000
Totals	£200,000	£66,411	£266,411

*Plus funding has been agreed from Lambeth Living to refurbish Mountain House playground

Durning Library
The largest number of people responding to our consultation wanted to see investment in the Durning Library, and we agreed that this crucial community resource should benefit. However, Lambeth Council has announced a massive £800,000 investment into the building at the Durning, so we wanted to see this extra money invested in a specific project which wouldn't otherwise benefit the Library. Lambeth Libraries officers, in consultation with the Friends of Durning Library, have advised on a need for improved IT equipment in order to deliver IT training and allow for privacy for users of the computers. So we have chosen to spend £26,000 on providing a further eight computers in the adult lending area, reconfiguring the space so it can be used for IT classes, purchasing new computer desks with dividers, and providing a ‘lap-top bar’ with wifi. 

Lollard Street Adventure Playground
Lambeth Council recently handed Lollard Street Adventure Playground over to the Kennington Association, who have exciting plans to increase the usage of the facilities. The playground is in a serious state of disrepair and in need of capital investment. The Kennington Association, having taken possession of the site have assessed that a full refurbishment would cost around £200,000. The KA are to progress this in four stages, refurbishing four zones of the area in succession. So we have decided to spend £150,411 towards funding the refurbishment of the first three zones of Lollard Street Adventure Playground, to help create a top quality, modern, free, supervised play facility for our area's young people.

Traffic study to investigate the greening of Tyers Street

The Vauxhall Gardens Estate Residents and Tenants' Association (VGERTA) have been investigating the idea of greening over Tyers Street - currently a wide, empty and featureless street through the estate - and creating a linear park, linking Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens with smaller parks further north. More recently similar proposals to green Vauxhall Walk have been put forward by business group Vauxhall One. The next step needed is a proper investigation into how these changes might affect traffic and access to homes and businesses. So we are proposing to allocate £10,000 towards a transport modelling study for the closure of Tyers Street and Vauxhall Walk. 

Relandscaping ‘the pit’ outside Coverley Point

Coverley Point and Haymans Point are two 1960s towers on Vauxhall Walk, which are part of the Vauxhall Gardens Estate. They are designed with large sunken concrete areas around the base of the towers. 'The pit' outside Coverley Point has suffered badly from antisocial behaviour - particularly from large groups of 'freerunners' congregating and disturbing residents. Lambeth Living and representatives of VGERTA are keen to pursue a scheme to ‘green’ the sunken area facing Vauxhall Walk, reducing antisocial behaviour and greatly improving the attractiveness of the local environment. So we have chosen to spend £40,000 on relandscaping 'the pit' to VGERTA and Lambeth Living's plans.

There was also strong support for refurbishing the playground between Mountain House and Sullivan House - Lambeth Living have confirmed that they have funds to carry out this work, so this will be taking place as well.

Councillors Lorna Campbell, Mark Harrison and Stephen Morgan said:

'We're really excited that these five fantastic projects are going to be funded, and we're proud that we've insisted on local people having a say in how money from big developments is spent. We hope this consultation will be a model for future local involvement in decisions about how money from big developments gets allocated.'

2012 SE11 councillor update hits the doormats

Prince's ward's Labour councillors' latest leaflet is being delivered by volunteers in our area over the next couple of weeks.

It contains updates about the Durning Library and some of the local issues we have been working on over the past year. It also asks for residents' ideas for how money from the sale of the Beaufoy Institute should be spent.

If you could lend a hand with delivering some leaflets please let Steve know.

Beaufoy Institute planning approval unlocks investment for our area

On Tuesday evening Lambeth's Planning Committee approved two applications for the Beaufoy Institute site, between Black Prince Road and Sancroft Street.

The first application was from Diamond Way Buddhism, who plan to restore the historic building and use it as a Buddhist community centre with accommodation, a cafe and a contemplation garden.

The second application was from Bellway Homes, who plan to build a residential building of 75 homes on the car park to the rear of the Beaufoy Institute site.

The approval of the schemes completes a agreement made with the Council which releases a disused site for development, provides £7.5 million to the Council to invest in vital capital works (schools, housing and pavements), provides £1.5 million to Beaufoy Trust so it can fund work to help young people get into work, and provides 75 much needed homes, 40% of which will be affordable.

Local councillors have also negotiated a £200 000 'community pot' for our area, funded by this sale and development. We'll be consulting with residents over the coming weeks to decide how the money should be spent for maximum benefit.

Councillor Stephen Morgan spoke in favour of the applications at the planning meeting, and all three ward councillors supported the project as the best deal possible for our area. The site has sat empty for years, and we are delighted that the Beaufoy is finally going to be brought back into use.

Beaufoy Institute planning applications

Planning applications for the two parts of the Beaufoy Institute site have now been submitted.

You can now visit the Council's planning site to view the plans and comment on them.

http://planning.lambeth.gov.uk/online-applications/search.do?action=simple&searchType=Application

The plans are as follows.

REF: 12/01173/RG4
Erection of a new part 3/part 8 storey buildings comprising of 75 new residential units on the southern part of the site, including landscaping, cycle parking and associated works. 39 Black Prince Road London SE11 6JJ

REF:12/01101/RG4
Change of use to provide residential institute (Use Class C2), residential (Use Class C3) and community (Use Class D1), (24 private bedrooms, 1 dormitary and 2 self contained flats), involving a 3 storey rear extension and a ground, first and second floor extensions. Alterations to the existing fenestration with the removal of an external staircase, replacement of existing single glazed windows with crittal double glazed windows. Formation of a terrace to the rear elevation, with the installation of a ramp. Installation of solar panels and replacement of existing rooflights to the rear elevation. Internal alterations to include, removal and installation of new partition walls, creation of new staircases and corridors. Installation of new pedestrian and vehicular access gates with the provision of off street car parking, cycle storage refuse and recycling and assocaiated landscaping. [Town Planning and Listed Building Consent] 39 Black Prince Road London SE11 6JJ

The two developers have provided some more information about their plans:

Bellway

Following pre-application consultation, Bellway has now submitted plans
for the development of 75 new homes on the former playground behind the Beaufoy
Building on the corner of Vauxhall Street and Sancroft Street.

The homes include

• a mix of affordable including both rented accommodation and shared ownership and private housing


• cycle parkingon site


• open space for residents of the scheme.

Additionally, there will be substantial section 106 contributions for local infrastructure.


Diamond Way

Planning application submitted for the Beaufoy Institute

Following local community consultation, the planning proposal to bring the historic Beaufoy Institute and Annex back to life has been submitted by Diamond Way Buddhism. The plan will:

· Fully renovate the Beaufoy Institute, with minimal changes to the listed building
· Provide space for community living including common dining and children’s areas.
· Include a contemplation garden, exhibition room and facilities for events and meetings.
· Provide accommodation for the Buddhists living at the centre and visitors.

The community consultation has highlighted interest in the history of the building and in the transformation of the derelict site. The renovation will provide opportunities for local people to be involved in the project and also visit and use the building for different events and community activities.

The primary activity in the institute will be Buddhist meditation and an associated program including art exhibitions and classes on wellbeing. Funds have been raised for the project from within the Buddhist community and have come from many activities in the last 10 years both in the UK and in Europe.

For more information, see www.buddhism-london.org. There is also a regularly updated blog at http://www.buddhism-london.org/blog

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.

Sale of the Beaufoy Institute

The bidding process for the sale of the Beaufoy Institute and surrounding land has now closed.

Cllr Paul McGlone said:

“Lambeth Council has marketed the Beaufoy site which has generated considerable interest and 10 formal bids. The marketing process has now closed, and the council is carrying out due diligence on the highest bid.

The outcome should be good news for everyone – local residents should see the Beaufoy building brought back into community use, while the sale of the whole site will raise funds for the Beaufoy Trust to help disadvantaged young people in Lambeth, and also vital funds for the council to invest in local schools, roads and housing at a time of such major cuts in Lambeth’s government funding.”

· The receipts raised from the buildings sale would be spilt between the council, to invest in services for local residents, and the Beaufoy Trust, a charity which seeks to support disadvantaged young people through education and training.

· The building is listed so could not be torn down. Instead it will be redeveloped, bringing back into use a building that is a local landmark and of historical significance.

· The building has been empty for around a decade.

· The decision to dispose of the building was made by cabinet in February 2011. The council’s disposal programme aims to raise £100 million over four years to invest in vital services, such as schools, roads and housing, at a time when the council’s budget has been slashed by cuts in capital grants from central government of 60%.

· There is no covenant in place that says the building must be used for educational use, but the building’s sale will raise vital funds that will help the Beaufoy Trust continue its work of helping young, disadvantaged residents.

Beaufoy Institute up for sale

Because of cuts to Lambeth Council's funding made by the Government the Council has been forced to dispose of various sites in order to protect our frontline services. Over the past few years various options for educational use for the Beaufoy Institute site have been explored, and none have come to fruition. The council will begin the process of selling the Beaufoy site on Saturday. Lambert Smith Hampton are managing the bidding process.

Cllr Paul McGlone said:

“These plans should be good news for everyone – local residents should see the building brought back into use, while the sale of the building will raise funds for the Beaufoy Trust to help disadvantaged young people in Lambeth, and also vital funds for the council to invest in local schools, roads and housing at a time of such major cuts in Lambeth’s government funding.”

· The receipts raised from the buildings sale would be spilt between the council, to invest in services for local residents, and the Beaufoy Trust, a charity which seeks to support disadvantaged young people through education and training.

· The building is listed so could not be torn down. Instead it would be redeveloped, bringing back into use a building that is a local landmark and of historical significance.

· The building has been empty for around a decade.

· The decision to dispose of the building was made by cabinet in February 2011. The council’s disposal programme aims to raise £100 million over four years to invest in vital services, such as schools, roads and housing, at a time when the council’s budget has been slashed by cuts in capital grants from central government of 60%.

· There is no covenant in place that says the building must be used for education use, but the building’s sale will raise vital funds that will help the Beaufoy Trust continue its work of helping young, disadvantaged residents.


Background : The Beaufoy Trust

The Council is the Corporate Trustee of the Beaufoy Trust, but the issues around the dilapidated Institute building which has been ‘mothballed’ for a decade and the actual Trust have become muddled over the years. The Council has been seeking a solution to resolve this confusion, separate the building from the Trust and re-establish the Trust to focus on what it was originally set up for.

The modernised charitable objects of the 100 year old Beaufoy Trust are set out in the Trust Scheme, and state: “The object of the 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”. ‘Vocational training’ is defined specifically, but covers education, training or instruction capable of improving prospects for employment. The area of benefit is also defined, but is broadly North Lambeth. Importantly, once the Beaufoy Institute building has been sold, the money can be used for the purposes of the Trust, which has delivered nothing for over a decade. Importantly, The Capital Community Foundation (CCF) has confirmed that it is interested in the trusteeship of the Beaufoy Trust being transferred to CCF once the sale of the property has been completed by the Council. This will make the Beaufoy Trust completely independent from the Council, with a capital sum of money to invest and be used for local vocational training in the future.

Beaufoy Institute update

Briefing on the Studio School Proposal from Lambeth Council

(Beaufoy Institute)

January 2010

Following some communication between local authority officers and representatives of the studio schools trust, Lambeth arranged a meeting with representatives of the DCSF and OSC on 4th November 2009 to discuss ways forward for Lambeth’s Beaufoy studio school proposals, and our future relationship with the studio school’s host.

History

From the outset, the documentation produced by the Young Foundation was largely generic and the Local Authority was invited to work out more detailed proposals and models for how a studio school could potentially be delivered. These proposals included curriculum modelling and financial and educational feasibility. A long process of negotiation ensued in an attempt to reach consensus about structural and pedagogical models which would be appropriate. It was extremely difficult to reach this consensus due to the relative inflexibility of the generic studio school model, a lack of proven project-based approaches, some confusion about whether the national curriculum could be disapplied (the current ruling from DCSF is that it can't) and considerable debate about whether the work experience model required by the Young Foundation is in fact deliverable in London (which is largely supported by small and medium-sized businesses rather than large multinationals). In addition, obstacles to progress included:

• Some potentially exciting initial work which took place around the hospitality and catering area that came to nothing


• Considerable confusion about the potential relationships and motivations of each of the primary stakeholders.

Educationally, an integrated model was desired with workshops and the De Morgan Foundation’s Museum being fully integrated with the school. Unfortunately, De Morgan were unwilling to countenance this model because of perceived risks to their exhibits and because there was a perception that this would damage the reputation of the Museum. The artisans’ workshops were never properly costed as an integrated facility (either capital or revenue) and remained very much an ‘ambition’. There was no question of any funding coming from the studio school project towards either the Museum or the artisans’ workshops, which left a significant funding gap. If the Museum and workshops were to be co-located rather than integrated the site would present problems since there would be no leisure or car parking space for the school or for the local community.

Finally, the DeMorgan Foundation were unable to provide the funding necessary to enable them to be partners in the studio school proposal. As a result of DeMorgan’s departure from negotiations, Prince Charles decided to withdraw his support for the proposal, as did the Young Foundation, who were the primary sponsors.

Whilst the Young Foundation were the originators of the project they were never seen as sponsors in the sense of an Academy. The role of a sponsor carries significant statutory responsibilities which the Young Foundation had never anticipated would be their role. Accordingly, it would always have been necessary irrespective of the final model to have identified and negotiated with a formal ”sponsor” for the project.

Although there was initial interest from the Aurora hotel group, this initial interest now appears to have come to nothing.

The Studio Schools Trust are fully committed to a totally integrated educational model based on project-based learning. This is largely untried and unproven in the secondary sector so far. There are two field trial studio schools in operation, though these are not stand alone studio schools, but are separately identified provision within the mainstream school.It is difficult to see how the conflicting demands of the above, and the necessity to offer a full range of national curriculum subjects, can be reconciled within one institution and officers have serious doubts about whether this is going to be deliverable in its current form.

Accordingly, Lambeth developed a model which, whilst recognising the desirability of new pedagogical approaches, and in particular experiential, participative and project-based learning, was still rooted in ensuring that the young people attending the school would not be seriously disadvantaged by a restricted curriculum and still had full access to the full national curriculum.

DCSF encouraged us to follow this line and develop something which was specific to Lambeth and met the needs of Lambeth students both in terms of ensuring a broad and balanced curriculum but also in terms of ensuring that young people would be employable at the end of it.

We were told initially that we had the freedom to develop local provision to local needs. We were told that the studio schools were a pilot therefore we had the opportunity to tailor our provision in any way that our professional educationalists felt fit. The Studio School Trust/Young Foundation admitted that they were not educationalists but that the educational input to their curriculum model came from consultants.

Lambeth invested a considerable amount of work in attempting to get a best fit between our freedom to innovate and restrictions which increasingly were placed upon us by the Studio Schools Trust. As time went on, our freedom to innovate and design something which was specific to Lambeth became increasingly subsumed into a desire by the Studio Schools Trust to have a clearly identified corporate brand, and indeed a commercially produced curriculum model which the Studio Schools Trust wished to market.

Given the choice of substantially adjusting our curriculum model into one in which we have limited educational confidence or blindly following the model presented to us by the Studio Schools Trust we elected to follow our educational principles and experience. This now appears to be unacceptable to the Studio Schools Trust.

The Studio Schools Trust sees themselves as very strong ’gatekeepers’ to this project. Since they interpreted the feasibility study stage as a competitive process they refused on a number of occasions to give Lambeth the contact details of other authorities who were engaged in the development of pilot studio schools. We have therefore not been allowed to see how timetables differ. However, this was supposed to have been a feasibility stage to demonstrate how a timetable model would fit with space allocations, outline designs and the financial viability of the model. We are confident that we demonstrated this.

Very late in the process, the Studio Schools Trust indicated that they would not be supportive of our model as it stands and that they would not support this model when it was submitted to the Department.

We recognise this has been a source of disagreement for much of the project but was finally only crystallised for us in October. We were then faced with the option of sticking to our original model which we were convinced was correct, or reinventing our model in line with the demands of the Studio School Trust whilst recognising that the matter would likely remain unresolved and would simply re-emerge at a later stage.

Alternatives

Our decision to explore alternatives to the studio school proposal by the Studio School Trust does not reduce our commitment to delivering a high quality and innovative educational institution on the Beaufoy Site.

Academy sponsors

We are exploring with potential sponsors an Academy-based model which will be innovative, exciting and transformational yet based in sound pedagogical and educational philosophies which are already proven to be successful elsewhere.

Our decision to look for an alternative to the studio school model is based upon our extensive understanding of the educational demands and employability needs in London and on our specific understanding of the needs and desires of Lambeth parents, carers and their children.

Whilst we found the model as advocated by the young foundation, and latterly the studio school trust, to be an interesting alternative to more traditional approaches, we were increasingly unconvinced of its relevance to the Lambeth community and of its deliverability on the Beaufoy site. Whilst we believe that there is ample opportunity for the studio schools trust to demonstrate in its pilots elsewhere that their model can work, ultimately we were unwilling to take such a gamble with the futures of Lambeth children.

All of the parameters and criteria outlined in our detailed feasibility study to DCSF remain unchanged; however we are now free to negotiate directly with potential sponsors rather than having to negotiate everything via the Studio Schools Trust.

Our initial discussions with potential sponsors have indicated that they are fully supportive of our educational aims and that the Beaufoy Vocational Academy (working title) will deliver:

• Innovation and an innovative approach to education·
• A focus on vocational diplomas and vocational education·
• A transformational pedagogical model of highly personalised learning based on stage, not age·
• Unique (in London) opportunities for a different educational model·
• A school with extremely strong links both practically and philosophically to the local community·
• A school which will work well and closely with other local schools where relevant·
• A school which will work across borough boundaries to deliver unique opportunities for its pupils

Funding, whether for the studio school or for the Academy has always been, and remains, an issue since there have been no guarantees of full funding of the school. We are still seeking reassurance from the Department that the school development will be fully funded.

All in a week's work for SE11 Labour

Last Saturday residents from the Ethelred and Whitgift estates met at Pory Hall for a coffee morning with councillors and Kate Hoey MP. It was a good chance for people to meet their neighbours and chat, discuss some of the problems both estates are facing, and an opportunity for Ethelred TMO board members to update councillors on efforts to get the Council to sort out the estate's CCTV and doors. There is some optimism that the new Lambeth Living Chief Executive is keen to sort the problem out, but there is a still disagreement about the service charge residents will be expected to pay.

On Monday the Vauxhall Gardens Estate Tenants and Residents Association met for the first time in a few months. Major works are underway across the estate, and there was concern that scaffolders are blocking streets and car parks, and that builders are not cleaning up after themselves properly. Mark Harrison offered Labour activists' assistance in taking round a petition against coaches parking on the streets around the estate at weekends, which has been causing a nuisance in the area for several years.

On Tuesday the Kennington, Oval and Vauxhall Forum held its quarterly public meeting at the Pedlars Acre Hall in Kennington. There was concern that pavements are being left in a poor state when street lighting is replaced. Complaints were raised against the lack of a review of the Kennington controlled parking sub zone, which Cllr Stephen Morgan promised to take up. There was an update on the Mayor of London's cycle hire scheme - Lambeth will be applying for planning permission for around 30 docking sites in the north of the Borough. John Kazantzis, Lambeth's Cabinet Member for Business, gave a overview of how Labour is trying to help small business in Lambeth through the recession. Finally, Stephen Morgan gave an update on plans for a craft school and museum on the Beaufoy Institute site in Black Prince Road, and plans for a community hub on the old Lilian Baylis School site. Both are progressing well, if slowly.

On the same evening Labour supporters joined members of the Portuguese community at the Casa Madeira restaurant on Albert Embankment for a fantastically-successful fundraising dinner. Leader of Lambeth Council Steve Reed, and London Assembly Member Val Shawcross both practised their Portuguese, to the pleasure and amusement of everybody there.

KOV updated on 'Future Kennington'

Councillor Lorna Campbell attended the quarterly meeting of the Kennington, Oval, and Vauxhall Forum on Tuesday.

The meeting was updated on the 'Future Kennington' programme - the Council's project to transform two sites in Prince's ward into new community facilities.

At the site of the old Lilian Baylis school, Lambeth Council, who owns the site, are working with the Sport Action Zone, Ethelred Nursery School and Children’s Centre and the All Nations Centre (ANC) to expand the sports and young persons focused services already operating from the site and to bring together on the site a range of community facilities. The overarching aim of the partnership is to create a community hub that is inter-generational and inclusive with activities based around sports, health, arts and culture, economic activity, community activities, education, childcare and the environment.

Complex negotiations are currently underway, by the partners ae hopeful that a decision by the Council on transferring the ownership of the land will be taken this March. Within the next week a project update will be circulated to all local households.

Across Black Prince Road at the Beaufoy Institute (pictured), work continues to develop the Studio School and Museum and Workshop proposal.

In September 2008 Lambeth and the Young Foundation jointly submitted a detailed proposal for a Studio School on the vacant part of the site. The proposal was developed with a wider consortium of partners, including the, the De Morgan Centre, Lady Margaret Hall Settlement and Kate Hoey MP.

The aim of the Lambeth Studio School is to provide a small-scale environment for some 300 students which will, in close partnership with local businesses, target a cohort of learners and nurture within them skills of enterprise and entrepreneurship. A potential lead business partner, Arora International Hotels, has been identified. A government decision as to whether the proposal should continue to be developed is expected by the end of January 2009.

The school proposal sits within a shared vision for the wide site to create an Arts and Crafts Museum, operated by the De Morgan Foundation, which will itself be a major educational resource, as well as associated Arts and Crafts artisans’ workshops offering a range of employment and apprenticeship opportunities.

Currently, the Council, working closely with the De Morgan Foundation, is undertaking detailed spatial feasibility work around the constraints of the site and buildings and looking at how the Museum and workshops might coexist with the proposed school. Work is also ongoing to seek to align the De Morgan proposal with the objects of the Beaufoy Charitable Trust, who own the historically and architecturally more significant 1905 part of the Beaufoy Institute building. This work to explore the viability of the project enables the De Morgan Foundation themselves to further develop the overall project business plan and necessary funding streams.