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.'

Comment on Henley Homes' plans for Old Lilian Baylis

Henley Homes' planning application for the northern part of the Old Lilian Baylis site is now open for comments.

They plan to convert most of the old school buildings into residential properties, with a couple of new infill buildings. Several buildings to the west of the site will be demolished and replaced with new medium-rise blocks. These will not overshadow existing flats on Gibson Road like in previous plans. There will be a terrace of houses along Lollard Street. 40% of homes in the development will be affordable.

You can see all of the plans and comment on the application here.

See the latest plans for Old Lilian Baylis

Developer Henley Homes are holding a drop in event on Thursday 25 October, 5:30pm - 8pm to display their plans for redeveloping the northern part of the site. The event will be in the Dance Studio - accessed via Lollard Street.

They will shortly be submitting their plans for planning approval. The southern part of the site (with the sports facilities) has been given to the Black Prince Trust for sports, leisure and community use.

Open day at the Old Lilian Baylis - next Saturday

The Old Lilian Baylis site is the former school site which sits in the middle of the Ethelred Estate.

After cancelling the proposed sell-off of the site in 2006, Labour allowed the Sports Action Zone to use the facilities and develop a community sports programme.

Last year, this evolved into the Black Prince Trust, a community trust to which the Council gave a lease for the sports pitches and gyms on the site. They plan an exciting transformation to create first class sports facilities.

The listed school buildings on the Lollard Street side of the site have now been sold to developer Henley Homes. They plan a residential-led development with 40% affordable housing.

You can find out more about the future of the site, and meet the new owners, at an open day on Saturday 31 March, from 10am to 3pm.

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.

Lambeth transfers ownership of Old Lilian Baylis site to the Black Prince Trust

Lambeth Council transferred ownership of 2.4 acres of land to the community on 21October.

Part of the former Lilian Baylis School site in Kennington has been transferred to a new community organisation, the Black Prince Trust (BPT), which will invest over £2 million in improving and extending sports and community facilities on the site. The Trust has received grant and loan funding from the Communitybuilders Fund and will be working in partnership with social enterprise GLL (Greenwich Leisure), the Community Action Zone, and many others to provide a wide range of sports, health and community programmes.

Council Leader Steve Reed explained 'This is the co-operative council in action. The council saves money but more importantly young people gain football and athletics facilities and a wide range of programmes aimed at getting kids active and engaged. The community doesn’t need an underused building costing the council thousands of pounds each year but it does need youth sports and activities to engage local children and give them a place to go.'

Brian Dickens, BPT chairman, said: 'Ownership of the site will allow the Trust to invest in facilities, management, and a long-term sustainable business plan. It will allow us to do what the ‘third sector’ does best: to respond to local needs.'

Kate Hoey MP, BPT trustee and co-chair of the Community Action Zone, said: 'From an abandoned school to the Black Prince Trust has been a remarkable journey. My thanks to all who persevered to make it happen despite huge obstacles. The facilities are not just for young people but for everyone who wants to enjoy the benefits of sport. Now that we control the site we can continue to deliver an even better programme than before.'

Caroline Forster, Communitybuilders Director at the Adventure Capital Fund said:
'We are excited to be able to provide over £2 million from the Communitybuilders Fund to support this significant asset transfer project. We feel the Black Prince Trust will have a real positive impact in their community by providing a range of attractive services and facilities to local people.'

The Black Prince Trust is planning to add
• a new running track
• high jump and long jump facilities
• new 5-a-side football pitches with improved floodlighting
• new changing facilities, a first aid office, and wheelchair accessible toilets
• a new community building incorporating shared workspace for the Trust’s community partners, meeting and training facilities, and a neighbourhood café
• a new gym and wellness facilities.

The site has been used for community programmes since 2005 when Lambeth Council granted the Sport Action Zone (SAZ) a short-term licence while continuing to pay for building maintenance and security. Despite having no security of tenure, SAZ attracted significant funding from companies such as Nike and the Football Foundation. The council continued to work with the Sport Action Zone to find a permanent arrangement that worked for both parties. The offer of intensive support and grant funding from the Communitybuilders Fund has allowed the development of a sustainable business plan and the founding of the Black Prince Trust.

A ‘Community Service Agreement’ tied to the lease requires the Trust to provide a range of programmes that meet local community needs. The Trust will shortly be announcing the first of its ‘open days’ when locals can visit the site, learn about the new and improved facilities, and discuss what programmes they would like in the future.

The Trust has appointed GLL to manage the facilities for an initial 3-year period.

The council has also agreed to sell the other half of the Old Lilian Baylis site (Site B). The Council has exchanged contracts with Henley Homes which intends to refurbish the Listed Buildings and convert them into dwellings and a facility for the local community.

The transaction is subject to planning consent and the Council, at the end of the planning process, expects to obtain a substantial capital receipt that will contribute towards the Council's Capital Programme that is used to fund housing, roads, schools, leisure centres etc.

Furthermore, the Council also expects the scheme to deliver 40% affordable housing for residents of the borough.

Background notes:

1. The 5.7 acre former Lilian Baylis school site is a complex of two and three storey buildings with an open play area. The school is listed grade II as being of architectural or historic interest and is on the Heritage at Risk Register. The school opened in 1964 and ceased to use the site in 2004. The Trust has acquired 2.4 acres of the site including the existing gymnasium building, 2 tennis courts and a football pitch.

2. The North Lambeth and North Southwark Sport Action Zone (SAZ) was one of 12 Sport Action Zones set up in 2000 by Sport England in response to a Government-identified need to engage deprived communities, increase sport participation, address wider social issues through sport, develop partnerships and community capacity, and to act as a test-bed for new initiatives. South Bank Employers’ Group hosted the unincorporated SAZ and provided vital support from 2002 to April 2011.

3. The Black Prince Trust has been founded specifically to run the former Lilian Baylis site as a community facility. It is a registered charity. Under its Articles, at least 50% of trustees must be local residents.

4. The £70m Communitybuilders Fund, previously owned by the Department for Communities and Local Government is now an endowed fund, owned and administered by the Adventure Capital Fund. It supports neighbourhood-based, community-led organisations to become more sustainable through a mixture of loans, grants and business support. The Fund is managed on ACF’s behalf by The Social Investment Business. www.communitybuildersfund.org.uk

5. In June 2010, in response to a SAZ/ South Bank Employers’ Group bid, SIB appointed Coin Street Community Builders (CSCB) to prepare a ‘scoping report’ recommending how best to provide intensive support to develop a community hub on the Lilian Baylis site. Working closely with the council, SBEG and SAZ, CSCB carried out intensive business planning, site feasibility and design work, and organisational development culminating in a bid to the Communitybuilders Fund for a capital investment of £2 million (part loan and part grant) to enable the facilities to be improved and extended and to open up the prospect of further investment. A parallel application was made to the Council to transfer part of the site from Lambeth to the new charitable Trust.

6. Secretary of State consent to transfer at less than best market value was secured in June and, on 10 October 2011, the Black Prince Trust was assigned a 125 year lease aligned with a community service agreement setting out the community benefits to be delivered.

Plans for Old Lilian Baylis site

A planning application has been submitted for the next phase in the redevelopment of the Old Lilian Baylis School site on Lollard Street.

Lambeth Council is looking into handing control of the back portion of the site to a new community trust, which will run the site for sports and leisure use, continuing the excellent work of the Sports Action Zone.

New buildings will be erected to house changing rooms, offices and community facilities.

You can view and comment on the application here .

The front of the site, containing the listed school buildings, will be dealt with separately by the Council.

Candidate disgusted by ballot paper debacle

Labour candidate Mark Harrison has expressed his outrage at a mix up by Lambeth Council which resulted in 26 people being issued with the wrong ballot papers on Thursday morning.

A printing error meant ballot papers for Prince's ward instead listed candidates for a local election in Hackney.

Voters expressed their confusion to the presiding officer but were dismissed and told they had no choice but to cast their ballot. Only when candidate Mark Harrison went to vote and pointed out the ballot paper was wrong did the presiding officer act to sort out the situation.

The 26 people who cast invalid ballots were contacted by the Council and invited to cast their vote a second time.

Mark said 'I'm most angry that the presiding officer refused to listen to voters who told him there was a problem. Had my neighbour not alerted me to the problem within minutes many more people could have been disenfranchised. I will be making an official complaint about the conduct of this presiding officer, which disgraces Lambeth Council.'

The BBC picked up on this story on election day - read more here

The Guardian reports from Old Lilian Baylis School on Lambeth's radical plans for mutually owned services

Today's front page of the Guardian reports on Labour's plans to make Lambeth a pioneer in providing co-operatively-run public services.

Read the main story here

Read the report from Old Lilian Baylis School in Lollard Street

Compare Labour's plans for efficient community-led services with Tory-led Barnet's ultra-Thatcherite two-tier 'Easy-Council' approach

Let us know how Council money should be spent

Local councillors are asking residents to suggest the best options for spending £12 000 earmarked for Kennington and Vauxhall. Labour has decided to continue a scheme which gives councillors a pot of money to distribute in their ward.

Last year councillors chose to fund:
-The Tree of Hope project – which will light up the large tree at Kennington Cross as a symbol of hope against violent crime in the area
-A project at Archbishop Sumner’s School to erect a greenhouse in their eco-garden
-The Creative Sparkworks project at the Old Lilian Baylis, providing art, craft & media activities for young people
-Initial security works to the disused Victorian gentlemen’s convenience at Kennington Cross, so that further work can proceed to convert the space into an arts centre.

Councillor Steve Morgan said ‘last year’s projects were really successful, and we want to make sure this year’s will be just as good. Please let us know if you have an idea for funding by getting in touch’.

Pictured: Labour councillors in front of the tree which will be list up this Autumn, in part thanks to Ward Purse money

Update on ward purse projects

Earlier in the year councillors in Prince's ward selected several projects to benefit from funding from the 'ward purse' - a special fund from Lambeth Council.

Here's an update on the projects:

Archbishop Sumner Primary School Eco Garden
The Friends of Archbishop Sumner School applied to erect a greenhouse in their eco-garden, at the corner of Kennington Road and Reedworth Street. The greenhouse has now been erected, and pupils at the school are making use of the growing facilities there.

Tree of Hope
A project to light up a tree as a symbol of hope against violent crime in the area. After many travails, notably with TfL, the lights have now finally been installed. They are expecting their electrical inspection and certificate on Monday 27th June. However, a formal “switch on” will take place, probably in September, when the evenings become darker.

Creative Sparkworks
A project providing art, craft & media activities at their workshop in the Lilian Baylis Old School for which it needed running water, electrical work for heating and kiln installation. This Ward Purse project is complete.

ArtsLav
A “reserve” project, to make four rather than the allowed three in Prince’s Ward. The long term plan is to convert a disused Victorian gentlemen’s convenience into an arts centre. The Ward Purse funding was for initial security works, so that further work could proceed without fear of theft of items for architectural salvage. As a reserve project, this commenced somewhat later than the others, so is a little further behind the others and only received the funding mid June.

Pictured: Councillor Mark Harrison outside the Kennington Cross toilets earmarked to become the 'ArtsLav project.

How Labour is saving the old Lilian Baylis School site

Mark Harrison, Labour candidate in the Princes ward byelection on 4 June, slams the Lib Dems for their plans to sell off the Old Lilian Baylis school site for private housing, and why voting for Labour will mean it is saved for the use of the local community.

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.

Newsletter delivered about proposed 'community hub'

Residents around the old Lilian Baylis School in Lollard Street should be receiving a newsletter this week about future plans for the site.

Lambeth Council, Kate Hoey MP, and Labour's Action Team are supporting plans by the Sports Action Zone, All Nations Church, and Ethelred Nursery, to create a community hub on the site.

You can read the newsletter here.

Pictured: Cllr Steve Morgan, Kate Hoey MP, Mark Harrison and Cllr Lorna Campbell at the old Lilian Baylis site.

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.

Swimming pool for old Lilian Baylis site!

Lilian Baylis (Old School) will host an indoor temporary swimming pool from 6 January to 15 February 2009, the first of it’s kind in London. This pool will be 12 metres by 10 metres and 0.9 metres in depth (similar to a leisure centre teaching pool) and will be available for local schools to access FREE of charge. It is anticipated that 1000 local school children will benefit from being able to access swimming locally for many of whom it will be their first visit to a pool.

Bookings will be made through the Sports Action Zone (SAZ). If you require more information contact Jo Melchior (London Swimming) on Tel 07795690656 – Email jo.melchior@swimming.org or Sonia Oscar (SAZ) on Tel 020 7820 3444 – Email sonia.oscar@thesportsactionzone.org

DETAILS OF FREE LESSONS FOR CHILDREN:

LEARN TO SWIM LESSONS IN

the Pool in The School

FREE

Children’s Learn to Swim Lessons

(Ideally suited to 5 -12 yrs)

How Long: 30 minute classes

What Days: Mon – Fri afternoon, Sat – mornings

What Times: Weekdays 4.00pm – 6.00pm, Saturdays 9.00am – 12.00pm

Course Type: 6 lessons – one per week, 5 lessons in one week

TO BOOK A FREE SWIMMING COURSE COME TOENROLMENT DAYS

at SAZ office

Lilian Baylis Old School, Lollard Street, London, SE11 6PY

Tuesday 23rd December 10am – 2pm

Monday 5th January 10am – 4pm

Labour members visit Sports Action Zone at old Lilian Baylis school

20 members of the local Labour party were treated to a tour of the Sports Action Zone facilities at the old Lilian Baylis school site on the Ethelred estate. Director Brian Dickens told the group about how his team had started providing a programme of activities in summer 2005, soon after the school moved away, leaving the site empty. Since then the Sports Action Zone activities have expanded massively, attracting the attention of celebrities like Michael Jordan, Linford Christie and Kelly Rowlands.

Brian showed the group classrooms used for homework and arts projects, halls used for football, basketball and dance, the boxing gym, and the plush new basketball court, funded by Michael Jordan himself. The site was full of activity, and members were impressed with how much was going on, and what a difference it was clearly making.

The success of the project is a testament to the hard work of all the staff and supporters involved. It did not come about over night. Norman Turner, Chair of StreetGames, has said 'Lambeth Council and Kate Hoey MP are applauded for their vision and commitment to the project. They backed the London Sport Action Zone to take over the derelict school buildings when it would have been easier to walk away and sell off the land.'

You can read more about the project here and on the SAZ website.

Pictured: Cllr Steve Morgan, Kate Hoey MP, Mark Harrison and Cllr Lorna Campbell at the SAZ.

London Assembly Member promises support for young people

Val Shawcross met local Labour campaigner Mark Harrison at the old Lilian Baylis site on the Ethelred Estate. Mark told Val about the work Labour councillors in the area are doing to ensure the facilities that the community need are provided are on the site. 'Our estate really needs quality facilities for young people. The work that Streetgames have done on the site is fantastic, and needs to be continued and built upon', Mark explained. Val promised she would work to ensure that some of the £3.8 million that Ken Livingstone promised for youth facilities in Lambeth will help young people on the Ethelred Estate.