Vauxhall residents highlight Pleasure Gardens nightclub problems

Local residents from the Prince's Safer Neighbourhoods Team and the Friends of Vauxhall Spring Gardens are pushing for action to deal with problems associated with some of the nightclubs in the arches at Goding Street/ Albert Embankment.

There is confusion about who owns the land at Albert Embankment. The confusion has allowed businesses to erect structures on the pavement and grass which aren't licensed. Councillors have asked that the land ownership issue is sorted out so proper licensing of the outdoor activity can take place, to prevent problems like these screen blocking the pavement.

At the rear of the arches Goding Street is a real mess, no matter how many times the Council seems to clean the street.

On a Monday morning litter is strewn across Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens.

Some clubbers sit out in the park at all hours of the weekend - many of them leave considerable amounts of litter.

Now council officers and the police are getting involved to put pressure on the clubs whose patrons are causing the problems.

Councillor Mark Harrison said 'Vauxhall's nighttime economy is a fantastic benefit for the area, and we want to support it wherever we can. However, club owners have a responsibility to ensure they and their patrons aren't causing problems like littering in our area.'

Photos courtesy of Eamonn McMahon, Chair of the Prince's SNT.

Public consultation event on Spring Gardens Art Gallery

3pm to 7.30pm Wednesday 25th May 2011
Vauxhall City Farm

Dear Resident,

You are invited to view the plans for a new art gallery in Spring Gardens. The public consultation will take place at City Farm from 3pm to 7.30pm on Wednesday 25 May.

The small building development is the initiative of Charles Asprey, philanthropist and arts patron, and the Cabinet Gallery. Having founded the Gallery in Brixton during the early nineties and spending the last decade in Clerkenwell, the proprietors Martin McGeown and Andrew Wheatley will be returning to Lambeth and the historic site of Vauxhall’s Pleasure Gardens.

The plot for the building is on Tyers Street, where the Lord Clyde pub once stood. Landscaping and planting around the proposed building will enhance the northwest corner of the park providing a notable landmark for years to come.

A close working relationship with the Friends of Spring Gardens has ensured that the building forms part of the on-going improvements to the park and has been designed aesthetically and sensitively, taking in the concerns of other neighbourhood organisations, especially the City Farm.

We look forward to seeing you on Wednesday 25 May.

Yours faithfully,
Charles Asprey
Andrew Wheatley
Martin McGeown

Updates at the Friends of Vauxhall Spring Gardens AGM

This evening saw a well attended AGM of the Friends of Vauxhall Spring Gardens.

News included:

The people behind the 'Cabinet Gallery' proposal announced they will be holding a consultation event ahead of applying for planning permission. It will be held next Wednesday, 25 May, from 3pm to 7:30pm, at Vauxhall City Farm. They hope to build a prestigious gallery in a new pavilion building on the olf 'Lord Clyde' site in the north eastern corner of the park. Associated environmental work will include greening over the hammerhead road off Tyers Street, thereby increasing the amount of green space in the park.

The work to the Kennington Lane entrance is progressing, and a completion date of 10 June has been set. Six new elm trees and two new mulberry trees have been planted and the columns are up. The granite paving will be installed from next week, and the entrance walls should be ready shortly after that. The final thing to complete will be the lighting behind the walls and up the columns.

Once the entrance is complete a grand opening ceremony will be arranged, when the park will be formally renamed 'Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens', the name used in its eighteenth century heyday.

Finally there was news about the proposed statue of Basaveshwara, the inspiration for Indian democracy and equality. A site in Albert Embankment Gardens has been identified and designs for the statue and associated environmental works are at an early stage.

The Friends normally meet every first Monday of the month, at 6pm, at Vauxhall City Farm.

Friends of Vauxhall Spring Gardens AGM - come along!

Friends of Vauxhall Spring Gardens
(Registered Charity No. 1089008)

Annual General Meeting
To be held at:
Vauxhall City Farm, Education Room, SE11 5JE
16 May 2011
6.30pm for 7pm

Agenda

1) Cabinet Gallery presentation

2) Election of new Committee

Proposal for the election of a new committee as follows -

Chair: Eamonn McMahon
Vice Chair: Paola Piglia
Treasurer: Kate Pode
Secretary: Steve Warren
Membership Secretary: Anne Whitaker

Extended committee - David Wheeler; Diane Sullock; Paul Oxley; Mark Harrison; Diane Lawley.

Co-opted members - Faith Boardman (for Vauxhall City Farm); Frances Robinson; Carroll Falconer.

3) Minutes of last AGM meeting April 26th, 2010

4) Chair's report

5) Treasurer's report

6) Deborah Saunt (DSDHA) Basaveshwara statue update

7) Callum Brown update on Park building progress

8) Any other business

9) Next meeting

Queen Anne becomes Tea House Theatre

The Queen Anne (orange pub in the far left of this picture) has been closed since last summer's tragic murder of its landlady Denise D'Courtenay in the Dominican Republic.

Now new owners are relaunching the venue as the Tea House Theatre, due to open in a few weeks' time. In advance of the opening the people behind the Tea House Theatre are organising a Royal Wedding Street Party for all residents of the Vauxhall Gardens area. It promises to be a memorable afternoon with animals from the Farm, cricket, bingo, tea, cake, jelly and ice cream. Local groups and businesses such as VGERTA, Vauxhall City Farm, the Friends of Vauxhall Spring Gardens, and Franklands Butcher are getting involved.

In preparation for opening the owners have submitted a planning and licensing application for their new venture.

The Planning application is here.

The Licensing application is below:

A New application for a Premises Licence under the Licensing Act 2003 in respect of the below-mentioned premises was received by the licensing authority on 4th April 2011

Applicants Name: Tea House Theatre Ltd

Premises Address: Tea House Theatre - The Queen Anne Public House 139 Vauxhall Walk London

Activities/times requested:

Plays

Saturday 12:00 - 23:00

Tuesday - Friday 19:00 - 23:00

Films

Monday 19:00 - 23:00

Live Music

Friday & Saturday 19:00 - 02:00

Sunday 12:00 - 21:00

Provision of Facilities for Making Music

Monday - Sunday 08:00 - 18:00

Provision of Facilities for Dancing

Monday - Sunday 08:00 - 18:00

Provision of Facilities for Similar Ente

Monday - Sunday 08:00 - 00:00

Supply of Alcohol

Monday - Sunday 18:00 - 00:00

Prior to determining this application, the licensing authority may accept written representations from Responsible Authorities and Interested Parties on the likely effect of the grant of this application in relation to the licensing objectives, which are:

· Preventing crime and disorder;

· Public safety;

· Preventing public nuisance;

and · Protecting children from harm.

Representations will be disregarded if they are deemed to be vexatious, frivolous, or irrelevant, or if they are received later than the 2nd May 2011

Friends of Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens respond on mulberry trees

The national press has got excited by a silly story circulating that Lambeth Council has cut down two mulberry trees in Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens, simply because their fruit stains the pavement.

The reality is rather different.

The Friends of Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens have been working hard with the Council for several years developing a masterplan for the park, which sorely needed regeneration. The major developments in the Vauxhall area are bringing significant 'Section 106' money to improve parks and open spaces - this is money paid for by developers to compensate for the effects of their new buildings.

The work on the entrance to the Pleasure Gardens began a couple of months ago. The idea is that the entrance should be open, with excellent sight line down avenues of trees, that it should welcome visitors into the park, and that the new columns should draw attention to the fact the park is there.

The mulberry trees at the entrance were planted by the Friends eight years ago. They are not in good health. Unfortunately they are not in a suitable position for the new entrance works and it would be prohibitively expensive to move them. For these reasons the trees have been removed. the new entrance works will include 12 new trees and the Friends are committed to planting six new mulberry trees to replace the two which have been lost.

The Chair of the Friends Eamonn McMahon has responded in more detail here

We hope that people will like the new entrance once it is complete and that they will assist the Friends in their excellent work to plant more trees in the park.

Pictured: the Friends have planted dozens of new trees in the park over the past few year

Bid for a grant at the Vauxhall Expo

Does your organisation operate in Kennington, Oval or Vauxhall?
Can it do something really good for this community? Read on……

Two grants of £500 are available to help provide activities or services for the community.

The grants will be determined by people attending the event taking place at the Vauxhall Expo event on 11 September at Spring Gardens, SE11 5HL. From a short list of applications, local people will vote and decide which two projects receive the funding.

Closing date: noon on 4th September, 2010

Application form – email forumkov@gmail.com


Notes: By applying, you accept that grants will be decided by participants at the Vauxhall Expo at the Spring Gardens, Tyers St, London, SE11 5HL on the 11th of September 2010.

……………………………………………………………………………………………

When is the deadline for this application?
4th September 2010. We regret that any applications received after this deadline cannot be accepted.

Are there Grant Payment Conditions?
The Council is administering the scheme so their normal Conditions of Grant Aid apply. You must have a bank account or be supported by a larger organisation with a bank account. The project will be monitored to make sure the grant is properly spent and outcomes reported. The winning organisation therefore will have to provide more details before the payment can be made. All staff working with children or access to information about children must have enhanced CRB clearance.

Who can I contact for further information?
Please contact Frances Forrest at forumkov@gmail.com

How do I complete the application form?
We have sent information out via email and in the post. You can complete the form attached to the email on your computer and submit it back to forumkov@gmail.com or return a completed printed form to us in the post leaving enough time to meet the deadline of noon on4th of September, 2010.

What happens after I have sent in my application?
We will read all applications and short list those that will be invited to present at the Vauxhall Expo and the ‘judges’, your local community. We will contact short listed projects to talk about your project in more detail and help with preparations. The votes cast will be counted at the event and the two projects receiving the highest number of votes cast will be the successful recipients of the grant funding (2 x £500 grant).

What type of projects will be funded?

You must demonstrate how your work will benefit at least part of Kennington, Oval and Vauxhall.


What will not be funded?

We will not fund

• Political parties
• Promotion of religious beliefs
• Third party giving organisations
• Projects that have already started, or that cannot complete by 31 March 2011
• Applications will not be awarded to individuals, the private sector or any organisation that is not a properly constituted voluntary sector organisation.

After school providers must be registered with Ofsted.

Changing Vauxhall event - 11 September

Kennington, Oval & Vauxhall Forum, together with the Friends of Spring Gardens and Vauxhall City Farm, are organising a community fun day with entertainment, exhibitions demonstrations and a market place for voluntary and community organisations. We would like you to take part.

We are celebrating the change of name of Spring Gardens back to Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens. But also we are celebrating Vauxhall City Farm Open day. The gardens are undergoing change – the new entrance from Kennington Lane is under construction.

HERE IS YOUR OPPORTUNITY

The theme for the event is Changing Vauxhall - how it has changed, how it might change, and how you would wish it to change. Changing the environment, health, housing, educational opportunities etc. Tell officers what you would do with the S.106 money from any developments.

The event will provide opportunities for:·
promoting local volunteering,·
networking and information sharing·

engaging with the community

There will also be grants of £500 to North Lambeth organisations, to be decided by public vote at the event.

If you would like to be involved by: ·
Taking a pitch·
Providing entertainment·
Applying for a grant·

Sponsoring the event·
Promoting the event to your members·

Family competitions...

then please let us know, ideally by 13th August. Please reply to Frances Forrest by email to forumkov@gmail.com

Six Lambeth parks win Green Flags

Two local parks popular with residents of SE11 have joined four others in Lambeth to be awarded the prestigious Green Flag award.

Vauxhall Park (South Lambeth Road) retained its Green Flag, and Archbishops Park (Lambeth Road) won a Green Flag for the first time.

The Green Flag Award recognises parks which manage to meet exacting national standards of safety, cleanliness and attractiveness.

Recognition for North Lambeth's parks is unlikely to end here. The Friends of Kennington Park are hopeful that they will achieve Green Flag status next year. And Vauxhall Spring Gardens has dramatic improvement works planned over the coming years, which should make it a strong contender for the award.