Vauxhall Gardens community meeting

Labour Action Team members Mark Harrison and Cllr Lorna Campbell attended a special community meeting at Vauxhall Primary School on Thursday 29 May. It was held to update the community on developments since the murder of Carmelita Tulloch two years' ago.

Sergeant Bob Lockyear updated the community on the work done in the past two years, since neighbourhood policing was set up. There are now six dedicated officers who work exclusively in Prince's ward. The Safer Neighbourhoods Team are focusing on thefts from motor vehicles, dangerous dogs, and crime associated with drug misuse.

Door entry systems on the Vauxhall Gardens estate have made a difference, and have reduced the problems with drug users using stairwells. Several crack houses in the area have been closed.

Residents complained that patrols were not frequent enough, and that they did not see officers patrolling all areas of the estate. Bob promised to look into this and instruct his officers to patrol all areas properly. There is a possibility that more PCSOs might be assigned to Prince's ward - Labour activists have promised to push the Council for this.

Council officers also updated the meeting on plans to replace windows and roofs on the estate, and the issue of the parking enforcement scheme. There is currently a ballot of residents to see if they want to continue to have parking enforcement on the estate.

Derrick Anderson, Chief Executive of Lambeth Council, was also at the meeting and promised to listen carefully and take away all the concerns of residents that he heard.

Action Team Member Mark Harrison said, 'it's clear to everyone that dangerous dogs are a concern for people on the Vauxhall Gardens estate, and across the area as a whole. I'm please the police are focusing on the issue, but clearly more needs to be done to tackle the problem'.

If you want to contact the Prince's Safer Neighbourhoods Team then call 020 7321 7570 / 07920 233835 or email princes.snt@met.police.uk

Lambeth Walk Post Office saved!

Vauxhall residents are celebrating after the Lambeth Walk Post Office on Vauxhall Street was saved from closure after a campaign by the local community. Kate Hoey MP said "This is wonderful news for the community and is down to the well organised and thoughtful campaign by us all to tell the Post Office that our Post Office is greatly needed and valued by everyone. Thanks to the whole community - just as we once saved Vauxhall primary school from closure we have now saved the Post Office."

Community meeting on gangs and guns

Labour has been working hard to involve the community in finding solutions to the problem of gangs and guns. Councillor Lorna Campbell has launched an action plan for Lambeth Council that will combat this problem, which is causing great concern across south London. Lorna talked about the action plan at a special community meeting on 5 March organised by Labour campaigners Mark Harrison and Richard Bridge at the Roots & Shoots Centre. Local Youth group SE1 United made a presentation about what young people in this area feel about the problem, which sparked a lively debate amongst residents who attended. Lorna said 'this problem has no easy solutions, but Labour is committed to listening to residents and taking action that will help young people and the community as a whole'.

Councillor Lorna responds to residents' concerns

Residents, Ethelred TMO, and Councillor Lorna Campbell responded quickly to address concerns about the new car park laid out by developers of the old Kerrin Point site. Residents were worried about the lack of bollards around parking areas outside Sambrook House and Gaysley House, as nothing was preventing vehicles driving onto the pavement. There were also concerns about narrow walkways and the low height of the ball court fence. After meeting with the developers, it has been agreed that an additional 11 bollards would be installed and that raising the height of fence would be investigated. Lorna has promised to keep a close eye on developments.

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.

Useful contacts

A list of useful contacts for Prince's residents:

Click here for your councillors, MP and Labour Action Team

Lambeth Council - Main Switchboard - 020 7926 1000

Lambeth Housing - 020 7926 6000 (all calls for local housing offices go through the Lambeth Service Centre)

Housing repairs - 020 7926 6666

Leaseholders - 020 7926 6700

Vulnerable tenants - 020 7926 6270

North Lambeth area housing office: 91 Kennington Lane;

Ethelred TMO: 020 7926 8361 / ethelred@lambeth.gov.uk ;

Cottington Close Tenant Management Co-operative: 020 7926 8105


Lambeth Streetcare - 020 7926 9000

Lambeth Streetcare call centre deal with a large number of issues including: abandoned vehicles: graffiti removal; litter and dumped rubbish; bulky refuse collections; recycling; road and pavement repairs; street lighting; parking enquiries, parks.

Sex and Drug-Related Rubbish Pick-Up Service : 020 7926 0524

Noise Complaints

Monday to Friday daytimes: 9am – 5pm - 020 7926 6111

Monday to Thursday evenings: 5pm to 3am - 020 7926 5999

Friday evenings: 5pm to 5am - 020 7926 5999

Saturday: 2pm to 5am - 020 7926 5999

Sunday: 2pm to 3am - 020 7926 5999

Lambeth Automatic PCN payment line - 0870 241 3262 / 0845 331 331


Register to vote -020 7926 2144 / electoralservices@lambeth.gov.uk

Lambeth Children and Young People's Services - 020 7926 9896

Admissions - 020 7926 9503

Lambeth College - 020 7501 5000/5600

Career development and student loans - 020 7926 9474;

Lilian Baylis Technology College - 020 7091 9500;

Archbishop Sumner Primary School - 020 7735 2781;

Vauxhall Primary School - 020 7735 4535;

Walnut Tree Walk Primary School - 020 7735 1402

Childcare providers - 0845 601 5317

Durning Library - 020 7926 8682


Crime and anti-social behaviour
Emergencies - 999

Police non-emergencies - 101

Prince's Safer Neighbourhoods Team - 020 7161 8610/ 07920 233835 / princes.snt@met.police.uk

Lambeth Council anti-social behaviour reporting line - 020 7926 4000 (9am – 6pm Mon-Fri, messages can be left on a voice mail system outside of these hours)

Other services
Ambulance non-emergencies - 020 7887 6678

Fire non-emergencies - 020 8555 1200 ext 57973

Gas emergencies - 0800 111 9999

Thames Water - 0800 032 5202

Reporting a leak - 0845 9200 800

Advice

Benefits (including Housing and Council Tax) - 020 7649 9311

Citizens Advice Bureau - 0844 2438430 Lambeth Law Centre - 020 7737 9781

Waterloo Legal Advice Service at Waterloo Action Centre - drop in Thursday 6:30pm - 8pm

Benefits/ general advice service at Waterloo Action Centre - drop in Monday, Wednesdays, Fridays 10am – 1pm

Housing advice from Shelter

Travel

Transport for London - 020 7222 1234

Train information - 08457 484950

Lambeth NHS (Primary Care Trust)

Find a local GP - 0800 587 8078

Out of Hours GP - 020 8693 9066;

Hurley Clinic, Kennington Lane- 020 7735 7918;

Vauxhall Surgery, Jonathan Street - 020 7735 1971;

Lambeth Walk Group Practice: 020 7735 4412

Find a local Dentist - 0800 587 0878/020 7716 7085

Out of Hours Dental - 020 8299 5509

NHS Direct (non-emergencies) - 0845 46 47

Guy's & St Thomas' Hospitals - 020 7188 7188

Funding website

Community organisations

KOV Forum: info@kovforum.org.uk The Kennington, Oval and Vauxhall Forum is a non-political umbrella group bringing together local community organisations, businesses and residents, in the North Lambeth area between Lambeth Road, Kennington .Park Road, Camberwell New Road, Harleyford Road and the river Thames.

Kennington Association: 020 7793 0268 / kenningtonassn@aol.com The Kennington Association (KA) is a charitable organisation created to facilitate co-operation, communication, recreation and a conduit for lending a helping hand in the neighbourhood. All work is done by volunteers, and all money raised is spent for the benefit of Kennington, with a minimum reserved for assets and expenses. Anyone who lives or works in Kennington may join.

Friends of Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens: admin@thefriendsofvauxhallpleasuregardens.org.uk Vauxhall Spring Gardens is changing its name to its original eighteenth-century title. The Friends are overseeing a major refurbishment of the park, which is taking place in stages. Join the group to help out and contribute your ideas.

Friends of Lambeth High Street Recreation Ground : friends.lambethrec@googlemail.com Lambeth High Street Recreation Ground is a small park round the corner to Lambeth Palace, bordered by the Whitgift housing estate, which was once the graveyard for St Mary's Church, Lambeth. The Friends are overseeing a major refurbishment of the park.

Vauxhall City Farm: 165 Tyers Street, London, SE11 5HS / 020 7582 4204 Vauxhall City Farm started out in 1977 with local people working voluntarily to transform derelict land into an oasis of country life in the heart of London. The farm continues to rely on volunteers and the support of friends. Entrance is free to the farm, however donations are welcome! The farm attracts people from all around to visit animals that live so near to Big Ben and are at home in the hustle and bustle of inner London.

Roots & Shoots: Walnut Tree Walk, London, SE11 6DN / 020 7587 1131 Roots and Shoots provides vocational training for young people from the inner city, and aims to give them the skills and self-confidence that will equip them for work. Alongside this training they involve local schools and the wider community by establishing the site as an important green space for urban biodiversity.

Sports Action Zone: Old Lillian Baylis School, Lollard Street / 020 7202 6948 / mail@thesportactionzone.org The old building that housed Lillian Baylis School has been transformed by the Sports Action Zone, who have created thriving sports facilities that the community is benefiting from.

Riverside Community Development Trust: 020 7820 0555 A community organisation focusing on the area adjacent to the river Thames in Prince's ward. The group setup the community office at 20 Newburn Street.

Vauxhall Gardens Estate Residents' and Tenants' Association: vgerta.secretary@gmail.com Representing residents of the Vauxhall Gardens Estate (most of the Lambeth Council-run housing between Kennington Lane and Black Prince Road)

Whitgift Estate Tenants' & Residents' Association Representing residents of Whitgift House, Gabriel House, and Eustace House.

Alford House: Aveline Street, SE11 5DQ / 020 7735 1519 Alford House is a historic youth club with extensive facilities, located close to Kennington Lane on the Vauxhall Gardens Estate.

North Lambeth Parish The Anglican and Methodist churches in the area - St Anselm's Kennington, St Peter's Vauxhall, Lambeth Mission & St Mary's (Lambeth Road), and Vauxhall Mission (Worgan Street).

Cinema Museum: The Master's House, 2 Dugard Way, SE11 4TH / 020 7840 2200 / info@cinemamuseum.org.uk The Cinema Museum's collection ranges from items relating to film production to film exhibition and the experience of cinema going. It represents cinema's rich history from the earliest days to the present. It's currently housed in the Master's House of Lambeth Workhouse, where Charlie Chaplin once lived.

Beaconsfield: 22 Newport St, SE11 6AY / 020 7582 6465 Is a gallery space in the Lambeth Ragged School building.

Royal Pharmaceutical Society Museum The Museum houses a permanent collection of objects relating to the history of pharmaceuticals, as well have regular special events that residents are always welcome to attend.

Garden Museum Housed in the historic St Mary's Parish Church, next to Lambeth Palace, the museum is dedicated to the history of gardens, and contains a shop and vegetarian cafe.

Bonnington Cafe The cafe is a cooperative where a different cook creates affordable vegetarian meals every lunch and dinner time.

Advice surgeries

Your local councillors hold regular advice surgeries.

If you wish to speak to a particular councillor then contact them to discover which surgery they are attending next.

Regular surgeries

10am- 11am
1st Saturday of the month
Durning Library, Kennington Cross (pictured)
Map

10am- 11am
3rd Saturday of the month
Durning Library, Kennington Cross (pictured)
Map

Roving surgeries and coffee mornings

Councillors often hold additional surgeries on the Ethelred and Vauxhall Garden Estates, as well as occasional community coffee mornings

About your Labour Action Team

Your Lambeth councillors:

Councillor David Amos
damos@lambeth.gov.uk
07920 547832
@DavidAmosSE11

David is a Londoner and has lived, and loved living, in Prince’s Ward for 12 years. He has spent 20 years working in the NHS running hospitals and at the Department of Health responsible for increasing the numbers of staff providing healthcare services. He has been a long term community school governor, dedicated to improving comprehensive education standards and to giving opportunities for all pupils.   Recently David has met many local residents with Joanne and Chris, listened to their views and concerns, and worked with local councillors to sort out their problems. David's priorities are to get more affordable housing in the Ward, make sure we have a safe place in which to live, and to do whatever we can to get all our residents jobs.'


Councillor Vaila McClure
VMcClure@lambeth.gov.uk
07867 352 236
@vailamcclure 
Vaila was elected in 2015 in a byelection (which was caused by Councillor Chris Marsh having to step down due to ill health). Vaila was born in St Thomas' Hospital and has lived in Lambeth all of her life. She was a teacher and now works for a charity.

Councillor Joanne Simpson
jsimpson2@lambeth.gov.uk
07920 547988
@CllrJSimpson

Joanne has lived in the area for over four years. She has nearly seven years’ experience working as a Caseworker for Labour MPs and taking up the concerns of local people, including housing issues, school admissions, community safety concerns and planning matters. Joanne is passionate about  giving local people a say and is working to support residents’ associations and community groups to improve the area. Joanne’s main interests are housing and transport. She is committed to fighting for a fair deal from developers and ensuring the area gets the affordable housing it needs. Joanne is also a keen cyclist and pledges to work together with Council officers, TfL and the London Mayor to not only improve cycling routes, but to tackle problem spots such as the Vauxhall Gyratory to ensure that transport improvements are secured for pedestrians, bus users and motorists alike. She also pledges to look at where more pedestrian crossings are needed, work with residents on parking concerns, and to tackle potholes which are a hazard to all.


Councillors can help with problems you have encountered with Lambeth Council - such as social services, education, housing, libraries, planning applications and development, leisure, recreation and the arts, environmental health, highways, waste collection, and revenue collection.
Your councillors are also keen to hear about campaigning issues in your area, and may be able to help with you with more general matters.

You can write to councillors at: Lambeth Town Hall, Brixton Hill, London, SW2 1RW


Your MP for Vauxhall:

Kate Hoey MP

020 7219 5989
hoeyk@parliament.uk

Kate is Labour MP for Vauxhall, and represents Prince's residents at Westminster. You can contact her about any issue, particularly those of national importance. Kate can help you directly with immigration and asylum cases, problems with tax credits, and any other matter relating to central government.

You can write to Kate at: House of Commons, London, SW1A 0AA



Your London Assembly Member for Lambeth and Southwark:
Florence Eshalomi AM



Florence.Eshalomi@london.gov.uk
@FloEshalomi

Florence is Lambeth & Southwark's representative on the London Assembly - the body which scrutinises the Mayor of London. If you have problems with Transport for London, the Metropolitan Police, the Fire Service, or any London-wide issue she will be the best person to speak to.

You can write to Florence at: City Hall, The Queen's Walk, London, SE1 2AA




Your London MEPs

Members of the European Parliament are elected to represent London as whole. There are two Labour MEPs representing London. Follow the link above to find out more about them. The photo shows your London Labour MEPs Mary Honeyball and Claude Moraes, celebrating cuts in mobile phone roaming charges (from Mary Honeyball MEP's website).

Visit the Lambeth Labour party website (the Labour party in the London Borough of Lambeth, with a particular focus on what Labour councillors are doing across Lambeth)

Read about Labour's achievements in Lambeth since 2006


Visit the London Labour party website (the Labour party in Greater London)

Visit the national Labour party website

About Prince's Ward

View Prince's ward in a larger map

Prince’s ward is an area in the London Borough of Lambeth, taking in parts of Kennington, Vauxhall and the historic centre of Lambeth. The ward covers the northern part of Kennington, from Brook Drive down to Kennington Park Road; the part of Vauxhall north of Kennington Lane; and the Ethelred Estate, south of Lambeth Road. The river Thames is the western boundary of the ward. Kennington Cross (pictured) is closest to the centre point for the ward, Vauxhall and Kennington tube stations both lie on Prince’s ward’s boundary. Click here for a map of the ward.

Prince's ward is roughly coterminous with the SE11 postcode, but not completely. The area along the riverbank has an SE1 postcode, but is part of Prince's ward. The area south of Kennington Lane and west of Kennington Road is part of SE11, but not part of Prince's ward. The China Walk Estate is part of SE11 but is outside Prince's ward. A few streets around Elephant & Castle have an SE11 postcode, but are in the Borough of Southwark.

The biggest housing estates are the Vauxhall Gardens Estate, the Ethelred Estate, the Black Prince Estate, and the Cottington Close, Penwith Manor, Kennings and Cotton Gardens estates. The parks in the ward include Spring Gardens, Lambeth Walk Doorstep Green, Pedlars’ Acre Park, Lambeth High Street Recreation Ground, and Pedlars Park on Vauxhall Walk. There are two schools- Archbishop Sumner and Vauxhall Primary. The Durning Library at Kennington Cross serves the community.

Kennington Cross is the main concentration of shops and restaurants in the area. There is a Tesco supermarket on Kennington Lane, and other clusters of shops at Vauxhall Cross, Jonathan Street (where Lambeth Walk post office is), Lambeth Walk, and Wincott Parade on Kennington Road.

The census shows that population on Prince’s ward in 2001 was 11 636. Today this is likely to be considerably higher as many new developments have taken place since then. Prince’s ward had a slightly older population than the average in Lambeth. Its population is 62% white and 29% black. 32% of the population was born outside the UK. 83% of homes in Prince’s ward are flats. 37% of homes are owner-occupied; 29% are rented from the Council, 13% from social landlords, and 20% from private landlords. 68% of people in Prince’s ward are ‘economically active’, which is low by national standards.

History

Lambeth was originally a riverside village that was the home of the Archbishop of Canterbury. The village gave its name to the parish that stretched down to Brixton, which was the forerunner of the modern Borough of Lambeth. The area alongside the river housed wharves and manufacturing enterprises like the Royal Doulton potteries. In the nineteenth century the riverside was transformed into the Albert Embankment, and in the 1930s Lambeth Bridge connected Lambeth to Westminster directly.

Vauxhall became famous in the eighteenth century as a pleasure garden – a park that people from all over London visited to promenade and be entertained.

Kennington has a close association with the Prince of Wales and the Duchy of Cornwall – it was the site of the palace of the Black Prince in the Middle Ages, and the Duchy of Cornwall still own much land in the ward to this day. The name Prince’s ward comes from this association.

Read more about the area’s history here