Vauxhall Gyratory System and Bus Station update

Following a meeting at the Kennington, Oval & Vauxhall Forum we wanted to update you on plans for the Vauxhall Gyratory & Bus Station.

As far as Lambeth Labour councillors are concerned, all viable options for transforming the Vauxhall gyratory are open, and we are open to hearing people's ideas.

Currently TfL are testing options to see if they will work - the two previously circulated to KOV, and they are now exploring a third which introduces two way working and preserves the central bus station function.

There is still a huge amount of work to be done before the Autumn in working through these options and we welcome and will be seeking people's views in the meantime. And just to underline, TfL and Lambeth are committed to full and genuine consultation before any decision is made.

We aren't wedded to the creation of a high street exactly as sketched out in the Vauxhall Supplementary Development Plan. We are committed to creating a district centre for Vauxhall which ties together the area, and provides quality public space, shops and restaurants. As mentioned above, there will be further discussion with residents, businesses and commuters about their priorities and how best they see this happening prior to consultation that TfL and Lambeth will be undertaking the Autumn.  The exact form of the Vauxhall district centre will be determined by decisions which are made on the gyratory and the bus station.

Letter from Lib Peck about Vauxhall Bus Station

To the Chair of the Kennington, Oval & Vauxhall Forum

Dear Malcolm

I wanted to reassure you that the views expressed at last week’s meeting have been relayed to me, and I understand the concerns and priorities of your  members and others who attended the meeting.

I believe we share the same goals for  Vauxhall – to make it a thriving district centre and the gateway to Nine Elms  on the South Bank, underpinned by  excellent transport connections. This is the Council’s adopted planning policy. The question is, how is this achieved?

Transport for London,(TfL), is responsible for managing and maintaining the capacity on this strategic part of the road network in London, so the traffic interchange has to work, especially for buses. No changes can go forward at the expense of the transport interchange. There is considerable technical analysis underway to establish whether the gyratory can be made to work two way and to understand the consequences of achieving this, if this is what is ultimately agreed. The programme for this work was shared with KOV last week. There will be no final decisions in relation to this for several months.

TfL have advised the Council that the traffic modelling results, that will assess whether or not two way working is possible, will be available at the end of February. If it is possible, then we will look further at what that will mean for the design of the district centre and the interchange arrangements, including the bus station. As part of this process, we will be preparing a design framework for the district centre that takes the policy within the Vauxhall Supplementary Planning document to a more detailed level of implementation. Things are changing within the Vauxhall area, as we have seen from the new shops and restaurants that have come, now
that there is a wider awareness of the Council’s ambitions. This change will continue with the implementation of Vauxhall Square and other exciting developments that the Council has supported.

The workshop next week, (29th January), will provide a useful starting point for this conversation and will help shape future consultation. At the workshop we will be sharing the results of the traffic modelling thus far, what the volume of users by mode has been, and discussing the issues and opportunities that the district centre and two-way working present.

It is essential that full and meaningful consultation follows this first stage of technical investigation, and the council passed a motion to this effect at the beginning of last week. There is clearly a challenge to TfL, and  the Council, to demonstrate that any options or proposals will improve the existing situation, and not make it worse. However, I would also ask that you keep an open mind about the potential benefits that change might bring. These need to be articulated through the process so that everyone can come to a view.

Yours sincerely

Councillor Lib Peck
Leader, London Borough of Lambeth

Update on Lambeth's plans for Vauxhall Bus Station

Recently the Vauxhall Society has been trying to promote the setting up of the ‘Friends of Vauxhall Bus Station’, claiming that Lambeth Council is intent on demolishing the bus station and scattering the bus stops around the gyratory system.

Lambeth Labour councillors believe that setting up the ‘Friends of Vauxhall Bus Station’ is premature because as yet there is no finalised plan for the bus station for people to object to. Lambeth Council and Transport for London are currently working up a comprehensive plan for the remodelling of Vauxhall Cross, which should be consulted on this summer. There will be a full consultation and plenty of opportunity for all residents, businesses and travellers to express their views once there is a proposal to respond to.

Lambeth absolutely does not want to scatter bus stops around the Vauxhall Gyratory system. Any changes to the bus station need to maintain the convenience of being able to interchange between buses easily and quickly.

What Lambeth does want to do is examine whether there’s a better way of laying out the current bus station area – which maintains the convenience of the bus interchange but makes the area more pleasant for pedestrians, more economically and culturally vibrant, more green, and with more direct routes for buses to follow (so they don’t have to circle the gyratory before getting to the bus stop). We think removing the existing bus station canopy and creating a two way ‘high street’ reserved for buses might be the best way of doing this – but we are testing this in our detailed discussions with TfL before coming to any conclusions.