Shakespeare Road waste site – the future?

There is, I suppose, a theoretical and legal possibility that when the site is cleared and the investigations all completed (which I assume will take at least a couple of years), the operators might claim the right to reopen the site.

Image by drone specialist DeTours360

 

 

 

 

 

 

I am sure that this would be bitterly opposed by all residents. It scarcely needs to be emphasized, but I have written to the Leader of the council to put in writing the quasi-certainty that this would be incomprehensible to residents. Following is the text of my letter:

Dear Cllr Claire Holland

I am addressing this message to you in your capacity as Leader of Lambeth Council.

You will of course be very familiar with the serious fire that occurred at the waste services depot on Shakespeare Road earlier this month, and with the worrying smoke and pollution issues that caused alarm to many residents in this part of Lambeth. We have heard much from your colleague Jim Dickson and from our MP, Ms Helen Hayes.

This note however is about the issue going forward. Clearly there is going to be an enquiry about how the fire started, what fire safety measures were in place and whether they functioned properly and why the water supply being used by the London Fire Brigade failed. It will be vital to understand also what the owners and operators of this site have to say about their apparent negligence and inaction.

We understand of course that the Shakespeare Road site is privately owned and operated, but licensed by the Environment Agency.  No doubt that Agency will be alerted to this incident and invited to consider their licensing policy in the light of possible negligence on the part of the owners.

I’m sure you will be aware that the incident has reinforced local resentment about the operation of such a site in the middle of a heavily built-up residential area and near some schools. This obviously raises questions about the future of the site.

As you of course know, the Shakespeare Road waste transfer station does have planning permission for residential development,  which would be a major improvement, but you will also know that this supposedly can only be implemented once replacement waste capacity has been provided on another site.

We realise that it was the intention of the developer that the replacement capacity should be provided at the Windsor Grove site in West Norwood.  Despite powerful and united opposition from the local community in West Norwood, and Lambeth Council’s decision to refuse permission for a waste facility at this site, the Secretary of State shockingly allowed the application on appeal. Meanwhile we understand that there are a number of planning conditions which must be discharged before work can begin on the replacement facility at Windsor Grove, and that this has not yet happened. Possibly the owners can be persuaded to look at a different location, and perhaps to revise their planning application.

Meanwhile you will naturally understand that the hundreds of Lambeth residents who have been affected by this incident will scarcely understand if, following this major incident and all the subsequent enquiries and investigations, the owners are permitted and licensed to simply rebuild the waste operation on the same site, pending the resolution of the planning conditions referred to above. I think it would not be an exaggeration to say that the neighbourhood would be, indeed, outraged if this was allowed to happen, whatever new and improved safeguards and precautions might be offered by the operators.

Of course these are early days: the Council and the Environment Agency have much work to do in the weeks and months ahead.

But I believe I am speaking for many residents in strongly urging the Council not to allow the rebuilding of this waste site on its present location, under any circumstances.

We would all welcome some reassurance from the Council on this point.

I am copying this message to our local Councillors and to Ms Helen Hayes MP.”

Ruskin Park Playground – temporary closure for refurbishment

Friends of Ruskin Park have announced that, following public consultation in June and July,  playground refurbishment works will begin on the 18th September and last for approximately 12 weeks. Lambeth Council will be responsible for these works.

Some small design changes have been made in response to feedback.

 

 

The Lambeth statement reads:

“The new playground will feature all new exciting and challenging play equipment, safety surfacing, interactive and imaginative play for all ages and abilities.

Following public consultation during June and July the design has been revised to:

  • include a replacement for the very popular trampoline
  • install additional benches (including some with backs)
  • incorporate more natural materials (including wooden benches
  • incorporate planting for shade around the perimeter
  • reuse equipment at other sites where possible.

We also received positive feedback on the proposals for the landscaping in front of the kiosk and eastern entrance. There will be a further update when these proposals have been finalised.

If you have any questions please contact project manager Rob Kelly .”

Lambeth Heritage Festival 2023

Lambeth’s annual Heritage Festival is happening throughout the month of September, and offers a quite remarkable choice of free events  – walks, tours, open house opportunities, talks etc – to anyone curious about the fascinating history of the place where we live. The work of Lambeth’s small team at the Archive is something residents can truly be proud of.

The full programme is attached as a PDF:  lambeth-heritage-festival-2023-brochure (1).  But it’s perhaps worth singling out the Lambeth Local History Fair on Saturday 2nd September (10am – 4.30pm) up at the West Norwood Library and Picturehouse,  1-5 Norwood High St, Norwood, SE27 9JX (a short ride on the no 68/468 bus).

Lambeth looking to roll out 191 new parking bays for e-scooters and bikes

The excellent Brixton Buzz news site has a detailed report, based evidently on a press release from Lambeth, stating that the Council has decided to introduce 191 new dedicated parking bays for e-scooters and dockless bikes. The estimated cost is £97,150.

This amounts to an extension of the existing e-scooter trial, and seemingly echoes a similar scheme inaugurated earlier this year by Southwark Council.

The initiative is part of Lambeth’s Kerbside Strategy Implementation Plan approved by the Cabinet earlier this year, which has the goal of repurposing a quarter of the borough’s kerbside space for sustainable uses. [Snarky comment: In their little world, “sustainable” simply means not using fossil fuels, but clearly does not take into account the environmental, economic and indeed human impacts of extracting rare metals for lithium batteries, building heavy bikes in China, and shipping them over here in fossil-fuelled cargo ships.]

The proposed expansion aims to address concerns about e-scooters and dockless bikes cluttering footways: there has been some discussion about this on our street WhatsApp recently.

Lime bike on the pavement on Fawnbrake Avenue this morning

By introducing dedicated parking bays, Lambeth Council claims it will offer a more organised solution, reducing street clutter and making the environment more pedestrian-friendly.

Currently, 56 parking bays are operational as part of the trial in the borough. The proposed plan seeks to make the Experimental Traffic Management Orders supporting these trial schemes a permanent fixture in the borough.

The long list of proposed sites or such parking bays identifies, for the most part, new bays for e—scooters and dockers bikes, for which an ‘experimental traffic order’ will be made and eventually published.

Nearby sites for dockless bikes

Most of the streets listed  – Lambeth is of course a very big borough – will be of little interest to us here, but some streets named are quite close:

Deepdene Road (just off Ferndene Road, near Ruskin Park)

Bicknell Road (quite close to the bottom end of Ruskin Park)

Lowden Road (just behind Fawnbrake Avenue, where Jessop School is based)

Railton Road (two sites)

Brantwood Road (two sites)

Rymer Street (near Herne Hill station)

Hurst Street (near Herne Hill station)

 

The Brixton Buzz report is worth a careful read. But to some of us, the ambition of corralling all dockless two-wheelers in specific licensed sites has a fundamental weakness. What has made the dockless bikes such a rapid success is the fact that riders can leave them anywhere their journey ends. And for that matter, using the clever app, can often pick up a new bike at random locations. (I have a friend who, after a festive evening in Soho, can easily find a Lime bike within three or four minutes and ride it home to Nunhead. Rather her than me, but she has survived so far. And much cheaper than and almost as fast as an Uber.)

If the rider or the company is to be penalised unless the bike is deposited in some “official” location, I’m not sure how this will work. For example under the Lambeth scheme just announced, the nearest official site would be either in Brantwood Road or one of the streets near Herne Hill station.  Are London boroughs trying to make dockless bikes work in the same fashion as Santander bikes?

If I can find a similar statement of policy from Southwark Council, I will amplify this report accordingly. To date, Southwark has marked out two such sites on Half Moon Lane.

Weekend closure of Herne Hill Road in mid-August

There will be an official closure of part of Herne Hill Road from 23:00 hrs on Friday 11 August 2023 until 05:00 hrs on Monday 14 August 2023.

This is to allow the removal of the enormous tower crane that has been used for the construction of Peabody’s Higgs Yard mixed-use development at Loughborough Junction.

Street closure map supplied by construction company

The Higg’s Yard project is billed as offering ‘106 stylish 1 and 2 bedroom apartments in the beating heart of SE24, within walking distance of trendy Brixton and fashionable Herne Hill’.

‘Beating heart’, eh?

During this weekend (11-14 August), Herne Hill Road will be closed between the junction with Padfield Road and Coldharbour Lane. Traffic diversions will be set up.

We can probably expect to see puzzled drivers and diverted traffic spilling over into other streets. But in mid-August, it might be a quiet weekend anyway.

Dockless bike issues

Dockless semi-electric bikes are cropping up more regularly on our street – sometimes parked correctly, sometimes blocking the pavement. They are surprisingly heavy, and can be dangerous, e.g. to children,  if knocked over.

Our ever-helpful ward Councillor Deepak Sardiwal tells me that some Fawnbrake Avenue residents have been in touch with their understandable concerns over the proliferation of poor bike parking in the neighbourhood. He has shared with me the response he gave them, following a discussion with the council team involved. He explains that the council ultimately intends for the dockless bikes to be placed on kerbside space allocated for this purpose, as part of its new Kerbside Strategy. (I don’t know whether they intend to make dedicated kerbside spaces on every street…). Meanwhile I thought it might be helpful if I shared this position more widely.

Lambeth policy

The statement reads: “Lambeth recognises the conflict since Dockless bikes reappeared in numbers on the streets earlier last year. Currently, we have no legal lever to control them or licence them in the borough as no such legislation exists although it is expected in the coming years. In terms of confiscating the bikes and returning a fee, we have come to a temporary arrangement with the operators requiring them to move a bike within 2 hours of it being reported if it poses a clear obstruction. Our enforcement officers will also remove a bike if it is deemed to cause a danger or threat, in this case, we would charge the operator for the costs of confiscation and storage.

“We have recently come to an agreement with all the operators and developed a memorandum of understanding (MOU). This MOU and associated agreements will address Lambeth’s concerns on footway impediment and the serious accessibility issues they cause., whilst ensuring the bikes can still be used by the public.

“Once we have allocated kerbside space for the dockless bikes all bikes [presumably they mean all dockless bikes] in the borough will be required to be parked in dockless bike bays. If a resident sees a bike parked inappropriately, blocking the footway, falling, preventing or making it difficult to walk, please report this to the Operator, quoting the location and its serial number, This can normally be found on the QR code used to book the bike.”

I am trying to find out whether there is a number within Lambeth Council where we can report dangerously parked electric bikes.

Community Road Watch – request for volunteers to monitor speeding traffic

Reacting to residents’ concerns voiced in the Herne Hill Ward Safer Neighbourhood Team panel meetings, the police have proposed holding some more Community Road Watch exercises this summer. They will focus principally on Milkwood Road and Herne Hill Road, both of which are particularly notorious for badly driven vehicles, often exceeding the 20 mph speed limit and putting pedestrians, cyclists and other road users at risk. Both roads of course have schools on or very close.

The Community Road Watch  exercise involves a Police Officer or Community Officer standing alongside local neighbours who operate a handheld speed camera. Photographic evidence of dangerous driving does not automatically result in a prosecution, but does provide evidence for the police to send a serious warning letter to the driver concerned. The programme requires a member of the public to hold the camera alongside the Metropolitan Police representative. I think we all recognise (the police certainly do) that an immediate speeding fine would be a stronger deterrent, but the law does not apparently permit this at present.

The Safer Neighbourhood Team for this Council ward (I am one of several local members) would like to find some local volunteers to allow this project to take place this summer. For Herne Hill Road it might make sense to look for support among parents whose children attend Saint Saviour’s School. For Milkwood Road, I am looking for volunteers who live perhaps in Fawnbrake Avenue or maybe on Milkwood Road itself, although I have no contact details for that particular community.

When?

The police have proposed the following dates. Note that they are not expecting people to volunteer for all of these dates! This is just a start to find people who might be available for one or two dates – which might need to be adjusted depending on police rosters nearer the time.

Dates proposed by the police:

Friday 14th July – between the hours of 14:00 – 18:30

Monday 17th July – between the hours of 14:00 – 18:30

Tuesday 18th July – between the hours of 14:00 – 18:30

Wednesday 19th July – between the hours of 14:00 – 18:30

Monday 24th July – between the hours of 08:00 – 15:00

Tuesday 25th July  – between the hours of 08:00 – 15:00

Wednesday 26th July  – between the hours of 08:00 – 15:00

Thursday 27th July – between the hours of 14:00 – 18:30

Friday 28th July – between the hours of 14:00 – 18:30

Can you help?

Thank you for anything you can do to circulate this request or mention the project to people that you think might be interested.

It would be great if anyone seeing this message who may be interested and available could please to get in touch direct with me at cognispr@gmail.com or mobile number 07774 424 410. I appreciate that we are not giving people much notice.

CPZ PROBLEM

Temporary parking suspensions, announced through notices stuck on lampposts, trees etc, are legitimately used to reserve spaces for utility works, removal vans, skips and so on. But problems arise when our cars, innocently parked on these spots when owners go away on holiday or on business trips before the notice goes up, are deemed to be in contravention of the suspension if it comes into force in their absence and attracts a parking fine.

In response to a discussion about this issue on our street WhatsApp conversation, I offered to write to our councillors to see whether they could offer a solution. I have now emailed the two most active of our ward councillors, Jim Dickson and Deepak Sardiwal.

 

Here is the text of what I have written:

Dear Councillors

Several of my neighbours here have asked me if I could raise an issue with you, in the hope of finding a pragmatic solution. I’m guessing that you yourselves will not know the answer either, but perhaps you can ask the appropriate team for their advice. The problem, you will see, is not unique to our street and probably not to this borough.

We are in a CPZ zone, which works pretty well. From time to time, notices are fixed on lampposts or trees announcing that parking is suspended at specific nearby areas, for a variety of reasons – utility works, removal vans, skips etc. We are supposed to take note of these warnings and make sure not to park our cars there during the prohibited times. We all understand this, even though sometimes people don’t realise that the notice applies to parts of the street somewhat distant from where the notice is a fixed. But that is not what worries us at the moment. We are learning to be vigilant.

The real problem arises when car owners are absent both when the notice is affixed and when the ban comes into effect. This can happen quite easily. People can go away on holiday or travelling on business for two or three weeks (or even longer) legitimately leaving their cars behind, parked in such an area in all innocence. They can easily be away both when the notice goes up and when the ban comes into effect.

This gives rise to two problems. The parts of the road earmarked for use by, for instance, utility companies, skips, removal vans and so on will inadvertently remain blocked, thus frustrating the original purpose of the parking suspension. Secondly however, any cars parked entirely legally and in good conscience in that spot automatically become liable for a parking penalty without the owners knowing or having the opportunity to avert the situation. They can come back to find an expensive penalty notice on their windscreen.

But attempts to appeal the penalty almost always fail. And naturally the traffic enforcement officers cannot judge whether the car they are ticketing was just parked there carelessly the night before, or had been put there innocently in advance of the ban being announced.

This strikes us as unjustified. It causes great resentment towards the Council.

We have seen suggestions that parking authorities sometimes advise that, to avoid this situation, residents planning to be absent from the street for more than one or two days should empower family members or neighbours to move their cars if the need arises. But this is not a practical solution. It may even be illegal. Many people would not be insured to drive other people’s cars, or would be reluctant to do so for numerous reasons.

So we would like to ask if you could raise this with the parking teams and see whether they can advise on a possible solution, or arguments that could validly be advanced for making an exception in the case of an appeal.

Thank you in advance for looking into this issue.

Artists’ Open House in our streets

Dulwich Festival is back again soon, and with it the wonderful Artists’ Open House opportunities. It’s thrilling to realise how many artists are now active in our street and just a few steps around the corner. Who knew? Surely we are fortunate to live in such a talented and creative area!

The actual dates for visits are 13-14 May & 20-21 May. A list of all the Open Houses in SE 24  –  and more widely  – is on the festival website.

Open Houses on Fawnbrake …

We can enjoy Open House visits to two artists here on Fawnbrake Avenue

Jorge Sanchez
73 Fawnbrake Avenue

website

Oxley Bank Wood by Jorge Sanchez

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Courtenay Kusitor
115B Fawnbrake Avenue

website

Going Out by Courtenay Kusitor

And just a few steps away …

There are several other artists a few minutes away, including …

Camilla Gray
136 Lowden Road

Carola Mathers
4 Ferndene Road

David Whyte
28 Ferndene Road

Chrissy Silver
28 Ferndene Road

Louise Tappin
hosted by Jess Walton & Simon Webb
36 Kestrel Avenue

Elena Blanco
Top Flat, 48 Herne Hill Road

More details about each of these artists (and many others of course) on the Festival website.

Herne Hill Ward Safer Neighbourhood Panel Meeting, 23 March 2023

This meeting was attended by representatives of the local police (only two, the others were off work for unstated reasons); two of the Herne Hill Ward councillors; a couple of representatives of local Herne Hill businesses and Traders Association; and people representing some (but not all) of the different areas/roads of Herne Hill.

Drugs, theft and ASB

The issue that took up most time was drug abuse and antisocial behaviour in and around Station Square, and the associated surge in shoplifting and aggressive begging. It was reported that some businesses had suffered costly opportunistic thefts. The two supermarkets were regularly raided by thieves who carried off bags of goods with total impunity. But even where a security guard was present, it was clear that they had orders not to endanger themselves by trying to physically prevent the shoplifters walking out with the goods.

Those who could observe this happening regularly, and who had learned to recognise the “usual suspects”, were convinced that the shoplifting was mainly designed, not to alleviate hunger or want, but to finance a drug habit. The police and the councillors were well aware of at least two local premises where addicts/thieves and petty dealers congregated to be supplied with and consume drugs. Raids had taken place, but the latest raid did not result in any prosecutions as no evidence could be found. This will be kept under observation and review: further raids might take place, depending on intelligence received.

The police said they were of course willing to attend the scene of any crime if someone called 999, but usually by the time they arrived the perpetrators had disappeared and proper evidence of a crime was often not available.

Beggars

Persistent begging was on the increase again, with most beggars claiming homelessness as the reason for asking for money. Again, police , traders and the councillors believed that most of the money obtained would be used for drugs. There was therefore talk of encouraging generous passers-by who wanted to help the homeless to donate to an independent homelessness charity rather than direct to the beggars; and there was discussion of having posters to this effect and even some sort of donation site. This will be followed up.

Meanwhile, some people said, the atmosphere around the centre of Herne Hill was more intimidating now, especially at night, than  in recent years. There have also been more muggings, often of young people, and committed by heavily disguised people of the same age.

Police presence on the streets

The small team charged with policing the Herne Hill Ward was not numerous enough (taking into account different shifts, holidays, illnesses and the need to be instantly mobile and on call for unforeseen events) to simply patrol the streets in the traditional way. Being in cars made them much more efficient.

This of course reflects the overall depletion of local police teams as a result of austerity budget cuts exacerbated by imperfect police command structures. See the separate note here about the Metropolitan Police and the Baroness Casey Review. This broader issue was not raised at the meeting, but most of us recognized that our conscientious and hard-working local police teams are dangerously over-stretched.

Speeding traffic, especially on Milkwood Road

I emphasised the concern of many residents about the ever present danger of traffic speeding along Milkwood Road and even veering to the wrong side of the central reservations. The fact that this road provided the main access for many people to neighbouring schools was an additional cause of anxiety.

Our councillors were well aware of this problem. There is no instant solution at present. Speed cameras can only be installed and monitored by the police, not by the local authority: and even then, the police will only do this when there have already been accidents and perhaps even fatalities. But there are other measures that can be developed. And Councillor Deepak Sardiwal has just followed up with a very helpful email which I have quoted in full below:

Dear Pat
Thank you very much for raising at the Herne Hill and Loughborough Junction Ward Safer Neighbourhood Panel meeting on Thursday the issue of speeding on Milkwood Rd on behalf of Fawnbrake Avenue residents.
Speeding is a criminal offence and all roads controlled by Lambeth council now have a 20mph speed limit, while TfL is rolling out 20mph on some of its roads in the borough. I am aware though of the need to reduce traffic speeds in specific parts of the ward including Milkwood Rd and tackling this issue is a major concern for residents.
As Fawnbrake residents probably know, speeding cannot be directly enforced by Local Authorities. The Council’s ‘enforcement’ takes the form of design measures e.g. traffic calming. In terms of Milkwood Rd, the council has installed a zebra crossing and speed humps to slow racing traffic. The humps are rather diminutive in nature due to the ambulance service on Milkwood Rd and regular speed humps which I would ideally like to see would slow the deployment of emergency vehicles.

Wandsworth trial

At the Panel meeting, the trial started last year by the London Borough of Wandsworth to enforce the speed limit on selected streets in Wandsworth came up. This is a novel interpretation of the legislation by Wandsworth: the relevant highways legislation explicitly precludes the use of permanent traffic orders for this purpose, but is silent on the use of experimental orders (ETO) and Wandsworth council have therefore decided to test this approach. An ETO can only run for a maximum of 18 months and in this case there is no legal mechanism to convert to a permanent traffic order so that the scheme can remain in place. I do therefore think that such initiatives are to be best viewed as a proof of concept / lobbying tool as part of wider discussions with Government on the devolution of powers.

However, as Cllr Dickson noted in the meeting, the Department for Transport has stopped the scheme despite Wandworth Council reporting that the proportion of speeding vehicles on the trial roads had reduced since the scheme was introduced. Further information on this here.

Lambeth council is preparing a new Road Danger Reduction Strategy. I am told this will include a review of the possible actions required to help achieve ‘Vision Zero’- the Mayor of London’s ambition to reduce road danger to the extent that no-one is killed or seriously injured on our roads. As part of this process, the council is reviewing locations where collision clusters have been recorded and where it has received feedback from the community in relation to road danger. I am seeking information about the proposed public consultation process for the Strategy and will ensure the details are shared as I receive them.

In the meantime, the Police have powers to enforce against drivers exceeding the speed limit, but finite resources to do so. I would like to see more frequent Community Road Watch operations in the hot spots in the ward of Milkwood Rd, Herne Hill Rd and Denmark Hill with resident participation including children (although the operations typically take place during school hours). The last operation was in March 2022. I also want to see the council continue to make robust representations to the Government for local authority enforcement of speeding offences. Finally, I do think speaking with local residents that further traffic calming solutions could be explored for Milkwood Rd, which I submitted to the council in December.

I hope this information is of some assistance. You would be welcome to share it with Fawnbrake Avenue residents you have been in touch with if that might be helpful – as I say I understand their concerns. Thank you again for raising this important issue.
Best wishes
Deepak

Dog nuisances

The forthcoming Public Spaces Protection Order was mentioned. See earlier post on this.

The next meeting of the panel is likely to be in June.