Category Archives: Herne Hill

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.”

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).

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.

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.

Hollywood comes to Herne Hill

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This post is now restored, having been temporarily suspended to respect local requests for confidentiality. The filming duly took place, and work on the film reportedly continues in other locations.

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Well-informed local friends report that on Monday 3rd April there will be a film crew filming in Herne Hill for a feature film called “We Live in Time”. In the morning they will be filming in Brockwell Park, and then at midday their attention turns to Station Square. Some parking bays will be suspended (but not all), and during takes the public will be prevented from walking / driving around for 3 minutes at a time.

There will be extras waiting nearby, and the two main actors are British / Hollywood stars (see below). Crew trucks will be parking on Dulwich Road. Most of the action takes place in Llewelyn’s and Lulu’s, then over by the Herne Hill sign under the bridge (good job that the Herne Hill Forum had it repainted), then by the station in the evening.

Andrew Garfield & Florence Pugh

Checking with film industry gossip, it seems that Academy Award nominees Florence Pugh and Andrew Garfield are in negotiations to star in this production, described as a “funny, deeply moving and immersive love story.” John Crowley will  direct, with Nick Payne as scriptwriter:  StudioCanal developed the script.

 

 

We’re getting better connected tomorrow

Herne Hill’s travel options into and around London are improving this weekend, with the joining up of the Elizabeth Line (formerly known as Crossrail), which we can of course access via Thameslink trains to Farringdon (except when Thameslink’s all too frequent weekend maintenance works rule this out, as on this Sunday).

This latest improvement means that from tomorrow, the lines from Reading, Heathrow, and Shenfield will connect with the central tunnels of the Elizabeth line – opening up new direct journeys across London, without having to change at Paddington.

In addition, customers will be able to use the Elizabeth Line seven days a week: Sunday services through central London will also start from tomorrow, Sunday 6 November.

 

Train frequency has improved too: between Paddington and Whitechapel, it goes from 12 trains per hour to up to 22 trains per hour in peak times and 16 trains per hour during off-peak. The final timetable, which will see 24 trains per hour during the peak between Paddington and Whitechapel, is on track to be in place by May 2023.

And there’s a new convenient interchange. Bond Street’s Elizabeth line station, which opened on 24 October, connects with the London Underground Bond Street station, accessing the Jubilee and Central lines. The new station is step-free from street to train with two lifts, further enhancing accessibility on the Elizabeth line and across the TfL network.

elizabeth-line-map-6-november-2022

Caution: There are some future planned engineering works when sections of the Elizabeth line will be closed:
Saturday 12 November – no service between Shenfield and Liverpool Street / Whitechapel
Saturday 19 November and Sunday 20 November – no service between Shenfield and Liverpool Street / Whitechapel, or between Hayes & Harlington and Heathrow

Local Election Results

The local election results for our ward were announced this afternoon:

 

HERNE HILL & LOUGHBOROUGH JCT. WARD 2022
Jim Dickson Lab 2,429 elected
Pauline George Lab 2,393 elected
Deepak  Sardiwal Lab 2,342 elected
Celeste Hicks Green 1,838
Nick Christian Green 1,818
Paul Valentine Green 1,566
Robert Blackie LibDem 264
John White Cons 253
Dick Tooze Cons 251
Andrew Whitten Cons 243
Charley Hasted LibDem 175
Jonathan Price LibDem 148
Berkey Kartav TU & Soc. 71
Electorate: 11,301
Total votes: 13,791
Turnout: n/a
Number of postal votes sent: 1,373

Herne Hill Safer Neighbourhood Team

Perhaps it’s not generally known that the Metropolitan Police have a Safer Neighbourhood Team (SNT) explicitly for Herne Hill Ward.

 

 

 

They have asked if members of the community could please complete a short questionnaire, for which the link is given below.

Herne Hill SNT is formed of a Sergeant, two PCs and one PCSO. The team is responsible for keeping Herne Hill safe as well as dealing with any ongoing Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB) issues and concerns raised by the local community. They have regular meetings with a panel of community representatives, and aim to issue monthly reports on their activities locally.

The latest report reads as follows:

“The team this month [March] have focused on several community deployments aimed at targeting what have been identified as key priorities on the ward.

“The first tasking undertaken was a bike marking event at Brockwell Park utilizing smart water. This was following several reports of bike thefts. This was incredibly successful with over thirty bikes marked.

“The team then undertook two days of community speed watches on Herne Hill Road and Milkwood Road. This involved the use of a speed gun and saw many community volunteers participate. This led to several speed warnings being issues and one male being arrested for traffic and drug related offences.

“Finally, the team undertook a weapons sweep on the Thorlands Estate (comment: this lies to the north of Coldharbour Lane) with council community enforcement officers. This again was very successful with four knives recovered.

“The team will take on feedback from the ward panel meeting and will be looking to replicate this again in the coming months.”

Click here for link to short survey.

 

The very best local read

There’s plenty of good stuff to read in the latest issue of “Herne Hill” magazine: a beautifully illustrated article about the treasures to be seen in Saint Paul’s Church; an interview with the owners of the new and already popular bubble tea shop, Cuppo Bubbo; a revealing survey of a unique 1935 house on Dorchester Drive; and a snapshot of the very cosmopolitan population of Herne Hill at the end of the 19th century and on the eve of the First World War – with an unexpected preponderance of residents of German origin. Also an affectionate review of the major exhibition at the Dulwich Picture Gallery, featuring the work of Helen Frankenthaler – a show that has been widely recognised in the national media as of major significance.

Members of the Herne Hill Society get the magazine automatically, of course. Non-members can buy it at Herne Hill Books, or can get it (along with future issues), by easily joining the Society online.