Today East Dulwich cllrs Jonathan Mitchell and I (cllr Richard Thomas is on holiday), along with Greater London Assembly Member Caroline Pidgeon met with Southwarks Police Commander Malcom Tillyer along with other Police and MPA officers.

A very useful third meeting to discuss the future of East Dulwich Police Station.

We discussed the East Dulwich councillors proposals of how a Police station as we would see it could be kept on the current site, combined potentially with other council facilities, while meeting Police aspirations for new facilities commensurate with their requirements while obtaining capital receipts for the site.

Unfortuntely everything is on hold while the Metropolitan Police Authority reviews it property plans. Hopefully, in 4-8 weeks time we can continue these discussions.

Southwark Council and Southwark Police have been recognised for excellent partnership working. Hopefully we can deliver a role model in East Dulwich that takes such partnership working to an even higher level by sharing facilities and increasing how joined up services are for the general public. If successful this could be a model for other sites in Southwark and London as a whole.

I recently experienced the new St.Pancras station while travelling to Paris on business. A couple of weeks later I needed to travel via the new Thamesink station at St.Pancras as I was home from a work meeting in Leeds far later than planned and hadn’t brought bicycle lights. Yesterday I read St.Pancras had been given a RIBA London Award. My experiences are that it looks good and as a shopping mall it should win an award. But as a station it’s a failure. It delays passengers from arriving at the station to departing by train. This is the whole purpose of a station. I used to be a regular passenger travelling to and from Leicester University. It was always a faded station but it had soul. It is now bang up to date and superficially attractive but the customer requirements have been subsumed.

At the other end of the Eurostar journey Gard du Nord has not descended into shopping mall vernacular. It is a real station with the buzz of that purpose. Brussells midi is a horrible edifice. The St.Pancras architects have recreated that atmosphere in central London.

Sadly such awards for trash architecture reflect a loss of purpose for architects. The human scale has been lost. People are now merely consumers to be paraded past shops to generate revenue.

So how will the new London Bridge Station fair - will it be a glorified shopping mall or a station that helps passengers quickly arrive and depart by train? The architects have abondoned the current ramps and replaced them with numerous escalators and changes of level. It wont feel a smooth transition for arriving or departing.

At long last Caffe Nero, having spouted considerable vitriol about Southwark Council, East Dulwich residents, council officers, and after the latest 30 day deadline, Caffe Nero have finally removed two noisy illegal and ugly air conditioning units they’d installed within a few feet of residents bedroom windows.

I never thought I’d quote the “unacceptable face of capitalism” and think it resonated with the appalling actions of a business located in East Dulwich.

Imagine what it must have been like having these units feet away from your bed, working 24/7, and being particualrly noisy in summer when you need to have your bedroom window open to keep cool.

At last some good news for these residents who can finally get a good nights sleep.

This week the council executive of eight Lib Dem and two Tory executive councillors finalised budget recommendations for the next three years.  Considerable debate has taken place and several months of hard work by council officers and coalition councillors to reach this point.

The council leader Cllr Nick Stanton has done an exemplary job in keeping all the coalition councillors informed and involved.

It’s worth reminding ourselves that 70% of council revenues are provided by central government. That the Labour government has decided to use 2004 population figures and not more recent figures. As the population is dramatically rising in London and South East, 2004 population fugures results in less money for Southwark but benefits Labour heartlands up the M1. Councils with signifcant deprivation (Southwark is the 20th most deprived council in UK) are getting real term cuts from the Labour government for the next three years as opposed to councils such as Rotherham (the 50th most deprived) which is seeing dramatic real terms increased.

Considerable savings will be made by centralising many council offices into a new office on Tooley street. God knows where we’d be if this wasn’t already in progress.

Social care is being consulted on to stop providing care for those with moderate needs. Community Warden services will have fewer wardens and manager. Meals on wheels where Southwark is the cheapest in London will see price increases. Livesey childrens museum will close. A review of all three historic town halls will take place. Some council funded events will see cuts or no more funding. A whole host of other cuts will be made.

No one likes or wants cuts. Considering the dreadful hand of cards dealt by the government I think the residents of Southwark have had the best possible result.

Just over two years ago Caffe Nero opened a cafe on Lordship Lane. The premises had previously been a very busy electrical retailer with planning consent as a shop (A1). To sell food and drink for consumption on the premises requires A3 consent. Caffe Nero opened its cafe without obtaining change of use planning consent from A1 to A3/A1. Council officers saught enforcement. Caffe Nero then applied for planning permission. The Planning Application came early 2007 before the dulwich community Council Planning Committee.

Personally, I had expected to approve the planning applciation as per officers recommendation. On the night Caffe Nero and its agents decided not to attend the planning committee. I’ve never seen this happen before or since as questions of the applicant always come up at planning committees. Officers gave oral evidence that Lordship Lane would, if the planning application were approved, have less than 50% shops - contrary to council policy as a high street rapidly declines once shops fall beneath a critical mass. We also heard evidence from neighbouring residents how Caffe Nero airconditioning condensing units were very noisy, going on/off 24/7 immediately outside bedroom windows and Caffe Nero were unresponsive to fix the problem.

On this basis, and with a heavy heart, that the eight committee members unanamously refused planning permission contrary to officer recommendations. The committee had three councillors whose regular jobs are as barristers - so we were meticulous exploring all the evidence presented.

Officers then issued two enforcement notices. One about the illegal A3 use and a second about the anti social noise. Caffe Nero then appealed the planning permission refusal. This formally delayed the two enforcement notices.

After a considerable period finally on Tuesday 24 January a Planning Inspector heard the Caffe Nero appeal. Caffe Nero team of seven kept suggesting that residents and council officers were imagining the noise disturbance and must be mistaken.

Sometime between now and the end of February we’re due to hear the planning inspectors decision.

Over 5% of global CO2 emissions from man comes from plain old contrete.

For every tonne of concrete, 1/2 tonne of CO2 is produced from the chemical reaction and another 1/3rd of a tonne of CO2 from the fossil fuels used to heating calcium carbonate to 1400 degrees C.

During the Soviet Union era they developed a concrete based on Geopolymers. This technology has been rediscovered by Australians. It raw materials are fly ash and slag waste from fossil fueled power stations - great recycling - and works at room temperatures. This technique produces 80% less CO2 than traditional concrete.

considering that in Southwark we have so many regeneration schemes that will require huge quantities of concrete - Elephant & Castle, Canada Water, Bermondsey Square, London Bridge, Blackfriars Road - we need to reduce the embedded energy of all these schemes.

So when will this technology reach our shores helping us make the 80% CO2 reduction we need to make to avoid catastrophic global warming?

I’m delighted to report that last night my ward colleagues Cllr Richard Thomas, Cllr Jonathan Mitchell and I supported a new community library at 18-22 Grove Vale. The library component is something I proposed to the developer two years ago. Last night Southwark Council’s main Planning Council GRANTED planning permission for a new Community Library at 18-22 Grove Vale replacing the current Grove Vale Library. The scheme will include 22 flats, 25% renewable energy, green roofs. The new library will have twice the current floor space for users. This will enable school classes to visit, adult education and increasing the number of days and hours of opening. The new site being next to East Dulwich station will have significantly more footfall. The current library has just over 100,000 visits per year. I’m expecting this to increase by at least 50%. Local businesses in Grove Vale and the surrounding area should benefit from this new magnet for visitors.

The Planning Committee voted: James Gurling, Eliza Mann (reserve), Gordon Nardell, Althea Smith and Aubyn Graham for the scheme, with Robin Crookshank-Hilton voting against the scheme.

The expectation is that six months of finalising planning conditions. Then 18 months to complete the build.

Getting to this position would not have been possible without the developer and agents St.Aidan’s and many council officers, council departments and councillors sharing my vision and overcoming considerable hurdles.

Many thanks for all their hard work. What stars. A really great result for the residents East Dulwich and South Camberwell. 

Currently councils are extremely limited in ensuring new developments meet the highest possible and practicable environmental standards.

A private members bill being promoted by Michael Fallon MP would allow councils, after  involving their communities, to set high energy efficiency standards for new developments and to require them to generate energy locally. This would dramatically save on CO2 emissions, create local jobs.

IF you want such a bill to happen then please contact our Dulwich & West Norwood MP Tessa Jowell and ask her to vote for it on 25 January - Rt. Hon. Tessa Jowell MP, House of Commons, Westminster, SW1A 0AA  

Telephone number - 020 7219 3409, Fax number - 020 7219 2702, E-mail address - jowellt@parliament.uk

Tuesday 15 January the Dulwich Community Council Planning Committee met to decide, amongst other things, a Listed Building Consent to demolish the grade 2 listed bridge outside North Dulwich railway station on Red Post Hill. Weirdly the item was submitted as a late item with less than five clear days notice. Network Rail have known they’ve required permission since 2004.

I asked whether we could hear the justification for this demolition and judge whether Network Rails stated necessity justified this apparent vandalism. The Southwark Council legal officer stated we were not allowed to consider whether the demolition was justified in our minds. What a silly law. The logical extension is that no listed building is safe. 

It was clear that all the Conservative councillors were minded to allow the demolition. We discussed the details of the replacement and how alike Network Rail plan to return the bridge to its former glory. Sadly Network Rail only offered very limited and few architectural features will be recreated in the replacement bridge.

The application to demolish this part of our architectural heritage was approved. The voting was four Conservatives for the Listed Building Consent and myself against. Democracy in action.

What next. 26 weeks of Red Post Hill being closed to through motor vehicles so that bridge no one wants strengthened for 7.5 tonnes t o44 tonnes can take place.

TWENTY SIX WEEKS.

This Thursday 10 January new Planning Application will go on-line. During the following six months the existing planning applications since 2003 will be data captured and added to the on-line system.

Considering that currently people who want to view a planning application have to make a special trip to the Planning Department offices at Chiltern House, Portland Street, SE17 this new on-line capability will be a real benefit. It will enable anyone to view a scheme remotely from the Planning Department from the comfort of their office, own home or local library.

I suspect many people will feel relieved to see plans for proposals and that fears they have are often not necessary. For many others, especially campaigning groups, it will give them a capability to get involved that practically they didn’t have before without taking time away from work, family or studies. Before becoming a councillor I spent many a lunch time dashing to Chiltern House to view a scheme and dash back to the office having viewed a planning application. Not something I could do more than very occassionally.

Well done to the Planning Department and the various IT suppliers for making this possible. Good luck for Thursday. Hope it all works!