Dulwich Hospital

The next Dulwich Community Council 14 December at Christ Church on southern end of Barry Road will be discussing the Dulwich Hospital after the latest update from Southwark Primary Care Trust. Trust has been lacking for the last 10 years with some many changes of plans and the appearance of secrecy and quango knows best. This has been compounded recently by the lifts being closed and the consequent ‘temporary’ closure of the intermediate care wards. These wards provided local care for people not well enough to go home but not poorly enough to block a bed at Kings Hospital.

However, I’m hopefully that with the current scaffolding, planning applications for new pedestrian entrances that the PCT now plans to keep the remaining hospital buildings and all the services they’ve traditionally provided. Sell the vacant land and the profits used to renovate the remaining hospital. That the financial accountancy tricks of the LIFT Co. Private Finance Initiative will be ended for Dulwich Hospital and we can all move on with local facilities agreed with the local community. This doesn’t mean the PCT using the rigged local ‘consultation’ results.

What do you think should happen to the Dulwich Hospital?

London Bridge Station

At the last full council assembly we finally put in place in the new Southwark Planning bible – the Core Strategy – that London Bridge Station should prioritise links to buses and trains station in Southwark. Amazing that we’ve had to state what should have been obvious. But with so many proposed changes such as the South London Line being cancelled Network Rail have to be reminded.

I’m now much more hopeful that when Network Rail has a need to amend or apply for future planning applications to London Bridge station that changes will have to ensure changes make matter no worse for Southwark residents and usually better.

It is quite ridiculous that the huge barriers the railway viaducts and cutting in Southwark, yet the state operator of railway infrastructure Network Rail has to be reminded that the communities these obstacles carve up should actually see some benefit to hosting them.

What do you think?

Increasing recycling from 21% to over 50%

Last night Southwarks main planning committee granted planning permission to a new Integrated Waste Management Centre on the Old Kent Road. The committee took over 4 hours to get the final decision right and sat until after 1am this morning.

This new facility should be completed in around 15 months time. It will provide enough recycling capacity enable an increase from 21% recycling now to over 50%.

Do you recycle everything possible?

3rd runway at Heathrow

I wrote to our local MP Tessa Jowell about the Labour Governments appalling decision to approve a third runway at Heathrow Airport.

Air travel and to a lesser degree road building are the only areas this government predicts the increase and the associaited increase in pollutuion and then provides it. If you want to produce any other pollution in any other industry you eiher are not allowed or must pay extra e.g. Carbon Credits.

If you want to read the reply she sent me and see all the platitudes then please follow the following link – clearly a stock answer for the many thousands who have written in across:

http://www.tessajowell.net/uploads/fdecc393-b238-3644-1d5b-779f340f2499.pdf

 SHAME.

Dulwich Leisure Centre – complete renovation approval

Tuesday night the culmination of three years hard work from East Dulwich councillors and council officers, planning permission for the complete renovation of the council Leisure centre in East Dulwich was given. Phew.

The original recognition came during the East Dulwich campaign in January 2006 that the centre was sub standard and unacceptable. It hadn’t had major investment in over fifty Labour years. On the door steps and in resident surveys many had expressed dissatisfaction. Our own personal experiences bore this out.

So the new renovated leisure centre will have a new DDA compliant entrance on Crystal Palace Road. The swimming pool will have more space around the actual pool making circulation easier and only for actual swimmers. It will also have a proper viewing area so parents can see their kids learning to swim. The pool will be changed from 27m to competition sized 25m. The main gym will be revamped. New dance studios and a cafe.

Overall it is anticipated that the numbers of users will increase to around 50,000 a year. Over half already walk to the centre. 8/9 schools that use the centre walk already.

Wherever possible insulation to modern standard will be installed. New air recycling and heat exchangers and plant. Overall a dramatic reduction in the energy used and CO2 produced to run the centre.

Cllr Richard Thomas and I persuaded the planning committee that the plans needed to have added roof insulation above the swimming pool and gym hall.

This scheme is one of the reasons I enterred local politics. Making sure local services are something we can all be proud of.

South London Line

A few fridays ago I had the chance to visit London Bridge Station to discuss the South London Lines proposed closure with Andrew Munden the head of Network Rail infrastructure for SouthEast London and Kent. Apparently this area carries 1/7th of all the services Network Rail provides the tracks etc for.

As part of the visit we were shown the signal box. Which was interesting and appeared to be aimed at impressing us with how incredibly complex running trains services can be.

The meat was discussing in a group with Andrew the context of closing the South London Line.

He made it clear Network Rail would provide whatever infrastructure the Government Dept. of Transport so wishes if they are provided the cash to do it. They explain options to Government but that ultimately the final arbitor is the Secretary of State Ruth Kelly.

The rebuilding of London Bridge Station is required to enable Thameslink2000. The current 6 through and 9 terminating platforms will be changed to 9 through and 6 terminating platforms. Until 1974 London Bridge had 22 platforms. Six terminating platforms means that some of the currently terminating train services wont have any platforms to terminate on and will be closed. The argument being that the south London line having the fewest customers should be sacrficed. The counter argument being

So I asked the obvious questions about what benefits for Southwark will all this bring. Andrew suggested longer trains – but for Kent commuters, more reliable trains – but much fewer services for Southwark residents. It became clear and Andrew agreed no benefits to Southwark will come from all this.

The crumbs of comfort being proposed by the Labour Assembly Member for Lambth and Southwark Val Shawcross is that the East london Line phase 2 delivery be brought forward. I’m not sure people who currently use the South London Line into Victoria and London Bridge are going to find it useful to be delivered instead to Clapham Junction or Shoreditch.

What can be done?

The orignal planning application for London Bridge to be rebuilt was made in 2002 when Labour ran Southwark Council. No mention was made that it would result in a decimation of the train services to Southwark. If it had then I don’t believe it would have received planning permission. If such information was with held then that might mean the planning permission could be Juducial Reviewed.

The Southwark Council executive cllr Paul Noblet has agreed to urgently look into this.

East Dulwich Police station

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.

St.Pancras station RIBA award

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.

Caffe Nero air conditioning

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.

Council budgets

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.