Dangerous Junction

The more that I look at the areas around the junctions go Townley Road with Lordship Lane the more convinced I am that we can make it much better.

Currently its crash magnet and a local hotspot for collisions. It’s also an area with really restricted parking for residents. The road has been been made nice and wide and clear of all obstacles. It makes it tempting to speed.

Narrowing the road and the Townley Road entrance would really help reduce speeds and crashes. With kerb build outs we can achieve this while making it possible for residents to be able to park. It would require changing the two stage Pelican crossing to make it more obviously one stage crossing.

What do you think should be done to make this patch of East Dulwich better and safer for roads users and local residents?

New Powers To Control Betting Shops

Communities across the country have understandably been concerned and annoyed at the proliferation of betting shops since Tessa Jowell MP reversed the burden of proof required to open new betting shops. Instead of betting shops having to prove they wouldn’t cause harm communities had to prove they would cause harm to shop them. The flood gates opened.

So Lib Dem ministers have worked to give new powers to councils to halt this terrible trend. Sadly their isn’t enough parliamentary time for a new gaming act so instead planning rules have been changed.

Betting shops fall in the same planning category as a bank or estate agent and can open without the need for a planning application hen a premises becomes vacant. The new rules mean that councils will have the power to scrutinise and refuse such betting shops where they have grounds to do so. Hurray!

Do you think we have too many betting shops?

New East Dulwich Cinema

East Dulwich Lib Dems are very excited that at last the planning application from the PictureHouse cinema group has been submitted to convert the former St.Thomas Moore Hall at 116A Lordship Lane into a cinema.

Council planning officers are ready for your comments whether supporting or objecting. The details of the planning application can be seen here.

Please send your thoughts to planning.applications@southwark.gov.uk and copy me at cllrjamesbarber@gmail.com with subject line 14/AP/1101

We think a cinema will be a great new asset to the area. So much so that over the last few years we’ve talked to five different cinema groups trying to attract one to the area. But as with any change it needs to be planned with care to minimise any negative impact.

Please do tell us what you think. And please ask your friends and family to also tell Planning Officers what they think.

Lordship Lane Challenge

We need to find ways of making Lordship Lane an even better place to shop, socialise and serve the local community.

As Lib Dem East Dulwich councillors we’ve ensured much improved pedestrian facilities – making it 20mph, two signalled crossings, an extra zebra crossing at Goose Green, raising side roads to make Lordship Lane level, hanging baskets.

We’ve talked to five cinema providers and we’re delighted the Picturehouse Cinema are working to make a cinema happen by Christmas.

We’ve improved North Cross Road and the market.

What next? The junction of Lordship lane and North Cross Road will be revamped during the summer with money we’ve allocated from our devolved capital budget. This should solve an crash hot spot and make the market more inviting.

We also need to:

– Lordship Lane pavements improved. This will mean helping small businesses with the pavement they control. Currently they look terrible.

– Free wifi which will be free if done on a Southwark wide basis.

– Legible London signage to make it clearer where everything is and draw people from East Dulwich station along to our high street (via Grove Vale).

– Town Centre loyalty card.

– Season banners on lampposts.

What do you think we need to work on to make Lordship Lane better?

Southwark Supertram Progress

For several years I’ve been working on how to bring a tram route initially and then network to Southwark.

When Ken Livingstone was Mayor of London he said he supported them but only gave enough money to keep a project team employed who never got to build anything. When Boris Johnson became London Mayor he canned that team and the pretence of TfL tram in southwark was over.

So how to make this happen privately?

Talking to investment banks one key requirement is certainty that their investment would have a chance to produce a secure return. The greater the security the cheaper money can be borrowed at.  But building track on public roads could allow other to duplicate routes.

So the planning advice we’ve received has really helped nail this. First when the Lib Dems led Southwark Council we ensured the Core Strategy stated it was pro trams.

Second, any tram network using the public highway would need planning permission. It would deal with where plant is located, designed, etc. With granted planning permission subsequent applications would have to show how they would integrate with existing schemes and tracks. It doesn’t give a monopoly but this does give more certainty that practically investment will be more secure.

The advice wording is “But any application will be judged on its practical merits. IF a planning application is granted and results in a tram being built and running, then any subsequent planning application for a tram may not be practical due to that prior granted tram planning application”.

A useful step forward.

Haberdasher’s Aske’s East Dulwich College

I’m delighted to announced the new Haberdasher’s Aske’s East Dulwich College.

The East Dulwich Lib Dem councillors initiated a campaign in 2013 for a new co-ed non-faith secondary free school. This followed their experiences helping to avert the pending primary school places crisis by leading a successful campaign for new local primary schools. It was also informed by casework from distraught local families being offered secondary school places outside the area – places like Catford, New Cross, Walworth. It became clear that a new local secondary school was urgently needed to meet local demand and no later than September 2016. We even brought education minister David Laws MP to East Dulwich to discuss the problem last July.

When we met Southwark Council officials they were clear that no new school was required expecting local kids to travel across London for places and that they would contest any new school we campaigned for. Ouch!

After many months of us leafleting and canvassing homes, schools, street stalls, online we found more than enough support for our campaign and a new free school application to be made. We’d proved the officials wrong. We then moved onto finding a  great school provider. For this we initiated a Parents Steering Group which successfully took on this task and also helped increase the numbers of supporting families. We’ve now reached 454 supporting families.  Working with this group, who have met four times and with us visited various local schools on fact finding trips, and after considerable deliberations, a unanimous decision to work with Haberdashers’ Aske Federation was taken. Haberdashers’  have now announced that their governing body has approved taking this project further. They plan to model a new Haberdashers’ Aske’s East Dulwich College (secondary school) on their outstandingly successful Haberdashers’ Aske’s Hatcham College. The school would be for around 180pupils per year group include a sixth form  and open September 2016.

To further support this project East Dulwich Liberal Democrats in February submitted a Right to Contest application, using legislation created by Liberal Democrats in government. The application is about freeing up the two-thirds of the Dulwich Hospital site which has remained unoccupied for over 20 years. The Parents Steering committee agree with us that this space represents the minimum space for our new secondary school.

We look forward to continue working with Haberdashers to support them submitting a free school application November 2014. We still welcome further support via our website www.newschool.org.uk or email us directly cllrjamesbarber@gmail.com

We also welcome the support both Southwark Labour and Conservatives have now given to this project and that officers have now confirmed a new school is needed.

Councillor James barber ” it has been a long journey to reach this stage but I’m truly delighted to bring on board such a prestigious and renowned school provider as Haberdashers’ Aske’s and to model our new school on their Hatcham College”.

Councillor Rosie Shimell added “having denied any need for a new secondary school its great that Lib Dems have won the argument and Southwark Labour are now saying they support our campaign. We just need to see them practically support it now”.

COuncillor Jonathan Mitchell also said “I’ve slogged my guts out canvassing for support for our idea of a new secondary school. So I delighted all our hard work has born fruit attracting such a great school provider to our area who will complement all our existing outstanding schools”.

 

 

 

Not Sitting Pretty Traditional

Terrible news that at Planning Sub-Committee B the planning application that will drive green grocer Pretty Traditional out of North Cross Road was granted planning permission.

As Lib Dem East Dulwich ward councillors Cllr Jonathan Mitchell, Rosie Shimell and myself insisted this planning permission was called-in.

I argued that the plans were an overdevelopment of the site, would cause noise for neighbours with a first floor terrace, and have access problems.

Sadly the committee discounted these issues and granted planning permission. This allows the site owner to terminate the lease kicking out Pretty Traditional.

So we now need to find another site while Chris looks at how to enforce the verbal contract allowing him to stay.

For this to happen the day medical advice tells us to eat more fruit and veg and see’s this the last green grocer in such peril is appalling.

All New Chinese Crystal Palace

The Chinese Zhong Rong Group are proposing to rebuild a pastiche of the great Victorian Crystal Palace.

It’s clear from their representatives who spoke at the Dulwich Community Council that they really arent sure what they’re proposing. It might include a 6* hotel, it might include an auction house, it might include exotic galleries. Yet before knowing what they’re proosing and the related transport requirements they’re asking people whether they support it or not.

What they do know is theyre not planning transport upgrades such as extending a tube line or reopening the high level Crystal Palace station. But witohut a step change improving public transport it wont work without terrible congestion for locals. My fear is massive car parking.

But removing the car parking that has taken over the core of Crystal Palace Park would improve that space. The accomodation blocks and other structures don’t make the park feel parky. So clearly something needs to happen with the park.

So personally I’m against the amorhpous scheme until I see credible plans addressing my fears.

London Bridge Chaos

London Bridge is ungoing many years of being rebuilt to enable Network Rail to serve long distance commuters better. Long distance commuters are more profitable and they spend more at concessions. It has already seen the South London Line closed to make way for the rebuild and seen no increase in other rail services to Southwark rail stations.

To add insult to injury while the building works go on the services have become so unreliable that British Transport Police have had to deploy a visible presence during rush hours:

Police at London Bridge

 

 

 

Next week the new platform 14 & 15 open. Network Rail are fanfaring that they will be partially covered – but the old platforms 14 & 15 were fully covered and we also had a platform 16 Network Rail decided to remove. All those hundreds of millions to be treated as susipcious with permanent cop presence and platforms less protected from the weather.

Why can’t we have great public transport rather this dumming down to mediocre but yet at huge expense?

Deciding Planning Locally

In Southwark planning applications for schemes up to 50 new homes were decided at local planning committees. Southwark had eight to cover the whole borough and one main planning committee for schemes greater than 50 new homes.

These were swept away Southwark Labour. Supposedly to save money but the amount of money spent on each community council meeting is now so huge that you could hold the dames number of meetings as used to be held for less money.

It is so embarrassing that local schemes aren’t decided locally that Labour cabinet councillor Barrie Hargrove pleaded a special case for the Flood Alleviation Planning Application.

Sadly even Barris didn’t make any progress against the entrenched decision that local planning decisions shouldn’t be heard anywhere convenient for residents.