GLA and Mayor elections 3rd May

GLA member Val Shawcross with local councillor Mike Smith on the campaign trail.

Remember to vote for your local GLA member on the 3rd of May.

West Norwood’s existing member, Val Shawcross is standing again and she is also Ken Livingston’s deputy for Mayor.

For more information on the candidates and the election including how to vote check the information booklet that should have been delivered to every household or download it from here: http://www.londonelects.org.uk/im-voter/information-booklet

 

Council Election Results

An exceptionally high number of people turned out to vote in the council elections on May 6th and the newly elected councillors for West Norwood are:

Gipsy Hill ward
Matthew Bennett – Labour
Jennifer Brathwaite – Labour
Niranjan Francis – Labour

Knights Hill ward
Jackie Meldrum – Labour
Jane Pickard – Labour
Mike Smith – Labour

Thurlow Park ward
Ann Kingsbury – Labour
Clare Whelan – Conservative
John Whelan – Conservative.

Lambeth  council now has 44 Labour councillors, 15 Lib Dem councillors and 4 Conservatives.
For details of the election results see:

election results

Election Result

Labour's Tessa Jowell - Winning Dulwich and West Norwood

Tessa Jowell has been re-elected as the Labour MP for Dulwich and West Norwood on May 6th 2010. Tessa’s majority over the runner-up has increased to 9,365.

Result:

Labour 22,461
Lib Dem 13,096
Conservative 10,684
Green 1,266
UKIP 707

For more information on Tessa Jowell  see:

http://www.tessajowell.net

The BBC web site has lots more information on the general election results:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/nol/shared/election2010/results/constituency/b45.stm

York Hill play area

Mike Smith at the re-opened York Hill play ground

The children’s play ground on York Hill has now been repaired and re-opened.

This popular play area has unfortunately suffered from vandals who selfishly spoiled a valuable community facility and forced the council to close it down until the money could be found to carry out necessary repairs.

Mike Smith of the West Norwood Labour action team says “I am very pleased to see the play ground has opened at last  – just in time for the warmer weather.  Many residents have been disappointed at the closure of the  playground and we have kept chasing Lambeth Living to get the work done.”

New local play grounds are nearly completed on Eden Road, Franklin Close and Lakeview Road. Plans  are underway for a new playground in Streatham Common (by the paddling pool) and a water playground  in Norwood Park.

To report vandalism and other anti social behaviour you can phone Sgt  Matt Cox and the local Safer Neighbourhood Police on 020 87212618 or 07920 233844. Or in office hours call Lambeth’s Anti-Social behaviour hotline 020 7926 4000 – you don’t need to give your name or address.

Swimming Pool for West Norwood!

Campaigners celebrating with Jackie Meldrum and Tessa Jowell

Its official! The swimming pool for West Norwood is going ahead!

Last month NHS Lambeth and Lambeth council launched the joint leisure and health centre project at  Norwood Hall. The leisure centre will have a 25m swimming pool, 100 station gym & dance studio. One of our local GPs will move into the  health centre with local dentists and clinics.

With £14.2 million agreed from the Labour government Lambeth can now get started on the project to build a brand new joint leisure and health centre on the Norwood Hall site opposite West Norwood Station. Soil samples have been taken recently  as part of getting  the designs  ready for a planning application when local people will have another  chance to comment on the scheme. Building work could start by the end of 2010 and be finished before the Olympics in 2012!

A  leisure centre will give West Norwood the boost it so desperately needs. For the last two years the West Norwood Labour Action team has  been campaigning with Tessa Jowell, our MP, for a swimming pool for the area. Without the support from hundreds of local people the campaign would have got nowhere.

Only last month Lambeth Conservative and Lib Dem councillors voted against the leisure centre. The Tories and Lib Dems did nothing for our area when they ran Lambeth. Now West Norwood is finally getting the investment it needs – thanks to Labour.

Fixing this winter’s potholes

Road resurfacing on Crown Lane

The most severe winter weather for 30 years has had a terrible effect on road surfaces right across the country.

The council is using the latest technology to make quick patch repairs and over 1,000 have been filled since January.   Larger patching, using traditional  ‘hot rolled asphalt’, takes longer to do –  so Ernest Avenue, Elder Road and Crown Dale will be done within the next few weeks. Crown Lane from Knights Hill to Leigham Court Road  is due to be completely resurfaced by end of April and  Robson Road soon after.

The  Government has just announced an extra £100m to fix potholes, and Lambeth will get a share of that money.  But too many of our local roads are still sub-standard and vulnerable to damage in freezing or very wet weather.

Unfortunately when the Lib Dems  & Tories were running Lambeth the council used a  cheaper road resurfacing material on many roads including Norwood High Street and Ernest Avenue in 2005. Stone mastic asphalt is cheaper but does not last long on roads used by heavy vehicles such as buses and HGVs. Cracks started to appear within a couple of years and have got much worse during this winter.

Road resurfacing costs £25-£30 per sq metre varying with the price of oil.   Lambeth’s roads need quality investment not patching. Labour, if re-elected on May 6th,  has  promised to  make the biggest-ever investment to replace Lambeth’s crumbling roads and broken pavements by selling off surplus council office blocks

In the meantime to report  potholes requiring urgent repair please phone 020 7926 9000  or email Streetscene@lambeth.gov.uk giving details  of the location. Red routes are the responsibility of the London Mayor’s Transport for London – call 0845 305 1234 to report any potholes on red routes .

Canterbury Grove footbridge

Labour Candidate Jane Pickard on the litter strewn bridge

Labour campaigner Jane Pickard was shocked at the state of the foot bridge over the railway at Canterbury Grove. The bridge hasn’t been swept during the bad weather and so the litter has turned into a soggy mush. So this week Jane met with one of the West Norwood Street Inspectors who promised to get the walkway of the bridge cleared up and all the litter removed from under the bridge steps.

Jane says: “The footbridge is a litter blackspot, especially the area underneath the steps. As a resident of Thurlby Road, I do use the bridge and will be checking to make sure it doesn’t get this bad again.”

Network Rail are responsible for clearing the litter beside the track using litter picking teams specially trained to work close to trains. The Labour Action team has asked for a litter pick to be done soon – before spring when the weeds will growing all over the litter.

Train Drivers end work to rule

Tulse Hill Station

After weeks of disruptions train drivers have accepted the revised pay offer from First Capital Connect who say trains should be back to normal ‘winter’ service from Monday 18th January.

Additional delays are due to the less reliable 20 year old Class 319s which have drive motors vulnerable to snow damage. First Capital Connect says ” We are looking at ways to accelerate the delivery of replacement components to repair the failed trains and a timetable has been developed which can be operated with a reduced fleet. This will provide customers with a more dependable service and allow us to carry out repairs to a number of trains at depots.”

As a result of this poor service users of Thameslink are calling for First Capital Connect to be stripped of the franchise on the e-petition here 

For latest Tulse Hill station timetables see  here 

Jane Pickard, Labour candidate for Knights Hill ward, and chair of Norwood Rail Users Group (NRUG) says ‘I personally support the petition as this dispute, which was so disruptive to passengers, can only be the result of poor management. NRUG is also trying to get Network Rail to change its plans to terminate our Thameslink service at Blackfriars in 2015.’ For more details contact : Jane.knightshill@hotmail.co.uk

Snow on hills of West Norwood

Jane Pickard and Mike Smith on Lakeview Road at top of Knights Hill on Saturday 19/12/09

Its colder on the top of the hills around West Norwood!  After Tuesday’s ( 15 Dec) snow fall most of the snow had melted in the centre of West Norwood by Saturday but once you get higher than  50 metres above sea level  the  snow and ice stayed much   longer on the roads and pavements.

Martin Sachs , who heads Lambeth’s Highways team, told residents at the Norwood Forum last week that in wintry weather his priority is to grit the busiest roads and those on hills  twice a day , using special gritter vehicles  - apart from red routes which are looked after by t he London Mayor’s Transport for London.  Traffic speeds up  the melting process on roads but gritting pavements is a slower manual process done by  staff who normally sweep the streets. Busy pavements outside shopping centres, schools and  hospitals have priority.  Salt  bins are left unlocked for residents to use.

Labour action team members Jane Pickard and Mike Smith have asked for Norwood’s  side streets to be gritted too. “Some streets are like an ice rink”  said Mike Smith on Saturday “and many older people are trapped in their homes until the pavements are made safe to walk on.”

More snow fell on Monday afternoon (21 Dec) causing chaos throughout London as traffic struggled with the icy roads. The resulting gridlock prevented gritters getting on the road quickly. Gritting will continue throughout the night.

Call Lambeth on 020 7926 9000 to report problem streets and pavements. For red routes call Transport for London 0845 305 1234 (24 hours a day)

For more details of Lambeth’s plans for winter weather see

http://tinyurl.com/yjq5njd