The festival, funded by the London Mayor, will take place on Saturday 31^st March 10am to 6pm in St Luke’s Church Gardens on Knights Hill SE27 0HS.

If you are interested in taking part in the Slow Food festival or want to book a stall please contact Sarah  07414 971 758  sarah@westnorwoodslowfoodfestival.co.uk

This spring weekend is a must for  inviting friends and family to see West Norwood at its best – with the Norwood Feast also due to return on Sunday 1st April!

Ann Kingsbury outside the Snooker club

Following residents concerns about noise and trouble from  the Snooker Club in Waylett Place of Norwood Road a public meeting has been arranged at 7.30pm on  Tuesday 7th February at Chatsworth Baptist Church Hall, Chatsworth Way, SE27 9HN.

The police , local councillors and solicitors representing the club will be present. All welcome.

If you can’t make the meeting but would like to put forward your views you can  get in touch with your local Lambeth councillor or Cllr Ann Kingsbury  on akingsbury@lambeth.gov.uk

Lambeth council and NHS Lambeth have  agreed  their final detailed proposals  for the centre, on the green opposite West Norwood train station. The plans are now with NHS London and  civil servants, firstly at  the Department for Communities and Local Government – which has already approved the funding in principle, and then at  The  Treasury.

Once agreed, building work could start in the summer 2012.

Proposed Fire Station site

Lambeth council refused planning  permission  to build a new firestation for West Norwood on the site of the care home at 210 Knights Hill in January 2011. The main reason for refusal was that regular activities such as training for fire fighters would cause  too much noise in a  residential area.

The Fire Brigade then appealed to the independent Planning Inspector against the council decision. The Planning Inspector has arranged to  listen to the arguments for and against the proposals at the YMCA , 40 Stockwell Road SW9 9ES  on Wednesday 25^th January . The hearing is in public but anyone wishing to speak to the Planning  Inspector must be present  at 10am to indicate they wish to do so. For advice on planning appeal hearings see: http://www.planningportal.gov.uk/uploads/pins/taking-part_planning-hearing.pdf

If you would like an more information about this hearing please contact Cllr Jane Pickard  jpickard@lambeth.gov.uk.

Details of the original planning application can be seen via  the Public Access database quoting  ref 10/02504  : http://planning.lambeth.gov.uk/publicaccess/. For detailsof the appeal quote case 2156756  at http://www.planningportal.gov.uk/planning/appeals/online/search

Local Labour councillors were at the station this morning handing out fliers as part of the Labour Party’s Fare Deal campaign. 2012 is an election year for the Mayor of London and London Assembly members.  The cost of public transport is set to be a key election issue with The Labour Candidate, Ken Livingstone, promising to cut fares if he is elected in May.  In contrast, a single bus ticket is up 50% and a weekly zone 1 – 4 travel card is up 21% under the current Conservative Mayor.

 Oyster bus fare are now  £1.35 ( £2.30 if you pay cash) . Peak time zone-3 oyster rail ticket up 6.9% to £3.10 (£4.30 if you pay cash) . 7-day zone-3 travel card up 6.2% to £ 34.20

See for details: http://www.southlondonbusiness.co.uk/west_norwoods_favourite_business.php

Cllr Mike Smith at library closed for repairs

West Norwood Library & Nettlefold Halls remain closed since June 2011 as a consequence of damage from vandalism and theft. When repairs started, asbestos was found and this caused a long delay. The asbestos has now been removed but the building is still in a very poor condition and  will take a lot of money to fix. A condition survey is being undertaken to identify  what further work is needed. The survey should  be completed during January 2012 and it is not possible to estimate an re-opening date for the  West Norwood Library and Nettlefold Halls until this survey is done.  In the meantime the building is secured to reduce the risk of further vandalism.

Cllr Nosegbe, chair of the Lambeth Libraries Commission, says  “There  will be a fully functioning library in West Norwood. Our libraries are essential, they are open to all and benefit everyone and we are working with the community to make sure a full library service is back serving our residents as soon as possible. The temporary library service currently available at the Lambeth Resource Centre is unsatisfactory. We want to deliver more for Norwood and we are looking at alternative sites, like the Old Library, for a better library service in the meantime. “

At a meeting in November with local residents there were  lots of constructive ideas on what people wanted in their future local library in West Norwood. A consultation process about the future of the building  is underway and the council is  seeking the views of the community, residents, library users and members of the Friends groups.

The Libraries Commission looked at the future of Lambeth’s library service bearing in mind  the council has much less money to spend. For details of the work of the Library Commission see http://www.lambeth.gov.uk/Services/CouncilDemocracy/MakingADifference/LibrariesCommission.htm

To get involved in the future of all of Lambeth’s libraries contact the council by emailing  LibrariesHaveYourSay@lambeth.gov.uk , text  07772 103 628 or phone  0800 013 1497 or 020 7926 6397.

The Friends of West Norwood Library welcome new members – email FWNL@hotmail.co.uk or see them on facebook.

Photo of X68 - by Nicobobinus

The X68 bus will run in 2011  on:

Wednesday 28th December,

Thursday 29th December  and

Friday 30th December 2011 to the normal timetable.

If you can, please do use this important Norwood bus service on those days to help ensure the X68 runs on all non-bank holidays every year. Until now there has been no service between Christmas and New Year.

For  details of London’s public transport services over the Christmas- New Year break see:

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/assets/downloads/festive-leaflet.pdf .

Travel Watch can help  improve public transport in London – see: http://www.londontravelwatch.org.uk/

Some of the items at St.Lukes Foodbank

Last September, St Luke’s church launched Norwood Foodbank, a project aimed at providing food for people in crisis within our community.

Whether the result of family breakdown, job or home loss, crime, or mental or physical impairment, many local people are currently forced to choose between eating and paying their bills.  Norwood Foodbank attempts to help alleviate this struggle by providing practical assistance in the form of food donations, as well as signposting people to further support where needed.

Having collected over 2 tonnes of food since the project began, church stocks are now down to just 500 kilograms, indicating both the success of the programme but also an ongoing demand for such support.  With the advent of Christmas and trying economic times being felt all round, such charity has never been more pertinent.

St Luke’s on Knights Hill SE27 0HS welcomes any food donations  on Tuesday to Friday between 9am and 3pm –  or at any Sunday church service 10.30am.

For more information and a list of suggested foods see http://norwood.foodbank.org.uk/

Browsing the books in the Emmaus Bookshop

The Emmaus shop at 5 Knights Hill SE27 0HS has won the 2011 award for West Norwood’s  Best Dressed Shop  - see  their website.

Most West Norwood shoppers will have noticed Emmaus’ impressive furniture and clothing boutique on Knights Hill. But have you  ventured down the adjacent alleyway (take a left after the clothes store when heading south down Knights Hill) to find the extended furniture and book emporium which Emmaus also boasts ? A fortuitous happenstance given the extended closure of West Norwood Library for repairs.

It may not be quite the same as borrowing, but it’s reassuring to know that reading enthusiasts can treat themselves to modern classics like Graham Greene, Kingsley Amis and Umberto Eco for a mere £1!  There are also a number of Dickens titles as well as those by esteemed authors such as Gore Vidal and Jeffrey Eugenides, not to mention contemporary page-turners such as Stephanie Meyer and James Patterson.  Prices range between £1 to £1.50 – a small price for a good book and a worthy cause.

As a charity dedicated to providing assistance to those moving on from homelessness, Emmaus relies heavily on local support.  So if you haven’t checked their shops out already, do! Opening hours are 10-5, Monday to Saturday.  Donations welcome too.