Cllr Pickard at West Norwood Firestation
West Norwood Fire Station will be moving in autumn 2014 to a new building under construction at 210 Knights Hill SE27 0JD. The current building at 445 Norwood Road SE27 9DQ is now up for sale by agents Dron & Wright. The site is 1,000 sq meters over 0.15 hectares and has already attracted interest from hoteliers & retailers. The Fire Station will continue to operate from Norwood Road until the move to Knights Hill.
Filed under Leisure, Local Business, Traffic, West Norwood
The 31st March and 1st April weekend welcomes Spring to West Norwood.
Saturday is West Norwood’s first Slow Food Festival 10am to 6pm around St Luke’s church SE27 0HS
Flour milling, apple pressing, urban foraging, pizza making, cider drinking, jazz, meet Mrs Beeton, catch Mr Freaky Peens, enjoy the Honey Theatre Live, check out Brixton City Farm, hear about rare pig breeds, watch Brindisa’s master jamon carver at work, taste perfect pizza made in a mobile wood fired oven, have a cup of Volcano coffee, treat yourself to a tongue sandwich, have a Fortnum & Mason style tea, watch the magical Ms McK interview a surprise celebrity guest ,try authentic pierogi, listen to Levi Roots’ friend on the wonders of caribbean cuisine, bake a cake for the family bake off, make a dish for the slow food cook off , win dinner for two at Bubba’s .. …………. there’s something for everyone but you may need to book online for some events:
http://www.westnorwoodslowfoodfestival.co.uk
Saturday 2pm to 5pm is the Spring Flower Show in St Luke’s church hall. Flowers on display including tulips, daffodils, & polyanthus, photographs, floral art and a ginger biscuit competition. All welcome.
For details see: http://lambethhorticulturalsociety.org.uk/shows.html
Sunday 1st April is first Feast day of 2012 open 10am to 4pm. The West Norwood Feast is a people-powered market celebrating the diversity, talent and entrepreneurial skills in our neighbourhood. There’s plenty to see and do including the Gardeners’ Corner by York Hill where you can pick up seeds, plants and tools, the Artisans’ Market on Chatsworth Road with locally-made arts and crafts, a Food Fair at St Luke’s with stalls serving freshly-cooked street food and even a Retro Village by Roseberys on Knights Hill with a market for reused, recycled and remade furniture and clothes. And there’s music, performance, a beer and cider tent, a community garden on Norwood Road by the Fire Station and The Edible Bus Stop.
More details are on the Feast website http://westnorwoodfeast.com/blog and facebook page www.facebook.com/wnfeast.
Filed under Arts, Charity, Community / voluntary, Leisure, Local Business, Shopping, West Norwood
Squatted building at 210 Knights Hill
The London Fire Brigade has been granted permission for its plans for a brand new 3 bay fire station on Knights Hill. The independent planning inspector listened to arguments from local people and councillors but decided “ in a finely balanced decision… the need for a replacement fire station… outweighs the loss of residential accommodation and the projected additional noise levels”.
The building at 210 Knights Hill is owned by Maudsley Hospital and is currently squatted. The building will be demolished to make way for the new fire station.
We will post any further news on the timetable and plans for the existing fire station on Norwood Road as soon as we get it.
For details of the planning application quote ref 10/02504 on Lambeth Council web site‘s planning pages .
Filed under Environment, Housing, West Norwood
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 25th 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
Filed under Community / voluntary, Environment, Housing, Lambeth Council
Local councillor , Jackie Meldrum, outside 210 Knights Hill
The London Fire Brigade’s proposal to move West Norwood’s fire station to a new site at 210 Knights Hill was thrown at by councillors on Lambeth’s Planning committee on Tuesday night. Objectors argued the fire station would create too much extra noise & nuisance in quiet residential streets. For details of the meeting see this section on Lambeth’s website.
Local councillor Jane Pickard backed objectors who said the Fire Brigade was wrong to think they could not modernise the existing fire station at 445 Norwood Road after it was listed as a building of historical and special interest in 2006. During discussions with the Fire Brigade over the last few months it became clear that fire fighter training could be very noisy for residents living close by to the new station.
The Planning committee agreed with objectors and fire chiefs said they would now look again at converting the station at 445 Norwood Road rather than moving elsewhere.
Jane said “ This is really the best result for everyone. The fire fighters can get a better working conditions inside the existing building, the attractive front of the building could be preserved, West Norwood will not suffer a derelict listed building which may be hard to convert to flats and residents of Knights Hill neighbourhood will be left in peace & quiet.”
Filed under Housing, Labour Councillors, Lambeth Council, West Norwood
Knights Hill councillors welcomed to Norwood Road fire station
The fire station at 445 Norwood Road opened in 1914 an age when fireman lived with their families in flats above the engines. The site is fully operational but is now too small for most up to date fire engines . There is no space for engines to turn around so they have to reverse in from the main road. The offices and spaces for cleaning equipment and rest rooms are too small and inadequate for a 21st century fire service. In 2006 the building was listed by English Heritage so the options for adapting the building into a modern fire station are extremely limited
Fire chiefs invited local councillors, Jackie Meldrum, Jane Pickard and Mike Smith to discuss the plans to upgrade West Norwood’s fire service. The Fire Brigade want to build new 2-storey premises halfway up Knights Hill on the site of a derelict care home.
Residents in the local neighbourhood have been invited to see the plans. On Saturday 19th June the plans will be displayed at West Norwood Library, 1 Norwood High Street SE27 9JX. Fire Brigade staff will be present to answer questions. A planning application should be submitted in a few weeks time.
Cllr Pickard said: “On the whole, this looks like good news for residents. West Norwood gets a modern fire station . 210 Knights Hill will not be turned into high-rise housing and the local drainage problems will finally get sorted. But first we must make sure any concerns among residents are fully addressed.”
For more information contact Andres Monsalve on 020 8555 1200 x 31293 or andres.monsalves@london-fire.gov.uk
Filed under Labour Councillors, West Norwood
