Lambeth Green News

Times newspaper gets behind 20 mph campaign

2012-02-02T22:58:00.001Z

It was good to see The Times getting behind the 20mph campaign today, with it's front page on cycling and eight point manifesto (covenant), which includes the call for a default limit of 20mph on residential streets. There is another story tomorrow (Friday) which features the widespread support that the Times is already getting.

The newspaper's campaign follows the collision with a lorry of Mary Bowers, a Times reporter, at a junction on Wapping Highway close to The Times offices on 4 November.

Two days before that accident (on 2nd Nov), I was out with Jenny Jones and members of Lambeth and Southwark Green Parties highlighting the dangers of cycling, and calling for a 20mph limit to be introduced.

Lambeth and Southwark between them account for half of the ten most dangerous locations in London for cyclists. Of the 32 boroughs in London Lambeth has the second highest casualty rate for both pedestrians and cyclists. Southwark has the fourth highest overall casualty rate. In December we highlighted that road deaths trebled in Lambeth last year.

Jenny has written for the Guardian website today on this issue.

Lambeth has highest school exclusion rate in inner London

2012-02-01T09:16:00.008Z

I have had a response to a Freedom of Information request from Lambeth Council regarding exclusion rates in the borough.

The stats I asked for show permanent exclusions increasing steadily over the last five years:

These figures are alarming. But also of concern was the commentary that Lambeth provided along with the requested information. Rather than simply providing the facts it claimed in its response:

"Lambeth’s permanent exclusion rates are in line with most Inner London Boroughs which have all fluctuated in the past five years.”

So let's look at the last five years compared to other inner London boroughs. Fortunately comparative stats are available on the Department for Education Website. What a comparison reveals is that Lambeth’s exclusion rates were the highest of all 14 inner London boroughs in 2009/10 (the latest year that statistics are available).

In 2008/09 it also topped the tables with the most exclusions of any inner London borough.

In 2007/08 it had the second worst exclusion rates.

In 2006/07 it had the third worst exclusion rates.

In 2005/06 it again had the third worst exclusion rates.

So as well as being manifestly untrue that Lambeth’s exclusion rates haven’t been in line with most inner city boroughs, there hasn’t been much “fluctuation” either. If anything there has been a steady and gradual deterioration over the last five years compared with other inner city boroughs.

The apparent unwillingness to even acknowledge that there is a problem is the most worrying thing of all.

Cleaning up Lambeth

2012-01-30T14:05:00.001Z

Whilst there's an important big issue around cleaning up mismanagement, and some have suggested 'endemic corruption' in Lambeth Council, there's also the stuff that directly affects people's everyday lives.

Lambeth Greens have been highlighting, and pushing the council, to do far more with regard to the basic tasks that Councils should be performing around maintaining Lambeth's Streets - from fixing potholes so that the roads are better for cycling to getting rubbish cleared.

As part of that's we'll be reporting on this blog periodically what we are doing. By way of example, I have just reported this dumped rubbish including recycling bags and bits of old wood spilling out onto the pavement opposite St Leonard's School on Mitcham Lane at the bottom of Keen's Close in Streatham. It's been accumulating for a few days, and is a regular dumping area which Lambeth never seems to deal with.

I'll provide an update here on when it gets cleared (and if it returns!).

Simon Birkett to speak to Lambeth Greens this Wednesday 1st Feb

2012-01-29T10:48:00.005Z

Simon Birkett, from the Campaign for Clean Air in London, will be coming to speak to Lambeth Greens this Wednesday (1st Feb).

He is coming as part of our Clean Air campaign. Before Christmas we highlighted in the local press how almost 50 schools and nurseries in Lambeth are close to London's schools and nurseries.

Simon recently hit the headlines with his warning that the performance of Olympic Athletes could be put in jeopardy in the event of a summer smog.

We will look together at how pollution can be reduced in the borough through measures such as a reduction in the speed limit to 20 mph, which has shown to ease traffic flow and reduce emissions, and make Lambeth more accessible for cyclists and pedestrians.

Some of the Green Party’s greatest successes over the last 10 years in London—where it has two members elected to the London Assembly—have been around air quality. In 2010 the Mayor agreed to implement an air quality strategy.

But the Green Party has warned that this isn’t enough. Air pollution takes a huge toll on London both economically and socially. London is currently in line for a £300m-EU fine for its breach of air pollution limits. The Government’s own statistics suggest that there are 4,200 premature deaths in London each year due to air pollution.

The cost of air pollution to the UK as a whole has been estimated at £20 billion a year. Research shows that children living near the busiest roads can have 20% lung capacity, with pollution leading to respiratory illness, allergies, asthma and even lung cancer.

The meeting will take place this Wednesday 1st February at 7pm at the Priory Arms, 83 Lansdowne Way, Stockwell. All are very welcome to attend.

Two articles I wrote for the Guardian this week

2012-01-28T13:09:00.001Z

I have written a couple of articles for the Guardian over the last week or so.

The first looked at the idea of "Responsible Capitalism". This is a concept currently being championed by both David Cameron and local Streatham MP, and Shadow Labour Business Secretary, Chuka Umunna. It is however really a cop-out, which means that the real underlying causes of the financial crisis which we are all facing are not being addressed.

The second article was for today's (Saturday's) Guardian, which built on this. It looked at how we desperately need a 'Transition Economy' and suggested some alternatives to the approach on offer by the three biggest parties. It also suggested that the Green Party is now the natural inheritor of the radical tradition in British Politics which Labour has abandoned.

Streatham MP puts arms companies at centre of Labour's economic plans

2011-11-14T09:18:00.012Z

It looks as if arms companies are to be at the centre of Labour’s developing approach to the economy – if comments today by Shadow Business Secretary and Streatham MP Chuka Umunna are anything to go by.

The MP tweeted last night in support of an article about the positive economic impact of Rolls Royce (one of the UK’s biggest exporters of military parts and equipment).

The Press Release from the Labour party about the economic/ business speech which Umunna is giving today also singles out BAE Systems – the UK’s biggest arms exporter. It says that the UK Government should buy more of its weapons from British firms like BAE.

Astonishingly this is described as Labour "calling on the Government to use its consumer power to reward companies doing the right thing"

Rolls Royce and BAE were the two firms which David Cameron was heavily criticised for taking to the Middle East, when weapons sold by the UK were being used to suppress civilians in Libya.

As well as being deeply saddening that Labour, even in opposition, appear to be repeating the mistakes of being in Government about cosying up to arms companies, this is also both a policy mistake and a political mistake.

The arms industry already receives around £700 million in taxpayer-funded subsidies every year. This is partly through the funding of research and development. Future generations will look back in amazement, unable to understand why, when faced with the threat of runaway climate change and financial meltdown, we subsidised jobs in the arms industry instead of putting money into renewable energy and other technologies to tackle the environmental and economic threats.

But this is also a political mistake. Three years ago, along with others at Campaign Against Arms Trade, I drew public attention to the involvement of Clarion events, an events company who promote exhibitions like the Baby Show, in arms fayres – where British companies promote their products around the world.

When people on MumsNet heard about Clarion’s involvement they were outraged and several got in contact with me. I went on the Radio 2 Jeremy Vine Programme to discuss it. MumsNet eventually boycotted the Baby Show being absolutely clear in their feelings toward the commercial arms trade.

MumsNet was a group which Labour were particularly keen to target at the last election. They still are given David Cameron’s unpopularity with women, and the disproportionate impact of the cuts on women.

Transport inclusion to be at heart of Lambeth & Southwark campaign

2011-11-07T10:06:00.010Z

Green mayoral candidate Jenny Jones joined with me and other local people, including members of Lambeth and Southwark Green parties on Friday, for a flashride in Camberwell.

Together we staged a “go slow” of cyclists calling for a 20mph speed limit and safer streets along the new Cycle Superhighway 5.

This new Cycle Superhighway will run from Lewisham to Victoria along busy roads like Peckham High Street and Camberwell New Road with traffic driving past at up to 30mph, making it dangerous and frightening particularly for inexperienced cyclists. Many cyclists and potential cyclists are too frightened and daunted by the prospect of getting on a bike in the Capital.

It marked the start of the Green campaign in Lambeth and Southwark, which aims to highlight issues around inclusion and local transport.

Our research has found that the boroughs get one of the rawest deals in London when it comes to transport, with large numbers of local people excluded, pushed out or discouraged from using parts of the transport system through fears about safety or inaccessibility. Notably:

• Lambeth and Southwark account for half of the ten most dangerous locations in London for cyclists.

• Of the 32 boroughs in London Lambeth has the second highest casualty rate for both pedestrians and cyclists. Southwark has the fourth highest overall casualty rate.

• Of the 8 tube stations in Lambeth only 1 (Brixton) is wheelchair accessible. A freedom of information request that I submitted uncovered that the lifts at Brixton station have been out of order for 164 days since 2006.

• Eight out of eleven overground stations in Southwark could soon be impacted by cuts leaving them unstaffed and “no go areas” for many travellers. This is likely to make it the hardest hit area in the whole country if the proposals go ahead.

• Both Lambeth and Southwark’s Taxicard schemes, providing subsidised door-to-door transport for people with mobility impairments, have been slashed by 33% and 25% respectively. ( Details of Lambeth Taxicard cuts here. Details of Southwark Taxicard cuts here )

There is an apartheid that runs throughout our transport system which excludes whole sections of London, and nowhere is this more true than in Lambeth and Southwark - and the situation is getting worse not better.

During the election campaign, Greens in Lambeth and Southwark will highlight the different features of the exclusion, and put forward proposals to tackle it.

Come and hear Green mayoral candidate Jenny Jones this Wednesday

2011-10-31T11:22:00.006Z

Green Party mayoral candidate and London Assembly member Jenny Jones will be coming to visit Lambeth Greens this Wednesday.

All are very welcome to come and hear what Jenny has to say, as well as meet her and ask questions about anything relating to her work or the London campaign.

We'll be meeting from 7.00pm upstairs at The Priory Arms, 83 Lansdowne Way, Stockwell, SW8 2PB

This will also be our Lambeth AGM, so a great opportunity to come for the first time if you haven't been to a meeting before, and meet other local members.

Streatham MP Chuka Umunna 'breaks election pledge' on EU referendum

2011-10-25T07:34:00.008+01:00

The Labour rebels in last night's House of Commons vote on whether there should be a EU referendum have received less attention than the Conservative ones in the national press and media. But how Lambeth's three Labour MPs voted will be of interest to local people.

Among the small number of Labour rebels was Kate Hoey, MP for Vauxhall, who voted in favour of a referendum. Tessa Jowell, MP for Dulwich and West Norwood however voted with the Prime Minister and the majority of the Labour party, against a referendum.

Perhaps of greatest interest though is that Chuka Umunna, MP for Streatham, also toed his party's - and the Conservative - line, and voted against a referendum. This appears to contradict a pledge he made during the election campaign last year.

There didn't appear to be anything in his election literature about the issue one way or another. But like all candidates, it is likely that he was asked questions on the doorstep about it. And a promise was apparently made on the subject to Mark Wallace, a campaigner and blogger.

Through the medium of Twitter, in recent days Wallace has been asking Umunna publicly if he would honour what he said to him during the election - or at least clarify where he stands.

I asked Wallace what Umunna had actually said to him. He replied that Umunna had made a pledge to back an EU referendum face to face with him, on the doorstep. Umunna, he said, stated that he preferred an in/out referendum to settle the issue once and for all. In addition, Umunna had even promised to write to Gordon Brown on the matter.

This appears to contradict how Umunna voted last night.

In the end, in the absence of any written evidence, it may come down to one person's word against another's. But there are some big issues of concern here. The first is that Umunna has failed to make clear what his position is on a referendum. His constituents should know, and they should have been told long before last night's vote. It is not as if this is a minor issue.

The second is that even when asked publicly, he has failed to respond. There is an issue of accountability here. Umunna has voluntarily chosen to use social media to communicate with constituents and others. He has fallen silent on this issue. Why? Is it because he believes one thing, but has voted another for reasons of advancement within his own party? These are the kinds of questions that will now be asked.

Even at this point it would have been very quick and easy to make his position clear. He has not done so.

It should be noted too, that Umunna had the opportunity to express support for a progressive amendment to last night's House of Commons motion, tabled by Green MP Caroline Lucas. This backed a referendum on the basis of democracy and that it is right for people to be given a choice. He did not take that either.

You can read the full debate and the way all MPs voted in Hansard here

Lambeth and Southwark account for half of London's most dangerous locations for cyclists

2011-10-19T13:20:00.008+01:00

There appears to have been an amazing escape this morning in Southwark, when a lorry collided with a cyclist just south of London Bridge. The cyclist was lucky to emerge (apparently) relatively unharmed whilst her bike being squashed under the wheels of the lorry.

Others have not been so lucky. Cyclist casualties across the UK rose by 7% last year, up from 104 in 2009 to 111 in 2010. Transport for London may well face a charge of corporate manslaughter over the death of Min Joo Lee earlier this year.

It has now come to light that Lambeth and Southwark between them account for half of the ten most dangerous locations for cyclists in the capital. The new information came to light after a question to the Mayor of London.

The locations with the highest number of cycle collisions in the London area between 2008 and 2010 are:

1. St. George's Road/London Road/ Elephant & Castle Junction (Southwark)

2. Clapham Road/ Kennington Park Road/ Camberwell Road Junction (Lambeth)

3. Strand/Northumberland Avenue/Whitehall Junction (Westminster)

4. Waterloo Road/ Stamford St/ York Road Junction (Lambeth)

5. Mansion House St/Princes St/ Threadneedle St Junction (City of London)

6. Elephant & Castle/Newington Butts Roundabout (Southwark)

7. Hyde Park Corner (Westminster)

8. Millbank/Lambeth Bridge Junction (Westminster)

9. Clerkenwell Road/Farringdon Road Junction (Islington)

10. Albert Embankment/Kennington Lane/ Wandsworth Road Junction (Lambeth)

Transport for London say they are taking some action around these areas to improve cycle lanes, cycle superhighways and road layouts. Green Assembly Members have made significant progress in ensuring a tripling of the budget for cycling and walking, They have also put forward everything from the cycle hire scheme to a costed plan for lower bus fares.

But more needs to be done such as reducing the speed limit on many more roads in the capital to 20 mph - including main roads - which as well as lowering casualty rates and saving lives would improve traffic flow and lower carbon emissions. The London Cycling Campaign's "Going Dutch" proposals would provide clear space to cyclists on every main road. As part of this transport funding for boroughs could even be made conditional on providing clear space (where possible) on certain roads such as those leading to schools.

More needs to be done, urgently. As we have seen today - and now most days in the capital - these are issues of life and death.

But besides roads, civil partnerships, climate change, economic equality and protecting small business, what have the Greens ever done for London?

2011-10-18T15:18:00.007+01:00

Since the London mayor and Assembly were first elected in 2000, there have been two or three Green Party Assembly Members (AMs). These are just some of the things that they have achieved:

2000 Civil Partnerships
At the first ever Mayor’s Question Time assembly member Darren Johnson called on the Mayor to introduce a registration scheme for same-sex partners.
What happened next? A successful scheme was introduced, paving the way for civil partnerships legislation at national level.

2001 Thames Gateway Bridge
Greens began campaigning against Ken Livingstone’s plans for a new six-lane road bridge. As a price for supporting the Mayor’s 2005 budget the Greens called for the mayor to fund the objectors in order that the environmental case could be properly presented at the public inquiry.
What happened next? The public inquiry failed to give the go ahead for the bridge and the new Mayor Boris Johnson then abandoned it altogether.

2003 Climate change budget
Greens criticized Mayor Ken Livingstone’s budget for devoting just £300,000 per year to making London’s homes and buildings greener.
What happened next? In a series of budget deals with the then Mayor, Green AMs got the climate change budget at the London Development Agency increased to £8 million per year.

2004 Living Wage
As part of a budget deal Greens called on the Mayor to establish a Living Wage unit to tackle poverty pay in the capital.
What happened next? The GLA and a growing number of public and private sector bodies now pay the London Living Wage as a minimum.

2005 Leaking water mains
An investigation led by Darren highlighted the fact that a third of London’s drinking water was lost through leaking mains pipes.
What happened next? Following pressure from the Assembly Thames Water began a major mains replacement programme.

2006 Cycling budget
Green AM Jenny Jones commissioned a report which led to the setting of a target to increase cycling by 400% through the introduction of cycle hire, cycling superhighways and cycling hubs in outer London.
What happened next? The Green AMs secured budget commitments from Ken Livingstone which led to a tripling of the budget for cycling and walking.

2008 Opposing Heathrow expansion
Darren Johnson led the Environment Committee investigation into Heathrow expansion. The report showed that the economic benefits were exaggerated and the environmental impacts understated.
What happened next? In 2010 the new Government abandoned Heathrow expansion, the Assembly’s all-party report playing an important role in establishing a broad political consensus.

2009 Road safety
Green AM Jenny Jones fought the closure of the Metropolitan Police Commercial Vehicle Education Unit, which instructs HGV drivers on road sharing and awareness of vulnerable road users.
What happened next? This unit has now been reinstated within the traffic police section.

2010 Protecting small shops
For the Assembly’s Planning and Housing Committee, Green AM Jenny Jones led an investigation looking at what could be done to protect London’s small shops.
What happened next? Mayor Boris Johnson agreed to put policies for the protection of small shops in his new London Plan, the overall planning document for London.

Imagine what a few more Green Assembly Members could achieve in 2012...

Lambeth and Southwark housing 'extremely unaffordable'

2011-10-13T12:46:00.007+01:00

An interesting report out today from Shelter looking at the affordability of the private rented sector around England.

It found Southwark and Lambeth to have the 9th and 11th most expensive rental prices (for two bedroom homes) in England, with average monthly rental prices of £1,407 and £1,321 respectively.

The most interesting findings come though in terms of affordability. Average London
rents for two bedroom homes take up 60% of a Londoner’s median take-home pay, a rate
which is close to double that seen in most other regions. Southwark comes in at number 10 in the most unaffordable places with 63% of average take-home pay spent on rent, and Lambeth at number 12 with 59%. This earned them a classification of 'extremely unaffordable'.

Given yesterday's unemployment figures, the ongoing rise in rental prices lack of social and other housing alternatives the picture looks very bleak indeed. There was a good report on the human cost on Radio 4 this morning.

Lambeth’s chief executive moves up pay league table despite cuts

2011-10-13T10:10:00.002+01:00

Analysis by the Green Party has revealed that Lambeth council’s chief executive Derrick Anderson has moved up the league table of London council chief executive’s pay, despite implementing some of the most far reaching cuts of any London borough.

The latest figures show that during 2010-11 Lambeth’s head earned £215,963 (this is excluding pension contributions, which were an additional £30,976, giving a total annual salary of £246,939) moving from fourth to third place among the 32 London boroughs. The Green Party analysis (based on each council’s 2010/11 Statement of Accounts) found that the average pay of council chief executives across London in fact fell by 4% during the same period.

In the previous financial year (2009-10) three chief executives of London councils were paid more than Derrick Anderson. In the face of cuts, many council heads cut their salaries. Lambeth’s did not. Anderson subsequently became the third highest paid council chief executive in London during 2010-2011, only marginally behind those of Tory run Hammersmith and Fulham (£225,785) and Kensington & Chelsea (£220,976).

In April this year, Anderson finally announced that he would take a pay cut for 2011-12 and waive his entitlement to a bonus. This was strange as Lambeth had previously claimed he received “no performance related pay or bonuses”.

The figures came to light through London-wide analysis by the London Green party. The amount earned by Anderson in 2010-11 is over 17 times the minimum wage earned by some of Lambeth council sub contractors and over 13 times the Living Wage which the council pays its direct employees.

Lambeth has still to pay a Living Wage to all those who work on behalf of the council. Green councillor Rebecca Thackeray campaigned in 2009 to get Lambeth to adopt a Living Wage for all who carry out work for the council. This was opposed by Labour councillors who only accepted that Lambeth’s direct employees should received a ‘Living Wage’.

Last month Lambeth came second from bottom in a league table of all councils in England, measuring the severity of cuts to disabled people’s services. This included a 22% cut to adult care and support.

It is a stark contrast that whilst Lambeth has some of the highest executive pay in the whole country, it is imposing some of the most severe of cuts for its most vulnerable residents.

People in Lambeth will wonder why, in one of the most deprived boroughs in the country, where the cuts are so deep, Lambeth’s head took so long to take a cut in his own pay, whilst many of his contemporaries did so across London.

But the priority must be for Lambeth council to increase the pay of all those it employs as other councils have done, so everyone gets a Living Wage. It isn’t just Lambeth’s chief executive and Lambeth residents who are being treated in different ways. The staff who implement vital council services are also subject to double standards.

Key figures for all boroughs in London are as follows:

Borough Staff paid more than £150k* Chief exec remuneration* No. of times higher than living wage

Barking and Dagenham 3 £162,087 10
Barnet 9 £200,976 12
Bexley 3 £199,248 12
Brent 2 £203,853 12
Bromley 3 £177,135 11
Camden 6 £204,961 12
City of London 1 £142,000 9
Croydon 4 £204,520 12
Ealing 1 £183,854 11
Enfield 1 £194,693 12
Greenwich 5 £189,667 11
Hackney 5 £177,956 11
Hammersmith and Fulham 5 £225,785 14
Haringey 2 £189,890 11
Harrow 2 £195,965 12
Havering 1 £180,213 11
Hillingdon 1 £183,250 11
Hounslow 1 £156,901 9
Islington 1 £210,000 13
Kensington & Chelsea 2 £220,976 13
Kingston 1 £179,000 11
Lambeth 5 £215,963 13
Lewisham 1 £192,387 12
Merton 1 £200,390 12
Newham 5 £188,022 11
Redbridge 1 £181,542 11
Richmond 1 £178,744 11
Southwark 5 £182,089 11
Sutton 1 £156,195 9
Tower Hamlets 2 £186,528 11
Waltham Forest 2 £180,000 11
Wandsworth 9 £191,122 12
Westminster 3 £200,543 12
London total / average 95 £188,983 11

* Total remuneration including expenses, excluding pension contributions.

Knights Youth Centre facing cuts to vital programmes

2011-10-12T11:40:00.005+01:00

Today the Government's Victim's Panel comes to Lambeth, following the recent riots and looting. This is being welcomed by Labour councillors.

The good work that this might do will be undermined however by the fact that central Government and these same councillors between them are pushing ahead with cutting youth services in Lambeth. This is already having a serious affect on youth centres around the borough, and will do so on young people and communities for years to come.

This includes Knight's Youth Centre in Clapham/ Streatham, which I remember from 40 years ago when I was growing up. As reported in the print edition of Tuesday's South London Press (not online at the moment) the Centre gets 200 children through the doors each week (mainly from the Clapham Park Estate) but is already having to cut staff and services. It is £85,000 short on the funding it needs for this year alone (about half its budget). A vital mentoring and apprenticeship programme looks as if it may have to close, which would be a tragedy, as this trains up children to be youth workers themselves.

The Centre is applying for a small amount of money from the NatWest community fund, and it will get the grant if enough people vote for it. You can do so here (You have until 23rd October to vote).

Blackfriars Bridge flashride

2011-10-12T10:27:00.003+01:00

There's a flashride this afternoon (Wednesday) to push the Mayor and TfL into action over plans for Blackfriars bridge.

It's a cross-party event, and our mayoral candidate Jenny Jones will be there. Over 400 hundred people have already signed up to say they're coming, and hundreds more are expected on the day. Blackfriars bridge falls in Southwark, which is part of the Lambeth and Southwark constituency for the GLA elections.

London Cycling Campaign has produced excellent images showing how the junction at the northside of Blackfriars Bridge can be dramatically improved for both pedestrians and cyclists.

Two cyclists have been killed on the bridge in recent years, and several serious crashes have been reported already this year.

It’s estimated that LCC’s new cycling-safe design would add only 1% to the cost of the three-year Blackfriars development, but could save lives and prevent serious injuries.

The Blackfriars Bridge flashride meets at 5.45pm by Doggett's pub on the southside, in Southwark.

Transport apartheid in London

2011-10-12T08:19:00.004+01:00

There is a debate in Parliament today, initiated by Lisa Nandy MP, on accessible transport. (I did an event at the Labour party conference with Lisa Nandy a few weeks ago, and amongst other things we discussed disability).

It is scandalous that whilst we will be holding the Paralympics in London next year, so much of London's transport system is inaccessible - most notably the tube. As part of the GLA campaign, we will be highlighting this issue as much as we can in Lambeth and Southwark. In many respects there is a system of apartheid in place, where whole areas are only accessible to one part of London's population.

Transport for All, based in Brixton, would like the Government to:

- Reject proposals in the McNulty Review to cut staff at train stations, who provide essential assistance to disabled and older passengers. (Southwark will be particularly hard hit in this respect)

- Change the law to ensure that all buses and coaches are equipped with the audio-visual equipment that makes them accessible to blind and deaf people

- Increase funding for stepfree programme as way of kickstarting economy. At present, almost half of disabled people say their choice of job is restricted due to inaccessible transport and nearly a quarter have had to turn doen a job because of transport.

- Protect bus routes which are so essential to avoid isolation and maintain activity and independence, especially for older people.

Petition launched to lower speed limit in Lambeth to 20 mph

2011-10-11T13:43:00.001+01:00

Lambeth has one of the highest rates of road casualties in London, with the second highest casualty rate in London for both pedestrians and cyclists.

The lowering of the speed limit on residential roads in Lambeth, is something for which we have been campaigning for several years now. Last year, George Graham and others brought the ‘20s plenty’ campaign to Lambeth and organised a public meeting in Herne Hill. We have found widespread support – even from motorists who recognise that a 20 limit helps traffic flow.

Over 7 million people in the UK now live in areas where the speed limit has been dropped – showing that the campaign is both realistic and achievable. Several studies have shown that it doesn’t just reduce road casualties, but improves air quality, and encourages walking and cycling.

We have now launched an online petition to show that there is public support in Lambeth for such a move. Please sign it here and pass it around your friends, neighbours and networks.

Lambeth bottom of league over cuts to disabled services

2011-10-07T07:36:00.003+01:00

Lambeth Council have come 151 out of 152 local authorities in England in a league table of cuts to services for disabled people.

The findings are contained in a report published last month by Demos, in partnership with disability charity Scope.

As we know there is a 28 per cent cut over a four year period to local authority budgets from central Government. Councils across the country have made decisions about what they are going to axe.

Disabled people are disproportionately reliant on public services, and the new report Coping with the Cuts, throws light on how the government cuts to local authority budgets are affecting disabled people’s services across the country.

Data came from hundreds of FOI requests which revealed the disparities between the level of budgetary cuts local authorities were making to their social care budgets, and the changes being made to the front line of care and support. Some councils had very large care cuts – up to 22 per cent - but were not raising service user charges, or tightening eligibility criteria. They weren’t closing any services either. On the other hand, some councils were increasing care funding by up to 10 per cent, but reported closures, restrictions in eligibility and large increases in charges for things like meals on wheels and respite.

The results are presented graphically, but a crucial finding is how disabled people in Lambeth are being particularly affected. Of particular note is the 22% budget cut in support for disabled adult care and support. Lambeth has also increased the cost of using specialist transport by 67 per cent and reduced the number of annual trips that can be made by a disabled person under the taxicard scheme from 144 to 96.

Boundary Review: All change for Lambeth

2011-09-12T19:04:00.011+01:00

So, it seems it's all change in Lambeth as far as Parliamentary constituencies are concerned.

The Boundary Commission Review, due for public consumption at midnight, has already been leaked on the net and is being discussed widely. Under the proposals it appears as if Battersea, Streatham, Tooting and Vauxhall constituencies would be abolished and several new constituencies created instead, which would take in parts of both Wandsworth and Lambeth.

Three new constituencies are being proposed that each contain parts of the two boroughs. In addition a fourth new constituency would be created comprised of remaining wards in Lambeth.

Streatham and Tooting Constituency

The first is 'Streatham and Tooting' which would take four wards in from each borough. These are not specified by name, but look likely to be Tooting, Graveney, Furzedown and Bedford from the Wandsworth side, and Steatham Hill, St Leonard's, Streatham Wells and Streatham South from Lambeth.

Battersea and Vauxhall Constituency

The next is 'Battersea and Vauxhall'. Again, this would take four wards from each borough, and again they are not specified in the leaked Boundary Review.

Clapham Common constituency

The third is a new Clapham Common constituency, which would be slightly different in that it will take in just three Lambeth wards (probably Thornton, Clapham Common and Clapham Town) and five Wandsworth wards.

Brixton Constituency

A fourth constituency would also be created made up of the remaining eight Lambeth wards in the central part of the borough.

Predictably, jokes are already being cracked about which of Miliband's MPs would get the Labour nomination to fight the Streatham and Tooting seat - Chuka (Umunna) or (Sadiq) Khan. It's quite possible that Sadiq could fight Streatham and Tooting, whilst Chuka ends up fighting Brixton. But there is likely to be some healthy competition for the Labour nomination in Brixton, given that Tessa Jowell's seat would also go.

But that is to get ahead of the game... There will now be a 12-week consultation period on the proposals, and later a vote in the House of Commons. Given the many changes throughout the country, a lot of MPs may yet have a change of heart on whether scaling down their number in the House of Commons is such a good idea after all.

Lambeth Ward map available here and Wandsworth ward map here

Southwark to be hit hardest by rail cuts

2011-09-12T10:15:00.004+01:00

Southwark could be the hardest hit area in the country if proposed cuts go ahead which would leave many railway stations unstaffed.

The Government is considering proposals in a report by businessman Sir Roy McNulty, which recommends cuts of £1 billion across the national network. This was highlighted last week by the TSSA union and reported in the Evening Standard as well as the South London Press.

The TSSA union drew up a “hit list” of 675 ticket offices to be closed nationwide. As there are no platform staff at these stations, they will be left unmanned.

Two stations in Lambeth could be affected: Brixton and Gipsy Hill. But the situation is even worse in Southwark, where eight out of eleven stations in the borough could be impacted, making Southwark stations ‘no-go’ areas for many travelers.

Southwark stations facing cuts: East Dulwich, Elephant and Castle, North Dulwich, Nunhead, Queen's Road Peckham, South Bermondsey, Sydenham Hill and West Dulwich are all listed as part of the “hit list” of 675 ticket offices to be closed nationwide. Only Denmark Hill, Peckham Rye and London Bridge would escape.

This is a case of rail users being kicked when they are down. Fares are already due to increase by 25% over the next three years, meaning lower safety levels at a much higher price. And it will be some of the most vulnerable members of our community who are most affected. With the huge increase in the cost of living, and cuts to benefits and services, more and more have no option but to rely a public transport system which is accessible and affordable.

At a time when the economy is struggling to maintain any momentum at all, as other countries in the world are recognising, we need more investment in transport infrastructure, not less. Indeed, cuts to station staff would be a false economy. Redundancies and the resulting increase in vandalism and other crimes, not to mention the detrimental impact upon rail use itself, call into question any hypothetical savings.

Caroline joins coalition to reform faith schools

2011-09-09T17:14:00.004+01:00

It’s great to see it announced today that Caroline Lucas has joined the Accord Coalition to reform faith schools.

This is an initiative that I was involved in founding a few years ago. It brings together teaching unions such as the Association of Teachers and Lecturers, religious groups, identifiably secular organisations like the British Humanist Association, as well as a range of individuals like author Philip Pullman, former education minister Polly Toynbee, former Minister for Education Baroness Blackstone and the former Bishop of Edinburgh Richard Holloway.

The idea is to make faith schools more inclusive by bringing an end to their discrimination in both employment and admissions. Accord has a good databank of independent evidence on faith schools, but in summary they are more likely to have homophobic bullying, and take fewer children with Special Educational Needs and fewer eligible for free school meals.

The Accord Coalition also seeks an end to the legal requirement for all maintained schools (faith schools and others) to hold an act of collective worship each day. A BBC survey showed this week that not only do most parents not want their children to have to take part in this, but also that most schools aren’t holding them regularly.

I did an interview with Nicky Campbell on Radio 5 live on the subject on Tuesday. You can listen to a snippet here.

London elections – a choice between policy and celebrity

2011-09-06T10:33:00.007+01:00

The news that ‘I’m A Celebrity…’ participant Brian Paddick is to stand as the Lib Dem candidate for mayor, seems to confirm that next year's contest for London mayor will be a clear choice between policy and celebrity.

The attraction to the limelight of both Livingstone and Johnson is well known. Indeed, Lembit Opik, who was unsuccessful in his bid to be the Lib Dem candidate stood on an explicitly ‘celebrity’ platform, arguing that his party needed someone of similar status.

“Boris and Ken are celebrity politicians. I fear the party doesn't grasp the implications of this”

...he told the Standard, as he conceded defeat. His point? Paddick is a celebrity of sorts, but the Lib Dems needed a bigger one.

But the choice of celebrity politicians with which Londoners are now faced, should be of concern for a different reason entirely. As we have seen with Boris Johnson over the last few years, celebrity can be compensation for some very uncreative, and poor policy-making. It also appears to contribute to a lack of accountability. It makes it easier for policians to charm their way out of difficult situations, without addressing the issues that really matter.

As Green mayoral candidate Jenny Jones has pointed out, what London needs is not more of the same, but fresh ideas for the economic and social climate which London now faces. If celebrity was ever affordable in easier times, it certainly isn't now that the stakes are so much higher.

As the cuts bite, times get tougher, and the election approaches, the importance of the choice between policy and celebrity will become even clearer.

Money for disabled children fails to bring about accessible play area

2011-09-05T09:33:00.020+01:00

Last week I had a second meeting with representatives of Lambeth council to try and address what can reasonably be described as huge failings concerning the new play area in Norwood Park.

The new playground is based on water play, which if implemented correctly can produce activities which children of varying abilities can enjoy together.

The new play area is located 20 yards from another playground which is designed only for able-bodied children. Like most playgrounds in the borough, this has few (if any) accessible activities for children with impairments.

The idea of the new water play area located next to it was that it would provide an additional space with facilities that disabled children could access, but which would also be inclusive, so young people of all abilities could play together.

Accordingly, the new project brought together a number of funding streams and cost in excess of £250,000 including around £60,000 of Aiming High money for disabled children.

The project has been plagued by problems from the beginning, with allegations of mismanagement. Lambeth has already apologised for some of the events.

But now the play area has finally been completed it is being publicly celebrated as a great resource which can be accessed by all children in the area. Rather than being inclusive and accessible however, most of the area and activities are completely inaccessible to children and parents who use wheelchairs, and have impairments to their mobility. This is a moumental failing, given that it was funded and created to be quite the opposite. What in effect has been created is another segregated play area, despite the funding for disabled children.

There are for example three new sand play areas, but these have foot high rims all the way around making it impossible for a wheelchair user to access them. When I asked how these were inclusive and accessible, I was told that the have special bottoms under the sand, made of material that provides a firm base for wheelchairs and buggies. At present however no wheelchair or buggy can utilise them to discover whether they work.

The central activity for the water play are water pumps, which children use to dispense the water which then flows down channels. They are fundamental to the play activity. The pumps however are all too high for children in wheelchairs to use. Observation showed that they were even too high for some small children to use (the playground is designed for children up to 12 years of age). One has a large rock placed underneath it for children to climb on, but this means a wheelchair user cannot get near it.

When it comes to the central feature of the area - the channels down which the water flows, and in which children are supposed to play - all have been made too narrow for wheelchairs to fit. Even if wheelchairs could fit many of the channels have high rims which can not be crossed. The sides are also far too steep. This all has implications for many other children with physical impairments. It is only really agile, able-bodied children, who can climb down into them. This is a tragic, as wider, less steep, accessible channels might have provided an inclusive play environment throughout the area.

The exclusion continues across the other play activities. I was told that some activities were designed so that able-bodied and children with impairments could play together. However in many activities there is little, if any, chance of collaboration. Many tasks are clearly for the sole use of able-bodied children, with no realistic possibility of collaborative play. For example, this water mill over which water can be poured, is on the side of some rocks behind a wooden barrier, under which water can't even be transferred from one child to another. It would be hard to find a more inaccesible area in the whole playground in which to place the activity.

Other activities are also located behind wooden rails, presumably placed there for safety. Whilst safety is crucial, the decision to place key play activities on the other side of these barriers is extremely puzzling in an environment which is supposed to be inclusive.

One redeeming feature is a ramp (in addition to many steps) which children can climb, at least to approach (if not use) some of the activities. But even with that, I was told, only half has been made usable for wheelchairs or buggies. 50% of the surface is too uneven. There is therefore only one way up and down for wheelchair users, whilst able-bodied children have an additional ramp all to themselves. Rather than an oversight, this I was told, was deliberate, in order to provide a challenging play environment for able-bodied children. It is important that able-bodied children have challenging play environments. However, the decision to create such a thing on a ramp has to be questionned, particularly given the predominance of steps and rocky terrain throughout most of the rest of the play area.

The list of problems and barriers goes on and on. The most serious concern however are the exposed edges which run throughout the playground, next to drops and sheer inclines of between a foot and several feet. Whilst in some areas wooden rails are used innapropriately and unnecessarily, in other areas it appears there are no safeguards at all. If a wheelchair user puts a wheel over the edge in many places, they are likely to have a serious accident (possibly a fatal one, particularly if a powered wheelchair user). This is compounded by the fact that some edges are already cracking and breaking. (This one moved when applied with pressure) The issue of safety was highlighted last year but the concerns were apparently dismissed.

Some parents I have talked too are incensed. Children I have talked too are extremely disappointed. And it comes at a time when Lambeth Council has announced that it has signed up to the Every Disabled Child Matters Disabled Children’s Local Authority Charter.

As it currently stands, the play area is a monumental and expensive failure in its aim of providing accessible and inclusive play.

A lot of information has still to emerge. I have been told that much of the Aiming High money for disabled children was used to refurbish the toilets in the adjacent playground.

Along with parents and children, I have now met twice with representatives from Lambeth council and others who organised the project. It seems that there are a number of reasons for the failings – not least mis-management and a lack of proper consultation. I will continue to press for a full explanation about what has brought this situation about, and assurances that the same things do not happen again in the future, elsewhere.

The immediate task however is to try and do something to rectify the situation, and ensure changes are made to make as much of the play area as accessible as possible, within the constraints of what has now been created. Some of the failings are so large and inbuilt - such as the inaccessible water channels - that it may take huge upheaval and large expense to put things right. There are also the immediate safety concerns which must urgently be addressed.

Along with representatives from Lambeth, I have been with parents and children to visit the playground, highlighting the (dozens of) problems, and making suggestions for what changes might be made.

Now that the project is completed and the budget all spent, this will be a challenge. But inaction is simply not an option when such a sizeable number of children and parents have been so let down. Whether the council has a real commitment to inclusive play will be judged not just by the project, but the way that they respond to its huge failings.

Re-powering Streatham

2011-08-31T09:03:00.006+01:00

Last month I attended a meeting organised by Transition Streatham, with a view to setting up a community-based energy company.

Several people locally were interested in the possibility of setting up a local not-for-profit initiative. (Similar plans are already moving forward in Brixton )

It comes as a new report from Ernst and Young suggests that falling solar costs and rising fossil fuel prices could make large-scale solar PV installations cost-competitive without government support within a decade.

The search is on for a suitable building which can house the first 10-15kW installation in Streatham (so if you know of anywhere you think might be suitable do get in touch).

If you would like to get involved, there is an open meeting on 15th September at 7.30pm, at The Streatham Business Centre, 1 Empire Mews, Streatham, SW16 2BF where the Re-powering Streatham plan will be outlined, there will be a presentation on way similar schemes have worked in Germany, and members of the board to drive the scheme forward will be selected.

If you would like to attend, send an email to film (at) transitionstreatham.org to book your place.

Opposing the use of water canon

2011-08-10T11:07:00.006+01:00

David Cameron announced this morning that water cannon will be available to London police at 24 hours' notice. It comes straight after a YouGov poll out today finding 9 out of 10 British people saying police should be able to use water cannon.

Yesterday, some information came through on water cannon (HT to Chris, a GP National Volunteer and Scott Reading) which needs to be made widely known:

Water cannon are occasionally used in Northern Ireland, but have never been used on the British mainland.

Water cannon use high power jets at 5 to 25 bar (73-360psi) well within the threshold for serious injury. Likely direct injuries include eye injuries, bruising including to internal organs, brain injuries, and strain injuries. Indirect injuries from debris energised by the water and falls are also high. In 2010, 66-year-old Dietrich Wagner was blinded by water cannon at the Stuttgart 21 protests in Germany.

Water cannon are seriously operationally limited. Using 4000 gallons in as little as 4 minutes necessitates continuous refilling, guarding water sources and use of several units at once. Additionally, the large units have restricted mobility and manoeuvrability, and so, are nearly useless against mobile crowds in narrow streets.

At a cost of around £800k per unit the initial purchase and continuous maintenance costs of water cannon are considerable and, in light of cuts to police, unaffordable.

By their very nature, water cannon are indiscriminate and cannot be used in a precise and targeted manner without also hitting anyone in the vicinity including innocent parties. They also have a long history of repressive use against the civil rights movement in the US, and protesters in the former Soviet bloc, Africa and the Middle East.

London at a crossroads

2011-08-09T09:38:00.011+01:00

Home Secretary Theresa May made an almost throwaway comment on Radio 4’s Today Programme this morning - that we have a tradition in this country of “policing by consent”.

To a large extent this is true. Our policing may have failed in many ways. But we have also avoided some of the heavier-handed and undesirable approaches evident in many countries around the world.

But we are now at a crossroads in London (and other parts of the country). The police were outnumbered and outmanoevered during the events of last night. So this can go one of two ways. There is talk this morning of the use of curfews, the army, watercannon and even rubber bullets. If these kinds of tactics are employed on a large scale, in the long run it will be hard to go back. It will likely end with more powers for the police, which it has been suggested have been part of the problem, not the solution. And it will further weaken the “policing by consent” approach, reinforcing the "us" and "them" divide.

Another way forward, and one far more in keeping with the British tradition of policing, is to use community power. We are already seeing it in action with the widespread clean-up initiatives taking place this morning throughout London, organised by local people. We have seen it too, with numerous stories last night of people helping one another and walking them home to ensure their safety, as well as local groups coming together to protect property non-violently (notably migrant communities). In contrast with groups employing social media to organise to loot and burn, there is a more hopeful story of groups organising to put things right.

But the two approaches are also distinct, and cannot easily be pursued at the same time. Again, we saw this last night, with police asking people to leave the streets so that they could get on with the job (which by implication did not involve local people). What might things have looked like if whole communities came out onto the streets instead in a well organised and intentional demonstration of solidarity?

The road that we now travel down will depend a great deal on how the problem is perceived. Despite the claims that this is “just criminality”, the picture that seems to be emerging is more specific. This seems to be largely (but not entirely) a phenomenon of some (and only a few) young people in a certain age range. The actions seem to be of a specific type – arson, robbery, looting and the destruction of property. And there seem to be socio-economic factors at work, including social exclusion and inequality.

The analysis is only just beginning, and the issues are complex. We shouldn’t rush in with sweeping generalisations. We should not engage in knee-jerk reactions which we will later come to regret. But neither can we afford to ignore what lies beneath. What we believe the problem to be will also shape the approach employed. Both the way we want to be policed and our beliefs about what has gone wrong, will determine our response.

It has been put well by Ally Fogg (reproduced here and hat tip to Mark Braud) who says:

Law and order is kept by a collective acceptance of mutual goals. If, as a society, we look after each other, offer everyone a share and a stake in the common weal, maintain some semblance of a Rousseauian Social Contract, then the vast majority of people will mostly stick to the rules without ever needing to see a police officer.

When people lose that sense of being looked after, no longer feel part of society, no longer feel like they have any kind of share in any kind of collective, the ties that bind begin to be broken.

Rioting, especially the type of vandalism & looting we've seen in London, is a sure sign that the social contract is unravelling around the edges. In the days and weeks and months to come, we shall see how far it has frayed.

There are few things more dangerous to a society than a populace with nothing left to lose.

What we may well be seeing is young people engaging in criminal acts due in part, or at least made far easier, by their disconnection, alienation and exclusion from society. (This is not an excuse, but to point to a potentially significant contributory factor). If this is the case, the answer is not more social exclusion, but social re-engagement and inclusion. Indeed, to fail to engage local communities and resorting primarily to heavy-handed approaches, may be inadequate in the short-term and make things far worse in the long-term.

There is no magic wand to wave. But a way forward surely lies in encouraging as much as possible the engagement and mobilisation of communities – particularly the friends, families, institutions and networks around the people at the centre of the current troubles - to address together the problems which lie at their heart.

Responding to Tottenham - and now Lambeth

2011-08-08T10:47:00.005+01:00

The trouble that began in Tottenham has now spread to Lambeth.

Some politicians and commentators have gone no further than expressions of outrage, suggesting simply that what has happened isn’t supported by the overwhelming majority of people in a community, and heaping the blame on a few ‘criminals’.

But this does nothing to explain the timing, let alone make any headway in getting to the root of the problems and issues involved.

Several observations can be made, and there are concrete actions that should be taken:

1. To locate those involved in the rioting and looting ‘outside’ our communities is to wash our hands and abdicate responsibility. No one exists in a vacuum. What is taking place affects all our lives. Those directly involved also have friends, families, and surrounding networks, whose attitudes, opinions and behaviour will have a direct influence and bearing on what is going on. This is not simply about the behaviour of a handful of people, but the feelings and actions of whole communities.

2. Central are the relationships of these communities with the police, both in the broadest sense, but also in the events which were the catalyst for the rioting and looting - the shooting of Mark Duggan and the subsequent protest.

3. The Broadwater Farm riots in 1985 were triggered by the death of Cynthia Jarrett, who suffered a stroke after police officers searched her home. As we saw over her death the truth is a vital part of the healing and restoration process. A full and urgent investigation is needed into the shooting of Mark Duggan.

4. We need an urgent independent review of the wider relationship between police and local communities, and in particular of stop and search powers. I travelled through Brixton every day at the time of the Brixton riots 30 years ago, when the 'Sus' law under which anybody could be stopped and searched if officers merely suspected they might be planning to carry out a crime, were used. The Scarman report which looked into the riots eventually led to their abolition. But the impact of current laws needs to be urgently examined.

5. It is notable that the trouble has not taken place in the leafy suburbs, or the richer areas of London. The wider economic climate, in particular large rates of youth unemployment must be taken into account. The situation is made all the more worse by cuts to youth services. In Lambeth there have been cuts of £11.85m to the council’s children and youth services budget, including a £250,000 reduction to the youth offending team budget alone. This makes the possibilities of addressing the underlying problems even more remote. We need swift action to restore vital youth services.

Campaigning Dad selected as Green candidate for Lambeth and Southwark

2011-08-05T13:20:00.003+01:00

A dad who confronted David Cameron during the last general election campaign over his plans for disabled children, has been selected as the Green candidate for Lambeth and Southwark in next years London Assembly elections.

Jonathan Bartley, who has lived in Lambeth and Southwark all his life, was also the national spokesperson for the 'Yes' campaign in the recent referendum on changing the voting system for the House of Commons. People in Lambeth and Southwark backed the change.

A regular panellist on BBC1's The Big Questions, and Radio 2's Jeremy Vine Show he writes for the Guardian newspaper and is a paper reviewer for BBC Radio London.

He says: "Next year's London elections are about the kind of London we want to live in at a time of economic hardship and cuts. We have a clear choice between a city which favours the wealthiest, or one which champions equality, inclusion, sustainability and accessibility for all.

"It is shameful that one of the richest cities in the world should also be one where the gap between the richest and poorest is one of the widest. It is important to fight cuts to housing benefit, the NHS and youth services, but it is also important to propose alternatives. The Greens who have been elected to the London Assembly over the last ten years have done this successfully. I look forward to working with then, and others, to ensure we get more Greens elected in 2012 and make the alternative vision a reality."

Lambeth gives £60m to… Southampton

2011-07-20T18:02:00.002+01:00

Whatever happened to Lambeth’s ‘cooperative council’? Rather than creating locally run services for local people, they’re shipping jobs to Southampton!

The Council’s decision to outsource a £60m revenue-collection and call-centre contract to Capita, a private company based on the south coast, means dozens of local jobs will be lost.

Furthermore, next time a Lambeth resident calls the Council with a problem, they will probably end up speaking to someone who has never even set foot in the borough.

To make matters worse, Capita has a dreadful record in this area. They were in charge of housing and council tax services in Lambeth between 1997 and 2001, but the service had to be bought in-house after the council declared its service to be “unacceptable”. Are we sure they’re going to do a better job this time?

There’ll be a demonstration against the plans outside the Town Hall tomorrow, Thursday 21st July, at 6pm. Be there if you can!

London's Housing Crisis - a lively evening of discussion

2011-06-24T12:19:00.000+01:00

Housing used to be one of the three pillars of the welfare state but is now viewed as a personal issue, not a collective one.

Last Thursday I attended a very interesting meeting on housing policy, hosted by the London Federation of Green Parties as part of the campaign to make Jenny Jones London’s next mayor.

On the panel were speakers from housing charity Shelter, the East London Community Land Trust, and the Camden Federation of Private Tenants whose speeches were followed by an hour of lively questions.

Rachel Orr from Shelter pointed out that housing used to be one of the three pillars of the welfare state but is now viewed as a personal issue, not a collective one. Unlike the punchy messages of the living wage or anti tuition-fee lobbies, housing lacks a ‘hook’ to campaign on, and a growing prejudice towards people on benefits doesn’t help.

Private tenancy in particular is a very individualised experience and one in which problems are solved by simply moving somewhere else. A sub-standard flat or unacceptable landlord behaviour is passed to the next tenants unchallenged and unchanged.

Robert Taylor from the Camden Federation of Private Tenants outlined this often overlooked area of housing that is highest in London, with 20.2% in the city compared to 12.7% in England renting privately (1990 figures). His Federation covers tenants of private landlords but surprisingly includes Housing Association tenants, and non-council leaseholders: If you bought your house leasehold but do not own the freehold then you are effectively renting, having pre-paid for an amount of years possibly beyond any lifetime. It is a question of self-identifying as a private tenant, Taylor says.

Conditions of private tenancies are often poor, with bad insulation and less central heating than average. This leads to energy inefficiency, fuel poverty, and even death from cold in harsh winters. Some of these could be addressed by the forthcoming Green Deal initiative, but it is too early to tell, and motivation of landlords is not there, as it is tenants who pay the bills.

All the speakers agreed that the entire housing industry needs regulation. Rachel Orr gave us the numbers from George Osborne’s emergency budget a year ago which have yet to be felt but she thinks London is already in a housing crisis and it’s going to get a lot worse.

Empty homes

One of the first questions from the audience was on an issue close to Lambeth Green Party’s heart and one I was eagerly waiting to be mentioned throughout: Empty homes. The responses were surprising.

The panel agreed that, while empty homes are a visible and emotive issue, they represent only a fraction of the additional housing London needs. Worse, refurbishing old houses on the cheap could lead to a whole new sub-market of poorly equipped flats. The fact is that local councils already have the power to purchase long-term empty houses but few have the resources to do so. Lambeth council has one Empty Housing Officer who ‘working 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, would not be enough’ says Taylor.

Jenny Jones is campaigning on housing and many other issues dear to Londoners in her campaign to become London’s Mayor in 2012.

A great day for the Greens

2011-05-09T18:27:00.001+01:00

Thank you to everyone in Lambeth who helped out all over the country to make May 5th a really successful day for the Green Party.

We made great gains in many places and now have representation on 43 councils across the country. Successes ranged across councils as diverse as Bolsover, Bristol, Herefordshire, Kings Lynn, Malvern, Mid Suffolk, Norwich, Reigate, Solihull, South Hams, Stafford and St Albans.

Our biggest achievement was in Brighton & Hove where we’re now the largest party - the first time the Greens have led any council in the UK.

These results are a fantastic boost, showing that the Green message is getting through in all sorts of communities in all sorts of areas.

After thirteen years of disappointment under a Labour government, and in the context of a truly destructive Liberal-Conservative coalition, perhaps this isn’t too surprising. However, we’ve still got a huge amount of work to do here in south London to make sure that we’re seen as a realistic option in these parts too.

The elections for the London Assembly next year offer a vital opportunity. Not only do we hope to increase the Green presence on the Assembly, but we’ll also be able to test how far we’ve come in London and gauge levels of support before our own big push for councillors in 2014.

We’ll need all the support we can get to make these a success, so if you can help us – or if you’re interested in finding out more – please do get in touch.

Protest against the cuts – this Saturday!

2011-03-24T12:14:00.000Z

This Saturday 26th March Green Party members from all over the country will converge on central London to add our voices against the government’s savage cuts.

The demonstration, which is being organised by the TUC, will assemble from 11am at Victoria Embankment before marching through the West End to a rally in Hyde Park. A south London ‘feeder’ march will assemble in Kennington Park by Oval tube at 10.30am for music, food and campaign stalls.

Join us! The TUC has predicted a turnout of 100,000 people, based on coach bookings from other parts of the country. This is a huge opportunity to make sure the government understands how destructive these cuts will be. Yes, we have a deficit, but no, we don’t need to destroy the welfare state in order to finance it.

It will be a great day. Don't miss it!

The Council closes its ears

2011-02-28T11:06:00.000Z

I blogged last week about the demonstration at Lambeth Town Hall to protest against Labour’s draconian budget. One point I forgot to mention, which is perhaps most important of all, is the way the Council used the protest as an excuse for barring all deputations.

This was completely unreasonable and undemocratic.

Some forty community groups had given prior notice that they wished to make formal deputations to the council to defend threatened services or jobs. The names and addresses of the members of these deputations had been registered by Council officials and they were scheduled to speak at the start of the Council debate. The idea that ordinary electors have a right to put their case to the Council before decisions are made is one of the fundamental principles of local democracy.

However, the Council chose to close their ears. First they vacated the Council Chamber and held their meeting in another room. For half an hour, delegations waited in the Council Antechamber, expecting to be summoned in at any minute to present their case. But eventually a Lambeth officer came out to inform them that the Council had voted to sit in closed session and not to receive them.

This is scandalous. On the most controversial issue for many years, the council opted to do its business without any input or oversight from the public who they claim to represent. This means that major changes to the way things work in this area have been made without either seeking or listening to the views of any of the users or employees of the threatened services.

For example, Lambeth will lose its hard-working park wardens, despite 3000 petitions against the measure and opposition from a local MP. The delegation from the Lambeth Parks and Green Spaces Forum, like the others, was not invited to share their views.

The Council will blame the protestors for making it unsafe to receive the delegations, but this is utterly disingenuous – the delegations weren’t just angry people off the street, they were citizens who had given their personal details and officially registered in order to present their case in standard democratic fashion. They had a right to be heard and the Council had an obligation to respect that right.

One of the thwarted delegates summed up the Council’s actions aptly in their entry to the members’ attendance book: ‘Today, democracy died’.

Hundreds protest council budget

2011-02-26T14:04:00.003Z

On Wednesday night around 300 protesters lobbied Lambeth councillors to vote against the Labour-led budget. The demonstration was organised by a wide coalition of groups in the borough, including public service and voluntary sector workers facing redundancy, disabled people, youth workers, pensioners and others who rely on the continuation of vital services.

As the scale of the protest became clear, the councillors retreated to an adjoining room to vote through the cuts while demonstrators occupied the council chamber and held our own People’s Assembly.

It was an impressive example of people power. The scale of the demonstration and the enormous support from people passing by will have sent a potent message to the council, and perhaps also to Parliament.

But the draconian budget was passed all the same and now we face a long, hard struggle to protect vital services in the face of massively reduced budgets.

What is getting cut?

More than 800 of the council's 3,500 jobs
The entire park ranger service
The school crossing patrol service, serving 24 schools
Durning, Waterloo, Carnegie and Minet libraries, plus two mobile libraries
Youth clubs, adventure playgrounds and the Young and Safe programme, which combats youth crime
All but one public toilet facility
Regeneration, management and repair on housing estates
Adult social care and discretionary freedom passes for adults with mental health problems
Street cleaning and repairs
The noise nuisance service
The Faith Engagement Programme

What is the alternative?

Bring the failing Lambeth Living ALMO (the external housing management firm) back in house, saving millions
Cut all senior management pay – the chief executive earns £270k a year, enough to staff an entire library!
Reduce council fuel bills by making our schools, libraries and other buildings more energy efficient
Reduce the millions spent on expensive private-sector consultants
Use council reserves to reduce the impact of the front-loading of the cuts and allow time to make improvements
Cut down on glossy PR and council spin
Work more closely with other public sector bodies to cut admin costs

Protect public services!

2011-02-10T18:12:00.007Z

These are dark days in Lambeth. The Council is facing an £80 million cut over three years in its funding from central government. On Monday, the cabinet presented next year’s budget for the borough. It’s brutal.

The damage includes

Scrapping Lambeth’s excellent park ranger service
Scrapping the school crossing patrols which current serve 24 schools
Cutting cleaning and maintenance of our streets and estates
Closing public toilets
Withdrawing freedom passes for adults with mental health problems
Reducing all council services, including parks, libraries, waste management and noise nuisance services
The loss of up to 1,000 jobs

Labour did spectacularly well in this area in May’s local elections, primarily because this is a community that cares about old-fashioned concepts such as social justice and the imperative to care for the least well-off, and – in their ignorance in my view – many voters felt that Labour was the party most likely to meet these demands. Well, now we all need to hold Labour to account and make sure they stand up for these values.

Everyone accepts the administration is in a difficult position, but nevertheless there are choices, and the ones being made are not good ones. First, the Labour group is reverting to its characteristic unilateralism. We need the public to be involved in informed debate, yet Labour’s efforts at ‘consultation’ have been characteristically vacuous, with all key decisions being made in private.

It is a revealing insight into Labour’s attitudes locally that the only service that they’re seeking to protect is the police – sure, crime’s an issue in these parts, but aren’t jobs, schools, care services and a clean environment at least as important?

Rather than cutting vital services and precious jobs the Council could make savings by:

Cutting senior pay for top council executives
Reducing the millions spent on expensive private-sector consultants
Cutting down on glossy PR and council spin
Reducing council fuel bills by making our schools, libraries and other buildings more energy efficient
Working more closely with other public sector bodies to cut admin costs

Social care should be prioritised. That’s our red line. The Greens would make no cuts that reduced care for older people, people with mental illnesses, children and other vulnerable people. We would also not dispose of assets such as community centres and libraries, which we will never be able to buy back. It’s better to run on a shoe-string for a while.

A broad campaign against these cuts is well underway. You can sign the petition to protect our park rangers here

, and at 4pm on Friday 11th February there’ll be a sit-in protest in Herne Hill to save our lollipop men and women.

The next big demonstration will be outside the full council meeting in Brixton on the evening of 23rd February – do try to make it. Check out Lambeth Save our Services for up-to-date information.

Protest against the cuts - demo this Saturday!

2010-10-24T12:31:00.007+01:00

Join us in Brixton this Saturday 30th October to protest against the coalition government's brutal cuts. These cuts are unprecedented in scale, will wreck local services and will hit the poorest hardest.

The demonstration - in Windrush Square, central Brixton, from 12:30 - has been called by Lambeth Save Our Services, Right to Work, NUT, Unison, UCU, Lambeth Pensioners and Lambeth Green Party.

Greens are strongly opposed to the government's cuts programme. We take the deficit seriously, but rather than getting the economy back on its feet the government's plans risk making things much worse by putting huge numbers of people out of work, reducing vital services and making the poorest and most vulnerable people pay most.

Instead of cutting vital services the Council could make savings in the following areas:

Reducing salaries for top council executives - A number of senior council employees are paid more than £100,000 per year. Greens say the public sector cannot afford to pay such exorbitant salaries at a time when vital services are under threat
Saving money by conserving energy - Big cash savings are possible if we make our schools, libraries and other council buildings more energy efficient
Reducing administrative and management costs by co-operating with other public sector services
Reducing money spent on expensive consultants, glossy PR and spin

Read more about the Green Party's policies on the cuts here.

Bike-pedalled cinema on Streatham Common!

2010-10-09T11:39:00.003+01:00

For the first time ever, Streatham Common will be hosting a bike-pedalled cinema to celebrate 10:10:10, the day of environmental action.

At 7:30pm on Sunday 10th October 2010 you're warmly invited to join Sustainable Streatham and the public to watch Belleville Rendez-vous – a charming Bafta-nominated film about a Tour de France cyclist kidnapped by the mafia to power a stationery bike machine. The animated film is rated 12 and lasts for 80 minutes.

The cost is what you can pay (suggested £3), and soft drinks and homemade cakes will be on sale. It will all be in a tent so no need to worry about the weather.

Bring your bike if you want to hop on and pedal to keep the film going!

Please come along. A great attendance will really help small local community environmental groups get better recognition in the Borough. It will also give the Council a good sharp reminder that the environment is just as important as budget cuts.

Green Party Event this Wednesday!

2010-10-03T18:58:00.002+01:00

Come along to a presentation and social evening we're having this coming Wednesday 6th Oct!

The presentation will be on "The Spirit Level; Why more equal societies almost always do better" by Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett. Published last year to some impressive reviews - ("This is a book with a big idea, big enough to change political thinking" - John Carey, The Sunday Times; "A remarkable new book ...the implications are profound " - Will Hutton, The Observer) – The Spirit Level has been claimed as an inspiration by politicians
from David Cameron to Ed Milliband – not to mention our own Caroline Lucas MP.

So why all the fuss? Come and hear the evidence for yourself – it's quicker than reading a book!

And, we hope, more enjoyable too – the talk will take about 40 minutes and afterwards there'll be a chance to meet other Lambeth Green Party members and ask any questions that you have in an informal, social setting. It should be a nice antidote to the drizzly autumn weather we've been having.

We'll be in the upstairs room at The Priory Arms at 83 Lansdowne Way, Stockwell, SW8 2PB, from 7pm, the presentation will begin at 7.30.

Hope to see you there!

Lambeth's "John Lewis" Council - No guarantee of quality

2010-08-01T22:23:00.003+01:00

Co-operativeness and localism are Green values. There is much to be said for involving the people of Lambeth in their council and providing the services local people want and need.

This is why Lambeth Greens feel that the consultation for the Co-operative Council currently being undertaken by Lambeth's Labour administration is such a missed opportunity.

We're dismayed that Lambeth Labour didn't stand for election on their proposals for the "John Lewis" Council, so local people could have debated them at hustings and on doorsteps, and have had the opportunity to vote in the local elections in full knowledge of what a vote for Labour was going to mean.

We're surprised to see that the Citizens' Commission (now renamed Co-op Commission) does not include a single ordinary citizen but the usual quango-like lash-up of councillors and four of the "great and the good" of the borough.

Most of all, we are concerned that the values of mutualism and public involvement are being misused to varnish a process of allowing more and more privatisation of the services Lambeth depends on. Behind the slogans the true agenda of sweeping cuts already emerges - Labour Cllr Steve Reed has explicitly linked them when he said at the Emergency Budget Meeting “Reductions on national funding mean we need to drive the community-led agenda forward even faster.”

In a climate where all three parties are talking cuts, the Greens are the only party which believes the choice is between a deficit or a depression - we should not be making enormous cuts on a local and national level in our current climate. We do not believe the residents of a poor inner London borough should pay for the economic mistakes of the financial and political establishment.

In Lambeth, we believe in genuine community co-operation. This requires more than a questionnaire at a tube station and a short consultation period. The "John Lewis" council represents the people of the borough being knowingly undersold.

Tatchell urges Tulse Hill to vote Green

2010-06-07T21:14:00.004+01:00

Well-known human rights campaigner, Peter Tatchell, is urging Tulse Hill voters to back the Green candidate in the coming by-election.

Tatchell has led human rights campaigns for over 40 years and won global fame for attempting a citizen's arrest on Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe.

In his message of support he says, "we Greens are the only party that wholeheartedly defends public services and working people. Our goal is a fair society.

"We've also got the best policies to stop climate chaos and ensure a clean, healthy and safe environment.

"I urge voters in Tulse Hill ward to support the Greens and vote for George Graham on 1 July."

Local campaigner, George Graham, was selected as the Green candidate last week.

The by-election follows local elections on 6th May in which Lambeth Greens fielded a candidate in every seat in the borough, and doubled our support for the third election in a row, gaining over 33,000 votes.

Election Reflections

2010-05-30T10:24:00.004+01:00

A huge thank you to everyone who voted for us on 6th May. You helped us almost double our vote across the borough - up from 17,560 in 2006 to 33,673 in 2010.

This is a major achievement and shows what many of us already knew - that these days the Green Party is a serious presence in Lambeth. Under a proportional voting system we would have gained 6 councillors and held the balance of power in the Council.

However, it certainly wasn't all good news for us. The local election coincided with the General Election and a massive swing to Labour (they won 44% of the vote and gained 70% of the seats on the Council). We lost our one Green councillor and failed to win any more seats.

There's lots we can learn from this. First, we're now much more aware of how difficult it is to fight a local election on the same day as a national election. The Greens do not have the money, profile or media coverage to compete with the big three parties on all fronts at once. Hopefully the fixed 5-year Parliamentary terms that the new government is proposing mean we won't face this problem again until 2030....

We also need to recognise that, despite everything (growing inequality, record rent rises, spiralling social care costs, persistent unemployment) Labour still has very strong residual support in this area. We need to get better at communicating with these people, and persuading them that it is Green councillors who will champion their interests and values most strongly.

Losing our councillor in Herne Hill is a big blow. Becca Thackray - who for the last 4 years has been the one Green Party member on Lambeth Council - has given a fantastic demonstration of what Green councillors can bring to an area.

She has worked incredibly hard for her constituents on all sorts of issues, while also bringing major changes at the Council level, including commitments to reduce carbon emissions, pay a London Living Wage to all staff and give local people a say in how planning money is spent in their area. She deserves enormous thanks.

The other major group to thank are all the volunteers who helped us in our campaign this year. We were joined by so many inspired and creative people who, like us, hoped to achieve something special in this area. I hope all the foot-slogging and hard work hasn't put anyone off! And that all our election volunteers will stay with us as we continue our campaign for a greener, more just and more inclusive Lambeth.

You can't believe everything you read

2010-04-25T17:32:00.004+01:00

Have you seen the 'Election address' editions of Labour News that are doing the rounds for the council elections? The Herne Hill one has the grand headline 'TWO HORSE RACE IN HERNE HILL - Only Labour can beat the Tories', accompanied by an unreferenced graph, with no scale, suggesting that in Herne Hill Ward Labour have approx 45% of support, the Tories around 40% and the Liberals around 15% (my estimates, based on the sizes of the 3 bars) - and no mention of the Greens.

I'm one of the Green Party candidates in Herne Hill. In the last local election we got 36.7% of the vote (aggregated over 3 candidates), to Labour's 37.3%, and one of our candidates (Becca Thackray) got elected with more votes than any of the Labour candidates. The Conservatives came a distant third with just 16%.

We've asked Labour for an explanation for where they got the figures from and why we're not even featured on their graph.

So far we've received two different stories. First, they tried to tell us the graph was based on the results of the London Mayor election, but then we pointed out that in Herne Hill Ward 58% of people voted for Ken and only 21% for Boris - hardly a tight 'two-horse race'. Now their election agent has told us the graph is "an illustration of our view of the respective strengths of the three main national parties in this area." In other words, they've made it up!

At risk of engaging in boring old Punch-and-Judy politics, these Labour lies really are breathtaking. Not only are they pretending we don't exist - which you'd think was brazen enough seeing as we've already got one councillor in Herne Hill Ward - but they're also fabricating data. The reason? To mislead voters.

No wonder people despair of politicians.

Record number of Greens to vote for in Lambeth

2010-04-09T18:10:00.003+01:00

Just a few days after the news that a record number of Green candidates will fight the General Election, I’m very happy to report that we’ve also achieved our own mini milestone here in Lambeth.

On 6th May, there will be 63 Greens standing in the local elections in the borough – our first full slate of candidates.

It may sound like quite a small triumph, but the Greens are not like other parties – we don’t have enormous sums of money to spend, and although we have many hard-working and dedicated members, this doesn’t automatically translate into having 63 would-be councillors ready to put themselves forward for election.

What does it mean to have a full slate? Well, it means that we can now test ourselves in a direct head-to-head with the three main parties.

In the last European elections we came 4th across Lambeth, but had we polled just 1.6% more we would have come second, ahead of both the Lib Dems and the Tories.

And in the last local elections we came second in 5 wards out of 21 and a close third in many other areas. With 63 candidates we’ve every chance of doubling our vote, pushing the Tories into 4th place borough-wide, and – who knows? – even giving the LibDems something to think about.

Of course, we’re not just interested in being triumphant runners up. The big picture for us is about how many councillors we can get elected. We’ve been targeting Herne Hill and Brixton Hill wards, where we’re getting a fantastic response from local residents. I think people see us as a breath of fresh air and something, finally, to get excited about in local politics.

If you’d like to get involved, or to hear more about our campaign, please do drop us an email.

Let's liven up Loughborough Junction!

2010-03-04T23:41:00.005Z

It's time the Council stopped neglecting Loughborough Junction. For too long, hazardous pavements, unchecked fly-tipping and a general lack of care have blighted life in the area.

But as last month's inspired 'We Are Loughborough Junction' exhibition showed, there's so much pride, energy and creativity in this part of London. This is thanks mainly to local voluntary groups, such as the Loughborough Junction Action Group and the SE5 Forum, who are doing so much for the area. Now the council needs to step up and do its bit too.

Perhaps Loughborough Junction's biggest challenge is the local political geography - the area straddles 4 electoral wards and 2 boroughs. As a consequence it seems that no one ever takes responsibility for bringing the area the attention and resources that it deserves. If we can get 3 Greens elected in Herne Hill Ward in May, I sincerely hope we'll be able to change this. It's a personal commitment for me that, if three of us are elected, we will do all we can to bring serious, but sympathetic, investment to the area.

But equally important, the Council needs to engage local people to identify the best ideas for how regeneration money should best be spent. Following a Green Party proposal earlier in the year, the council has committed to consult properly with community groups and residents' associations on how to spend the so-called Section 106 funds that will be made available as part of the new development in 116-120 Coldharbour Lane.

It seems to me that this should be a basic principle for all developments - it amazes me that it isn't already standard practice. It's a small step, but hopefully an important one in harnessing the imagination and enthusiasm of local people to help liven up Loughborough Junction.

20's Plenty for Lambeth

2010-02-28T11:39:00.003Z

Over the past few months we've been conducting a survey of households across Herne Hill Ward. One of the most consistent findings has been local concern about speeding traffic on residential roads.

As a follow-up, we've invited Rod King of the 20s Plenty campaign to give a talk on Tuesday 2nd March upstairs in the Prince Regent on Dulwich Road. It'll be a short event - 20 minutes or so from Rod and then a Q&A.

20's Plenty is a national movement to get 20 mph limits set up in residential areas across the country. There's been lots of research on the impact of speeding on safety and noise. Lowering urban speed limits to 20 mph has been found to decrease child pedestrian accidents by 70%.

Slower cars on residential roads also mean less noise and a more pleasant environment in which to live.

Come along at 7:30 on 2nd March to find out more!

Lambeth's housing scandal

2010-02-07T21:19:00.001Z

Lambeth’s Labour-run council is failing some of the most vulnerable people in the borough. Tenants are facing another rent hike - possibly 5%, but the final amount is to be confirmed - just one year after stomaching the biggest rent rise in the UK (an amazing 17%).

Sure, we all have to tighten our belts in the recession, but there's something more important going on here. This isn't the first time that the current Council administration (a Labour administration, in case that means anything these days) has leaned on the borough's poorest people to make cost savings - last time it was the social care budget that took a battering, driving up costs for people who are already living at the very margins, scraping to get by.

And then there's the bigger picture in housing. Labour promised to get all local authority housing up to the so-called Decent Homes standard by 2010. Well they're clearly failing to meet this pledge. In fact, in Lambeth we're seeing cutbacks in repairs and I understand that the programme to provide homes with proper insulation has been put on hold.

I've been helping our one Green councillor, Becca Thackray, with some of her casework. The stories from some tenants - often with young children - who are having to live in squalid, damp and mouldy conditions are really shocking. This sort of thing should not be acceptable in a modern and still enormously wealthy city.

To add insult to injury, around 1,500 homes are sitting empty, costing the council £8 million in lost rental income. And don't even get me started on the enormous sums that have been spent on consultants and the shambles that is Lambeth Living, the so-called Arms-Length Management Organisation that was supposed to fix the mess that was, and sadly very much still is, Lambeth's housing.

Call for Green and Black people to register to vote

2010-01-22T21:56:00.005Z

Shane Collins, Green Party Parlimentary Candidate for Dulwich and West
Norwood presented Rev Al Sharpton with a Brixton pound at the Operation
Black Vote 'Register to Vote' meeting Thursday 21st Jan at Friends
Meeting House in Euston.

Shane said 'The Rev Sharpton comes from Harlem, the spiritual home of
Marcus Garvey and his message of keeping economic power in the community
is more relevant than ever today with the corporate takeover of much of
our lives. This message has been taken up by Transition Town as
exemplified by the Brixton Pound which i was proud to present to the Rev
Sharpton'.

'Voter registration amongst the black community is around only 45% in
younger age groups, similar to the black youth unemployment rate. There
is a connection. Black and green people have the power to change the
results in the local and general elections but only if registered and
voting.

'So remember Rosa Parks, honour Nelson Mandela, take heart from President
Obama and register to vote by contacting your Town Hall or
www.electoralcommission.org.uk. Remember racists register and racists
vote.' For elections on 6th May the deadline to register is 20th April.

Quote from Rev Sharpton speech

“How you define yourself is how you confine yourself. You have all this
technology, Facebook, Twitter, Blackberry’s. And you can’t get ten black
Britons to go and vote?

“At a time when we can elect Presidents, there is no excuse for us to be
sitting down and not doing anything, and avoid recognising that it’s a
new time.”

Your survey responses - tackling crime in Lambeth

2010-01-16T13:29:00.004Z

I've been reading the 60-second surveys that have been flooding in. Great that people in Herne Hill Ward have been prepared to engage with this way of feeding back concerns.

I've passed on a collection of the ones on anti-social behaviour to Tom Cornish who is the Sergeant heading up the local Safer Neighbourhood Team. On the strength of observations from residents in Poets Corner, the evidence for some bike thefts associated with drug-dealing has come to light.

I'm what's called a Winger. Sadly this says nothing for my fancy foot work. I sit at Camberwell Magistrates Court as a Justice of the Peace in a Bench of three (1 Chair & 2 Wingers). I am due to sit in the 'virtual court'. Prisoners already serving sentences sit in a room in the prison and can converse via satellite link-up with the Bench and their barrister in court. The plus is that prisoners don't 'lose their place' in a prison by being booked out, prison transport isn't needed and it saves on court time.

The Lambeth & Southwark court at Camberwell Green is reasonably well-balanced in terms of ethnicity, age and gender - though we do have rather a lot of women. A 22-year-old has joined us. We greatly miss Ted Lewis, former Co-op trade Unionist, Communist & greyhound racer.

Being a Magistrate is fascinating. I happened to join after being in the police service but it's not about understanding actual laws, to begin with, but to understand how to arrive at a fair decision. The recent discussion about being allowed to use force against a burglary has been interesting. I am pleased there has been no change in the law.

It's surprising how little is understood about the criminal justice system. I invite anyone to pop into a court and observe for themselves. It might inspire them to want to become a Magistrate themselves.

Greens ahead in Brighton

2009-12-30T18:52:00.003Z

Who says that a Green vote is a wasted vote? News just in from Brighton shows that Caroline Lucas is on course to make history and become the first Green MP. With a tired New Labour regime and a Tory party champing at the bit to carry out 'Thatcherism Mark II' the only progressive alternative vote is for the Greens in Brighton.

Caroline Lucas, Green Party leader, only candidate able to keep the Conservatives out in Brighton Pavilion constituency

- UK’s first Green MP now a serious prospect - ICM constituency poll

Greens take a 10 point lead over Labour and an 8 point lead over the Conservatives in their target constituency of Brighton Pavilion - ICM Research telephone opinion poll.

Headline results

1. The Greens have the greatest support with 35% of the constituency’s voters followed by the Conservatives on 27%, Labour on 25% and LibDems on 11%.

2. Almost two thirds (63%) of Labour and Lib Dem voters in the sample said that they would be likely to switch their vote to the Greens if that party was best placed to stop a Conservative win. 37% said they were very likely and 26% said they were quite likely to switch their vote in that situation.

Read the full story here.

Greens push for more park land

2009-12-13T23:10:00.004Z

The Green Party is pushing for extra green space to make up for the land being lost by the changes to the junction at the bottom of Brockwell Park.

Following a motion proposed by Councillor Becca Thackray, the council is looking into the possibility of buying the Vicarage Garden on Dulwich Road, land which could easily be annexed to the park.

It's certainly not a done deal by any stretch of the imagination, but the fact that the Council has committed to showing an interest is a great step.

We've already heard lots of creative ideas for how the garden could be used if it does become part of the park, e.g. as a community allotment or a nature reserve. Let us know you what you think.

More hot air from Lambeth Labour

2009-12-13T22:56:00.003Z

Lambeth Council needs to clean up its act to meet its own environment targets.

It’s almost two years since the Council agreed a plan to reduce its energy consumption but we’ve seen very little action so far.

Herne Hill's Green Party councillor, Becca Thackray, was part of the all-party Climate Change Commission that produced 45 urgent recommendations in 2007. Two years on and some of these recommendations still haven’t even been touched.

Progress on domestic insulation has been desperately slow, there’s still no council-run recycling for businesses and the inefficient Town Hall heating system is stuck in the dark ages.

At a time when thousands of people are losing their jobs, it is unforgivable that the Labour are failing to invest seriously in energy efficiency and launch a clean energy revolution that could provide hundreds of thousands of new jobs.

Tesco and Streatham's ice rink and leisure centre

2009-11-11T19:19:00.002Z

Suddenly the room seemed warmer. A strange dark presence breathed and whispered into the room. And there they were. Two members of Tesco's senior management team in the flesh, blinking eerily into the light....

Yes this was the public meeting of the Tesco's "We've Already Got Planning Permission So Don't Try And Stop Us Store" proposals for Streatham: to build a new Tesco's shop and redevelop the leisure centre, ice rink and swimming pool, and build affordable housing to boot. Too good to be true? Actually yes. The plan itself has been on the cards for almost seven years and although Tesco's were given permission to build years ago, um, they haven't quite got round to it yet.

Not that we're particuarly fond of Tesco's but we are stuck in a no win situation.Tesco's already own the land. Years of zero investment have left the leisure centre and ice rink are on their knees. So this was the night where reps from Lambeth Green Party and about 50 other concerned residents and interested parties gathered in Streatham Business Centre to find out where the plans were at and what was going on. In short, not much. Not for the next 8 weeks anyway when we were promised faithfully by Lambeth Council and Tesco's that a new proposal was being 'looked at'.

Despite many questions from people about whether Tesco's were going to keep the ice rink open, and actually when is this all going to happen, to cut 2 hours and 15 minutes short a newmeeting is promised for just before Christmas.

Think Tesco's and the Council will sell us out? Mmm our jury is out too. In 8 weeks we'll see.

Put people ahead of GDP when managing swine flu

2009-07-28T12:21:00.001+01:00

The Green Party is calling for Labour to put people ahead of GDP in their plans for managing swine flu.

Joseph Healy, the Green Party's parliamentary candidate for Vauxhall, and the deputy chair of the London Ambulance Service Patients Forum, said:

"In a meeting with the flu planners for London -- which the London Ambulance Service Patients Forum had over two years ago -- we were told that large scale public events would not be closed down because of the economic impact. The chair of the Forum, Malcolm Alexander, and I are due to meet Dr Simon Tanner, the Regional Director of Public Health for London, later today (the 28th of July), when I will be raising more of these issues."

Full press release.

Joseph's blog.

How ethical are Lambeth pensions?

2009-07-24T22:25:00.003+01:00

The Greens are campaigning for local authority pension funds to take an ethical stance. At a recent meeting of Lambeth’s Pension Fund Investment Panel, Councillor Rebecca Thackray described the current ethical policy as ‘brief and vague’. Instead, she urged the Panel to be a catalyst for change – by avoiding companies trading in products such as arms or tobacco, or with a poor environmental record. One Panel member responded by claiming that British Aerospace aren’t really an arms manufacturing company! But the Trade Union representative argued that the Panel should see fund managers regularly and receive adequate reports. The financial consultants Mercer were also positive, stating that ethical investments are sounder. The Chair observed that ‘we need to raise our game as a panel’ and Council Officers were asked to give more information on ethical screening in future. Officers also promised to investigate best practice in other local authorities. Lambeth Greens await developments!

Green Party Stall at the Lambeth County Show: a stallholders view

2009-07-23T20:32:00.001+01:00

Hurray! It didn't rain. Always a bonus at outdoor events. Though it was very windy and our table and its contents were blown over, causing us to scurry round frantically scrabbling for leaflets, desperate not to make the Green Party the biggest litterers at the show.

First up it was lovely to meet so many people and chat about the Green Party, green issues and stuff.

Highlights? Sunday afternoon when Jean Lambert - re-elected Green Party MEP for London (another hurray) - joined us so that people who voted Green (and thanks to everyone who did) could meet her.

Prompted by Jean making a wise observation that "Going to some Green Party stalls is taking a real trip down memory lane....that was a great leaflet in 1997 - but do we need it now?" (and to make sure it wasn't us she was talking about!) we had a big clearout. Our info is now hideously up to date.

And just for fun the show organisers decided to pitch us right opposite the Conservative Party stall. (Is Green the new Blue?). And jolly entertaining the Conservatives were too.

Eagerly and at every opportunity there they were, tying Tory party blue balloons (with logo) onto any buggy or pushchair that would have one. This was done, I presume, in an effort to turn unsuspecting pre-school infants trundling past on four wheels into a sort of mini-marketing machine for the Tories...

That's one way to secure the young vote.

And Labour? Oh dear. Nobody was at their stall (well not as I nipped past to the loos anyway).

So all in all it was a great event. And did I mention, it didn't rain!

Women forge ahead in Green politics

2009-03-03T23:11:00.009Z

Cllr Rebecca Thackray, Jean Lambert MEP, and Rebecca Findlay, Streatham Parliamentary Candidate, campaigning outside Lambeth Town Hall for a living wage

In a statement for International Women’s Day, Lambeth Councillor Rebecca Thackray said: ‘Women comprise 51% of the world’s population, yet hold only 16% of the world’s parliamentary and congressional seats. Women make a huge contribution to family, society and healthcare and I would like to see this reflected in our political representation.’

The Green Party aims to lead the way in putting forward female candidates in local government elections. Recently in the North of England and Midlands, 42% of Green Party candidates were women, a clear 9% ahead of Labour and the Liberal Democrats.

Councillor Thackray commented: ‘The benefit of having women serve political roles is not just an issue of numerical equality. Women MPs address issues of particular concern to their gender but which have huge repercussions for families, such as health, domestic violence and low wages. I am a feminist: I also believe that it does not serve men to have women so poorly represented.’

Caroline Lucas, the leader of the Green Party, welcomes the creation of Green Party Women to work in conjunction with an informal group, Women By Name, which has long acted within the party to support and encourage women members to take up prominent roles.

According to Councillor Thackray, ‘The barriers to women entering politics are, bluntly: confidence, culture, childcare and cash. It is in the interests of both men and women to eradicate these barriers.’

Loughborough Junction Action Group – Get Involved!

2009-02-10T14:20:00.001Z

The new Loughborough Junction Action Group is holding its next meeting on Monday 16 February at 8pm at the Harry Caddick Centre, 63 Lilford Road (on the corner between Lilford Road and Carew Street).

Anyone local or interested in supporting the Loughborough Junction area is encouraged to go along. The more people who attend the more we'll be able to create change for the area.

Current working groups include:
Promotion, PR, website and visual identity
Trees and greenery
Public realm, waste and road safety
Arts and LJ events
Railways and bridges

If you have any suggestions/ thoughts or would like to help out on a specific theme, please contact Elise.

No Education in a Sardine Can!

2009-02-09T19:32:00.005Z

Lambeth Green Party supported residents of St Martin's Estate, Tulse Hill, in their campaign to stop the Council cramming a new secondary academy school onto the Fenstanton primary school site. Green Party Councillor Becca Thackray protested that crowding nearly 2000 pupils aged 3 -18 into one area would impact negatively on education. Vital green space would be lost, and since academies are run by private sponsors (such as hedge fund managers) the land would pass out of public ownership.

Despite criticism from its own scrutiny committee, the Council has decided to plough ahead with this hugely unpopular scheme.

Charmian Kenner of Lambeth Greens said, "We definitely need a new secondary school in Lambeth but this site is not the answer. Places should be expanded at existing schools while a new site is found. We're also dismayed that the Council did not consult with residents and parents before proposing this disastrous development."

A Living Wage for Lambeth

2009-02-09T13:40:00.003Z

Lambeth's Green Party councillor, Becca Thackray, has successfully passed a motion to commit the London Borough of Lambeth to paying a ‘Living Wage’ for all its employees.

However, a wrecking amendment put forward by Labour means that the Council can continue underpaying hundreds of staff who work for the Borough as contractors. These include cleaners, security/reception staff and labourers, many of whom are paid much less than regular Council staff.

The original motion stated that, "Lambeth Council reaffirms its support for the establishment of the London Living Wage, set at a level calculated by the Living Wage Unit to avoid the 'working poverty trap' in the capital, a situation affecting around 400,000 Londoners who are paid less than can reasonably fund the basic costs of living in London."

By watering the motion down, Labour have let down precisely those working people who they claim to represent. Their rhetoric about helping the people of Lambeth get through the recession will sound particularly hollow to those earning poverty wages on Labour-run Lambeth contracts.

Boris Stalls Elephant Regeneration

2008-10-05T16:32:00.012+01:00

London Mayor Boris Johnson has put the vital £1.5 billion program of regeneration in Elephant and Castle on hold, concerned about Transport for London's £600,000 contribution to the project.

A new Mayor needs to examine the projects of his predecessors, but we are surprised Boris Johnson is unable to support an essential regeneration project for one of the poorest parts of South London - especially when he so quickly found £30 million to scrap a charge on gas-guzzling SUVs and sports cars.

Lambeth Green Party Deputy Convenor George Graham said:
"Elephant & Castle should be an essential hub for everyone in Lambeth and Southwark. Instead, years of neglect and incompetence have allowed traffic to ruin the lives of its residents, and blighted its businesses.

"The regeneration is absolutely essential to all of us, but it is already behind schedule and without the support of the Mayor, may fail completely."

Urban Green Fair

2008-08-18T19:57:00.007+01:00

Bake Oven at Urban Green Fair

Join us for a festival with a difference. Learn about current environmental issues and solutions, discover practical innovations in sustainable living and reducing climate change and, of course, have fun!

An ideal family event, with films, talks in the social justice zone and energy transition zone, workshops, kids activities, stalls, sunshine and unusual bicycles. With no bars or big stages the emphasis is on education and communication. A chance to share ideas, meet familiar faces and make new friends.

With little government action on peak oil and climate change there is plenty to discuss and lots we can do as individuals.

Click here to find out more.

In the News

2008-06-29T18:55:00.002+01:00

Government heading for defeat on the 'Heathrow' bill

Crime still falling in Lambeth

Lambeth Council wins European award for adoptoing Lambeth Green Party policy

Some pictures of the anti-racism march

Another terrifyingly huge Tesco for Lambeth

Labour puts more council housing into private hands

Alton Ellis and Omar to sing in Brockwell Park

Lambeth Greens Visit Western Riverside Waste Authority

2008-06-22T16:33:00.003+01:00

By Rebecca Thackray, Councillor Herne Hill ward

It's not everyone's idea of a great afternoon out but for Lambeth Greens it was an absorbing way to asses the scale of the problem. The ethics involved of exporting our plastic waste to China, the health and safety difficulty of food recycling and the pros and cons of the incinerator in Bellevedere, Kent, were discussed. There is a growing willingness to recycle and we're getting better at it. But it is clear that more education is needed (particularly for adults; children are getting the hang of it in schools) and above all else, manufacturers and retailers need to be reducing the amount of packaging that can only end up as landfill. We have no time to waste.

A Day in the Life of A Coucillor

2008-06-22T16:20:00.004+01:00

By Rebecca Thackray
This article first appeared in the Local Government Association's First Magazine

Boundaries between my various roles are clear to me but not always to others. I spend the morning at Brixton Advice Centre where I work as a general adviser.

You wouldn’t believe how many people come to a legal advice centre with queries in that category marked ‘other’. I admire the specialists and I pick up useful updates on debt and housing from them, but the questions I get asked are far more intriguing. A woman wants to trace her husband from a decade ago, realising that she cannot remarry until she is divorced. I used to be a police officer and my approach is a methodical ‘where, when, what, why and how?’ and I always bear in mind that there may be someone out there who would really rather not be found.

After the drop-in I metaphorically change hats. I cycle off as a councillor to look at railway arches with a local restaurant owner with a view to traders storing cardboard and bottles for recycling. You’d think Herne Hill was Camberwick Green to hear him talk. This corner of London will feel even more villagey if a farmers’ market comes to the area. I was keen to make this part of the council’s regeneration planning.

Lactose junkie
I go to the corner shop for milk. I am something of a lactose junkie, requiring endless mugs of milky tea and vast quantities of yoghurt. I get cornered by a large man. I am not alarmed by his urgent whisper nor by the scissors in his top pocket. He is the barber next door asking for help regarding the mental health of his daughter. I leaf through council mail and see some initiatives on waste. Tetrapaks are being recycled in Lambeth now – if only thick plastics could follow suit.

A friend emails me about her friend in East Grinstead: “she puts everything possible in her recycling box ever since the stuff that can’t be recycled stopped being called rubbish and became known as landfill.” So often a name change is a euphemism but I like the idea of referring to rubbish as landfill and I forward it to the executive member for environment. I am not entitled to serve on council committees but I did get my teeth into a cross-party commission on climate change and I share the recommendations with other Green councillors in London. It can be lonely without a network of mutual support.

I receive a phone call from a police sergeant wanting an out-of-hours warrant signing. My magistrate hat goes on – I’ve been a magistrate since 1997. The grounds for the warrant are sobering. I drop off some information for the barber who works long hours too, serving the heads of the local community. I include details of a nearby resource centre for the mental health needs of African and Caribbean people – I used to work at the health centre and this place has an excellent reputation.

It occurs to me to check with him: “Were you asking me as a councillor, advice worker or nurse?” “I just thought you were someone who might know” he says simply.

Doubts Over Stop and Search

2008-06-18T17:38:00.004+01:00

Under the plans announced on Tuesday, police can search people without reasonable suspicion.

But London Assembly Green Party member Jenny Jones said the stop and search powers may alienate young people.

Lambeth Green Party Crime Spokesman Shane Collins said:

"We welcome any move that will reduce the scourge of knife crime. But people in this Borough remember what happened in the 1980s when police were encouraged to use stop and search powers indiscriminately. Police bullying of poor teenagers from ethnic minorities will do nothing to help reduce the social exclusion that is the real cause of youth violence.

Lambeth Pension Funds Helping Pay Dick Cheney's Salary

2008-05-15T17:45:00.002+01:00

A Green Party investigation reveals that Lambeth Council's pension fund holds £3,749,426.56 worth of stocks in companies that manufacture weapons, including Dick Cheney's Iraq war profiteer Halliburton. This equates to just .5% of the council's assets, and so it would cost almost nothing to reinvest this money elsewhere.

Greens Take Anti-crime Message to Brixton

2008-05-05T16:46:00.003+01:00

Siân Berry, Green Mayor of London candidate, visited Brixton to launch the campaign of Lambeth and Southwark London Assembly candidate, and well-known local campaigner, Shane Collins.
Siân and Shane highlighted crime issues affecting the area, and presented some of the Green Party's policies for London that will help solve these problems, including:

Extra officers to allow Safer Neighbourhood Teams to work round-the-clock; when piloted in Fulham this cut burglaries by 52%
Reducing officer numbers on overpoliced demonstrations and VIP security, and making commercial events pay for their policing, to free up resources for community policing
Better support for youth work and crime prevention projects, giving funding for a minimum of 3 years so they can spend more time working and less filling in grant applications. More established schemes will get 5 or even 10 years funding at a time.

Siân said, "If we're serious about cutting crime, we need to get more police on the streets. The most effective way to do that is through Safer Neighbourhood Teams - trusted officers who are known to their local community and who can do the vital work to reduce crime as well as prosecute it.

"We want to feel safe in our local area when we get home late in the evening and when we are asleep, not just during office hours. We'll beat crime not by tough-talking gimmicks, but by real community policing."

On voluntary sector funding, Siân added: "Too many great projects spend most of their time applying for the next short-term grant rather than actually working to improve options for everyone, including young people, in their local area. I want to change that and give them the time and security they need to do their vital jobs."

Shane Collins is also the Green Party's national spokesperson on drugs policy and has long campaigned for a more rational drugs policy for the UK. Regulation of cannabis supply, and management of heroin addictions by prescription, would cut the link between drugs and crime, he argues.

Shane said, "Drug use, and the consequences of their prohibition on London's culture, economy and crime rate are undeniable. Green policies aim to minimise the harm to those who use drugs and reduce the harm to society at large resulting from drug-related crime.

"Prohibition ensures that the drug trade stays in criminal gangs. Dealers and users are forced to stay out of sight of the justice system, so disputes between them are often settled with violence and weapons. This has led to an influx of guns and knives into urban communities which in turn has led to a fear of youth.

"The Prime Minister's Number Ten Strategy Unit found that 57% of all crime and 80% of burglary in the UK is to feed a heroin or crack drug habit. A Green drug policy will lead to a large drop in crime and less work for the police, court and prison system."

Railton Road Farmers' Market

2008-05-05T16:29:00.002+01:00

The Lambeth Green Party are backing plans for stalls and a regular farmers' market on Railton Road. Having considered six different plans for the area, we agreed that the one that offered the potential for markets, trees and lots of bicycle parking, would best serve local residents and shop-keepers. Click the link below to see the current plans.

Railton_Rd+potential_for_market.pdf

Save Our Services March

2008-05-05T16:17:00.003+01:00

Green Party Councillor Rebecca Thackray joined marchers protesting about the rapid rises in the cost of care services in Lambeth, that are threatening some of Lambeth's most vulnerable citizens.

Greens and Lib Dems Fight for Lower Homecare Charges

2008-04-23T18:02:00.006+01:00

Lambeth has the most expensive Home Care in London. Prices have risen from £7.55 per hour to £17.50. Undeterred by this, Labour are now talking about raising charges again in September, to £20, taking yet more money from those who can least afford it. The Liberal Democrat and Green members of the council are calling for a reduction to £10 per hour, paying for it with money from a recent windfall. The Motion will only be carried if all Backbenchers attend and vote plus 15 Labour councillors vote for it too

Councillor Becca Thackray said:

"I am delighted to support the cross-party resolution to reduce charges to £10 in the light of Lambeth Council being allowed to keep £23 million held in Council reserves until 2006.

I do so out of my experience witnessing ‘bed-blocking’ as a nurse when patients cannot go home till care provision is in place, as a carer for my late parents, and for all the reasons below which I have uttered in support of Lambeth SOS campaign."

Home_Care_Charges_08.doc

If you want to support this resolution, write to your Ward Councillors and ask them which way they are planning on voting

Wonderful New Green Party Election Broadcast

2008-04-21T22:57:00.004+01:00

Lambeth Green Party Supports Women's Right to Abortion

2008-04-10T14:49:00.006+01:00

Lambeth Green Party are supporting national sexual health charity the Family Planning Association’s campaign to protect the current 24 week time limit for abortion. MPs and anti-abortion groups want to slash the time limit when the Abortion Act goes through parliament this summer. If they get their way, women in the most tragic situations won’t be able to get an abortion anymore. Lambeth Green Party says 'No' to attacking vulnerable women, 'No' to cutting access to NHS abortions and 'Yes' to supporting women’s right to choose.

Herne Hill Green Party Councillor (and nurse) Rebecca Thackray said:

"Women’s right to choose cannot be taken for granted. There are groups lobbying for all abortion to stop and they see reducing the time limit as a means to this end. I have no hesitation in adding my voice to the campaign opposing it.

Having worked in Family Planning Clinics I know that there are many reasons why a woman may feel compelled to terminate her pregnancy. I would question the suggestion that any woman makes the decision casually or that her decision should be made be anyone other than herself."

Links:
More details of the FPA campaign
Petition and online resoures

Councillor_Thackrays_Full_Statement.doc

In The News

2008-04-09T18:22:00.004+01:00

New Labour's Climate Change figures do not seem to be scrupulously accurate (The Guardian)

Worries over plans for Granville Arcade (South London Press)

Streatham's Labour councillors can't tell the difference between their party and the Tories any more(thisislocallondon)

Green Party launch London campaign (Green Party)

Brixton Tesco wants to be even bigger (South London Press)

Space Needed

2008-04-08T23:14:00.003+01:00

The Council is about to undertake a further expansion of the borough's on-street car club network. A total of 33 bays (about 60 cars) are now operating on-street across Lambeth and are available for residents and businesses to hire by the hour, reducing the need for people to own their own vehicles. They aim to more than double this network to over 70 bays/140 vehicles.

If you have any suggestions about possible bay locations in your ward, contact Tim Wedmaier in the next 2 weeks (tjwedmaier@lambeth.gov.uk).

If you're interested in car sharing, visit www.carclubs.org.uk

Climate Change Commission Recommendations

2008-04-08T22:15:00.003+01:00

Lambeth Council's Climate Change Commission has suggested a comprehensive set of targets and procedures for the Borough. You can read the full report by clicking the link below.

Councillor Rebecca Thackray (pictured), who was a member of the commission, said

"The current government is famous for setting ambitious targets and then doing nothing. Here in Lambeth, we can show them the right way forward."

Climate_Change_Recommendations.doc

Smart Meter Loan Scheme

2008-04-01T19:19:00.005+01:00

Transition Town Brixton has launched its 'electricity descent scheme' by lending 10 household 'smart meters' to members for 4 weeks to monitor and reduce their energy use. Their only obligation is to keep a record of how much energy they manage to save and what they discovered in the process.

They have also negotiated a £10 off deal with the manufacturer.

Contact info@transitiontownbrixton.org to go on the lending list.

Any Questions comes to Lambeth Academy

2008-03-22T12:34:00.002Z

Friday 28 March 2008 19.15

Any Questions, BBC Radio 4's forum for lively debate between leading public figures, chaired by Jonathan Dimbleby, is being hosted by Lambeth Academy School in Clapham this month. The programme will be broadcast live on BBC Radio 4 at 20.02 on 28 March and repeated on Saturday 29 March at 13.10.

On the Panel :
Confirmed names for the panel so far include: Brian Paddick, Liberal Dem Candidate for London Mayor and John O’Farrell, writer, broadcaster, satirist and Chairman of the Governors of Lambeth Academy

Tickets for Any Questions are free to local people (subject to availability). If you‘d like to attend please either email: anyquestions@lambeth-academy.org or ring Sarah Williams on 020 7819 4731, giving your name, address and a contact number.

Be part of the debate:
All those attending are invited to submit questions on the day – so please come along prepared with a question about what’s been in the news this week.

Stephen Potter principal of Lambeth Academy said:
We are delighted to host Any Questions at Lambeth Academy and to welcome the local community into our new school where debate and discussion form an important part of our daily curriculum.

Milkwood Solar Lighting Fixed!

2008-03-22T12:23:00.004Z

The Milkwood Solar street lights had been broken for the best part of a year, setting a terrible example for other green projects. After a lot of effort by Becca Thackray and others, they've finally been fixed.

Vassal By-Election

2008-03-19T22:37:00.003Z

My name's George Graham and I'm the Green Party Candidate for the Vassal By-Election.

If you have any comments, ideas or suggestions for me, please post them in the comments section below. I'll reply in the same section, and we can get a real conversation going about what Vassal Ward needs, and what I can do for you.

All you have to do is click the 'comment' link, and follow the onscreen instructions. I'll log on every couple of days, and answer your questions in the comments so that everyone can see them.

A Simple Way to Save Money & Energy

2008-03-02T12:27:00.005Z




We've come across a couple of products that make it a lot easier to

save money and energy at home. They are so useful that we're proposing

to buy them wholesale and make them available at less than retail price

if more than 20 people are interested in buying them.



Money raised will go towards the Urban Green Fair 31st August 2008 in

Brockwell Park, Brixton and also to the Lambeth Green Party GLA election

campaign on 1st May 2008.



The items are:

The OWL Wireless Home Energy Monitor



A wireless electricity monitor displaying the cost of electricity use in

the home on a portable, easy to read LED display.

  * Displays cost of electricity, energy consumption and greenhouse

    gas emissions

  * Separate displays for temperature and humidity

  * No additional wiring necessary

  * RRP £49.95.  Urban Green Fair supporter price £40.



Standby Buster

Standby Buster is a remote controlled electrical socket that lets you

switch appliances off completely so that they use no electricity. Each

socket can take a 4 way adaptor.

* Fed up with wasting money and energy by leaving things on standby ?

* Can't be bothered to turn everything off at an inaccessible plug every

night ?

* Standby Buster Value Pack.  Three electrical sockets and one remote

controller.

* RRP £29.99. Urban Green fair supporter price £24.

* Standby Buster Starter Pack. One electrical socket and one remote

controller

* RRP £14.99. Urban Green fair supporter price £12.



You probably don't need reminding but if we don't make 80-90% CO2 cut in

emissions in UK by around 2020 we will go over the tipping of a 2C temp

increase and into a temperature runaway scenario more grim than we can

possibly imagine.  Our home produces about a third of our CO2 emissions

so these products are a good way to start.

Grassroots

2008-02-26T21:01:00.002Z

Excellent article from the Economist about how local government is leading the way in dealing with Climate change.

Green Light for Lambeth Recycling

2008-02-12T23:21:00.000Z

But more needs to be done

View Full Details
Lambeth exceeded its recycling targets this year with nearly a quarter of all household waste being recycled or composted. In 2008, energy-saving lightbulbs will join the long list of items that Lambeth residents can get recycled.

Becca Thackray, green party councillor for the Herne Hill war said: ‘It’s great news that we passed our targets for 2006/7, but more needs to be done. A proper recycling regime keeps our Borough beautiful, reduces waste and saves money. Bexley managed to recycle 40% of their waste last year, and that’s the kind of level we should be looking to achieve.”

We've created a rather fine map of Lambeth's recycling facilities to help you with your own personal targets, which you can see above.

Defoliating Lambeth

2008-02-12T23:08:00.001Z

A failure of joined-up government

Herne Hill resident Nicolas Baker has noticed a worrying tendency for Lambeth council to fell trees without replacing them. There are now 14 tree bowls on Fawnbrake Avenue alone that have been filled in with concrete.

In a typical piece of bad governance, the council has the funds to chop down trees that might damage a building’s foundations, but no budget available for replacing them. Defoliating an area lowers property values and increases the risk of flooding, quite aside from its effect on Lambeth’s carbon footprint.

A Sad Loss for Brockwell Park

2008-02-12T22:30:00.001Z

But a step in the right direction for Herne Hill's pedestrians

The final plans for the Herne Hill junction are being submitted for approval now. They will involve a loss of around 30m x 30m from Brockwell Park. On the plus side, there’ll be a large landscaped island, one end of Railton Road will be pedestrianised, we’ll have extra bus and cycle lanes, and a notorious accident blackspot will no longer claim its victims.

Herne Hill Councillor Becca Thackray said:

"This consultation has been the most difficult thing I’ve had to do as a councillor: many of my friends in the Green Party believe we should not tolerate any loss of park. Having seen the plans – and seen umpteen children nearly being hit by cars every summer – I genuinely believe that this is the best possible solution."

You can find out more from the Herne Hill Society

If you're opposed to the scheme, then you should get in touch with the Brockwell Park Society

New Youth Mayor for Lambeth

2008-02-12T22:23:00.001Z

Congratulations to Lambeth’s new Youth Mayor Satya Panigrahi, who won a landslide victory with 750 votes.

More details here

Lambeth Green Party Launch New Website

2008-02-12T20:36:00.000Z

And We Need Your Help

The new Lambeth Green Party website is live, and it includes this blog. We want to make it the most useful tool possible for anyone who lives in the Borough.

Please get in touch if there's anything you think we should have on there.

In the long run, we want dedicated areas of the site for Brixton, Clapham, Kennington, Waterloo, Herne Hill, West Norwood, Crystal Palace and Streatham. Drop us a line if there's a great organic greengrocers, a useful recycling service, or an important community organisation you'd like us to link to.

Taser Fear for Lambeth Bobbies

2008-02-11T21:53:00.000Z

Electric shocks for the Bobby on the beat

Tazers – American handheld weapon that deliver a massive electric shock – are to be trialled by the Metropolitain’s rapid response teams in the next few weeks… without being made available to the ordinary police on the front line

Danger

Community Police Consultative Group and Green Party member Shane Collins said:

‘We appreciate the value of these weapons for a rapid response team. The ability to incapacitate without doing long-term damage is clearly very useful.

'However every new weapon given to the police encourages more criminals to go armed and to use their weapons earlier. Giving this equipment to some police but not others may place Lambeth’s local police in danger.'

Available

Tazers are available to buy over the counter in America, and it may be difficult to stop criminal gangs from acquiring them once they have been introduced to the UK.