Protect public services!

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.

Election Reflections

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

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

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.

20's Plenty for Lambeth

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

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.

Your survey responses - tackling crime in Lambeth

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 push for more park land

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

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.

Urban Green Fair

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.

Green Light for Lambeth Recycling

But more needs to be done

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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

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

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

Lambeth Green Party Launch New Website

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.