Loughborough Junction Action Group – Get Involved!

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!

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

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

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

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

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

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.