Author: zen148812

Quietway – delayed??

Residents have received a letter through their doors saying works to install the Quietway will start next Monday 7 August.  This came as a surprise as the Council has not yet decided to proceed with the Quietway.

Council officers have made their final proposals and it is expected that just a rubber-stamp formal decision will be made, as we were previously told, by 27 July by the relevant Councillor.

That decision has not been made, so maybe there are further thoughts being had at the Town Hall.  Maybe Cllr Wingfield whose responsibility it is to make the final decision is having doubts.  Or perhaps he has just been too busy on a host of other matters which have taken precedence.

It seems the letters to residents have come out too quickly and before the decision has been made.  Village Councillor Jane Lyons tells us she expects  a decision TOMORROW and that the works will NOT start on Monday!

Quietway through Dulwich Village expected to go ahead

Southwark Council planners want to move ahead now with the Quietway from  Elephant & Castle to Crystal Palace through Dulwich Village.

Dulwich residents were active in raising objections to the Quietway Scheme and discussions have been continuing with the Council.  Southwark’s planners are now recommending that the scheme proceed.  Shortly, Cllr Wingfield, the responsible Southwark Councillor, will decide whether to accept the recommendations.

The full proposals are at http://moderngov.southwark.gov.uk/mgIssueHistoryHome.aspx?IId=50014361&Opt=0

Depending on the decision Cllr Wingfield makes and the reasons he gives for his decision there will be a few days to decide whether the Councillors on the Overview & Scrutiny Committee should be invited to challenge that decision and recommend ways he can improve it.

Once Cllr Wingfield’s decision is made public our local councillors will want to hear residents’ views before determining whether they should call the decision in for scrutiny by Southwark Council’s Overview and Scrutiny Committee.  

The decision will be made by Thursday 27th July and call ins must happen within five days thereafter.

Already Council formal notices are appearing on lampposts:

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Fair Funding for all Schools

It looks like the Government’s cuts to our schools in Turney Road are going ahead.  This poster on Turney Road School announces a ‘Carnival Against the Cuts’ on Sunday 16 July.

This seems a strange time to be reducing education provision with rising school roles and a need for the country to become more productive and efficient.  Our schools are taking the plans seriously and are every worried.

John Fraser – MP and community champion. We shall miss him.

Update – John’s funeral will take place on Friday 5th May 2017 at 11am St Simon and St Jude Roman Catholic Church , Hillside SW2 3HL

John Fraser passed away on 6 April.  He was an active member of the Turney Road Residents’ Association and a welcoming and friendly face to any new residents in Turney Road.

He had a kindness of heart and spirit in his endeavours of behalf of his neighbours
and worked diligently to let everyone personally know of consultations on local changes such as the Quietway,  parking, playing fields, street greening and improving our local environment.   John was a keen runner, regularly spotted pounding local streets and parks.  He put his running to good use in leafleting residents and encouraging residents to sign up to the residents’ association.  He was a keen gardener and enjoyed opera immensely.  He was always keen to chat about the flowers, trees and wildlife species in his beloved garden with a fondness for hedgehogs and maintaining wildlife habitats.

John was a solicitor by training and worked as a senior partner at the law firm Lewis Silkin LLP.  Had had a long and active political career from when he was a councillor on Lambeth Borough Council from 1962 and the London Borough of Lambeth from 1964 to Parliament.  John was the Labour Member of Parliament for Norwood for more than thirty years from 1966 until 1997.

His sharp mind and excellent people skills led to him being appointed Under Secretary at the Department of Trade and Industry in 1966, Under Secretary of State for Employment in 1974-1976, and Minister of State at the Department of Prices and Consumer Protection from 1976-1979.

He was a much loved and respected local MP, taking pride in diligently representing and serving the local community in which he lived and brought up his family. He had extraordinary language skills and was able to greet constituents in almost all of the many languages spoken in the rich and diverse constituency he served.  One resident remembers being impressed by John’s language skills when he made a point of telling her that it was vital to greet constituents in their native language as he tried to teach her Yoruba at one of the Turney Road parties.

After standing down as an MP, John continued to play a very active role within the local Dulwich and West Norwood constituency Labour party, knocking on doors and leafleting year round. He played a full part in the life of his local Labour party branch, the General Committee and Executive Committee; and within the local community, continuing to support local advice charity Centre 70 which he helped to found in 1970.

John was married to Ann and together they had three children, five grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.  He will be greatly missed by his family and friends, the local Labour Party, the Turney Road and Norwood communities and the wider Labour movement.

He was our street champion in every sense.

 
 

Picture Gallery Pavilion noise worries for residents


The Dulwich Gallery wants to erect a Pavilion in its grounds for the summer and has applied to the Council for permission.  It also wants a licence for alcohol and late operating.

It is the 200th Anniversary of the Gallery so of course they want to celebrate.  However, the amenity of residents will be affected in one way or another and particularly in Edward Alleyn House, Woodyard Lane (who heard the outdoor Belair House and Park Cinema noise on summer evenings in the past), College Gardens and College Road as well as Turney and Burbage Roads.

The Pavilion is temporary but there is no date for its removal and if it is a commercial success it could reappear next year or remain in place.  The Gallery is understood to be looking for business hirers for summer parties.  This is in addition to events such as weddings which are regularly held there.  Included in the Gallery’s application to the council is cinema, dance, live and recorded music, a bar and other events.  The Gallery does not say how frequently it plans to hold these events except that the application covers the months of June, July and August, every weekend and every evening in the week.

The Pavilion has no insulation against noise and neither would a marquee.  There are precedents locally – Edward Alleyn Club and the Velodrome – where there have been successful negotiations with residents about events impinging on them.  This is what the Gallery should consider in this instance, particularly if strong feelings develop about its proposals. 
The Gallery should have approached residents in advance of its application to the council.  As it has not done so, now is the time to tell the council and the councillors.

If a resident is happy with the plans there is no need to do anything.

Schools Worry as Government cuts funds

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Dulwich Hamlet Junior School in the centre of Dulwich Village had these signs and placards attached to its railings this morning.

The Government is cutting funding for schools in London.  According to the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS), the funding cuts particularly hit inner London schools. Already facing cash cuts of 2.5% per pupil before 2020, the further cuts amount to a 7% reduction for many schools.

The spending reductions come on top of a projected 6.5 per cent real terms cut for all schools between now and 2020, as a result of increasing pupil numbers, a rise in the minimum wage, the apprenticeship levy and higher employer contributions to national insurance and pensions. (Financial Times 22 March 2017)

The Dulwich Village primary schools are popular with our families.  Cutting their funds as we embark on new competitive world relationships is counter what would be expected.

London’s toxic air – ‘Super Inquiry’

MPs have launched a “super inquiry” into Britain’s toxic air scandal to force the Government to dramatically step up action to tackle the health threat to millions of people.

In an unprecedented move, four Commons committees are to grill ministers and air quality experts on the dangers from filthy air in London and other cities.

The hearings by the health committee, transport committee, environmental audit committee and environment, food and rural affairs committee will be held as the Government draws up its latest plans to deal with toxic air.

Labour MP Mary Creagh, who chairs the environmental audit committee, said: “Ministers will face unprecedented scrutiny in Parliament to ensure they finally step up to the mark to ensure adults, and children in particular, do not have their health damaged by filthy air.

Ministers have been forced to draw up new proposals to cut air pollution after judges backed environmental lawyers ClientEarth in two high-profile cases that the Government was failing to do enough to reduce nitrogen dioxide levels.

The draft new plans are due to be published on April 24 and the MPs want to ensure they not only meet legal requirements but also deliver maximum health and environmental benefits.

Source: London Evening Standard 20.03.2017