RED weather warning Friday 18th February

The Met Office have issued a rare RED warning for wind in the London area between 10am and 3pm today due to fears of storm Eunice causing significant disruption and dangerous conditions due to extremely strong winds.

RED is the highest alert and means there is risk to life. Storm Eunice is the worst to hit London for 3 decades - https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-60426382

The Mayor of London has urged people to stay at home, not take risks and to not travel unless “absolutely essential”.

The Met Office recommends that you secure any loose objects such as bins, garden furniture, ladders or anything else that could be blown around.

Doors and windows should be closed firmly - particularly those to the windward side of the house - and especially large doors, like those on garages.

Vehicles should be parked in a garage, if possible - if not, make sure they are clear of trees, buildings, and fences.

During the storm, the Met Office advises that you stay indoors as much as possible. Don't go outdoors to repair damage while the storm is in progress.

If you do go out, it says, try not to walk near buildings and trees. The Met Office also recommends that you keep away from the sheltered side of boundary fences and walls - this is the side they will collapse on.

Keep pets inside if you can.

If you need to report storm damage, or a tree has fallen or has a low hanging branch, please call the council trees team on 020 7926 3542.

In an emergency, please call 999.

Open letter: Make Potters Lane underpass safer

 

Streatham St Leonard's Ward Councillors open letter to make Potters Lane, SW16, safe

To:

Heads of Public Protection in Lambeth

Wandsworth Community Safety Team 
Metropolitan Police Service

Network Rail (Public Affairs manager)

 

 

CC: 

Furzedown Ward Councillors (Wandsworth)

Streatham St Leonard's Ward Councillors (Lambeth)

Chair of Streatham Action

Chair, St Leonard’s Safer Neighbourhood Cttee

To Whom it may Concern

We are writing to you following two incidents in this area over the past ten days. We are extremely concerned that people using the two underpasses - Potters Lane/Eardley Road and Potters Lane/Estreham Road feel safe when they do so.

Residents in this area are calling on the public protection teams at Lambeth and Wandsworth Borough Councils, Network Rail and the Metropolitan Police Service to work closely together to swiftly ensure public safety at this borough boundary which crosses Network Rail land.

On Friday, 14 January at 13.10hrs,  a 27-year-old woman, who was jogging, sustained a head injury and remains in hospital in a serious but stable condition, after being severely assaulted in Potters Lane, close to Estreham Road, SW16.  CAD ref: 4408 14January.

 

Another female was assaulted in the Potters Lane underpass that runs between Eardley Road in Wandsworth and Estreham Road in Lambeth on 25th January, 2022 at 17.20hrs. CAD ref: 5725 25jan

 

These two attacks, just a week apart are understandably causing alarm to many of those who use the underpass including commuters, families taking their children to school and nurseries and shoppers.

 

We urge you to come forward with an action plan to set out how these residents can feel safe when using this area. 

 

Streatham St Leonard's Ward Cllrs

Scott Ainslie

Nicole Griffiths

Jonathan Bartley

 

Green Party – Streatham, St Leonard’s Ward

London Borough of Lambeth

 

E: SAinslie@lambeth.gov.uk

T: @GreenPartyScott

Have your say on TfL’s proposals for a new pedestrian crossing

 Consultation closes today - Thursday 27^th January

Transport for London (TfL) are consulting on proposals to relocate a signalised pedestrian crossing on the A23 Streatham High Road, from just south of the junction with Woodbourne Avenue to the junction of the A23 and Gracefield Gardens.

This proposal follows observations that found many pedestrians wish to cross the road at this point and have been doing so informally, which has led to a high number of accidents in this area. In the 36 months to the end of February 2020, there were 14 collisions resulting in personal injury at or close to the junction of Gracefield Gardens and Streatham High Road. Of these 14 collisions, nine (64%) involved a pedestrian and two of these were serious.

You can have your say on this proposal at:

https://haveyoursay.tfl.gov.uk/gracefield-gardens

Council waters down Green proposals to improve air quality and address the climate crisis

 

Labour councillors in Lambeth have watered down proposals made by the Green group to clean up Lambeth’s toxic air.

The move came at the full Council meeting on September 22nd, where Green councillors proposed a motion, ‘Clean Air in Lambeth’, which called on Lambeth council to act urgently to improve air quality and address the climate crisis across the borough. This included setting its own targets and adopting Clean Air in London’s (1) proposal to set an ‘Air Pollution Control Area’ (APCA) within the existing Air Quality Management Area across the borough based on the World Health Organisations most recent guidelines (2). 

This would also have given the council the ability to review the APCA every year to decide whether to maintain or lower the emission limit or to require zero emissions which could be linked to the dynamic borough wide Carbon Action Plan.

But Labour councillors amended the Green group’s motion removing the proposals which would have allowed the council to set its own targets to address air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. 

The Greens are now urging the Labour administration to reconsider their rejection of the proposals and adopt them.

Cllr Pete Elliott said, “The Labour group have missed a vital opportunity by removing the ability to set its own targets as bold action on air quality improvement comes with significant co-benefits. Many of the causes of poor air quality are the same things that have contributed to our climate emergency. So, by addressing the causes of poor air quality we will also help ourselves on our urgent journey to net zero carbon emissions in Lambeth by 2030.” 

Cllr Nicole Griffiths said, “This motion identifies, and focuses on, vitally important issues – the good health and wellbeing of our children, and all those who either have, or are vulnerable to, pollution related illness. This is particularly relevant in this time of covid. We need to do everything we possibly can to reduce greenhouse gas emissions of all kinds as air pollution is one of the biggest environmental threats to human health, alongside climate change”.

She added, “Despite some progress, Lambeth is still one of the most polluted boroughs in Europe. Hundreds of people have had their lives cut short every year and all of us in Lambeth are impacted daily by poor air quality. We’re relieved that this was recognised at Wednesday’s meeting, but disappointed that the council has missed a crucial opportunity to set it’s own targets linked to the upcoming borough Carbon Action plan”.

1.  https://cleanair.london/
2. https://www.who.int/news/item/22-09-2021-new-who-global-air-quality-guidelines-aim-to-save-millions-of-lives-from-air-pollution

Have your say on the Oval to Streatham walking and cycling changes

 

TfL have begun a consultation on the recent walking and cycling changes made over the past few months. Please share your views on the experimental scheme by taking part in this survey

https://haveyoursay.tfl.gov.uk/walking-and-cycling-changes-oval-streatham/survey_tools/oval-streatham-walking-cycling-survey

It takes about 10 minutes to complete.

The consultation on the scheme is open for six months. TfL expect views and experiences could change over time so it’s possible to respond more than once if you wish to. 

Sewer Repair Sunnyhill Road SW16 - August 2021

Residents of Sunnyhill Road will be receiving letters from Thames Water this week informing them that their road will be closed in the section close to Streatham High Road, due to urgent sewer replacement works. Please avoid the area if you can.

Dear Resident,

As you may be aware, we have been working collaboratively in Sunnyhill Road to investigate an issue with the Thames Water Sewer system and complete the mains replacement works to minimise disruption. During this investigation we have carried out a repair but have discovered other defects that need to be repaired urgently. This will involve deep excavations and to ensure our workforce can complete this work safely we will need to close the road at the junction of Sunnyhill Road and Streatham High Road. We will need to replace the old pipe under the existing directional closure from Monday 26th July for 2 weeks and then the full road closure will be from 8th August until 31st August. If this changes we will contact, you again.

Your Drinking Water Supply will remain unaffected by our work.

Our contractors will work Mon-Fri & Sat until 2pm.

We apologise for any inconvenience and hope to keep any disruption to a minimum.

Getting in touch.

If you need to contact us to discuss this further, I can be contacted Monday to Friday 8-4 on the details below. Or you can call our customer centre on 0800 316 9800, quoting your address and reference number 0042 81FSLG. This number is open 24/7.

Yours Sincerely

Trudy Earl

Customer & Stakeholder Liaison South East

Tel: 07747646525

Email: trudy.earl@thameswater.co.uk or thameswater.co uk

Streatham Station to be made Accessible for All

Finally....after years of campaigning, we have a date from Network Rail to make Streatham Station accessible for all. Here's a little clip just after I had received the good news. https://youtu.be/eDoo2t10q0c

The Senior Community Engagement Manager for the South East confirmed that the refurbishment work will commence in January, 2022, subject to the approval of the train operator, GTR and other planning stages. They have also confirmed that there will be lifts from street level to each platform.

This is something the Green Party in Streatham have been campaigning on since 2012. There have been many promises made in the past, with the buck being passed between different levels of government but, our persistence has paid off with patience and careful negotiations with Network Rail and the community.

The Access for All scheme at Streatham station will be aligned with the same delivery timescale at Tooting station.

This is great news for the people of Streatham and means that we will now have a station fit for everyone.

Please share this good news far and wide.

Many thanks.