Greens support residents over water tanks eyesore

The Green Team's Nicole Griffiths and Cllr Scott Ainslie are supporting residents in Conyers Rd, who have been shocked by the size of new water tanks errected opposite their homes.

The size of the new storage tanks at the Thames Water treatment plant on Conyers Road are much bigger than residents had been led to expect from drawings shared with people before their construction.

With the residents, Nicole and Scott have been looking at the latest proposals from Thames Water to plant green screening around the site.

Scott is also working with other ward councillors to propose that Thames Water should fund a wider tree-planting programme in the area to compensate for the eyesore caused by the new water tanks.

Collision on Mitcham Lane last night and road closure

The collision on Mitcham Lane last night

There was another traffic collision last night on Mitcham Lane, at the junction with Conyers Road and Riggindale Road, outside Streatham Methodist Church.

Thank you to Adrian Gatton, a local resident, who sent us this picture.

I have spoken to police this morning, and have been told that three individuals were in the car which was travelling north along Mitcham Lane.  All had apparently consumed significant amounts of alcohol.  The car came over the bridge and turned over, and hit a couple of pedestrians, and the caught fire.  Police did not know if the car was stolen

There are no fatalities yet reported. However, the three individuals in the car were apparently seriously hurt, and at least one is in intensive care.

Mitcham Lane still shut this morning although police have finished their work

Mitcham Lane was closed between Ambleside Avenue and Conyers Road/ Riggindale Road this morning.  Police say they did all they needed to do after the collision last night, and the road was only remaining closed because Lambeth Council had still not arrived.

One lamp post needs to be looked at, and there is small bit of damage to the road surface (all within the bit cordoned off in the picture to the right).

There does not seen to be any reason why the whole road needs to be shut.  This has had a huge knock-on effect on traffic in the area, and means that police have to stay there until council officers arrive to take over.

We are chasing council officers to sort it out.

We are also continuing our long-running campaign to sort out this very dangerous stretch of road.

Streatham Youth and Community Trust win award!

Further to the campaign to get much-needed funding for Streatham Youth and Community Trust we just received the following message:

Dear Friends

I am delighted to let you know that we came first in the Lloyds Community Fund Award and we have won £3,000. I would like to thank you all for your support and votes. Believe me your support made the win possible as we were competing against very good projects.

Just for your information, there were 4691 votes cast and we took 31% of the vote, with the next nearest with 27% and the other two making up the rest. I am pleased with the result because at the half way stage we were in last place! It was your support which really brought us back.

Once again, many thanks for all your support.

Yours

Anne MacArthur

Streatham Youth and Community Trust, 16 Wellfield Road, London SW16 2BP - 020 8769 5884 - www.syct.org.uk

We emailed our congratulations and got the following back:

Hi Scott and Jon

You were our greatest supporter! So yes your tweeting and blogging made a big difference. Thank you so much for that. I would be happy to be quoted for your blog J We also made it down to Streatham Green for the Farmers Market as well.

We need to get you down to the John Corfield Centre on Conyers Road to see our work in action and what your support has achieved.

Once again thanks for your support.

Yours

Anne

We will certainly be heading down there soon!

Yellow lines won't be reinstated on Conyers Road

We have received confirmation from Lambeth Council following a request we passed on from residents in September, that the yellow lines will not be resinstated on Conyers Road.

Full question and response as follows:

Q2) The yellow lines at the Potters Lane end of Conyers Rd were meant to be temporary for Network rail work. Are some of the parking spaces to be reinstated, as the flats on the corner of Gleneagle are nearly finished, and there was a move to add new yellow lines futher up and on Fairmile, further reducing spaces?
A2) I am informed by Ian Baker our Delivery Lead that after his discussions with Network rail he can now confirm that we will be resurfacing this carriageway this week  and will ensure the yellow line line is not replaced.

Resurfacing of Conyers Road, Potters Lane, Fairmile Avenue and Stanthorpe Road

Residents of Conyer's Road, Potters Lane, Fairmile Avenue and Stanthorpe Road, should have received notification from Lambeth Council about the resurfacing due to take place over the next few weeks.

The planned dates for the resurfacing are as follows:

8-13th October Conyers Road

14th October Potters Lane

15-17th October Stanthorpe Road

20-21st October Fairmile Avenue

If residents have any questions about the resurfacing or experience problems please do get in touch with Cllr Scott Ainslie: streathamgreenparty (at) gmail.com

Pothole update

We promised that we would check local roads after winter had finished.

We reported the following potholes for repair:

• On Drewstead Road – between Woodbourne Avenue and Hoadly Road

• At the junction of Broadlands Avenue and De Montfort Road

• On Conyers Road – between Fairmile Avenue and Babington Road

• Outside Whinfell Close on Riggindale Road

• At the top of Moorcroft Road

• At the junction of Woodbourne Ave and Steep Hill

• Outside 11, 55, 114 and 144 Kingscourt Road

• Along Norfolk House Road and near the junction with Streatham High Road

• Outside 102A and 153 Gleneagle Road

• Outside 16 Blakemore Road

• At the bottom of Prentis Road at the junction with Garrad’s Road

Let us know if we have missed any that need sorting!

Graffiti on Conyer's Road

We have asked the Council if they can clean the graffiti from Conyer's Road, including outside number 46A, at the corner with Fairmile Avenue and the hoardings opposite the Water Works:

[Update 22/11/13: Local residents have been in touch to say that the graffiti has been cleaned]

The truth about resurfacing

If you have ever wondered about claims made by councillors to have got this or that road resurfaced, then you may be interested to see the following, which are the carriageway scores for roads in St Leonard's Ward.

The 2 roads highlighted in green (Tooting Bec Gardens, Rydal Road) were just resurfaced.

To determine which roads should be resurfaced the Council carries out an assessment of every road to determine its condition. The carriageways not highlighted above currently sit on the authority resurfacing list and are prioritised primarily on their condition score.

Other factors are also considered in prioritising roads for resurfacing, these factors are listed below:

- Link/Traffic sensitivity i.e. TFL Network linkages, A road and B Road linkages etc

- Profile i.e. Schools, place of Worship, Community/leisure Centre, Library’s, cycle route etc

Once the Council has made the above considerations of condition, sensitivity and profile the final score for each road is produced (highlighted above in yellow) and the Council prioritises road resurfacing accordingly.

It's on old political trick for councillors to get hold of resurfacing data in advance, and then claim that they have got a road resurfaced through their lobbying. The truth is that it has a lot more to do with other factors including the number of potholes reported. If you report a lot of potholes, you can make a case and secure the resurfacing the road.

We have reported over 100 potholes in St Leonard's Ward in the last year either using the website www.fixmystreet.com or direct to Lambeth council. If anyone would like to see the potholes we have reported in their street, we would be happy to send a copy of the emails we have sent to the council, pictures we have taken, or records from fixmystreet.com

More graffiti reported north of the Potters Lane tunnel

We had quite a bit of success getting the Potters Lane tunnel cleaned of graffiti over the last few months. This is the tunnel by Streatham Common Station which links Conyers Road and Gleneagle Road to the Ferrer's Triangle and Estreham Road.

We have been keeping a regular eye on it and asking Lambeth Council to remove graffiti as and when it occurs.

We have reported some additional graffiti which has appeared on the North Side of the tunnel, by the Youth Centre.

New ramps on Conyer's Road at junctions with Fairmile Avenue, Babington Road and Gleneagle Road

Last year, I wrote about an older man I met on Conyer's Road who used a mobility scooter but had to take a huge detour every day because he couldn't access the junctions from the pavement.

We contacted the council and asked if ramp access could be put in at several points on Conyer's Road at the junctions with Babington Road, Fairmile Avenue, and Gleneagle Road.

We are pleased to say that this work has now begun. Several of the ramps have been put in and the work should be finished soon.

This is part of Accessible Streatham Campaign - in which we are working to make the local area more accessible for older people, those with mobility impairments as well as those with buggies and prams.

For other examples of where we have done this see these links here:

End of Riggindale Road

Outside Wellfield Road Community Centre

Thirlmere Road ramp access

Ramps on Tooting Bec Gardens

Pavement widening at the bottom of Tooting Bec Gardens/ Garrad's Road

Or more on our accessible Streatham campaign here.

Graffiti in Potters Lane Tunnel

We have asked for the Graffiti in the Potters Lane Tunnel to be cleaned up. The tunnel goes under the railway line and is an important pedestrian through-route which connects Conyers Road on the North side, to the Ferrers Triangle (Hambro Road, Ferrers Road, Ellora Road and Natal Road) as well as Estreham Road, to the South.

Graffiti makes a community look and feel unsafe.

There is graffiti on the outside as well as up high...

and on the lights inside...

We will post an update here when it is done.

[Update 31/01/13 Some of the graffiti has now been cleaned up...

...but there are still some area remaining which we are chasing:

Encounter with an older man on Conyers Road

I was down on Conyers Road a couple of days ago, taking some pictures of some areas where there is no ramp access to cross the road - in particular the junctions with Babbington Road and Fairmile Avenue.

As I did so, along the pavement came a man who I estimated to be in his Eightees, on a mobility scooter. We began chatting, and I asked whether the lack of ramp access was causing him difficulties - particularly as it means cars tend to park across the corner as a result because drivers don't see it as an access point.

"Yes" he replied. "I come along here every morning to get onto Mitcham Lane, but I have to go all the way down there in order to find a place where I can get across the road" he said, pointing in the opposite direction, "and then come all the way back this way" he said, pointing in the direction of Mitcham Lane.

For years, it seems, every morning he has had to go hundreds of yards out of his way, just because no one has put in a small ramp down to the road so he can cross the junction - and indeed, because no local councillor has spotted that there might be a problem.

"Would you like me to contact the council, and try and get a ramp put in?" I asked.

"Would you?" he replied, his face lighting up.

I have contacted Lambeth council, asked them to drop the kerbs. And I've dropped a note through his door to let him know, too.

[Update: Ramps are now installed. See here ]