Scott wins action on HGVs entering residential roads

HGV getting stuck in the side roads

Streatham Green Party team has won agreement from Lambeth Council to take steps to prevent heavy goods vehicles from entering residential roads to thte West of Streatham High Road.

Residents raised concerns last year about large articulated lorries using smaller streets as a cut through. This has resulted in lorries getting stuck and residential streets becoming congested and unsafe.

More trees for Streatham

We have conducted another "tree audit" of St Leonard's ward and have been working with council officers to get some more trees, including some replacements around the area towards Streatham Hill.  

This is what officers have agreed to put them (before Christmas we hope!)...

• A replacement opposite number 10 (approx) Kingscourt Road where a tree was vandalised and removed.  We are also asking for more trees down this road.
• A tree in Mortimer Close on Drewstead Road. 
• Three trees in Norfolk House Road that have died and need replacing
• Mount Ephraim Lane where residents have asked for more trees (there are a few at the bottom of the lane, but none at all at the top).

Petition to resurface Kingscourt, Norfolk House, Brancaster, Blakemore and Moorcroft Roads

After a request from local residents, we have launched a petition to resurface a collection of local roads which need some serious attention!

• Kingscourt Road
• Norfolk House Road
• Brancaster Road
• Blakemore Road
• Moorcroft Road

Two of these are on the council's resurfacing list, but are well overdue for some TLC!  And with a another winter coming, and the surface breaking up, they will become another hazard for cyclists and motorbikes, as well as damaging cars. 

You can read more and sign the petition here

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!

Potholes on Norfolk House Road and Kingscourt Road

We have been reporting and getting numerous potholes fixed along both Kingscourt Road and Norfolk House Road over the last couple of years. Both have now been added to the Council's resurfacing list (see here for more info).

The resurfacing is unlikely to take place until the next financial year (at the earliest). In the meantime Lambeth Council continue to be very slow to get them fixed. We reported several like the one pictured left on Norfolk House Road near Streatham High Road, and despite their size, they are taking weeks to get sorted out. The same is true on Kingscourt Road.

Increased crossing times for Streatham High Road

Three-quarters of British people over 65 struggle to cross the road at the very places that are meant to be safe for pedestrians – our signalised crossings. It’s a problem for tens of thousands of others as well, including people with mobility issues and parents with young children.

Local residents, including members of the Streatham Mum's Network, asked if we could help to make the crossings on Streatham High Road safer for pedestrians.

We asked Transport for London to improve four crossings near Kingscourt Road, Mount Ephraim Lane, Broadlands Avenue and Drewstead Road as part of the current High Road project. We are pleased to say that they have agreed to do this as part of the works to improve the central reservation.

The crossings will be upgraded including making them more accessible for users with disabilities and making crossing times longer.

We are supporting the current campaign by Living Streets to make crossing times longer throughout the local area.

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

Road audit of Kingscourt Road

We have just delivered letters to Kingscourt Road, letting local residents know about the road audit we recently carried out.

The audit, requested by local residents, was carried out earlier in the year. We asked for several potholes to be repaired. Whilst a couple were filled in, our follow-up inspection last week showed that several had still to be done. There are particular areas outside number 10 and number 53. We will keep pushing the council to repair them.

We have also asked the council to repair several sections of paving which are cracked, broken and raised up, and are causing a hazard to pedestrians. These include areas up near Streatham High Road, as well as outside numbers 37, 42, 71, 76, 87 and 94 Kingscourt Road. This is proving more problematic, and the council appears reluctant to fix them.

We also asked for the graffiti outside number 88 to be removed.

[Update 17th April 2013: Lambeth have confirmed that the graffiti has now been removed]