Promise of 20mph on danger road outside school

Cllr Ainslie, Nicole Griffiths and Jonathan Bartley for 20mph

Green Party councillor Scott Ainslie has won commitments from Lambeth Council and Transport for London for a 20mph speed limit on Mitcham Lane, and changes to the crossing outside St Leonard’s Primary School to reduce the risk of children being hit by traffic.

With the school size due to grow from 270 to 470 in five years, many more children will be spilling out onto the pavement next to the busy road each day.

Head teacher Simon Jackson said, “Scott has been really good at quickly bringing all the relevant parties together to see the problems and discuss what is needed to prevent an accident."

Greens deliver on safer crossing for Mitcham Lane/Ambleside Avenue

Green Party councillor, Scott Ainslie,  couldn't resist having his photo taken at the newly modernised junction of Mitcham Lane and Ambleside Avenue - once notorious for collisions and fatalities.

Now, after four years of concerted efforts by Scott supporting the community's calls for TfL to take action, work has been completed and and the much-improved junction is already saving lives.

The junction now boasts: better lighting, advanced stop lines for cyclists, a filter light for right turns, a countdown crossing, a new 1.5m cycle lane, renewed footways with wider crossings for pedestrians and cycle safety mirrors on traffic signals

Progress at 'grot spot' on Mitcham Lane outside Keen's Close

We are pleased to report that we have now got some shrubs planted outside Keen's Close on Mitcham Lane (opposite St Leonard's School).

We have been working for the last year on getting the 'grot spot' sorted out.

You can see the history here, but in a nutshell, it has become an area for regular fly tipping.

Old beds, boards, rubbish bags and household waste was being left there and even spilling out onto the pavement.

Lambeth Council said it was not their responsibility as the land belongs to L Q group, which manages the Close. We spoke to residents there, and they asked if we could help sort the area out.

So we got in touch with L Q Group last year, and they agreed to clear the area regularly, and pay for some shrubs to be planted to deter fly tippers and also improve the look of the area. We are pleased to report that LQ Group planted the shrubs there over the weekend.

This is something they agreed to do last year, but they wanted to wait until after the winter to ensure that the shrubs had the best chance of survival.

We will keep monitoring the area and hope that it does the trick!

No plans for expansion of school places at St Leonard's Primary School

The headteacher of St Leonard's School has said that claims there are plans to expand places at the Church of England Primary are "wildly inaccurate, highly speculative and based on no substance whatsoever."

His comments, which came in a letter to parents yesterday, was a response to claims made by Lib Dem councillors who claimed credit for securing extra places at the school.

"We have lobbied the Government to fund expanding them (local schools) And it's good news" wrote Lib Dem Councillor Roger Geiss in the latest Lib Dem newsletter to local residents. "Extra places are planned St Leonards soon."

But Simon Jackson, the headteacher of St Leonards yesterday sent the following letter by email to parents entitled 'Expansion Misinformation':

"You may have received some literature delivered to your home which states that 'extra places are planned at St Leonard’s soon'.

"I would just like to make the very clear point that no such decision has been taken; no formal talks have been held between the school’s governing body, the local authority and the diocesan board of education. As such, this statement is wildly inaccurate, highly speculative and based on no substance whatsoever. I can also confirm that the person who has been quoted as making this statement has not spoken with anybody connected with the leadership of our school.

"St Leonard’s has been placed on a list of schools that could be expanded, along with many other schools for a few years now. This does not necessarily mean that expansion is definite. I can assure you that consideration would only be given to such a project if it was in the interest of our school, its pupils and their families, and we are nowhere near being in possession of any facts which could help us establish a position at this time.

"Naturally, if I did have definite information concerning the future of our school, I would share this with you at the appropriate time. As such, I am deeply disappointed that such a statement has been released, and have made this point very clearly to the appropriate persons within Lambeth Council. Therefore, unless you receive information directly from the school, either through the Governing Body or through me personally, please treat all “information” with the scepticism it deserves."

Kind regards,

Mr Simon Jackson

Headteacher