Get involved in Streatham's new community garden

New community garden gets the go-ahead

Residents meet Network Rail

Land next to the railway between Gleneldon Road and Wellfield Rd that has lain derelict for more than a decade is to be turned into a community garden, thanks to the determination of local residents.

A group of local people have got the go-ahead to lease the land from Network Rail and will form a trust to manage the land for the community.

Site that has been a long time vacant

They plan to transform what is currently a windswept eyesore that attracts fly-tipping into a beautiful oasis, growing organic fruit and vegatables, and encouraging participation from local schools, youth groups and the wider community.

Initially Network Rail had earmarked the land for commercial development, but negotations over the last two years have paid off. 

Collisions increase on A23 in Streatham

Collisions on the A23 through Streatham have increased, according to latest statistics from Transport for London.

In the period November 2013 to October 2016 there were 403 collisions, including 5 fatalities and 31 serious injuries on the A23 between the South Circular in the north and the junction of Streatham High Road and Hermitage Lane in the south. This is an increase of 13% on the previous period (May 2012 - April 2015). Fatalities rose from 4 to 5, and serious injuries rose from 24 to 31.

Resurfacing of Streatham High Road, bus diversions and road closures

Transport for London (TfL) will be carrying out resurfacing on Streatham High Road, between the junctions with Gleneagle Road and Penistone Road.

The works will start on Monday 16 March and should carry on until Monday 20 April.  They will be done through the contractor ConwayAecom.

The work will take place overnight between 21:00 and 06:00.   TfL say that working at the weekdays with traffic management exclusively on off-peak night time hours provides the best chance to complete the works as quickly as possible, with as little disruption as possible.

The works will be divided into stages, always trying to maintain both directions of traffic flowing. However, diversions will be in place for local accesses.

During these works, between the 2 and the 27 of March, bus routes 50, 60, 109, 113, 118, 159, 249, 250, 255, 315, P13, G1, N109 and N133 will be diverted between Streatham Station and Green Lane.

The following side roads will be closed one night each to aid resurfacing works:

Station Approach, Stanhorpe Road, Hopton Road, Streatham Common North, Barrow Road, Greyhound Lane, Westwell Road Approach, Streatham Common South, Baldry Gardens, Heybridge Avenue and Guildersfield Road.

Access to properties will be maintained, however there could be no through access to Streatham High Road and diversions will be in place.

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

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

New ramps agreed for Stanthorpe Road, Ashlake Road and Bournevale Road

Following a request from local residents we contacted Lambeth Council and asked if ramp access could be put in on Stanthorpe Road at the junctions with Ashlake Road and Bournevale Road.

At present the crossing points there are inaccessible to wheelchair users and those with mobility impairments. Ramps will also help those pushing buggies or prams.

The council has now been and inspected the site, and agreed to put ramps in at both these locations. It has given its contractors a deadline of 21st August for the ramps to be put in.

This is part of our drive to make the area more accessible after issues of accessibility have been neglected by both the council and local councillors for years.

For some 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.

'The Dip' on Streatham High Road due to be resurfaced in the Autumn

Transport for London have said that the area on Streatham High Road known as "The Dip" (where it meets Stanthorpe Road and Gleneagle Road) will be resurfaced this Autumn.

It follows the resurfacing of the St Leonard's Junction earlier in the year which we managed to get TfL to extend to cover the bus stops to the South.

Residents in 'The Dip', like residents around the St Leonard's junction, have been experiencing vibrations from the road which have been making their properties shake for over two years, and this is long overdue. The poor road surface has also been a hazard for cyclists. It seems however, that TfL wanted to wait until after the majority of the work at the new Streatham 'Hub' to the south was completed.

[Update: This has now been delayed again, and is due in the first week of December]

Cleaning up Stanthorpe Road and adding a few planters!

I've been meaning to post some pictures of what some residents did recently on Stanthorpe Road.

A few weeks ago, on a rather wet Saturday, residents from the Stanthorpe Triangle got together with a little help from the Council to build some planters and paint the area where Gleneldon Mews meet Stanthorpe Road.

This is the area to the side of The Hideaway and Streatham Business Centre.

There was a very good turnout from local residents with around a dozen people taking part.

The planters were made out of old decking and other bits of wood. Fortunately one of the residents was a joiner, which proved particularly useful.

The planters were then painted and soil was then put in...

Flowers were planted...

And the end result was pretty good!

We also used old paint which had been donated to paint a couple of the walls in the area.

It was great to see so many local people coming together to make the area better.

Getting ramp access on Stanthorpe Road at junctions of Ashlake Road and Bournevale Road

We have Lambeth Council for ramp access to be put in on Stanthorpe Road at the junctions with Ashlake Road and Bournevale Road.

It is currently impossible for a wheelchair user to travel along the north pavement of Stanthorpe Road because of the raised curbs at these junctions. They also present a hazard for older people and those with mobility impairments, as well as difficulties for those with buggies, prams of mobility scooters.

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.