Getting graffiti removed at the corner of Woodbourne Avenue and Ockley Road

We have asked the council to remove this graffiti at the corner of Ockley Road and Woodbourne Avenue. We'll check back next week to make sure that it has been done.

Missing sign on Woodbourne Avenue

We have asked for a missing street sign to be replaced for Woodbourne Avenue, where it meets Garrad's Road.

[Update 25th June 2013: Lambeth Council have been in contact and agreed to replace the road sign.]

Glebe petition presented to Lambeth Council

We went with Mollie and Barbara - two residents from The Glebe sheltered housing on Prentis Road - to Lambeth Town Hall yesterday to hand over the petition to stop the Glebe being knocked down and redeveloped as extra care housing.

We also met with Council leader Lib Peck for an hour, and discussed the resident's concerns.

The petition now has over 1,600 signatures, and the campaign has now grown and become Lambeth wide. You can see the latest report on the front page of today's South London Press (Streatham edition).

For background to the campaign, you can see this blog and and press coverage here.

The campaign is ongoing and you can still sign the online petition here.

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

Graffiti at junction of Natal Road and Ellora Road

We have been keeping an eye on the graffiti at the corner of Natal Road and Ellora Road. We reported this back in April and asked the council to remove it.



This was done. But some more has now appeared close by..



We have asked the council to remove this too.

Update on the campaign to save The Glebe on Prentis Road

The South London Press have now run a front-page story on the campaign to Save The Glebe, on Prentis Road. (You can see the background to the campaign here).

The picture is of some of The Glebe residents we have been working with, which was taken after we met with them again last week.

Lots of local shops and businesses have now taken our 'Save the Glebe' posters and petition. The signatures on the online and paper petitions combined have now passed the 1,000 mark, which is fantastic.

We are pleased also to report that two out of three local Lib Dem councillors have now agreed to support the campaign. (Glebe residents say they initially approached them a few months ago, but sadly they did nothing to help).

The deadline to respond to Lambeth Council's consultation on their plans is 7th June. So if you haven't already done so, please sign the online petition here.

Event at the Hyderi Centre following the Woolwich murder

There was an important event last night at the Hyderi Islamic Centre on Estreham Road.

It was put on to discuss responses to Wednesday's killing in Woolwich, and was open to the local community. The Centre deserve great credit in showing leadership and initiative by organising it. Not only did this send an important and unequivocal signal of condemnation for what happened in Woolwich, but it went much further. It moved beyond the bland platitudes and simplistic commentary that we have seen in a lot of public debate in the last two days.

What I will take away with me is a feeling from both the platform and the several hundred people who were in attendance, that "business as usual" was not an option, but that there needed to be a clear commitment to non-violence and building peace, as well as understanding the reasons behind what happened. There was also a feeling that more needs to be done in breaking down the barriers between communities (at both the local and national level) and challenging stereotypes. The diversity of opinions expressed was also refreshing, as well as the open and frank discussion. This was a strength, rather than a weakness, demonstrating well that we need a grown up and challenging public conversation in the coming days, weeks, months and years, rather than a weak and simplistic display of monochrome unity which will do nothing to help move things forward.

It would be difficult to do justice here to the many important points that were made, but you can see the Hyderi Centre twitter feed to get a flavour of the things that were said and discussed.