Tuesday 24 April 2012

Celebrate your Library! Tate South Lambeth, Wednesday 9 May

Celebrate your Library! Wednesday 9 May, 7.00 pm at Tate South Lambeth Library 180 South Lambeth Road SW8 1QP South Lambeth Library is surrounded by great writing talent and Lambeth Libraries, together with the Friends of Tate South Lambeth, invite you to an evening showcasing the work of local authors. From children’s writers and illustrators to non fiction and the thrills of the novel, we’ll have it all for one night only. Come along and share your writing, come along and enjoy the writing of Vauxhall and Stockwell people. All welcome. Please book on 020 7926 1075 or email: readersandwriters@lambeth.gov.uk See www.lambeth.gov.uk/readersandwriters

Thursday 19 April 2012

Localism and Neighbourhood Planning - Public meeting 24 April

Brixton Neighbourhood Forum presents a public meeting on Lambeth, Localism & Neighbourhod Planning

Date: Tuesday 24 April 2012
Time: 7.00 to 9.00 pm
Venue: Lambeth Accord, 336 Brixton Road, SW9 7AA
(500m from Brixton Sation/Bus stop Villa Road 3, 59, 133, 159, 415)

* Is this really when the Co-op Council meets community-led planning policy for your area?

* Did you know that any group of people now has the right to become the local body that Lambeth could be obliged to work with to develop local planning policy?

* Are you interested in having a real say in how your area develops in the future?

The Brixton Neighbourhood Forum is hosting a special borough-wide meeting on seeing that these groups are representative of all Lambeth communities and that Lambeth communities get the best out of the new opportunities from the Localism Act.

Speakers/main guests:

* From Department of Communities and Local Government
* Biljana Savic, Urban Programme Manager, Prince's Foundation
* Alison Young, Divisional Director of Planning, Regeneration and Enterprise, Lambeth Council

* Come and hear how this is all supposed to work
* Get your questions answered
* Start engaging with how to make this work in your area

All welcome

The Brixton Neighbourhood Forum is a formally constituted open-access body made up of an association of existing community groups and individual members. It is designed to take on the role of neighbourhood planning under the Localism Act. This meeting is open to all and free of charge. Contact: apiperbrix@aol.com

Our Wishes for Vauxhall (from Workshop in June 2008)

The following notes are from a workshop about needs held at our AGM in June 2008. We think our wishes then, though sometimes contradictory, are still very relevant today

Transport

Alternative to gyratory system
Better management for cycle routes
Improved pedestrian access to all sations
Improved access to North and West side to underground
Install lifts to Rail station platforms
Ticket office better manned
Improved pedestrian route signage
Bus station weather proof for passengers
Clearer indications at bus stops
Introduce facilities for taxis

Tall Buildings

Alternatives to tall buildings?
Anything! But perhaps high density, low rise
More human scale development

To make them acceptable?
High quality, with architectural merit and not too many - necessary to have good community space, halls, swimming pool and sports facilities
More trees, especially on traffic island and small corners

Where
Not all along the river (view of the river is an important and historical asset)
Least impact next to river (away from traditional residential buildings)

Overall comment
Vauxhall is lacking any "town centre" and too many high buildings will completely destroy any feel of a "Town Centre". More facilities such as an art gallery needed to attract people into the area.

Housing - tackled by three groups - combined results, some overlap with Tall Buildings group

Wish List
Additional Housing
Family housing with space for children
Also need development by Nine Elms Lane
Need gardens and Square for family use, bicycle parks
Improved public housing
Balance of all types, eco friendly on a human scale
No concentration of tall buildings in bus area
Not toohigh on island sites at Vauxhall Cross
Reduce road capacity and reintroduce two way streets
Developments must maintain riverfront for local people
Replace Tesco/Sainsbury car park with housing

Community Facilities

Wish List
London-wide national facilities
e.g. Specialist sports centre
Large swimming pool
Section 106 must stay locally
New facilities to be built away from immediate development
Play facilities for chldren/childcare places
Sports/Youth facilities
Small scale facilities which work
School places needed
Cinema

Shopping Wish List

Small independent shops (Lambeth Walk)
Occasional Markets (Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens)
Shopping in town centre environment (Vauxhall Town)

Streets, Parks, Open Space Wish List

Pedestrian path along whole of river frontage (railway and viaduct streets in general)
Better lighting and signage of East-West arches
Unblock streets e.g. Whitgift St
Remove speed bumps in Black Prince Road

Parks & Open Spaces

More rubbish bins
More public toilets

Saturday 14 April 2012

Digital Bazaar at Tate South Lambeth Library on Saturday 21 April 2012

The next Digital Bazaar is taking place on Saturday 21April between 10 and 12 noon at Tate South Lambeth Library, 180 South Lambeth Rd

Just drop in!

All welcome, from beginners to the very experienced, who want to try out a new programme or pick up new tricks. As usual, a wide range of subjects is on offer. The final menu is still to be set, but, to whet your appetite, support recently on offer includes:

How to use the online e-resources offered by Lambeth Libraries including:

Downloading electronic books and subscription geneology sites
Learning foreign languages using the internet
Getting the best from your mobile phone, including iPhone
Effective internet searching
How to set up a free blog
Using Facebook and Twitter
Online shopping including flights and holidays
Using Microsoft Word to write letters and documents
Enhancing your photos with Photoshop - bring your own if you wish
Using Excel to make spreadsheets and manage your money
How to make free calls with Skype

There will also be a chance to try out an I
iPad tablet or a Kindle e-reader

If what you need is not on the menu, just ask the trainers on the day - there is usually someone who knows the answer.

Please feel free to bring in your own laptop, mobile, camera or other equipment if there are things you don't know how to use. Remember to make sure your battery is charged and/or bring your power cable, and an extension lead if you can. Power points in the library are limited.

Please encourage everyone in Vauxhall or Stockwell who might enjoy the DIGITAL BAZAAR to attend, and to bring friends and neighbours. For more information, please visit www.digitaltuesdays.co.uk

Thursday 12 April 2012

Open Day at the Fire Station Social Centre (Rear block, 8 Albert Embankment)

The Fire Station Social Centre in Rear block, 8 Albert Embankment, in Whitgift St) has been occupied, and the occupants 'We, the People', Free Ideas Require Everyone (F.I.R.E.) are inviting all locals to an open day on:

Thursday 12 April 2012
between 2 and 8 pm


Puppets Workshop 13.00 - 16.00
Kids Club 14.00 - 16.00
Afro Capoeira 18.00 - 20.00
Bicycle Workshop 18.00 - 22.00
Performance and Projections 18.00 - 22.00
Juggling Workshops from 19.00 - 20.00
Video Art Preview Exhibition 19.00 - 21.00
Fire Show 20.00 - 22.00
DJ Workshop all day
Fine Art Exhibition all day
SWAP SHOP all day + Tue to Fri 17.00 - 20.00

FREE HOT DRINKS AND SNACKS IN THE CAFE

There is a court case pending, this might be the only open day and opportunity to see the Lambeth community hub in action, inside. Visitors are also welcome to drop in on between 17.00 and 20.00 on Tues to Fridays

Tuesday 3 April 2012

Workshop on Neighbourhood Planning, 18 April 2012

A FREE workshop will be held on neighbourhood planning on

Wednesday 18 April at 7.00 pm sharp at
Montgomery Hall, 58 Kennington Oval, SE11 5SW

Facilitated by Richard Lee of Just Space and sponsored by London Civic Forum it will cover:

* What could Neighbourhood Planning mean for our area?
* Who needs to be involved?
* Are the priorities agreed at an earlier KOV workshop for Vauxhall still valid?
* Next steps

Please book your place by email forumkov@gmail.com or text 07506 072 307 if possible.

Next Forum meeting Wednesday 11 April 2012

The next Forum meeting will be held at

Montgomery Hall
58 Kennington Oval
SE11 5SW

at 6.30 for 7.00 pm
on Wednesday 11 April 2012

To be discussed:

Community Hubs and what they could mean for our area - Cllr Lorna Campbell
The Olympics and how they could affect you - Ian Baker, Lambeth Traffic Manager
Eastbury House redevelopment proposals

All welcome, FREE refreshments with a social break and a glass

Library meetings - Tate South Lambeth, 4 and 12 April

Laura of Friends of Tate South Lambeth Library, writes:

What are you doing in April? Make sure you do THIS!

HAVE YOUR SAY AND SAVE YOUR LIBRARY!

Lambeth Council has published a report - Cooperative Libraries – which sets out its proposals for a library service that is “co-produced” by the Council and the general public.

These proposals have very serious implications:

· for the level of the library service we can expect at Tate South Lambeth Library over the next two years, since our funding is due to fall to almost half what it was in the past 12 months.

· for the continuation of that library service, since the report proposes that the “community” will come forward to “co-produce” that service. So what if it does not? Or if some community organisation takes on the role of co-producer and then collapses? What happens then?

We have an opportunity to raise these questions – and any others – at two public meetings at which Council representatives will seek local feedback. They are to be held at Tate South Lambeth library, South Lambeth Road, SW8 on:


Wednesday April 4th at 7-9pm

Thursday April 12th at 10am-noon



It is vital that the Council is made aware of local feeling –

what you think of the proposals, what you want from the library,

what you see as the role of the community.

So come along and have your say. We need you!!


You can still pick up the report at the library or download it from the Lambeth website (www.lambeth.gov.uk/CooperativeLibraries). It’s lengthy, at 28 pages - so Friends of TSL have written a summary which you can find at www.tatesouthlambethfriends.org