NEW ‘LOW EMISSION NEIGHBOURHOOD’ IGNITES STRONG FEELINGS IN WALWORTH

... Last Friday he tweeted that a traffic filter would be moved from Manor Place to Kennington Park Road’s junction after listening to concerns from residents. ...

Kennington murder: Man, 30, stabbed to death in south London

... A murder investigation has been launched after a man was stabbed to death in Kennington, south London, in a "terrible attack", police said. ...

... Additional patrols will take place in and around the Black Prince Estate and Kennington area. ...

Cities where it will cost you most to rent storage

... Camden in London has the highest individual costs per year for 75 sq. ft. and 100 sq. ft. units (£3,542 and £5,285 p/y respectively), while also placing second for 50 sq. ft. (£2,909 p/y) behind Kennington (£3,024 p/y). ...

Black Jesus Is A Saint - Model, Son Of Reggae Singer Cast As Jesus In ‘A Last Supper’

... Adam, a member of Wadsworth’s team, shared an anecdote about Tafari and the painting. “I took a call from a guy who told me that he teaches in a London school and had seen Lorna’s painting and wanted to know how much a print would cost. He then explained that the school had been offered a printed copy of Leonardo da Vinci’s Last Supper, but they had politely declined, as the scene didn’t reflect the demographic composition of the school or local catchment area. However, when he saw Tafari as Jesus, he said that this was the image he’d been looking for. It then turned out that the school is in Kennington, where Tafari lives. So they’re now talking about inviting ‘Jesus’ in to meet the children.” ...

Major NHS Trust boss backs council’s plans for walking and cycling

... Last month, the council was awarded £2.6 million in emergency funding by Transport for London, part of which has already been used to implement low traffic neighbourhoods (LTNs) at Oval Triangle in Kennington and around Railton Road, Brixton. ...

... Healthy Routes, meanwhile, are planned for Loughborough Road, Kennington Road, Barrington Road, Atlantic Road, Coldharbour Lane and Brixton Water Lane and the Streatham to Peckham cycleway as well as improvements to Cycleway 5. ...

Blue Badge offenders named and shamed by Bromley Council

... These were; Mr John Henry of Taunton Lane, Coulsdon, Mr Rhys Joseph of Ancona Road, Plumstead, Mr Stephan Stewart of Widmore Road, Bromley, and Ms Pamela Thompson of South Island Place, Kennington. ...

Dr Bike is offering free bike repairs in Brixton and Lambeth through July and August 2020 – full details here

Sat 18th July 2020
12:00PM – 3:00PM
Lambeth Kennington Oval

Wed 22nd July 2020
4:00PM – 7:00PM
Lambeth Kennington Oval

Home owner 'lost everything' in devastating South London tower block fire

... Eight fire engines and around 60 firefighters were called to Otto Street, Kennington around 12.30pm on Saturday (June 27) and tackled a fire on the building's first floor. ...

100 flee homes after fire at block of flats in Kennington

... Sixty firefighters and eight fire engines tackled the blaze inside the 16-storey block of flats in Kennington, and they managed to bring the fire under control within 45 minutes. ...

Bright Akinleye death: Two jailed for manager's murder

... Tashawn Brewster, 22, from Kennington, and Abdoulie Ceesay, 28, of no fixed address, were both convicted following a trial at the Old Bailey. ...

Construction industry gossip: Belt and braces

... 

Signs of the times

Sign makers are being kept busy by the covid-19 pandemic. Hundreds of new ones, warning people to maintain social distancing, wash their hands and wear masks have been sprouting up across sites up and down the country – all competing with the more traditional signs, of course. Take this Northern line extension job in Kennington, south London. More than a dozen signs – and that’s before you get to security. Still, pretty useful for testing your eyesight, don’t you think? ...

COVID-19 LEGISLATION SEES MAJOR ROAD CHANGES INCLUDING CAR FREE JUNCTIONS, NEW CYCLE LANES AND TRAFFIC BANS OUTSIDE SCHOOLS

... Modal traffic filters, one way systems, and turn right bans have been put in place on numerous side streets near Kennington and along Walworth Road. ...

Five charged after drugs raids in Wandsworth, Battersea, Kennington and Ealing

... Skye Pitter, 19, of Courtenay Street, Kennington, was charged on Thursday, 25 June with possession of criminal property. ...

Green fingered staff and students at Archbishop Tenison’s school by The Oval cricket ground get hands dirty in community planting session

... But staff at Archbishop Tenison School, beside The Oval cricket ground in Kennington, have been making use of their green fingers – and doing both. ...

Charlton’s coronation drinking fountain

... In spite of the regal delay, it took until February 1903 for a contract to be issued for the drinking fountain, which went to Messrs Whitehead and Sons in Kennington. A total of £225 had been raised locally, with Sir Maryon-Wilson stumping up £100 of that, which seemed appropriate as it was his idea in the first place. At the time of issuing the building contract, they were still £25 short of the total, and a campaign was set up to persuade the malingerers to pay up. ...

Lambeth awarded £2.6m Covid-19 transport funding from TfL

... TfL awarded £728,000 for cycle routes in Rosendale Road, Kennington Road, and one from Peckham to Streatham.   ...

The best small parks to explore in London

Kennington Park, SE11

... Opened on the site of the former Kennington Common (the home of everything from Chartist rallies to the first professional cricket matches to be in London), Kennington Park enjoys somewhat of a radical reputation, often serving as the gathering point for protest marches (both historic and modern) before they descend on Westminster. ...

BRIXTON HISTORY / FEATURES / NEWS / PARKS

In photos: the open spaces and flower garden of Kennington Park, south London

Mon 15th June, 2020 - by mike urban - Leave a Comment

... With its long and fascinating history and links to protest, politics and cricket , Kennington Park is one of London’s more interesting green spaces, hosting areas for wildlife and biodiversity, sports facilities and plenty of open space for picnicking. ...

... In 1853, model houses created by Prince Albert for the Great Exhibition were moved from Hyde Park to Kennington Common and used for park staff. ...

The wonderful volunteers of Brixton People’s Kitchen – in photos

Caroline P, 56, is a local from Kennington and normally works in a charity shop on Walworth Road.

Since lockdown she and her partner have been volunteering at Brixton People’s Kitchen.

Fight the proposal for 11 Storeys on Montford Place - Update

Fight the proposal for 11 Storeys on Montford Place - Update

Ref 20/01086/FUL

Heritage and Design Critique report

Thank you very much to those who have contributed towards the cost of the report. It is complete and was submitted to the Council on Tuesday morning, together with the comments below. Pending resolution of IT issues there, it should be available to download from the Lambeth website. 

The report makes it clear that this development would indeed result in instances of substantial harm to the heritage assets, which definitely helps our case.

Any more donations to the crowdfunder would be very welcome to close the gap a little between the £2,280 currently raised and the final cost which was £3,300. Link: https://www.gofundme.com/f/fight-the-proposal-for-11-storeys-on-montford-pl and I can send donors a copy of the report. 

Objections

There are over 70 objections registered on the Council’s website. There is still time to submit yours if you haven’t yet done so. The link is: https://planning.lambeth.gov.uk/online-applications/applicationDetails.do?activeTab=makeComment&keyVal=Q7PD4BBO08P00  or you can email Case Officer Cuma Ahmet: CAhmet@Lambeth.gov.uk. 

There is a list of objections on the GoFundMe page linked above - feel free to copy and paste if you don’t have time to write your own. 

Comments submitted to the Council on the heritage aspects of this proposal

We believe that the proposed development would result in an unacceptable amount of harm as identified in NPPF para 194 i.e. harm to, and loss of, the significance of designated heritage assets, resulting from development within their setting. 

• The applicant aspires to deliver 3,000 homes across a portfolio of 7 sites in London, i.e. they are building in bulk. However Montford Place is the smallest and most sensitive site in the portfolio. Building in bulk is not appropriate here and even with this very tall proposed scheme the site remains insignificant in terms of providing homes for Londoners. 
• The Independent Expert’s report identifies numerous instances of harm that would result from the proposed development. This harm includes instances of substantial harm. NPPF para 194 says that any harm to the significance of a designated heritage asset from development within its setting requires clear and convincing justification, which has not been provided; furthermore, the heritage assets include grade II and grade II* listed buildings, for which NPPF paras 194 (a) and (b) require exceptional and wholly exceptional justification, so the justification is all the more insufficient. 
• The site is within Kennington Conservation Area (CA), which has London-wide significance and is noted for its smart terraced housing. If permitted, this development would be roughly double the height of any other building in the entire CA. This would set an extremely unfortunate precedent which would conflict with the very reason for the designation of the CA and could result in erosion of its fundamental character as the Council will be less able to resist tall developments within it. 
• Contrary to paras 184 and 185 of the NPPF, the proposal fails to preserve or enhance the character or appearance of the CA, as the development would neither make a positive contribution nor leave it unharmed. 
• The circumstances, relevant policies, and legal framework are wholly different at this site when compared to the consented Oval Gas Works and Tesco Kennington sites (the "Berkeley” sites). Unlike the Berkeley sites, this site is surrounded on three sides by nationally listed buildings and one locally listed building, and is within the CA. The Berkeley sites are providing 1,300 housing units; this proposal would provide just 139. 
• It may be argued that the Berkeley developments harm the same heritage assets as the proposed development would. However, this is no justification to substantially increase the harm by allowing this present application to proceed. 
• The application documents confirm that the site has a value of £5.6 million if developed in line with existing policy.  Therefore there is no justification in viability terms to inflict the proposed harm. 
• We do not believe the proposed development would meet the statutory tests as set out in case law (South Lakeland DC, Bath Society, Barnwell Manor and Forge Field cases), as detailed in the Independent Expert’s report.  
• Therefore, and to quote from the Independent’s Expert’s report, we respectfully request that Lambeth Council reject this harmful scheme and encourage a much lower scale development that respects the quality and character of the Kennington Conservation Area, respects the scale of the existing surrounding buildings, and minimises the harm to the numerous heritage assets that surround this site.