loughborough estate 2 by secretlondon123. Click pic for link.

There’s something to be said in the notion of the academic ivory tower, and that’s why I particularly like geography: you can’t go back in time to look at history, you can’t jump inside an equation, but you can definitely go out and pound the streets of the city and see geography as it actually is. There’s a lot of value in just walking around, even more so than driving places to look at them (which I admittedly do enjoy), even more so when it’s somewhere new. Studying social changes is all very well, but if I’m locked up in the (almost literal) ivory towers of the Maughan library, I’m not really seeing much gentrification, or what have you. I’m almost too familiar with North London, as well, so taking a trip into an unknown bit of London is always a treat.

Neil Smith’s idea of a ‘revanchist‘ frontier in which the middle classes are aggressively taking back the city has never sat that comfortably with me. Yet there’s times when you can almost see the frontier in the middle of a part-renovated, part-dilapidated Victorian villa, and the struggles between all sorts of different types of people, motivation and interest makes itself apparent.

I visited the Lambeth Archives today, in an incident which I can only take as a lesson in calling ahead. It meant taking the train to Loughborough Junction, a part of the city I’d never been near, let alone been to. It’s all quite different from my weekend exploits in suburbia, and had that South London taste to the air: high- and low-rise blocks surround cold, angular roads until, it seems, gentrified terraces cut a swathe across the deprivation. Of course, that’s just the perception: the high-rises replaced much of the terracing, which wasn’t always so salubrious, and was an improvement on the old stock when it was built. The renovation of the old houses therefore succeeded the housing provision, an imposition of free market logic onto the mass social provision of Lambeth (see Butler and Robson on this). I’m coming to the conclusion that I’m a Bevanite in terms of social provision, and although these blocks are MacMillan-era, mass housing on the cheap, it’s still somewhat grating to see the juxtaposition on Minet Rd between these stark estates and the immediate gentrification of the next block.

Thankfully, there’s life to this part of London yet, and whatever the lack of social mix on the gentrification frontier, Brixton still hums cheerfully nearby, and I found maybe the best lamb pattie I’ve ever had, which is really all I can ask for on a day out.

There is a plan afoot to green – or perhaps colour – Loughborough Junction next spring by planting bulbs around the place this weekend. Some local businesses have agreed to have their plots bulbed and there are spaces here and there….

To get the bulbs we need donations! Donations of bulbs would be great, but donations of money are also acceptable if you prefer to contribute that way, as we can make a quick visit to a garden centre.

If you can provide either bulbs or money, please come to the Cambria this Sunday 8 November 1-2 pm where the gardeners will be there to collect them for planting Sunday afternoon.

Volunteers to plant the bulbs are also very welcome, probably best if you bring your own trowel, fork, whatever.

See you there!

Dear Loughborough Junction

You may recall that you contacted us earlier this year in relation to the proposed changes to booking office hours by First Capital Connect. At the time we informed you that we had submitted a formal objection to the proposals on the basis that they would significantly reduce the ability of passengers to access rail products at the stations affected. In addition, we also stated that we were hopeful that the company would reconsider their proposals in the light of our and passengers’ concerns about the impact of their proposals.

I am pleased to inform you that, following extensive negotiations with First Capital Connect (in collaboration with Passenger Focus), we have been able to achieve a significantly better proposal for change than had originally been proposed.

In particular, the following changes to the original proposal have been agreed:

* All of First Capital Connect’s stations will retain their booking office facilities and will remain staffed, although the exact booking office opening hours may change;

* Over 30% of the booking office opening hours (2261/2 hours per week) that had been proposed to be cut will be retained, and some stations (such as Alexandra Palace and Loughborough Junction) will remain open at evening and weekends when they would have been otherwise unstaffed;

* No station booking offices will be closed where the average number of booking office transactions exceed the Secretary of State’s agreed minimum standard of 12 ticket sales per hour;

* In response to our objection to reducing ticket office opening hours at London Blackfriars, Elephant & Castle and Loughborough Junction, First Capital Connect have agreed to retain the existing opening hours except on those weekends where no services are running from these stations due to engineering works;

* For a trial period of two months, First Capital Connect will provide staff at eight stations that will be able to support passengers using the ticket machines and provide general assistance. At the end of the trial, a further review will be undertaken to assess any passenger problems with obtaining tickets with a view to permanently restoring booking office facilities at these stations where problems arise;

* City Thameslink, London Blackfriars, Finsbury Park, Bedford, Luton Airport Parkway, Hertford North, St Albans, Stevenage and Welwyn Garden City stations are staffed 24 hours per day. At most of these stations, tickets will be available from staff at ticket barriers for those unable to purchase tickets at ticket machines when booking offices are closed. In addition, the ticket office will remain open at Hertford North on Sundays for Arsenal and some other Premiership home matches;

* First Capital Connect have agreed to ensure that facilities such as waiting rooms which would have been affected by a removal of booking office hours will be kept open;

* First Capital Connect have promised to upgrade their ticket machines to enable them to issue weekly and monthly season tickets which are currently only available at ticket offices, and will install top up facilities for Oyster cards at London stations. Changes are being made to maintenance regimes to ensure that ticket machines are available and have adequate change and ticket stock wherever possible;

* First Capital Connect have promised additional security measures at stations and works to tackle lineside graffiti at a number of locations and to consider introducing a ‘Community Ambassador’ scheme to encourage use of the railway by people who currently are not rail users. Customer Information Screens are being installed at all stations on the Wimbledon Loop providing advice on delays and cancellations to services;

We recognise that this revised proposal will still lead to reductions in booking office hours at some stations, but we believe that by engaging in negotiations with the operator we have been able to agree significant concessions and improvements for passengers using First Capital Connect’s services. Further details on the proposals are available on our website at www.londontravelwatch.org.uk/document/3836/get

Yours sincerely

London Travel Watch

David Rose
Casework Support Officer

Ref: 30007 / D

All of the portraits were made in May and June and we manged to shoot 247 people in 5 locations including Ruskin Park, Southwell Road my back yard(!) and outside Loughborough Junction itself.

I’ll be posting more news soon as we are looking at the final logistics right now.. watch this space!

I was pleased to see this comment in Your LBJ,

“We are thinking of buying a house in Loughborough Junction as we have been totally priced out of Herne Hill – we have been looking there for 1.5 years with no success. It is such a shame that LJ does not have the cafes, pubs etc around the station that Herne HIll has somehow managed to cultivate over the last few years. It does not help that there is no supermarket at all – I think getting a Sainsburys would actually really help the area (although I hate to promote supermarkets!). The Cambria is a really good start – will anyone else follow? I would be keen to help with any campaigning that needs to be done.”

I wondered if you would like to comment on this and help Kate and anyone else that is in the same situation, which I imagine must be quite common.

<<<<You can leave a Comment on this post by clicking here>>>>

Thanks

Nick

After the truly amazing performance by “Scott cappuro” last week we thought it just could not get any better, WRONG!!!!  “Rosie Wilby” has done it again, the next “Comedy @ The cambria, 3^rd June”, will play host to the amazing “John Gordillo” and the very dark “Liz Carr”. If you loved it last time come back and love it even more, see the press releases relating to John and Liz below. £3 entrance £1 of which will be given to “Terrence Higgins Trust”.Performance starts 9pm. www.thecambrialondon.com Tel : 02077373676

Gordillo is an inspiration, a consummate performer with an amazing talent, passion and intellect. If you are after cheap, silly laughs avoid, but if you want intelligent, moving comedy with a point, then you cannot afford to miss.” – Chortle

“Superlative. Wonderfully intelligent and insightful.. .a consummate comedian” – Time Out

“One of our finest stand ups” – Evening Standard

“An inspiring comic thinker”  - The Guardian

“Brilliant. Poignantly funny” – The Scotsman

“manages the rare trick of being moving and wildly funny” – Metro

“Brilliant. Heartfelt and hilarious… he’s dynamite” – The Times

“Inspired” – Edinburgh Evening News

“real bitter brilliance” – The List

“Gordillo has found a perfectly sized niche for himself as a thought-provoking, kitchen-sink existentialist, asking questions about personal and public politics with a grace and hilarious insight beyond many of the young pretenders” – The Guardian

Liz Carr

Liz Carr is a disabled comic who does amazing dark stuff about disability. She is on various BBC podcasts, has been on Richard & Judy, womans hour etc

Bruce Dessau, Evening Standard:
“Feisty wheelchair user LIz Carr packs a considerable comic punch.”

“right on the edge and fabulousely black”
Kate Copstick, The Scotsman

Thank you for taking part in the ‘We are Loughborough Junction’ Photo

shoot. We have some great pictures and are in the process of sorting

them so to choose the best 50 for the exhibition. Although there wont be

room to display everyone’s photo in the street exhibition shots of all

the people who took part will be viewable on line at the time of the

exhibition.

We are now concentrating on fundraising to make sure the exhibition is

as good as it can be. We will let you know as soon as the date is

finalised.

You might be interested in an article in the South London Press which should be out in the next week or so,

Thanks again for getting involved.

Conor, Matt & Paul

‘We are Loughborough Junction

http://conormasterson.com/blog/

Christmas is a brilliant time to get together. Here are the Christmas Carol services we know about. Please let us know about the services you know about.

Loughborough Evangelical Church
Flaxman Road, Camberwell, SE5 9DX
Sunday 21st December at 6pm

Following a recent Lambeth mailing that fell through our door (and yours?), I thought I would add the letter to the blog to try and get an idea of what you think the priorities in Loughborough Junction are. Lambeth have been very supportive of the LJAG (Loughborough Junction Action Group) and are keen to work with residents and businesses on resolving issues in the area.

If you are interested in getting involved with the continued improvement of Loughborough Junction then why not join the Loughborough Junction Action Group. LJAG  (Residents / Businesses Only)

Click Here and then select Join this Group

The Goals of the Action Group.

(i) Independent of the Council.

(ii) An Action group rather than a residents association

(a) as it includes business

(b) Don’t want the constraints attached to a Residents Association.

(iii) Strive for positive action not just complaints

(iv) To put Loughborough Junction on the map (as distinct from Brixton and Herne Hill).

(v) Foster the community around Loughborough Junction and celebrating the area

(vi) Include social events.

We ran a similar poll in May 08, click here to see the poll results.

After all of last weeks promoting and effort to get this shot, a substantial crowd gathered for the event and really helped make history on Southwell Road, Loughborough Junction. Not one to miss a trick, Conor filmed the event and published it on YouTube. We await to see the final photo……

Thank you to everyone that helped make this shot possible! 

http://conormasterson.com/blog/

Fred Karno - The Fun Factory photograph 1907

The Clockwork Studios are hidden away on Southwell Road, a quiet and elegant street which runs parallel with Coldharbour lane, there are some extraordinary buildings along the road, but none more prominent than the Clockwork Studios which towers proudly above its neighbours.  Located at 38 Southwell Road, the studios are home to a busy and energetic team of private artisans, who twice yearly open their doors to the public.

The Clockwork Studio's Open Day 5-7 December 2008

The studios next Open Weekend runs from the 5th – 7th December, and you are invited to browse, discuss and buy the latest designs.

As a centenary event, Conor Masterson has proposed to shoot an extraordinary image celebrating the work and productions of Fred Karno at “The Fun Factory” as it was then known. Conor is a professional photographer and resident of Southwell Road, he is also a enthusiastic and out spoken community member and Co-secretary of the Loughborough Junction Action group. LJAG.

Fred Karno - The Fun Factory centinery photograph - You are invited to help recreate this photograph at 11.15am on Sunday the 7th of December 2008

Conor will be recreating the photograph  outside the ‘Fun Factory’ in 1907 celebrating the fact that the area and indeed the Clockwork Studios is still a vibrant creative community.The plan is to shoot the image at 11.15am on Sunday the 7th of December 2008. You are invited to help recreate this superb photograph 101 years on. Following this, at midday, The Clockwork Studios will be open for its Christmas ‘Open Day Studios’.

Essential Dates for your diary

Photo Shoot : 11.15am on Sunday the 7th of December 2008

The Clockwork Studio’s Open Days 5-7 December 2008

Websites ::

The Clockwork Studios

Conor Mastersons Blog

Conor Masterson Photography

Red Gate Gallery presents

“The day I went to Woodstock”

An exhibition of paintings by Colin McKenzie

Private View:             Friday 5th of December 2008 – 6 pm to 11 pm
Exhibition runs from:          Friday 5th to 11th of December 2008
Gallery Opening Hours:          Sat, Mon, Tues, Wed: 2.30 pm – 6.30 pm
Last day of Exhibition:        Thurs 11th of December: 11.00am to 5.00pm

“The sun was shining the atmosphere was electric, the sounds were smooth, the people mellow, the reality expanding, the mood inviting. This to me is how I think of Woodstock and how it must have been or hoped it was; with vibrant colours, merriment and music, the psychedelic matched with freedom of the mind and the abandonment of all that was restricted.” (McKenzie 2008)

McKenzie has a deep sense that art ought to feel like a day at Woodstock: electric, dynamic, smooth and mind expanding. Paint should not flow just in one direction across the canvas, but take all manner of paths helping it glide with palette knives merging and smoothing the colours, like the multitude of people blending, mingling at a vast gathering. This highlights movement rather than constrictions of a brush. Flowing and manoeuvring without restriction; this reflects ideas of freedom and lyricism rather than order and sense.

Dynamic and idiosyncratic in style, McKenzie certainly shows his viewers that he is more than able to capture moods and situations in a poignant and self-explanatory way. His palette knifes strokes are in deed a feast for the eye and senses reflecting his craftmanship as a painter. As a main tool he uses palette knives as he feels the brush can become confining for his large scale canvases.

Why Woodstock: McKenzie’s central focus lies with the passage of time, history and questions of freedom and determination. Even if he has never been able to personally experience Woodstock, he strongly feels that one has to be able to create ones own Woodstock. For him the very idea of Woostock represents freedom and progress.

Maybe we should all retreat once in a while into our own imaginary Woodstock….

Colin Mckenzie graduated in fashion and worked in various fashion houses around the world. He trained as a chef  and later abandoned fashion to concentrate soley on painting. Colin says of himself: “I enjoy creating lovely meals in a nice restaurant and painting the world, if I wanted to sum me up  in one sentence it would be:
The world is complicated so am I……….”

Red Gate Gallery
209a Coldharbour Lane
Loughborough Junction
London SW9 8RU
Tel: 020 73260993

e-mail: info@redgategallery.co.uk
www.redgategallery.co.uk

Following last Monday’s meeting at the Harry Caddick centre, I can confirm that the Loughborough Junction Action Group (LJAG) has now been officially constituted and four members have been elected, two co-chairs, Elise Leclerc and Tim Gaymer, and two co-sectretaries Conor Masterson and and myself Nick Wells. The position of Treasurer is currently open.

As a initial objective, we are endeavoring to put Loughborough Junction on the map with the support of the local councillors and give it a visual identity including lamp post signs, tree planting, flower boxes and notice board centrally located in the area for group updates. 

Our next meeting is scheduled for the 24th November, where the group and councillors will be canvasing ideas for the area. The meeting will be held at the Harry Caddick centre on the corner of Lilford Road and Carew Street at 8pm.  

We invite you to come to the meeting, please pass this on to your neighbors, friends and locals.

After a slightly longer absence than planned a new and improved Whirled Cinema is finally back for another season of great movies, screening films to our friends every Friday and Saturday evening.

For weekly updates please SUBSCRIBE to the Whirled Cinema mailing list

ENTRY: FREE

Friday 31st October
No Screening – Private Function.

Saturday 1st November (8.30pm)
The Flight Of The Red Balloon
Hou Hsiao-hsien, 2007

If the luscious red orb that sails through “Flight of the Red Balloon” like an airborne cherry looks as if it flew in from another movie, in some ways it did. The film, the latest wonderment from the Taiwanese master Hou Hsiao-hsien, takes as one of its inspirations Albert Lamorisse’s 1956 classic, “The Red Balloon,” about a young boy and the talismanic sphere that follows him through the gray streets of Paris like a dog, a lover, a ghost — as much a reminder of the precariousness of life as an emblem of innocence.

Opening times & location details

Doors Open at 7:30 till late

Film Starts 8:30pm

259-260 Hardess St Loughborough Jctn
London SE24 OHN

2mins BR Loughborough Junction;10 mins Brixton

The aim of the cinema is to create a unique environment showing great movies & creating a relaxed atmosphere where you can meet and socialise with like minded people who share a passion for film.

Loughborough Junction’s central location makes it a superb point to go pretty much anywhere in London, the train station offers trains to central London, 2 stops to the South Bank, St Pauls, Farringdon and beyond to St Albans. The other way offers direct trains to Streatham, East Croydon and Wimbledon. Within ten minutes walk you can be in Brixton, Camberwell or Herne Hill.

If you want to travel by bike you can be in the city within 20 minutes or if you are feeling energetic Crystal Palace is worth a trip for some super views across London. Within 30 minutes you can be cycling around Regents Park.

Here are some of my favorite destinations.

1) The South Bank. Two train stops to Blackfriars puts you within an easy walk of the Tate Modern, the Globe Theatre, St Pauls and the Museum of London and of course the South Bank itself. By the way I can highly recommend the Haddock & chips at the Tate Modern cafe. (amongst the best!)

2) On Friday or Saturday morning the 35 bus to London Bridge gets you to Borough Market for a gastronomic feast for the eyes and senses. It’s also worth a visit to Southwark Cathedral which dates back to the Domesday Book, and is now the resting place of the American Indian Mahomet Weyonomon who died of smallpox in 1735 whilst petitioning King George II and seek justice for his tribe in America.

3) Dulwich Woods – located just behind the golf course in Dulwich – google maps is the largest single part of the ancient Great North Wood still extant. If you want to get some peace and quite, fresh air and absolutely no idea that you are in London, then pay these woods a visit. I haven’t been for ages however it is always a great place to explore. It will be beautiful now before it gets too muddy.

Where do you like to go? Please add a comment to let us know.

What could Loughborough Junction be, if a group of keen and like minded local residents got behind some common goals and pushed for change?

On the 22nd September several residents established the foundations of the ‘Loughborough Junction Residents Association’ with the intention of creating a focused single group with a common goal of improvement in the Loughborough Junction area.

We need Loughborough Junction residents to join us in the pursuit of these goals, through channels of public and internet based forums.

You are invited to join us by clicking here ::  
Yahoo Loughborough Junction Group

& at the Cambria Pub on 14.10.08 at 7.30pm for our first informal meet.

Rumour has it that the old Green Man pub may be about to be transformed by a new project for the area. I don’t yet know about the details of the project but work may commence before the end of the year.  By the sounds of it, this project is just what the Junction needs, a new focus and a hub for the community. Sorry to be so vague but we should know more about it in the coming weeks.

What do you think about that?

When I first heard that there was a horse riding stable in Loughborough Junction, I couldn’t believe my ears! Not only has the stable been in operation for several years, but it has just received funding of £79,000 for a new riding arena in Wyck Gardens, Loughborough Junction. The funds were awarded through ITV’s Million Pound Giveaway programme, and will mean that much needed work can commence on the site.

This is an amazing project for the area and one that I am sure many of you will want to be involved in. It scares me that I knew nothing of this stables, and I’m curious as to what other amazing projects there are in Loughborough Junction. Please let us know about them!

ebony riding club inside

The details below are taken from their web site http://www.ebonyhorseclub.org.uk

Ebony Horse Club, The Loughborough Community Centre 105 Angell Road Brixton London SW9 7PD
Tel: 07985 854374 Email: info@ebonyhorseclub.org.uk
Patron: Valerie Shawcross C.B.E.

Ebony Horse Club provides riding for all children in Coldharbour Ward, Brixton, London, aged eight to nineteen years who would otherwise have no means of accessing the sport, but specialises in children with emotional and behavioural difficulties, especially those excluded from school.

The club offers riding, horse care lessons and visits to relevant places of interest including the British Racing School, Newmarket, museums and horse shows.

Whenever possible the club also offers children access to other sporting activities which they may not otherwise have an opportunity to experience. To date these include rowing, fencing and adventure weekends in the country.

The club endeavours to get children out into the countryside as much as possible and each year the top ten riders go on a four day trip to ride in the Brecon Beacons National Park, Wales.

Loughborough Junction has come a long way in the past five years, new businesses have started up where the old haunts were shut down, but much of the shopping is the same but improved. There is a good range of shops, you can buy pretty much anything you need for day to day life but there is also a proliferation of low quality fast food shops and believe it or not hair dressers / nail bars. Why on earth does Loughborough Junction need 4 hairdressers. Some how the area needs to attract new and varied business.

Just a little further towards Camberwell, between here and the Sun & Doves, there is a stretch of shops that began to considerably improve about 3 years ago. This stretch now includes a Portuguese cafe / shop, a bed maker, newsagents, a pub, a pretty grim cafe, a dry cleaners, a music shop, a solicitors and there is space for more business too. Loughborough Junction on the other hand has 4 hairdressers, countless low quality fast food take away outlets, one quite decent supermarket, a good chemist, a green grocer, and a news agents / off license, three churches and a Vietnamese restaurant (which is actually quite good).

Is Loughborough Junction so on the road to nowhere that nobody wants to invest? It actually has quite a lot going for it, and certainly has more of a centre than the stretch of shops I mentioned above. The train station, (love it or hate it) attracts a lot of people, and the area itself is attracting more proffessional families. It seems to me that Loughborough Junction is ripe for investment. But please no more hairdressers.

I had never liked the pedestrian crossings at the junction of Loughborough road and Coldharbour lane. They have always been dangerous and needed extreme caution when crossing. Sadly this has come to my attention whilst browsing the Camberwell forum, following an accident in which a pedestrian was hit by a truck in the morning rush hour. Apparently the junctions distinct lack of any safe crossings has been the cause of several similar accidents.

I wanted to follow this up, so I contacted Cllr Rachel Heywood, who was extremely helpful and interested in the accident and the crossing. This is the response she received from officers about this junction.

Regarding the residents enquiry, Yes we are looking at installing a pedestrian phase into these signals. Please note this is a complicated and lengthy process. We are intending to have the designs completed and the works commissioned next financial year – subject top design and approvals.

FYI we are also hoping to undertake the same pedestrian phasing at the Coldharbour/Moorlands junction.

She also suggested it is something to get on the agenda for the first meeting of a proposed new action group for the area.

This is already an issue, however it will become increasingly dangerous as young students use the crossing to get to the Evelyn Grace Academy on Shakespeare Road.

Click the here to comment on this post.

View Map of cross roads

Damien Hirst, B. 1965 EPINEPHRINE 120,000 – 150,000 GBP HAMMER PRICE GBP£505,250

Many years ago, Damien Hirst traveled from his flat in the famous Barrier Block in Brixton and probably through Loughborough Junction on his way to the Camberwell College of Arts. Although this is a tentative association, it is still one that I am keen to latch onto!

Next week he will be holding one of largest sales of the year at Sotheby’s in New Bond Street, where his latest collection is expected to exceed GBP£65,000,000.

The auction which will commence on Monday ( 15.9.08 ) evening and will be continuing on Tuesday with two further sessions. The sale is an incredible feat of branded consumerism, Hirst’s style clearly defined with easily recognizable variations on his key themes which will no doubt fetch fortunes as some of the worlds richest collectors scramble for a piece of the action. Four of the works will be sold for charities including the Demelza, Hospice Care for Children, Survival International, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

The preview runs throughout Sunday 12-5 and Monday 9-12 am and is definitely worth visiting if you can make it.

Sotheby

Exhibition Highlights Video

Google Results

BBC

Hirst will subsequently be opening a gallery besides Sotheby’s.

- Damien Hirst, B. 1965 THE KINGDOM 4,000,000 – 6,000,000 GBP HAMMER PRICEGBP£9,561,250

Damien Hirst, B. 1965 THE GOLDEN CALF 8,000,000 – 12,000,000 GBP HAMMER PRICE £10,345,250

Session 1 realised GBP£70,545,100 + commission & VAT

Following a community meeting regarding the tragic recent murder on Northlands Street, we are posting the letter below with details of the incident and observations on the area. If you have information regarding this case please contact the incident room 02087214906.

Police investigating the murder of Andrew Pratt have released an e-fit image of a man they wish to speak to in relation to the incident.

At 10.45pm on Saturday 2 August, 43 Year old Andrew Pratt was fatally stabbed on Northlands Street, having walked there from Coldharbour lane.

—————————————————
Thank you to those of you who attended this meeting last night (4th September) or sent apologies but asked to be kept informed.

The meeting was addressed by Detective Inspector John Oldham from the investigation team who described current police understanding of the circumstances of the murder of Andrew Pratt and answered questions. A team of 35 is working on this case: to date noone has been charged and police are still trying to identify the suspect. Research and behaviour suggest that he is a local drug addict.

A “photo fit” image has been released: http://cms.met.police.uk/news/appeals/murder/e_fit_released_in_camberwell_murder_inquiry )

Anyone with information is asked to call the incident room at Lewisham on 020 8721 4906. If you wish to remain anonymous call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111

I then gave a summary of crime figures in Southwell Road/Harbour Road/Vaughan Road/Northlands Street. Prior to and since the murder no street robberies nor violent crime have been reported in these streets for 12 months. This is in line with the rest of Lambeth where street crime has fallen dramatically since last year. House burglary is the most common crime reported with 11 during the last twelve months (Southwell Road accounting for seven). Most of these burglaries could have been prevented if windows had been locked shut or if the front door had been locked with a “Chubb” mortice lock instead of merely a “Yale”. Most burglaries occur during the daytime when houses are unoccupied.

The work of the local Herne Hill ward “safer neighbourhood” police team was then explained. I supervise a team of 5 patrol officers ( 2 PCs and 3 PCSOs) dedicated to dealing with longer term, non-emergency crime and disorder problems.

We can be contacted on our mobile phone via: 0208 721 2824 or HerneHill.SNT@met.police.uk
My team complements the existing 24 hours emergency “response” officers based at Brixton police station: tel 999 (emergency) or 0208 326 1212 (non-emergency).

We work in partnership with Lambeth Council who play a key role in reducing crime and fear of crime. Lambeth Council Community Safety coordinator Rachel Gailey (RGailey@lambeth.gov.uk) and local Councillor Kirsty McHugh (kmchugh@lambeth.gov.uk) were present and explained their roles.

It was suggested that the Loughborough Junction area would benefit from a cohesive residents’ group or forum to represent local opinion. Such a group, if established, could influence the safer neighbourhood police team’s local priorities through our 3 monthly community pane meetings.

Yours sincerely
Tom Cornish
Sergeant
Herne Hill ward “safer neighbourhood” police team
http://www.met.police.uk/saferneighbourhoods/

The last poll that I ran looked at the top priorities in Loughborough Junction, it gave you the opportunity to select the main issue in the area. I gave five options, and as at the 26th August 08 the results are as follows

Empty Shops & pubs 57%

Crime 0%

Litter 0%

Noise 0%

Bad Pavements 29%

Other 14%

I think that the results are fascinating and particularly interesting in that it may show how much the area has improved by looking at the options that were not selected. 0% thought crime, noise or litter was a priority, so for the person that searched “Loughborough Junction is it safe” can rest assured that, yes according to our poll, Loughborough Junction is a pretty safe place. I certainly do not feel threatened in the area, in general 99% of the time our neighbors are as quiet as mice although when we moved here 6 years ago noise was a major issue. Litter I think is not a huge issue as the council are very diligent but I hate the bins stacked down the pavements and bags of recycling piled up down the street.

The biggest issues were empty shops & pubs 57% and bad pavements 29%. I don’t know why the shops have taken so long to attract new business’s, the strip between the supermarket and the house clearance shop have been shut for years, every now and then I see a some signs of work but as yet they remain firmly shut. The Mucky duck has been sold and something appears to be happening. The Green Man and the Warrior are crucial to the regeneration of the cross roads area.

The second biggest issue is the bad pavements, I certainly know which strip of bad pavement most of you are thinking about. Any sensible business would have it sorted out, however the shops beside the train station seem determined to be sued by someone falling.

14% percent of you opted for the wild card “other”. I’m fascinated to know what you think the top priorities are.

The Evelyn Grace Academy is a new school in Brixton, it will open in September 2008 and provide 180 places for year 7 pupils. The Academy will initially be located in high quality purpose built temporary accommodation on Somereyton Road. In september 2009 the Academy with move into state of the art new accommodation on Shakespeare Road in Loughborough Junction and over the next few years will grow into a full secondary school with its own 6th form.

Promoting outstanding learning and maintaining excellent standards of behavior lie at the heart of the schools ethos. The school will promote communication, community, excellence, endeavor, self-discipline  and pride to the students whilst also teaching the students to make balanced decisions in every day life.

We are really interested to see if the school can live up to the expectations, this is an exciting new venture for the area and must be a positive addition of benefit to many local families.

website : www.arkschools.org/pages/evelyn-grace-academy.php

Principal Designate : Mr Peter Walker

ega.information@arkonline.org