The Clapham Gateway consultation has been extended to run throughout the remainder of October.

An additional information board has been added to the display in Clapham Library and this gives more detail about initial proposals for the Station Island and Venn Street.

The four proposals by the shortlisted artists also remain on display in the library for the next few days so please make sure you get down to see them.

LONDON BOROUGH OF LAMBETH

ROAD TRAFFIC REGULATION ACT 1984 – SECTION 16A

TEMPORARY CLOSURE OF VENN STREET
FOR A SPECIAL EVENT (FRENCH MARKET)

1. NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that to enable a special event (a French Market) to take place in Venn Street, the Council of the London Borough of Lambeth subject to the agreement of Transport for London intend to make an Order the effect of which would be to temporarily ban vehicles from entering or waiting in that length of Venn Street which lies between Clapham High Street and Bromell’s Road on 27th, 28th and 29th March 2009.

2 The bans referred to above would only apply at such times and to such extent as shall be indicated by the placing of the appropriate traffic signs on the dates specified above.

3. An alternative route would be available for affected vehicles via Clapham High Street, Stonhouse Street and Bromell’s Road.

4. Whenever the bans referred to in paragraph 1 above apply the Order that imposes the one-way working in Venn Street between its junction with Clapham High Street and its junction with Bromell’s Road in a direction other than from south-east to north-west would be suspended.

As part of our continued efforts to make it easier for people living in Clapham Town to meet and talk to their local councillors on Saturday 25th October the three councillors for Clapham Town held four surgeries over seven hours.

Councillor O’Malley started with the regular surgery at Clapham Leisure Centre. Councillors Haselden and Wellbelove then held the first ever surgery at the Clapham Community Project in Venn Street where we were visited by several local people with a wide variety of issues for us to help with.

Councillors then moved onto the Virgin Active gym in North Street, another first, where residents from Bobbin Close came to discuss concerns about dumped rubbish and graffiti which have now been reported and will be followed up on by councillors to ensure they are resolved.

Finally Councillor Wellbelove visited Heather Close sheltered housing where he met several residents, many who had concerns over increasing bills and ensuring that their payments were up to date.

Councillors Nigel Haselden and Christopher Wellbelove yesterday visited the hugely popular French market which came to Clapham Town for the second time this weekend.

Venn Street, situated near to Clapham Common Tube was closed to traffic from Friday to Sunday with a wide variey of stalls following a French theme. Some of the food included delicious garlic mushrooms and freshly made bread.

Further events are planned and councillors are working with officers to ensure that the process from suspending parking bays is smoother in future.

Please find below notification of the temporary closure of Venn Street on the weekend of 25th / 26th October for a speacial farmers market to take place. This follows an earlier trial of a French Market which was very succesful.

TEMPORARY CLOSURE OF VENN STREET

FOR A SPECIAL EVENT (FARMERS’ MARKET)

1.    NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that to enable a special event (a Farmers’ Market) to take place in Venn Street, the Council of the London Borough of Lambeth, subject to the agreement of Transport for London, intend to make an Order the effect of which would be to temporarily ban vehicles from entering or waiting in that length of Venn Street which lies between Clapham High Street and Bromell’s Road on 24^th, 25^th and 26^th October 2008.

2     The bans referred to above would only apply at such times and to such extent as shall be indicated by the placing of the appropriate traffic signs on the dates specified above.

3.    An alternative route would be available for affected vehicles via Clapham High Street, Stonhouse Street and Bromell’s Road.

4.    Whenever the bans referred to in paragraph 1 above apply the Order that imposes the one-way working in Venn Street between its junction with Clapham High Street and its junction with Bromell’s Road in a direction other than from south-east to north-west would be suspended.

Have received the following notification of the closure of Bromells Road:

TEMPORARY ROAD CLOSURE BROMELL’S ROAD

The Council of the London Borough of Lambeth hereby gives notice that from Tuesday 7^th October 2008 for a period of up to 14 days, vehicles will be temporarily banned from entering that length of Bromell’s Road which lies between the north-eastern kerb-line of The Pavement and a point 53 metres north-east of that kerb-line, whenever indicated by the placing of the appropriate traffic signs.

Alternative routes for vehicles are available via (i) Bromell’s Road, Stonhouse Street, Cresset Street, Voltaire Road, Edgeley Road, Larkhall Rise, Rectory Grove, Old Town and The Pavement and (ii) Venn Street, Stonhouse Street, Cresset Street, Voltaire Road, Edgeley Road, Larkhall Rise, Rectory Grove, Old Town and The Pavement.

Whenever the ban referred to in paragraph 1 above applies the one-way working in that length of Bromell’s Road which lies between the north-eastern kerb-line of The Pavement and the south-western kerb-line of Venn Street will be suspended.

The ban is necessary so that emergency works can be carried out to a burst water main and will not apply to any vehicle connected with these works

As councillors we often need to be at two places at the same time, and last night was no exception. Councillor Haselden and I were both keen to attend the Clapham Town Safer Neighbourhood panel where, included in the discussion, was the proposed dispersal zone which would cover from Queenstown Road to Silverthorne Road. The purpose of the zone would be to deal with problems with anti-social behaviour from youths on Queenstown Road. The zone would be introduced at the same time as a similar zone on the Wandsworth Road side and stop the problem simply being transfered to the Lambeth side. Along with the dispersal zone outreach work has been taken place to attempt to encourage these young people to engage in more positive activities.

Additionally the issue of aggressive begging was discussed, with Sgt Nicola Duffy from the Clapham Town Safer Neighbourhood team assuring us that action is being taken to deal with the problem and that they are working with teams in Ferndale Ward and Clapham Common who all share responsibility for parts of the high street. If you have experienced agressive begging yourself you should contact Clapham Town Safer Neighbourhood team to give details as this will help the case against the worse offenders.

We promptly moved on to the Clapham Community Project AGM at St Anne’s Hall in Venn Street.  The project has provided advice for people who live in Lambeth for over twenty years. They are funded by the council as part of the Lambeth Advice Network and are a member of Advice UK. The valuable advice they provide is free of charge, confidential and independent.

They provide advice on consumer, employment and debt matters giving general information and advice to enable clients to take action themselves or by signposting them to the appropriate agencies. They also provide advice on welfare benefits and housing law.

The project last year dealt with over 3,300 enquiries and provides invaluable support to people who otherwise would not know where to turn. The building is also used by a variety of community organisations and I was very interested in a letter of thanks which had been received from Kevin Spacey, artistic director from the Old Vic Theater, thanking them for their support for a education and community project which used their hall for rehersalls.

Photographed and have reported today Graffiti on the corner of Clapham High Street / Venn Street and on some of the businesses along the street.

By reporting this, the graffiti will be removed by the council within 48 hours. Removing graffiti is costly. Graffiti makes an area feel run down and increases the perception that criminal activity is prominent in that area. If you have any information regarding the people behind this criminal damage please contact the Clapham Town Safer Neighbourhood team: 020 8721 2825 – 07881 516977. I have already forwarded these images to them and ask them to see if any images of the culprits were captured on CCTV in the area.

To report graffiti, please call 0207 926 9000 or email graffiti@lambeth.gov.uk. In my experience they are very quick to respond to reports and the quicker graffiti is removed the better.

and then after the graffiti was reported and removed…