Earlier this week Andie Byrnes published a blog post about damage to the former Pumphouse Museum building at Lavender Pond.
Since them, a campaign has sprung up to protect the building and its contents – find out more by visiting the campaign website and Facebook page.
BT’s Openreach division, is conducting a trial of new Fibre-to-the-Remote-Node (FTTrN) broadband technology in Rotherhithe – bringing download speeds of up to 80Mbps to an area that was previously unreachable with standard superfast broadband connections.
16 premises in Gwent Court on Rotherhithe Street now have the opportunity to choose from a range of broadband service providers taking part in the trial, and will see their download speeds increase to close to 80Mbps – around 20 times faster than existing services in the area.
Rotherhithe has proved a challenging location for private companies to upgrade with fibre broadband because of its industrial history, large docks and the prevalence of long ‘exchange-only lines’ – where broadband connections run the full distance from a local telephone exchange to a home – rather than via roadside cabinets.
Traditionally, Openreach has needed to install a new cabinet to bring fibre broadband technology to streets across the UK, but FTTrN works by taking fibre optic cable much closer to residential properties, using a small box called a ‘Remote Node’ that effectively acts like a miniature cabinet.
The remote node can be positioned on telegraph poles, inside manholes or in a variety of other locations, meaning it can potentially be deployed where space is at a premium like parts of central London – or where the traditional approach is too complex or expensive to achieve, like Rotherhithe and Bermondsey.
“This trial demonstrates our commitment to keep pushing the boundaries and investing in our open network,” said Bill Murphy, managing director of next generation access at BT Group.
“Areas like Rotherhithe present us with a unique technological and physical challenge, but this trial is a precursor to further announcements we’ll be making in the coming months as we seek to meet that challenge.
“We’re pleased to be working closely with Southwark Council on this project and we look forward to seeing how the trial progresses.”
Cllr Peter John, leader of Southwark Council, said: “Slow broadband speeds are a frustrating issue facing residents in Rotherhithe. The council has been working closely with BT to find ways to bring superfast broadband to Rotherhithe and it is welcome news that BT is trialling new technologies which might deliver superfast broadband to places that are harder to serve.”
Val Shawcross, London Assembly member for Lambeth and Southwark, added: “We’ve been working closely with BT over several months to discuss these trials, and this is a positive step in enabling Rotherhithe residents to get access to superfast broadband.
“Openreach brings the advantage of choice and competition amongst a wide range of Internet Service Providers, and we are encouraging local people to formally express an interest in getting superfast broadband via the Openreach website.
“We know there is huge interest in speeding up Rotherhithe’s broadband, but it’s important that we demonstrate that if we want to encourage more trials and infrastructure investment in future.”
Southwark Council says that a record-breaking 12,000 people attended Saturday’s Bermondsey Carnival in Southwark Park
Cllr Ian Wingfield, deputy leader and cabinet member for business, employment and culture, said, “Bermondsey Carnival was incredible. It was such a great event for everyone to enjoy last weekend at our excellent Southwark Park. People really came out in their numbers to support the wonderful acts and take part in some of the fun activities on the day. I’m delighted it was such a terrific success. A massive thank you to all organisers and everyone that got involved and attended on the day.”
Mayor of Southwark, Cllr Dora Dixon-Fyle said: “It was great to see so many people from the community out at the Bermondsey Carnival. Summer events in Southwark are always a real treat for our residents. I’m sure that everyone that attended had an amazing time. The carnival is an amazing opportunity for local groups, traders and entertainers to show people what they do. This year’s line-up of music was fantastic and I was delighted to see so many people enjoying themselves on the day!”
Phil Burkett of Bermondsey Beat said: “What an amazing day! The sun shone, the crowds came, the people smiled and the music played. This was another fantastic and successful Bermondsey Carnival and a perfect example of the community working closely with the council to bring Southwark together for a day in one of London’s best parks. It was such an entertaining weekend. Southwark Park is truly the park with the spark.
The report of the first Ofsted inspection of the Compass secondary ‘free school’ in Bermondsey has been published and the school has received the second lowest possible rating from the education watchdog.
The Compass School opened in September 2013 on the former Southwark College Bermondsey site in Drummond Road.
Inspectors visited for the first time in May 2015 and their report has now been published.
The school has been given a rating of 3 on a scale of 1 to 4 which means it ‘requires improvement’.
The report is critical of teaching, behaviour and attendance at Compass – but the inspectors also praised the principal and senior leadership for their work to improve the school.
“As we have set out in a letter to parents and our wider community, we are both surprised and deeply disappointed with the judgement we have received from Ofsted,” said principal Lauren Thorpe.
“It does not accurately reflect the fantastic progress that our students are making, nor the ethos and values of our school.
“We have formally set out our concerns about the Ofsted inspection that took place through Ofsted’s complaints process, but are now focussed on moving forward and ensuring that Compass School reaches its ambition to be an outstanding school, where all students can go on to be successful in the career that they choose.”
Councillors have turned down plans by McCulloch Homes to knock down The Clipper pub in Rotherhithe Street and replace it with a four-storey block of flats.
Southwark’s planning sub-committee B first considered the planning application back in April but deferred their decision to allow councillors to make a site visit.
Since then a Save The Clipper Pub campaign has emerged and an application was made to designate the pub as an ‘asset of community value’ under the Localism Act.
However, the council turned down the ACV nomination, citing the following grounds:
In the opinion of the Council the property is not of community value because the application has not demonstrated that the Asset’s current main use (or in the past) furthers the social wellbeing or social interests of the local community or why it is realistic to think that there is a time in the next five years when there could be non-ancillary use of the building or other land that would further (whether or not in the same way as before) the social wellbeing or social interests of the local community (e.g. cultural, recreational or sporting).
A further ACV application has since been submitted to the council.
Wednesday night’s meeting was addressed by three objectors: James Willasey-Wilsey of the Friends of the Clipper, a representative of Silver Walk Management Ltd and Andrew Large of the South East London branch of the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA).
The committee also heard from architect Laurence Mineham who said that the proposed scheme would be “in keeping with and respectful of its surroundings”.
A motion to grant planning permission was proposed by sub-committee chair Cllr Cleo Soanes and seconded by Nick Dolezal.
However, it was defeated by the other three sub-committee members Eleanor Kerslake, Leo Pollak and Maria Linforth-Hall.
A motion to refuse planning permission was then proposed by Eleanor Kerslake, citing concerns about the ‘overly imposing’ proposed development that would create a ‘sense of enclosure’ for adjacent residents, as well as recognising the community and historic value of the existing pub building.
The motion to reject the application was carried by three votes to one, with one abstention.
MBNA Thames Clippers will introduce a new timetable on the Nelson Dock to Canary Wharf ferry from Monday 6 July.
The new timetable follows the rebranding of the hotel at Nelson Dock.
In future there will no longer be a gap in service in late morning and mid evening.
On weekdays the last crossing will also be slightly later, with final sailings leaving Rotherhithe at 11.55pm and Canary Wharf at midnight.
Councillors in Bermondsey & Rotherhithe have lodged a cross-party protest against the failure of the council to proceed with plans to extend the Edward III’s Rotherhithe Conservation Area to include all of Bermondsey Wall East.
Bermondsey & Rotherhithe Community Council considered the proposed extension to the conservation area back in March 2013, recommending that Southwark’s planning committee should formally designate the expanded conservation area.
The proposal would have brought key buildings such as the Old Justice pub, Angel Wharf and Corbetts Wharf into the scope of the existing conservation area which covers the area around the Edward III manor house.
However, the proposal has never been referred to the borough’s planning committee and no further action has been taken for more than two years.
At Saturday’s Bermondsey & Rotherhithe Community Council, councillors from across the political divide joined forces to ask the planning department to explain the delay.
The motion – tabled by Lib Dem Anood Al-Samerai and seconded by Labour’s Bill Williams – said:
Bermondsey & Rotherhithe Community Council regrets the decision of the planning department to ignore and override the views of elected members in failing to designate the Edward III conservation area extension.
We call on the planning department and cabinet member to designate the extension or attend the next community council to explain how the views of the community will be enacted.
The next community council meeting is scheduled for Saturday 17 October.
Bermondsey residents are being invited to drop off quality clothes, books, toys and household goods at their local Safestore for their month-long ‘Great Donate’ challenge which aims to collect as much stock as possible for the disability charity Scope.
It is the fifth year that Safestore, the UK’s largest self storage company, has teamed up with Scope and donations are being accepted at all 97 Safestore branches, including Safestore Bermondsey in Old Jamaica Road, throughout the month of July.
The items will then be sold by Scope across its network of almost 240 charity shops located across the country, raising funds to support its work with disabled people.
Safestore Bermondsey manager Alex Blair said: “We are delighted to again be partnering with Scope for ‘The Great Donate’ challenge. We want as many people as possible to get involved by donating any good quality items, clothes and accessories that they no longer need so that they can be sold in Scope shops. It is a very worthy cause so we hope that residents in Southwark will be really generous.”
Sasha Philips, Stock Generation Manager at Scope said: “We are delighted that Safestore are taking part in Scope’s 2015 National Stock Appeal this July.”
“As well as going to Scope shops, people can drop off their donations at their local Safestore making it even more convenient to declutter and donate.”
“All profits from the sale of donated items will go towards Scope’s work to support disabled people and their families to live the lives they choose.”
The nearest Scope charity shops are in Camberwell, Peckham and Lewisham
The Co-operative Food has revealed a plan to open a new convenience store as part of the redevelopment of The Ship York pub in Rotherhithe Street.
The pub closed last November and was later used as a shisha bar.
Planning permission for the redevelopment of the site with a five-storey block of eight flats was granted more than a year ago.
The planning permission includes provision for a pub at ground floor and basement level, but now The Co-operative wants to open a food store instead.
Local residents have now received leaflets from The Co-operative with details of their proposals and an invitation to a public exhibition on Monday 6 July.
The Co-op says its proposal would create 20 to 25 full-time or part-time jobs.
The contract to run the Canada Water Culture Space – currently held by the Albany Deptford – is up for grabs.