Politics « SE16.com

Plans to open a new primary school in the former Galleywall School building in South Bermondsey have been confirmed by the prime minister.

From the official Government announcement:

The City of London Corporation will open a primary school for 420 children in South Bermondsey in 2016. Overseen by Mickey Kelly, the inspirational headteacher of Redriff Primary Academy, the free school will target ‘the poverty of aspiration’ that holds back many local children from achieving their potential. This is 1 of 2 new primary schools being opened by the corporation in 2016, adding to the corporation’s reputation for providing high quality education both in the city and the surrounding areas.

Big Lunch SE16 Poster

Lib Dem London Assembly member Caroline Pidgeon recently tabled this question to the Mayor of London:

I have been contacted by many constituents concerned that bus services using Jamaica Road – such as the 188 and 47 – are being severely disrupted due to congestion during peak periods. What does TfL plan to do to mitigate this situation for passengers?

This week Boris Johnson replied:

Route 47’s reliability has been affected by roadworks in Lewisham and at Ludgate, Aldgate and Cannon Street in the City. To mitigate, the service is temporarily curtailed to Liverpool Street from Shoreditch. Additionally, a new schedule with additional buses and drivers will be in operation from 14 March 2015. TfL will continue to closely monitor performance following these changes.

A new schedule was also implemented on route 188 on 10 January 2015. As part of the Roads Modernisation Plan it is planned to invest £200 million between now and 2023/24 to maintain and improve the reliability of journey times on key bus routes. TfL officers plan to commence a study of route 188 by the end of March to inform the development of additional bus priority from 2015/16 onwards.

Cllr Dr Ben Johnson (Lib Dem, Grange ward) has blogged about The Exchange development on Spa Road, where residents who are buying their homes on a shared ownership (part rent, part buy) deal do not have access to the same facilities as those who buy their homes outright.

He writes:

We now discover that those who buy shared ownership properties in Southwark are treated as second class citizens, with segregated facilities only for those who buy outright. Similar to “poor doors”, this policy sows division and tension amongst our residents and should not be allowed in the mixed and diverse community of Southwark.

Read his full blog post.

C10 bus — Cllr Kath Whittam, Cllr Neil Coyle, Cllr Stephanie Cryan and Cllr Bill Williams

At last week’s transport-themed community council meeting Rotherhithe councillor Stephanie Cryan launched a petition calling on Transport for London to improve the C10 bus service and reduce the number of buses turned round at the Rotherhithe Tunnel roundabout rather than covering the full route via Rotherhithe Street to Canada Water.

Last week TfL introduced a new timetable on the C10 to improve reliability. The number of vehicles required to run the service has been increased by one from 15 to 16.

Cllr Neil Coyle (Labour’s prospective parliamentary candidate for Bermondsey & Old Southwark) said: “The C10 is the only bus that serves much of the Rotherhithe and Surrey Docks area, but several times every day the bus just gives up before it gets to Rotherhithe, and that just isn’t good enough.

“Residents in this area deserve better, which is why we’re calling on TfL to improve the service it provides. I would encourage residents in the area to add their voice to our campaign for better transport for Rotherhithe and Surrey Docks.”

Redriff press release Historian and shadow education secretary Tristram Hunt visited Redriff Primary School last week with local Labour parliamentary candidate Neil Coyle.

Mr Hunt attended the school assembly and answered questions from year 6 pupils on Labour’s education policy.

“I was pleased to meet Redriff’s inspirational head Mickey Kelly and hear about the innovative partnership between the school and Southwark’s Labour council that will see an expansion of this popular school and a new school in nearby Bermondsey,” said Tristram Hunt MP.

“The year 6 pupils gave me a good grilling on what Labour plans to do if we win the election in May – I look forward to coming back and seeing the progress they have made.”

Neil Coyle added: “Southwark Labour will continue to find ways to increase school places in the borough, against the backdrop of a school places crisis caused by the Conservative and Lib Dem government.”

Southwark Council has published an interesting statistical profile of the Bermondsey & Rotherhithe Community Council area (Grange, Riverside, Rotherhithe, South Bermondsey and Surrey Docks wards) NB the part of Livesey ward which falls in this community council area is not included in the stats.

You can read the whole document on the council website, but here are some key findings:

There were 70,710 residents estimated to be living in the Bermondsey and Rotherhithe Community Council area when the latest Census was conducted on 27th March 2011. This profile highlights some of the key information for the area.

A higher proportion of residents in Bermondsey and Rotherhithe than anywhere else in the Borough are aged 25-29 (16%) and 30-34 (13%). This is higher than the national average which is 7% for each of these categories.

The proportion of White residents in Bermondsey and Rotherhithe (63%) is higher than the Borough average of 54% but lower than the England average of 85%. The proportion of Asian / Asian British residents (12%) is second highest in the Borough and above the national average of 8%. The proportion of Black residents is 10% lower than the Borough average.

The majority of residents in Bermondsey and Rotherhithe identify as Christian (53%) and the area has the highest proportion of residents in the Borough identifying as Buddhist (2%) and Hindu (2%).

The proportion of residents in Bermondsey and Rotherhithe that live in a flat, maisonette or apartment (82%) is 8% higher than the Borough average and 61% higher than the national average.

The majority of Bermondsey and Rotherhithe residents either have English as their main language (78%) or speak English well (20%), however the proportion of those with English as their main language is lower than both the Borough average of 80% and the national average of 92%.

Bermondsey and Rotherhithe has the highest proportion of obese 10-11 year olds in the Borough (30%) and this is significantly higher than the national average of 19%.

A Labour shadow minister has visited Bermondsey’s Citizens Advice Bureau.

Helen Goodman MP, shadow minister for welfare reform, joined Bermondsey & Old Southwark parliamentary candidate Cllr Neil Coyle this week for a visit to the CAB at the Blue.

The shadow minister and the prospective parliamentary candidate spoke to members of CAB staff and discussed the impact of welfare changes, including the so-called bedroom tax (or spare room subsidy).

Cllr Coyle said: “It is shocking that such hardship exists at the heart of our community. We heard stories about carers who were hit with the bedroom tax when their elderly relatives died and parents nearly being evicted when their children go to university.

“The Liberal Democrats have repeatedly voted to keep the bedroom tax.

“If Labour don’t win in May, then during the next Parliament, more people are going to be affected by this cruel tax.

“Labour has pledged to abolish the bedroom tax and I will do everything possible to make it happen.”

Helen Goodman MP added: “If Labour don’t win and the bedroom tax isn’t abolished, it will cost those affected £3,500 during the next Parliament. The Citizens Advice Bureau does a tremendous job, but is faced with thousands of cases where people have been hit by unfair welfare reforms.

“Bermondsey and Old Southwark is a key marginal seat – voters here can make a difference not just for themselves but for the half a million families across Britain paying this cruel tax.”

This month the Green Party and the Conservative Party have named their parliamentary candidates for Bermondsey & Old Southwark at the 7 May general election.

This week’s Southwark council assembly had the theme ‘healthy and active communities’

As part of that, councillors heard a presentation from the recently founded London City Athletics Club which hopes to make its home at the soon-to-be-revamped athletics track at Southwark Park.

Here’s the audio from their presentation and Q&A with councillors:

Following last week’s news that Southwark Council’s legal challenge of the proposed super-sewer work site at Chambers Wharf failed for being submitted a day too late, Southwark’s opposition Lib Dem leader Anood Al-Samerai used an urgent question at Wednesday’s council assembly meeting to urge Labour council leader Peter John to apologise for the legal error.

Here’s what happened:

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Category Archives: Politics

Prime minister confirms plan for ‘free school’ in Galleywall Road

Planning meetings for The Big Lunch

Bus delays on Jamaica Road: what is TfL doing?

Bermondsey Spa gym: are shared ownership residents ‘second-class citizens’?

C10 bus: councillors launch petition for better service

Tristram Hunt visits Redriff Primary School

7 facts about Bermondsey & Rotherhithe

Labour brings bedroom tax abolition campaign to Bermondsey

London City Athletics Club tell councillors of plans for new Southwark Park base

Chambers Wharf: political leaders trade verbal blows