More than 800 people have signed a petition calling for the ban on traffic turning right from Southwark Park Road to Jamaica Road to be reversed.
The banned turn was introduced as part of the opening of Cycleway 4 along Jamaica Road.
Queuing traffic turning right conflicts with the cycleway which switches between the north and south sides of Jamaica Road at the junction with Southwark Park Road and West Lane.
Four extra flats could be added to the block recently built on the site of The Ship York pub – and they don’t need planning permission.
The Ship York at 375 Rotherhithe Street was demolished in 2016 and a five-storey block of nine flats was constructed on the site.
The building is now known as Benyamin Apartments.
Now Southwark Council has been notified that the building’s owners intend to add a further two storeys – and four flats – to the block.
Under permitted development rights introduced by the Government in 2015, the roof extension doesn’t need planning permission.
If the development had been proposed as a block of 13 homes in the first place, it would have triggered an obligation to provide affordable housing.
For more information see prior approval notification 20/AP/2823 on the Southwark planning database.
Today – 14 October – is the 80th anniversary of the World War II bombing of Millstream House in Jamaica Road.
By looking at the brickwork, you can see where the building has been patched up.
Curiously, when the building was restored in 1947, a gargoyle recovered from the debris of air raid damage at the Palace of Westminster was included in the works.
Earlier this year planning permission was granted for a two-storey roof extension to Millstream House, adding six extra flats.
Transport for London is to ask the Government to help pay for a new – larger – fleet of trains for the Jubilee line to combat the overcrowding seen in pre-COVID times and to cater for the expected growth in passenger numbers associated with developments at Canada Water and elsewhere.
The request is part of TfL’s submission to the Government ahead of the comprehensive spending review.
According to TfL: “A number of recent issues with Jubilee line trains have highlighted the significance to business of this line.
“It serves key growth areas for jobs and housing, including Canary Wharf, Canada Water, Stratford, North Greenwich and Canning Town, and it already suffers from critical crowding issues.
“Addressing the overcrowding issues is essential to realise the full potential of these areas to become hubs for highly productive jobs.
“There are various options to enhance capacity on this line. The most transformative would involve buying 73 new, higher-capacity trains to increase capacity by 25 per cent, equating to 14,000 extra people per hour.
“This would have a secondary benefit of freeing up the current Jubilee line fleet to be used on the Northern line, enabling more trains to operate to other key development areas including Euston, Colindale, Brent Cross and Battersea, as well as the West End and the City of London.”
The scheme would cost £1.9 billion and the trains could be ready for delivery between 2024 and 2029.
It would help TfL boost peak time frequencies on the Jubilee line from 30 to 36 trains an hour.
Funding for the Rotherhithe Tunnel refurbishment is also part of TfL’s £2 billion wish list for road asset renewals. TfL says: We could remove the need for several thousand small and medium-sized vans to make a 30- to 60-minute detour each day to avoid the tunnel.”
Cycleway 4 is now open along the full length of Jamaica Road – and the first two Santander Cycles docking stations in SE16 are now in operation at George Row and King’s Stairs Gardens.
Will Norman, London’s walking and cycling commissioner, said: “I’m really pleased that the first section of Cycleway 4 from Tower Bridge to Rotherhithe is now complete. By providing the first fully protected route from southeast London to central London at a time when many Londoners are beginning to cycle in the city or returning to it, we will enable many more journeys by bike.
“This is more critical than ever to prevent a spike in car use as public transport capacity remains reduced.
“Rotherhithe roundabout has been completely overhauled to reduce road danger, and the new Santander Cycle docking stations are the first for Bermondsey and Rotherhithe, which will enable us to further build on the momentum of our world-leading Streetspace programme.”
Gareth Powell, TfL’s managing director of surface transport, said: “We’ve seen thousands of extra cycling journeys every week since the pandemic began, as people across London discover the health and environmental benefits of getting around by bike.
“The vital new Cycleway and docking stations will be a major boost to people living in Rotherhithe, Bermondsey and beyond and I’d like to thank everybody in the area for their patience during construction work.
“We’ll continue to work closely with Southwark Council on our Streetspace programme and are pressing ahead with our bold plans to make streets across London safer and more attractive to people walking and cycling.”
Cllr Catherine Rose, Southwark Council’s cabinet member for leisure, environment and roads, said: “We have completed a huge amount of work this summer, to make many of our streets safe for social distancing, better suited to help support local businesses and safer for cycling and walking.
“This new stretch of segregated Cycleway is a much needed addition, that will give confidence to those who want to cycle more, especially local people living in Bermondsey and Rotherhithe; many of whom joined us in campaigning for Santander Cycles in the area as well.
“We are therefore delighted to have supported TfL with the introduction of this stretch of Cycleway 4 and the new docking stations. We hope that they will enable more people to take up cycling and help us to clean Southwark’s air.”
Further Santander Cycles docking stations will be installed soon near Bermondsey Station and Canada Water Station.
The new almshouse to be built on Southwark Park Road will be named the Appleby Blue Almshouse, United St Saviour’s Charity has announced.
The new almshouse will be called Appleby Blue in recognition one of the charity’s earliest benefactors, Dorothy Appleby, and in a nod to the nearby Blue market.
Funded by the developers of luxury housing on Bankside near Tate Modern, the new almshouse will provide 57 homes in a modern, independent sheltered housing .
Martyn Craddock, CEO of United St Saviour’s, said: “The launch of Appleby Blue is a hugely exciting day for us, marking the beginning of an important new chapter in our history which has been years in the planning. Our aim is to provide exceptional housing for Southwark’s older people and to demonstrate the positive contribution that older people bring to the community and place they live. It is a true legacy for future generations and we are incredibly proud of it.”
Dorothy Appleby’s 1681 bequest “for the teaching children reading, writing, and cyphering” in Southwark is one of many historic endowments now administered by United St Saviour’s which has recently widened its remit from north Southwark to cover the whole of the modern borough.
British Land intends to use the grade II listed former Dock Offices in Surrey Quays Road as a ‘project hub’ for the Canada Water Masterplan development.
A planning application (20/AP/2466) and listed building consent application (20/AP/2467) have been submitted to the council.
You can read more about the proposals on the masterplan website.
Local author Graham Taylor’s book placing the Mayflower in its British (and Southwark) context was published this summer, and this week he delivered a public lecture on the subject for Gresham College. You can watch the lecture below:
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There will be no 5 November fireworks display in Southwark Park this year, the council has announced.
Cllr Rebecca Lury, cabinet member for culture, leisure, equalities and communities, said: “It is with regret that we must cancel our 2020 fireworks show.
“The health and safety of our residents comes first and this cannot be guaranteed while working to current government guidelines and laws.
“We very much hope to be re-starting other small-scale local events shortly.”
The popular event – free to local residents – has been held in Southwark Park each November for the past 16 years. In recent times a ticketing system has been introduced to keep crowd numbers under control.
Southwark Council has launched an online consultation on plans to build around 100 new homes on the site of the Red Lion Boys’ Club near Surrey Quays station.
The council bought the former church building last year.
Around 100 new homes could be built on the site, split equally between council homes and homes for sale.