MARCH NEWS: Read on for news about local road changes, Tooting Bec Lodge, Newlands Estate Residents meeting, the recent water shortages and Balham and Tooting Community Association
Fleur Anderson, Clare Fraser and Hector Wakefield are your candidates in the local elections. On May 3rd, you’ll have the chance to vote for change. Labour will make our roads safer for pedestrians and cyclists, defend local schools from cuts and keep the same low council tax.
Please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us if you think we can help you out with anything else. As local residents, we’re committed to working hard for everyone in our community.
Elmbourne Road and Tooting Bec junction road changes
As a result of campaigning by local residents and your local Labour councillors, the council have agreed to take action to reduce the number and speed of cars coming through the area.
A petition from residents of Elmbourne and Hillbury Road and parents of St Anselm’s School on Louisville Road led to the council assessing the traffic on Elmbourne Road. At peak times of day there is over three times the amount considered acceptable. Rather than just put in traffic calming on one road, the Council has now agreed to take this further and look across the Heaver Estate.
The Council is working with Transport for London to forecast the effects of changes to the ‘no right turn’ at Tooting Bec station which causes traffic jams and is the reason for so many drivers turning up Elmbourne Road. All local roads near Elmbourne Road – including roads off Elmbourne and Avoca and Montana Roads, Tooting Bec Road are included. The effect of traffic changes on Dr Johnson Avenue is being assessed but there is no proposal to close the road as this was rejected by local residents recently.
As your Labour team we have been supporting local residents and working with the council to make the case for less rat running, slower speeds of traffic, and ensure roads are safe for pedestrians to cross. We will let you know the council’s plans as soon as possible, and involve you in the plans for our roads.
Labour is committed to ensuring our roads are safe. It was a campaign run by Councillor Fleur Anderson that ensured that all residential streets in the neighbourhood have a 20MPH speed limit on them. Something that has now been replicated across the whole of Wandsworth.
Tooting Bec Lodge
After years of delays the developer has repaired the Lodge to Heritage standards. Everyone who walks past this eye sore now wants to see the hoardings come down and they should be down by June 23rd – hopefully sooner.
Thames Water
The Thames Water issues were a busy weekend for our MP Dr Rosena Allin-Khan as she worked hard to keep residents informed and liaise with them to get a water bottle distribution point in Balham, water to old peoples homes and to secure compensation for affected residents. you should have received a letter from Thames Water telling you how much that will be depending on how long you didn’t have water for. I helped out by delivering water to people who couldn’t get out and I know that lots of people helped neighbours and showed how much we do care for each other in our community. I’m grateful to the Thames engineers who worked through several nights to fix the many leaks, and hope that Thames Water will invest much more in our Victorian water system so that this doesn’t happen again.
Newlands Estate Residents Association meeting
The Residents Association met recently, with the main issues been the very inconsistent cleaning service and recent water issues. The cleaning issues have been ongoing for a very long time, and During the recent snow, water pipes in Treherne Court froze and left residents without water for several days. Residents have been assured that the lagging will be done before next winter and are seeking compensation.
Balham and Tooting Community Association
The BACTA AGM was a very happy meeting, with plenty to celebrate in last year’s events and plans for this year. Here is news from BACTA:
We decided to do a Community Walk on Sunday 13th May, led by Geoff Simmons of Summerstown 182. We chose a multifaith theme, with visits inside three or four places of worship of different faiths to see the building and meet the members.
Many expressed enthusiasm for a summer sports event, either football or cricket, and a number made offers to help.
A family swim and picnic at Tooting Lido, or a family sports day on Tooting Common were also suggested.
If you could help organise any of these or have further ideas, please let BATCA know: secretary@batca.org
The year ahead : old favourites
The Community Fun Day, in collaboration with the schools of the Al Risalah Trust and St Augustine’s Church, will take place on Saturday 22nd September.
The multi faith Peace Ceremony is planned for 10th October
The ever popular Community Awards will take place early in 2019. Nominations will open at the beginning of January, leading to a celebratory presentation event around late February.