Up Front

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has announced a tightening of Low Emission Zone (LEZ) standards for heavy vehicles across London. Tighter emissions standards for heavy vehicles

Heavy goods vehicle (HGVs), buses and coaches must now meet Euro VI NOx (nitrogen oxides) and PM (particulate matter) emissions standards or pay a daily charge of up to £300. These new standards apply to heavy vehicles across most of Greater London and match the emissions standards of the central London Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ).

The LEZ was established to encourage the most polluting heavy diesel vehicles driving in the capital to become cleaner. It covers most of Greater London and operates 24 hours a day, every day of the year. The tougher LEZ is already having an impact, with new data from City Hall showing that almost 90% of vehicles are complying with the new standards ahead of their introduction, compared to around 70% in May 2019. The introduction of tougher standards for the LEZ, alongside the expansion of the ULEZ later this year, is expected to reduce NOx emissions from road transport by around 30% across London in 2021. Sadiq Khan said: “Toxic air pollution causes long-lasting harm and is a national public health crisis. I’ve moved fast in London to implement the most ambitious plans to tackle air pollution of any major city in the world – showing what we can achieve if we are brave enough.” The tighter LEZ restrictions have been welcomedby the London Assembly. Caroline Russell AM, chair of the assembly’s environment committee, said: “As our city continues to battle through the pandemic, the mayor must look at how Londoners live and if our way of life is impacting our own health and the health of others. Measures like tightening the emissions restrictions for heavy vehicles is one of many steps that will be needed to bring down the levels of air pollution on our streets.”

Triple signing at £2.5bn Elephant Park

Three fitness brands will be amongst the first companies to take up space at Elephant Park.

Property firm Lendlease has announced the trio of signings in the latest phase of the £2.5 billion scheme, which will include thousands of new homes and a diverse mix of shops and restaurants.

The new tenants are Fight City Gym, MoreYoga and Tempo Pilates, with the three brands taking space across two buildings. Fight City Gym will take 5,459 sq ft of space on New Kent Road, specialising in boxing, mixed martial arts and other contact sports, while yoga specialist MoreYoga will open its 34th London studio, taking 1,329 sq ft of space on New Lion Way. Meanwhile, Tempo Pilates, which teaches Pilates to the speed of music, has signed up for 2,498 sq ft of space at Elephant Park’s Ash Avenue. Guy Thomas, head of retail at Lendlease, said: “The recent signing announcements for Fight City Gym, MoreYoga and Tempo Pilates add to our offer for the local community and highlight our commitment to building a sustainable and balanced array of operators within Elephant Park.” Mani Johal, co-founder of Fight City Gym, said: “Elephant Park is an exciting new destination and stands as the perfect location within which to expand our offer in South London. We are very excited to have signed for a space here and look forward to seeing our combat training classes embraced by individuals of all fitness levels within this existing and emerging Elephant and Castle community.” When complete, Elephant Park is expected to deliver 3,000 new homes and space for more than 50 new shops, restaurant and cafes, including affordable retail space. It will also include the planting of more than 1,200 new trees, over 3,000 new cycle spaces and an energy hub that provides net-zero carbon heat and hot water to all homes on the site.

£1m resilience fund open for applications

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has called on the capital’s innovators to help drive forward the city’s recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.

His £1 million resilience fund, which will support innovative businesses in tech and other sectors to respond to key recovery challenges facing the capital, is now open to applicants. The mayor also revealed the partners that will work closely with his team to help applicants develop their ideas: Better Bankside and Kings College London; Ealing Council, Groundwork London, Lambeth Council, Hackney Wick and Fish Island Creative Enterprise Zone, Thrive LDN, Hackney Council, the Royal Docks Team, and the Living Wage Foundation. Each partner – along with the Greater London Authority – is in charge of one of ten challenges. These include diverting surplus food to community organisations helping those most in need, supporting high streets, integrating the latest COVID-19 data and travel information for Londoners, and making workspaces more flexible, affordable and responsive to the changing needs of businesses as a result of the pandemic. Partners will also consider the challenges facing workers in the gig economy and design solutions to tackle the inequalities faced by those who have provided vital services over the last year. Delivered in partnership with Nesta and funded by the London Economic Action Partnership (LEAP), the fund will provide grants of up to £50,000 to develop solutions to help the city emerge stronger from COVID-19 – as well as ensuring it is more resilient to major challenges in the future. The mayor is also calling on public bodies, charities, businesses, social enterprises and educational institutions to take part in Designing London’s Recovery – a new initiative that will harness the capital’s design talent to make a vital contribution to the capital’s recovery from COVID-19. Sadiq Khan said: “I’m doing all I can to support our creative businesses and organisations. I’m calling on them to come forward with their ideas and take advantage of the funding and support on offer.”

Obituary: John Henry Wallington MBE JP 1938 -2021

Three generations of the Wallington family have been Stall holders in East Street Market Walworth since 1910.

Johnny Wallington followed on from his father John who sold Salt and Vinegar and was known locally as ‘Salty’. Johnny was educated at St John’s Primary School and won a scholarship to Wilsons Grammar School where he got to know Michael Caine in the amateur dramatic society at the school. They met again in 2000 at Buckingham Palace when they were both receiving their honours from the Queen. Johnny first worked at the Elephant and Castle Horse repository when he left school earning six old pennies a week. He eventually took over the family business and was known as Johnny the Toy man. He helped to set up the Southwark Association of Street Traders, to preserve and develop the Street Traders profession. Johnny became Secretary of the association and represented them on the Executive Committee of Southwark Chamber of Commerce for many years. They organised an annual old age trip to Brighton for 300 people. Johnny was renowned for his community spirit and helping those in need. He was a founding member and trustee of the Mayor of Southwark’s Common Good Trust. Johnny is survived by his wife Pat, son Tony and daughter Kim.

Council pledges £101m to tackle climate emergency

Southwark Council has backed its commitment to tackling the climate emergency and improving environment sustainability with a funding pledge of £101 million.

This investment will open the door to further creative and impactful measures to improve air quality and bring the council closer to hitting its target of carbon-neutrality by 2030.

The council will build on recent milestones, such as achieving 100% renewable electricity for all council buildings and a 25% reduction in its own emissions to date. Plans for the £101 million programme include making all council buildings carbon-neutral by updating insulation and glazing, introducing air source heat pumps and installing solar panels. It will also help to switch the council’s vehicles to electric alternatives and accelerate a ten-year programme to deliver electric vehicle charging points across the borough. Further details will be unveiled in the council’s new climate emergency strategy, which will show how the organisation hopes to transform Southwark into a carbon-neutral borough by 2030. Cllr Johnson Situ, cabinet member for climate emergency, planning and transport, said: “These investments will enable us to move at pace on initiatives such as bringing council buildings to carbon-neutrality, as well as supporting the local economy with additional jobs. “A different kind of future is possible and we will be placing our response to the climate emergency at the heart of it. I look forward to developing strong links across the borough’s diverse and creative communities. We will also be working with schools, churches, businesses, developers and financiers because everybody has a role to play in protecting our planet and building a better future.”

Architects appointed for Old Kent Road scheme

Southwark Council has appointed a team of architects who will design plans to transform the Currys PC World site on Old Kent Road into hundreds of new homes as part of one of London’s largest regeneration schemes.

The mixed-use development will include the delivery of around 500 new homes, half of which will be much-needed new council homes. This will form part of a programme to build 11,000 new council homes across the borough by 2042, with 2,500 of these started on site or delivered by 2022.

Morris + Company, Weston Williamson + Partners and West Port have been chosen as the design team for the project – representing an exciting group of new and experienced designers who all have prior experience of working in Southwark. Public consultation on the Currys PC World scheme will begin next year and the first new homes could be delivered in 2024. Shaun Ihejetoh, director at West Port, said: “We are really excited to be part of an amazing design team and look forward to creating a new residential-led, mixed-use scheme on Old Kent Road. The next 10-15 years will see a lot of change in this part of Southwark. We look forward to helping to shape a scheme that is responsive to local needs, embodies sustainable development principles and fits with the wider regeneration masterplan of the area.” David Storring, director from Morris + Company, said: “We are thrilled to be working with Southwark Council to establish Old Kent Road as a thriving destination, delivering a unique mix of commercial, workspace, residential and public realm spaces.” Beatrix Young, partner at Weston Williamson + Partners, said: “As a local Southwark-based practice, we always look for opportunities to support sustainable growth and development within the borough, building on our established links with local schools, business and residents.”

For more information visit www.oldkentroad.org.uk

Direct Vision Standard comes into force

A road safety scheme that requires all freight operators to obtain free safety permits has now been enforced on all roads in London.

Transport for London (TfL) has worked with the London boroughs to launch the pioneering Direct Vision Standard (DVS), which is designed to improve road safety in the capital, save lives and prevent serious injuries.

The lorry safety scheme is now operating 24 hours a day, seven days a week and is enforced on all roads in London, with standards set to tighten further in 2024. The DVS scheme reduces lethal blind spots by introducing a free permit system that assigns vehicles a star rating based on how much the driver can see directly through their cab window. TfL said more than 30,000 heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) have been made safer as a result of the scheme. All owners of HGVs over 12 tonnes now need a valid permit to operate in London. Those without a permit face a fine of up to £550. To date, more than 90,000 permits have been issued, including more than 3,000 to five-star vehicles which provide the highest levels of direct vision. Christina Calderato, head of transport planning at TfL, said: “We know that the DVS will protect all Londoners who walk and cycle by ensuring that the most dangerous vehicles on our roads have effective safety measures. This will prevent needless death and injury on our roads. “We are immensely proud that our DVS – a world-first for lorry safety – will not only save lives in London, but in the UK and all over Europe as operators upgrade their entire fleets, sometimes upgrading hundreds of vehicles. This vital step is core to our Vision Zero plan to eliminate deaths and serious injuries on London’s roads.”

WELCOME TO CASTLE SQUARE

Castle Square, which opened last year, sits at the heart of the wider retail and leisure offer coming to Elephant and Castle and includes Ash Avenue and Elephant Park. It’s home to a variety of local traders with a wide range of products and services including fashion, textiles and electricals and some of the most delicious cafes and restaurants available locally. Easily accessible, Castle Square is located just 5 minutes walk from Elephant and Castle tube station and directly opposite Elephant and Castle train station.

Meet Muhamed Sejdovic, owner of Raw Fashion, to find out more on his experience as a trader in Castle Square. Tell me about yourself and your work? How did you end up running your own business? I worked in a market growing up in South Serbia in a trading city called Novi Pazar before I came to England. It was always my dream to build something for myself, and my aim is to create something bigger than what I started in the market. However, I am not in a rush, and it is not all about profit for me. What do you sell at Raw Fashion? We sell men’s clothing. My main target audience is anyone between the ages of 18 and 50, but you are never too old to wear urban, stylish clothing. I make a lot of jeans for the younger generation, they are my best selling products. How has your move to Castle Square been? Moving into Castle Square was great, and lots of people were coming in at first, thanks to good promotion. But sadly we had to close for the November lockdown, and again for the winter lockdown, which has been very difficult for business. What is the best thing about your products? You never hear any complaints from people wearing my clothes. We combine quality, price and style. They do not break your bank, you look good, and you don’t have to throw them away after two or three times wearing them. My clothes also come from limited sources, so not everyone gets to wear them. What do you think of Elephant and Castle? Elephant and Castle is an interesting place, and it looks like a lot of amazing things are coming to the area, including shops and restaurants. It is exciting and hopefully will bring in lots of new people. The area is extremely well connected which helps, with the underground, overground and buses. How have you found the year so far? Are you looking forward to opening up again? I am excited but frustrated by lockdown, and want to go back to work. I will reopen on 12 April and will be offering 20% discounts. We hope to see you soon and you can follow us on Instagram @raw.fashion1.

LIVE ENTERTAINMENT 15TH –18TH APRIL

Pop by Castle Square between 15th and 18th April to enjoy live entertainment every day and discover what our local traders have in store.