Murder sQuad investigating sydenhaM shooting appeal for Witnesses
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By Noah Vickers Local Democracy Reporter
Sadiq Khan faced questions over his office’s decision to end funding for an online platform which alerted Londoners to crimes in their area and provided advice from police.
The closure of the Online Watch Link (OWL) platform was raised shortly after the Labour mayor was told by the Tories’ Susan Hall that “large numbers” of crimes have been “effectively decriminalised” in London.
Mr Khan in turn accused Ms Hall of “crocodile tears and mock anger”, saying she and her party colleagues had been “silent” while he lobbied the previous Conservative Government to reverse funding cuts to the police and youth clubs.
In a decision notice signed in March by Mr Khan’s then-policing deputy, Sophie Linden, it was revealed that the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime (MOPAC) would cease funding for OWL at the end of October.
The system allowed the Metropolitan Police to share information and advice directly with Londoners, with crime alerts, prevention tips and good news stories sent via email.
In November, the London Assembly unanimously passed a motion calling on MOPAC to reverse the decision, arguing that the platform has proved a “trusted and effective source of local intelligence and reassurance for Londoners”.
Mr Khan was asked at Mayor’s Question Time by Reform UK assembly member Alex Wilson: “Why was MOPAC so keen to enforce the decision to close OWL before a suitable replacement has been developed and launched?”
Ms Linden’s decision notice had stated that the Met would seek to “procure and embed a new pan-London neighbourhood safety communication system” before closing OWL.
Mr Khan suggested the decision was enforced, despite the apparent lack of a replacement, due to funding priorities, saying: “We considered all these issues of budgets in the round.
“When it comes to setting the budget for next year, we’re consulting on the budget. I’d encourage him [Mr Wilson] to respond to the consultation that MOPAC has put out.”
Looking ahead to the new year, the mayor later added: “It’s open to him [Mr Wilson] to put down a budget amendment to try and find the resources to invest in Watch Link, or other similar processes [platforms].”
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Mayor criticised for ending funding for platforM alerting l ondoners to criMes
In a tweet afterwards, the Reform member said the closure of OWL meant “Christmas has come early for London’s burglars”.
Earlier in the meeting, Mr Khan was challenged on his record tackling crime by Tory assembly member Ms Hall, who he defeated in this year’s mayoral election.
She called his record “absolutely appalling”, adding: “There have been 64,000 burglaries across London in the last year, but just 3,700 have actually been solved – that’s not even six per cent.
“Given how few cases are being solved and how few criminals are actually being
brought to justice, do you agree that we’ve effectively decriminalised large numbers of offences taking place in our city?”
The Met Police’s online dashboard puts the number of burglaries in London between November 2023 and November 2024 at 59,137, with “positive outcomes” for only 3,441 of those cases, or roughly 5.8 per cent.
Responding, the mayor pointed out that the total number of burglaries recorded in London in the last year was roughly 20 per cent lower than during the previous mayor Boris Johnson’s final year in office
He said: “Over the last eight years, while
I’ve been lobbying for more resources from the Government, that side [the Assembly’s Conservative group] have been quiet. While I’ve been calling out the consequences of austerity, that side have been quiet.
“When I’ve been explaining that if you pull funding from youth clubs and youth centres and councils, don’t be surprised if young people get sucked into crime, that side have stayed silent.”
Mr Khan also insisted that London is a significantly safer place than many other global cities, and said he was “determined” to work with the Government “to reduce crime even further”.
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Winston churchill’s life seen through political cartoons at War MuseuM
By Herbie Russell
i mperia L War museums (iWm) is commemorating 150 years since Sir Winston Churchill’s birth with a captivating new exhibition exploring his life through political cartoons.
Churchill in Cartoons: Satirising a Statesman explores how the iconic wartime leader was portrayed, even after his death, through satire.
Running until February 23, the exhibition features 24 original artworks spanning nearly a century, from 1909 to 2003.
The works illustrate how cartoonists captured Churchill’s complex career, blending humor and criticism to shape public perception of one of history’s most influential figures.
Highlights include depictions of Churchill’s early days as a politician, his tenure as wartime Prime Minister, and his enduring legacy in global politics.
Visitors can expect a broad range of perspectives, with cartoons from British and international artists, including works from the U.S., Russia, Australia, and beyond.
Interactive displays will present sixteen cartoons from countries like India, Japan, and the Soviet Union, offering diverse takes on Churchill’s career.
Among the featured pieces are a 1914 Punch cartoon showing Churchill as a
Roman sea god and a 1934 depicting him as an irate policeman, poking fun at his unpopular stance on Indian selfrule.
Wartime cartoons highlight Churchill’s leadership during the Blitz, while postwar depictions include a 1945 U.S. cartoon reflecting on his unexpected election defeat.
Kate Clements, Lead Curator of
Churchill in Cartoons: Satirising a Statesman, said: “Almost 150 years after his birth, Churchill remains one of the best-known public figures in history. His distinctive image was a gift to satirical cartoonists and throughout his career, particularly during the Second World War, cartoons played a significant part in shaping how people thought of him.
Peckham’s Ashley Walters to star with Stephen Graham in Netflix crime drama
By Isabel Ramirez
aShLey WaLterS, who was born and raised in peckham, stars alongside Stephen Graham in a gripping new Netflix crime drama launching this year
The actor, best known for his lead role in Top Boy, is set to play Detective Inspector Luke Bascombe in Adolescence. The four-part limited series, co-created
by Stephen Graham and Jack Thorne, follows a family shattered by tragedy when 13-year-old Jamie Miller (Owen Cooper) is accused of murdering a teenage classmate. Filmed in unbroken, continuous oneshot sequences, the series dives deep into the emotional and psychological fallout of the crime, with Walters joining an impressive cast including Stephen Graham as the boy’s father, Erin Doherty
as a clinical psychologist, and Christine Tremarco.
It was directed by Philip Barantini, who was behind Boiling Point - a hugely popular production also filmed in onetake.
Adolescence promises raw, real-time storytelling as characters grapple with questions of guilt, accountability, and loss. All episodes will premiere this year on Netflix.
Film with Florence Pugh and Andrew Garfield set in Herne Hill
By Isabel Ramirez
a romance film starring Florence Pugh and Andrew Garfield, which was set in herne hill, came out in uK cinemas on January 1.
We Live in Time follows Tobias (Andrew Garfield), a man on the brink of divorce, who is struggling to navigate life when he crosses paths with Almut (Florence Pugh), a chef fighting a cancer diagnosis.
Filmed in both Herne Hill and Surrey, director John Crowley said he wanted a London that is ‘simply itself’ and ‘allows the happiness and sadness that two people go through in life to take centre stage.’ Specific locations in Herne Hill include Brockwell Park and the station. According to locals, filming took place in April 2023. Already out in the US, the film was released to UK cinemas on Wednesday 1 January 2025.
Reviewers call it a ‘radiant love story’ within a film ‘just about life’. They also referenced the ‘undeniable chemistry’ between the two characters.
“Through this exhibition, we offer visitors a new and different way of exploring Churchill’s complicated career and his enduring legacy.”
The exhibition, which runs until February 23,, is complemented by a series of events at IWM London and Churchill War Rooms, ensuring a multifaceted celebration of the statesman’s life.
Kids encouraged to climb and
play on sculpture in Dulwich
By Herbie Russell
YouNG viSitorS to the dulwich Picture Gallery will be encouraged to climb and play on a new art installation.
A Gift of Flowers by design and architecture studio McCloy + Muchemwa was chosen as the winning sculpture in London Festival of Architecture’s competition.
The team will receive £80,000 to create the interactive piece in collaboration with HoLD Collective and Cake Industries.
The sculpture is inspired by Dutch artist Jan van Huysum’s Vase with Flowers, displayed inside the Dulwich Picture Gallery.
The Reimagining Play at Dulwich Picture Gallery competition invited concepts that would “inspire wonder and playfulness in audiences of all ages”.
The project is expected to complete in 2026 and have a ten-year lifespan. The other finalists were SoUP; Projects Office
with Dream Networks and Earth Tenders; Sett; TIP x CRAB; and Eleanor Dodman Architects with YAA Projects and 27 Beginnings.
Dulwich Picture Gallery, a John Soanedesigned Grade II*-listed venue, has further plans for an entire sculpture garden led by architects Carmody Groarke and Kim Wilkie.
Dulwich Picture Gallery deputy director Chantelle Culshaw said: “This unique collaboration brings to life Dulwich Picture Gallery and London Festival of Architecture’s vision for a fun, interactive and inclusive commission, which will reinvigorate a currently under-used part of our grounds.
“This iconic sculpture will encourage sensory-led, playful interactions from people of all ages. The team have placed access at the forefront of their design and have carefully considered sustainability using recycled materials, which will allow families to enjoy the sculpture for years to come.”
From left: Ashley Walters with costar Stephen Graham
Churchill in Cartoons: Satirising a Statesman explores how he was portrayed through satire
Andrew and Florence have ‘undeniable chemistry’ in the new flick
a ‘less Woke’ approach: i s this the strictest school in s outh l ondon?
EXCLUSIVE
By Kieran Galpin
StriCt uNiForm codes to public rankings of student performance have led a nunhead school to be called the strictest in South London
St Thomas the Apostle College (STAC), an all-boys Catholic school and co-educational college in Nunhead, prides itself on its no-nonsense ethos that has earned both admiration and criticism.
Central to the school’s approach is its ranking system. Pupils are assessed, and their rankings are posted on noticeboards for all to see—a practice that has sparked debate.
Its executive headteacher, Serge Cefai, describes the philosophy simply: “If you care enough about a kid, you will do whatever is necessary to try and make sure they go down the right route.”
Mr Cefai is unapologetic about the school’s rigorous policies, which he says reflect a “less woke approach” to education.
Walking through the school’s corridors, there is an undeniable sense of order. Pupils are polite, classrooms buzz with engagement, and the atmosphere is one of purposeful learning.
Even in the days leading up to the Christmas break, STAC pupils focus on their studies while other schools might relax with films or games.
While some argue the school’s ranking system may be too harsh for children, Mr Cefai insists it is vital: “Keeping them in the dark is ridiculous, but that’s what they’re doing in a lot of state schools. Everything says ‘they’re doing alright’, which can mean different things to different people.”
This transparency forms part of STAC’s “three Ts”: transparency, truth,
and trust. Mr Cefai explains, “We won’t shy away from telling children and their parents the truth.”
For underperforming students, the truth can be a wake-up call. However, the school also provides support, with its library open before and after school to offer a quiet space for those from challenging home environments.
Assessments are scrutinised to identify pastoral issues, ensuring students struggling due to personal circumstances receive help rather than punishment.
Despite concerns that such a system might leave some pupils behind, many students praise the approach. “We’re kind of motivated… to do better,” said one pupil. “Knowing your rank, [you are able] to push it up to where you’re meant to be.”
The impact of STAC’s policies is evident in its achievements. Ofsted’s latest report called the school “inspiring, exciting, highly successful,” noting that its outcomes are “among the best for all schools in the country.”
In 2024, STAC was ranked 10th nationally for the “Progress 8” metric, which measures progress between key stages 2 and 4. With a score of +1.45, the school’s pupils achieve - on average - a grade and a half higher at GCSE than their SATs scores predict.
STAC’s demanding academic environment has also bolstered Southwark’s standing as a borough, which significantly outperforms neighbouring areas in GCSE results.
“In Peckham, which has its own reputation, these results are fantastic,” said Serge Cefai.
In addition to high academic expectations, the school implements a points system that punishes poor behaviour.
“We don’t mince our words: we don’t do what our justice system does, which is look for excuses for their
bad behaviour and the kids then get confused and understand perhaps that maybe what they did wasn’t that bad, perhaps it was someone else’s fault, which means that maybe they’ll want to do it again,” he added.
Collect sufficient points, and you are investigated by a form tutor or head of year to check for pastoral issues. Minor infringements lead to a 10-minute detention after school, bigger infringements lead to detentions on a Friday night or even a Saturday morning.
Samuel Parratt, assistant headteacher at STAC, said the school’s policies only work because the clear structure was not imposed without pupil “buy-in”: as the pupils are told that the strict rules were all imposed
with their success in mind.
When asked about the school’s behaviour policies, one pupil said, “They’re just trying to get you ready for the future.”
“You might wonder why it’s strict,” another pupil said, “but at the end of the day it’s very useful.”
The most extreme option to deal with a child’s poor behaviour is a child’s permanent exclusion. Serge Cefai said, “I’m fed up with hearing: ‘What about excluded kids?’ We would not hesitate to exclude kids if it meant the school community would continue to thrive.”
Mr Cefai said that his experience moving to the UK as an immigrant from North Africa, with parents who could not speak English, enables him to empathise with children from
challenging backgrounds.
He said a ranking system would have been understood by his parents even though they did not speak English, enabling them to be engaged with his school performance.
Concerns about the people who are at the bottom were dismissed: “Ultimately there’s no excuse for any difficulties there might be at home”, he said, “I don’t want anybody patronising our kids anymore.”
STAC has 1100 pupils between the ages of 11 and 18 in Nunhead.
“We’re all about making sure that we produce pupils that can contribute positively to the society that they live in”, Mr Cefai added, “We can tell our staff every year that they are changing children’s lives.”
From left: Two pupils at the school said the ranking system ‘motivates them’
Mr Serge Cefai, Executive Headteacher of STAC
The noticeboards where pupils academic performance is ranked
What iMpact Will high court ruling on loW traffic neighbourhoods have for boroughs?
By Noah Vickers Local Democracy Reporter
thE hiGh court last month ruled that tower hamlets mayor Lutfur rahman was acting lawfully when he decided in 2023 to remove three low traffic neighbourhoods (LtNs) from the streets of Bethnal Green.
But what could the ruling mean for similar low traffic schemes in other parts of London?
LTNs have become a ‘hot button’ topic in the capital over recent years, with Tory mayoral candidate Susan Hall promising in her unsuccessful City Hall campaign earlier this year to help communities get rid of “unwanted” LTNs and to axe 20mph zones “where safe to do so”.
Transport across the city is ultimately overseen by mayor Sadiq Khan, who is responsible for drawing up an official transport strategy for all 33 of London’s local authorities to follow. The latest edition of the strategy was published in 2018.
Within the first few pages of that 163page document, the mayor argues that motorised traffic is “overwhelmingly responsible for the greatest environmental challenges we face as a city”, and he stresses that fatalities and injuries on London’s road network remain “unacceptably high”.
For these reasons, the strategy’s main target is for 80 per cent of all trips in London to be made on foot, by cycle or using public transport by 2041. To pursue that goal, Mr Khan promises to work with boroughs on “trafficreduction strategies” in their area.
Transport for London (TfL) provides funding to support those strategies, by agreeing a ‘local implementation plan’ (LIP) with each council.
important role in making our streets safer and enabling more active travel across London.
“Decisions on schemes such as these are a matter for local councils, but we are carefully considering any implications for TfL-funded borough schemes.”
Jane Harris, a member of the Save our Safer Streets campaign – which had been legal challenging the Tower Hamlets LTNs’ removal – said: “It’s really worrying, because if this [set of LTNs] does get taken out, it will be the first time that a low traffic neighbourhood has been taken out against the wishes of residents, against the wishes of businesses, against the wishes of the police, local hospitals and GPs.”
The LTNs in Tower Hamlets were agreed as part of the borough’s LIP –and this is where the High Court’s ruling could potentially set a new precedent for councils looking to get rid of similar schemes elsewhere in London.
TfL had been arguing throughout the case that “boroughs cannot unilaterally decide to revise LIPs, nor can they unilaterally decide not to implement them”.
But the judge, Mr Justice Fordham, questioned whether the requirement on councils to implement the schemes was “open-ended”, or whether, once put in place, they can be taken down again.
To put it another way, the case hinged
on how the word “implementation” should be understood. Does it mean ‘create an LTN and keep it there, unless the council is given permission by TfL to remove it’? Or does it mean ‘create the LTN, but feel free to remove it later, provided all of the necessary local processes are followed’?
TfL’s barrister claimed that councils had an ongoing requirement to keep any agreed schemes in place until a new agreement had been struck with TfL, or a new transport strategy had been drawn up by the Mayor of London.
Mr Justice Fordham concluded however that, in order for that to be the case, a clearer timetable “would need
to be spelled out in the LIP”, adding, perhaps crucially: “I do not accept that it is open-ended.”
It is this line which could potentially be seized upon by councils looking to remove LTNs previously agreed with TfL.
Most London councils which have already implemented such schemes – particularly those in inner London –remain supportive of them. But a change of political leadership in any of them, as happened in Tower Hamlets in 2022, could change that equation.
A TfL spokeswoman told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “Walking and cycling infrastructure, including Low Traffic Neighbourhoods, plays an
She pointed out that it can take a while for communities to become used to LTNs. “The research shows that it takes about three years for people to get used to these kinds of schemes,” Ms Harris said. “This seems a really strange time to take it out, when we’re literally at that three year mark.”
She added: “I think it’s really important that people can get across London in an integrated way… I don’t think anybody wants to think that they need to have a different plan for their transport when they cross into a different borough of London – that doesn’t make any sense. I know it’s not a legal issue – but it is an issue for people in their everyday lives.”
Mayor Rahman issued a statement following the High Court’s ruling, stating that he had “a responsibility to fulfil the democratic mandate from voters in the May 2022 election to reopen these three roads”. He claimed that the schemes had contributed to “gridlock traffic” on main roads, increasing air pollution for some residents and in fact “undermining efforts to boost public transport use”.
Shocking CCTV footage of ‘near-miss’ at Blackfriars station prompts calls for increased passenger safety
By Isabel Ramirez
a raiL group urged passengers to be safe after CCtv footage shows a shocking ‘near-miss’ for one man on the platform at Blackfriars station. Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR), the UK’s largest rail network, released a video which appears to show the man on the platform trying to open the door of a moving train.
The rail operator is hoping that by sharing the footage, it would remind commuters to take safety instructions seriously. It released the footage in the run up to Christmas.
Greg Blenkin is a Station Assistant for Govia Thameslink Railway. He said that people tend to be more relaxed about safety rules during the festive period. He explained: “We find that people are more interactive with staff over the festive period, but they can also be a bit too giddy. For example, going beyond the yellow safety line, and going too close to trains that are pulling in and out of the station.
“We have to step in a bit more as you can see other customers getting concerned, but a lot of the time people
are willing to listen. For those heading home after the annual office party, please carry a bottle of water with you and avoid running on the platforms. If
you’re concerned about anything, please contact a member of staff or the British Transport Police.”
GTR reports a year-on-year increase
in train station accidents during winter months and says Christmas parties and festive events are a growing concern when it comes to safety. Last winter, there were 150 incidents logged across GTR relating to slips, trips and falls, with a link to intoxication as a contributing factor.
Samantha Facey, ‘Elf, Safety and Security Director’ at Govia Thameslink Railway, said: “We of course want our customers to go out and have fun, but with a year-on-year increase in slips, trips and falls on our network during winter, coupled with higher levels of intoxication, we want people to be careful when travelling and not to do anything that puts themselves, or anyone else, in danger.”
In the run up to Christmas , GTR handed out free Christmas Party ‘survival kits’ to commuters travelling through London Victoria, Brighton and London Blackfriars. Those travelling over the festive period can follow the rail network’s ’12 Steps to Safety’ guide.
The Save Our Safer Streets group took to the High Court on as part of a legal challenge against Tower Hamlets Council
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10 NEWS
By Robert Firth
Local Democracy Reporter
KENNiNGtoN rESiDENtS are at loggerheads over plans to redevelop two community hubs on their estate. Hyde, a housing association, wants to bulldoze a building occupied by a local arts group on the Kennington Park estate and replace it with social housing and new community space.
The plans, submitted to Lambeth Council, would also see the estate’s adjacent community centre refurbished and a new courtyard created to connect the two buildings.
Former Lambeth Council leader Joan Twelves, who runs the community centre, says the development will give the building a much needed facelift and improve facilities for local people.
But the plans have met fierce resistance from Shannon McNab, who runs Oval Arts Depot (OAD) out of the building next door which is due to be demolished under Hyde’s plans. A petition she launched opposing the proposed development has racked up over 1,100 signatures and posters against the plans are stuck up around the estate, which is located next to the Oval cricket ground.
Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service last month (December 16), Joan said she was saddened at the opposition to the scheme. She said: “We are really excited. It’s really sad that Shannon does not want to get involved with us. We think it’s important that the community centre is working and running and does not have doors that don’t open and toilets that don’t block. There’s a lot of the building that’s crumbling.
“Hyde is investing millions into refurbishing this site. It’s partly because we have been successful that Hyde wants to invest in it [the centre]. If we hadn’t been successful, they wouldn’t.”
However Shannon is concerned at the loss of the OAD as a space to run various clubs and groups. Shannon was unable to speak to the LDRS about her opposition to Hyde’s plans, owing to back-to-back community pantomime shows she has been involved in during the run-up to Christmas. But she directed the LDRS to her petition against the scheme, and a video about a summer party she organised for local kids at the OAD and the community centre.
Speaking to camera in the video, shot in summer, she says: “What do you do if you have no place to run a summer club like this? Where are you supposed to go? I don’t understand where you’re supposed to go.”
Joan said she had leased the community centre from Hyde since 2017 and raised money from letting the space to local groups, such as drama school All In Actors. Cash raised through hiring out the building allowed the centre to fund initiatives such as its Monday Lunch Clubs which provide local people with a free hot meal, she added.
When the LDRs visited the centre, Dominique Marshall — who runs £5 weekly Zumba classes at the centre — was stuck outside the building because the front door had jammed. Joan, who lives locally, quickly arrived with a can of WD-40 in hand and was able to force open the door. But in conversation inside the centre later, Joan pointed to the incident as exactly the reason why she supports Hyde’s plans to refurbish the building and redevelop the wider site.
But Shannon’s petition calls on Lambeth Council to refuse Hyde’s plans to demolish the OAD, but it also incorrectly states that the housing association intends to demolish the community centre. It goes on to incorrectly say that Hyde proposes to build ‘commercial flats’ on the site,
RESIDENTS AT LOGGERHEADS over redevelopMent plans
whereas the planning application says the eight planned homes will be at social rents.
In a South London Press article from 2023, she describes the potential closure of OAD as a ‘terrible blow to so many people’, adding that many of the kids who attend activities come from families with ‘disrupted home lives’ and living in poverty.
Shannon has invested £60,000 of her own cash into the project over her three years occupying the due-to-bedemolished building, according to the same article.
Caught in the middle of the women’s disagreement is Alex Wolfenden, 26, who has run coffee stall Sexi Coffi outside the OAD building since 2022, subletting the space from Shannon. Alex, who is originally from South Wales, will have to leave the site if Hyde’s plans go ahead, like Shannon. But he said the
housing association has suggested he may be able to set up a new cafe on the ground floor of the planned new building when it is finished.
Speaking to the LDRS over a flat white he said: “I’m trying to stay positive about it, but until I see it in writing I’m not getting my hopes up.
"Hyde have been more than pleasant. If they had come in and said ‘everybody needs to get out’ [it would be different] but they have not.
“I know residents aren’t very happy about [the plans] because of the [loss of] light and the building works. I can still go home and chill out. I try not to be too vocal.
I’m between a rock and a hard place.”
Alex added that he had made arrangements to relocate his stall across the road to the Montgomery Hall Community Centre in April, when he is
expected to vacate the current site by Hyde.
Lambeth Council will make a decision on the housing association’s plans at a yet undisclosed date. If the development is approved, building work is expected to begin this year..
A spokesperson for Hyde said: “Communities are just as important as the homes we build, which is why we’re investing in Kennington Park Community Centre (KPCC).
"KPCC provides vital services for the area. It’s used by community groups including theatre groups, dance classes and for children’s activities and parties.
"The design has been part of a thorough consultation process, including a public consultation in March 2024 and collaboration with the trustees of the community centre to refine the design.”
Joan Twelves has run the Kennington Park Community Centre since 2017. CREDIT: Robert Firth
CGI of the building that would replace Oval Arts Depot on Harleyford Street, Kennington. CREDIT: Lambeth Council planning documents
What the refurbished community centre with the new courtyard could look like. CREDIT: Lambeth Council planning documents
Alex Wolfenden runs coffee stall Sexi Coffi outside the Oval Arts Depot building. CREDIT: Robert Firth
sutton leading Way to protect faMily hoMes
By Harrison Galliven Local Democracy Reporter
Sutton counciL has approved a change to local planning rules to slow down the conversion of the borough’s family homes into houses in multiple occupation (hmos).
The council now wants to withdraw ‘permitted development’ rights for any requests to the change of use of a property to an HMO, to prevent the loss of Sutton’s family homes.
Under permitted development rights, introduced in 2015 by the previous
government, homeowners can convert a family house (Use Class C3) into a small HMO (Use Class C4) for up to six unrelated people without needing permission from the local council.
However the council’s Housing, Economy and Business Committee has approved the proposal to change this, so full planning permission is required.
It’s understood that permitted development rights will remain in place for other minor changes to homes, but an Article 4 Direction has been put in place to give Sutton Council, and local people, a say in whether HMO applications can go
ahead. These changes will come into force in February 2025.
Councillor Jake Short, Chair of Sutton’s Housing, Economy and Business Committee, has tried to assure residents the council is not against HMOs as one solution to the borough’s housing crisis. He said they offer affordable accommodation and meet diverse housing needs but must adhere to local planning rules
Cllr Short also pointed out the lack of planning permission for turning larger homes into HMOs since 2015 has limited local input. He added: “This Article 4 Direction will ensure that
any future proposals for HMOs will be scrutinised by the council against the full range of relevant planning policies ensuring that decisions are consistent. Any HMOs permitted by the council in future will be high-quality and will not negatively impact on the local area.”
The council agreed last year to explore the need for an Article 4 Direction due to concerns family homes were being lost at a fast rate. The immediate effect of an Article 4 Direction would be a spike in the number of planning applications coming to the council’s already busy Planning Committee.
During a recent committee meeting,
the council acknowledged that boroughs like Bromley had experienced this in the first year since removing the permitted development rights. However, they added that this number stabilised in the years following. Several councils, especially in areas with high student populations or housing shortages, have already introduced Article 4 Directions to remove permitted development rights over certain properties. For example, cities like Brighton, Oxford, and Cambridge have implemented these measures to control the growth of HMOs.
Migrants to report exploitation, without fear of their personal details being passed on to the Home Office
By Noah Vickers Local Democracy Reporter
a neW project has launched in London aimed at enabling migrants with “insecure” immigration statuses to report abuse and exploitation to the authorities, without fear of their personal details being passed on to the home office.
The two-year research programme has been awarded £50,000 in grant funding from mayor Sadiq Khan and will be led by the Focus on Labour Exploitation (FLEX) charity.
The ‘secure reporting’ scheme forms part of a wider £1.1m City Hall investment in projects to support migrants, refugees and asylum seekers in London.
It comes after the mayor promised in his re-election manifesto earlier this year to “continue to stand up for migrant workers’ rights and protect them from exploitation”.
Peter Wieltschnig, project coordinator
at FLEX, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “This pilot is a significant and courageous step forward in making sure that all Londoners are able to safely report abuse and exploitation, regardless of their immigration status. Across the world, there’s a growing recognition of how exploiters are using immigration policies as a tool to traffic people.”
He added: “At a time when migrant communities are still reeling from successive anti-migrant policies and legislation, the importance of this project cannot be downplayed. It is about putting forward a constructive policy programme, and moving away from an approach that risks punishing victims for coming forward.”
Research commissioned by City Hall last year found that many migrant workers in London are subjected to bullying and discrimination, as well as experiencing issues with pay – such as being paid late or not at all.
Sexual harassment – particularly towards women migrant workers in the
cleaning, care, and hospitality sectors – was also found to be “a common occurrence”.
According to FLEX, which hopes to receive another mayoral grant in the next financial year, the new research will seek to achieve “a better understanding of the barriers that victims face in reporting and engaging with first responders/services in London and identify what is needed to overcome these”.
The funding will allow focus groups and interviews to be conducted with community organisations providing support to migrant victims of crime across London.
By the end of the research, the charity hopes to have developed “a practical blueprint for how different bodies can make secure reporting a reality” and to work with “as many partners in London as we can” to make it their policy.
Debbie Weekes-Bernard, London’s deputy mayor for communities and social justice, said: “Migrant workers and survivors of abuse, exploitation and
modern slavery are among the most vulnerable people in our city.
“Working closely with partners across the capital, Sadiq has commissioned a groundbreaking research programme to support victims to safely report crimes committed against them without fear their immigration status will be shared with enforcement authorities.
“There is strong evidence showing
that migrant Londoners, including women and girls who are victims of violence, need better access to justice and safety.
“That’s why the mayor’s wide-ranging programme includes a new secure reporting pilot to help those most in need, as part of action to support abuse survivors and tackle exploitation and modern slavery.”
Sutton hopes the Article 4 Direction will help protect its 'quality family homes' Credit: AP Monblat
Dr Debbie WeekesBernard, London's Deputy Mayor for Communities and Social Justice. Credit: Noah Vickers
peckham primary may close after filling just a third of its Reception
EXCLUSIVE
By Herbie Russell
a pecKham primary school could close next year due to falling pupil numbers.
St Mary Magdalene CE Primary School welcomed just ten new Reception pupils in September despite having capacity for 30.
Parents are invited to discuss the closure from next month ahead of a possible August 2025 closure.
The Rye Lane school briefly expanded in 2015 when it took on an extra Reception class.
But St Mary Magdalene has had fewer than twenty Reception admissions in each
Leisure centre among sites earmarked for 1,000 new homes, council report reveals
EXCLUSIVE
By Herbie Russell
SouthWarK counciL has revealed the fourteen sites earmarked for roughly 1,000 new homes over the coming years.
A soon-to-be-demolished Rotherhithe leisure centre, a defunct Rotherhithe youth club and numerous council estates are among them, according to a council document.
The Labour-run authority hopes to kickstart its flagging pipeline after it began building just 51 affordable homes in 2023/24.
Southwark Council, which has over 18,600 people on the housing waiting list, will start looking for development
of the last five years.
Schools receive funding on a per-pupil basis, so St Mary Magdalene’s finances have been hit hard, facing a £72,000 budget deficit.
A council report said there was “little hope that the rolls at St Mary Magdalene CE Primary will recover numerically in the near future”.
The lack of pupils has also placed “organisational stress on the school” and “prevented the delivery of a balanced curriculum,” the report said.
In 2024, an Ofsted report said the school ‘requires improvement’. While behaviour and attitudes, personal development, leadership and management were all assessed as ‘good’, the quality of education was found to be lacking.
partners - private companies that help fund housing projects - from February 2025.
One of the most significant sites identified for housing in the cabinet report is the Seven Islands Leisure Centre, earmarked for 90 new homes.
The centre, which has a gym and a 33-metre pool, will be replaced by the new Canada Water Leisure Centre in 2025 – part of British Land’s redevelopment of the area.
The Red Lion Boys’ Club, which closed in 2018, could accommodate 110 new homes.
Southwark Council has included sites like Sceaux Gardens (80 homes), Lindley (45) and Bells Gardens (85) on the list.
Redevelopment projects on these plots were paused in 2023 due to rising construction costs.
Sites like the Wickway Community Centre, Peckham, and Beormund School, Bermondsey, have long been earmarked for redevelopment.
1–36 Priter Road (30) already has planning permission. Further sites include Wyndham and Redcar Estate, Camberwell, Ann Moss Way, Bermondsey, Angel Oak Academy, Peckham, and the Pelican Estate, Peckham.
The Abbeyfield Estate (number of flats to be confirmed), the site of the failed Maydew House refurbishment, and its housing office (15) are also included in the
27 per cent of pupils at St Mary Magdalene have special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).
While this is among the highest in the area percentage-wise, Southwark Council notes the 27 SEND pupils are numerically fewer than most schools.
Southwark Council claims to have explored options other than closure in the lead-up to its latest decision.
The local authority says it paused talks around closure or amalgamation in 2024 to see if admissions would increase but they did not.
Peckham, like much of Inner London, has seen declining birth rates in recent years.
In Rye Lane and Nunhead & Queen’s Road wards, where the school is situated,
report.
Southwark Council aims to make 50 per cent of all new flats council homes and says the number of homes suggested for each site is a “conservative” estimate.
The council is set to approve the report’s recommendations in January 2025.
The report represents the council’s efforts to kickstart new housing projects in the new year after a difficult year for housebuilding locally and nationally.
Southwark Council, which aims to start or finish 11,000 homes by 2043, completed 500 new council homes in 2024.
However, data obtained by the opposition Liberal Democrats showed it started building just 51 council homes in 2023/24.
In London overall, there was a 91 per cent fall in affordable home starts last year, described as “catastrophic and unprecedented” by Orwell Prize-winning journalist Peter Apps.
Southwark Council has identified numerous causes of stalling housebuilding, including inflation, high interest rates, Brexit and the war in Ukraine.
A 7 per cent rent increase cap on social and affordable rents also reduced its rental income by £10 million in 2023/24.
Southwark Council will search for development partners for fourteen new starts from 2025 onwards. Image: Southwark Council planning documents
births fell by 22 per cent between 2016 and 2023. In Southwark, births fell by 33 per cent between 2012 and 2023.
In 2023, a London Councils report found local authorities were “dealing with a significant and sustained period of reduction in demand for reception places, which has implications for school budgets and standards”.
Southwark Council’s ‘Keeping Education Strong’ strategy aims to contend with this reality by closing and amalgamating schools with low admissions.
Numerous Southwark primary schools have fallen victim to closures and amalgamations in recent years.
Comber Grove Primary School, in Walworth, closed in August 2024.
Townsend Primary School, also in
Walworth, closed its doors at the end of the 2023/24 academic year. Cobourg Primary School amalgamated with Camelot Primary School in August 2023.
Harris Free also amalgamated with Harris Primary Academy East Dulwich in 2023.
St Francesca Cabrini Primary School, in Nunhead, shut at the end of the 2022 school year.
Even nurseries have struggled to remain open, with Ann Bernadt Nursery, in Peckham, closing in March 2024. 2023 began with the closure of two nurseries in Borough – Banana Moon and Bright Horizons – both due to rising operational costs that meant staying open would be ‘unsustainable.’
The Seven Islands Leisure Centre in Rotherhithe. Image: Google
St Mary Magdalene Primary School, Peckham. Image: Google
once struggling berMondsey tenants’ association reinvented as successful ‘not-for-profit’ business
By Isabel Ramirez
a BermondSey tenants’ and residents’ Association (trA) that nearly closed its doors last year has not only survived but is now thriving as a successful not-for-profit, with a community bar and more.
Magdalen Hall, located on Purbrook Street, was on the brink of closure in early 2023, with only one TRA member remaining after the rest of the committee stepped down. But thanks to the determination of Kyle Simmons, the last standing member, and support from both the Bermondsey Scouts and Zoey Sergeant (now chair), the hall was saved.
“We started flyering around the estate, and the support was incredible,” Kyle said. The campaign was bolstered by local coverage, and a new committee was formed, growing from just one member to fourteen.
Fast forward to December 2024, the hall is now incorporated as a Community Interest Company (CIC)—the only one of its kind in Southwark. CICs are limited companies that operate to benefit the community rather than generate private profit, enabling Magdalen Hall to reinvest in the local area.
Last week, the newly refurbished Community Bar was officially opened during a Christmas event attended by 120 people and the Deputy Mayor of Southwark.
The hall has seen significant improvements, with £45,000 invested into renovations, including upgrades to the garden, lighting, and technical equipment.
“We’ve come a long way since May 2023,” said Kyle. “The transformation has been incredible. The mood across the estates has lifted, people are more engaged, and we’re ensuring the hall’s viability for years to come.”
Household item borrowing service to expand to Dulwich and Elephant & Castle
By Herbie Russell
a handy borrowing service allowing Southwark residents to rent household items will expand to dulwich and elephant and castle.
The Library of Things, in Canada Water, has been a roaring success with 1,200 items borrowed since opening in June 2023.
Residents needing everyday items like drills, sewing machines and lawnmowers - but not wanting to buy brand new - have saved a combined £243,243, according to a Southwark Council report.
Items on offer include a full PA system for £11 a day, a wallpaper stripper for £5.50 a day and a heavy-duty pressure washer for £17.50 a day.
The Labour-run authority, which says the service helps towards its climate goal of carbon neutrality by 2030, has set aside £83,170 for the rollout of two extra centres.
The new locations chosen are the Dulwich Leisure Centre and Castle Leisure Centre.
They have a combined footfall of 10,500 per week and will provide coverage to residents in Peckham, Camberwell, East Dulwich, Walworth, Bankside and London Bridge.
Southwark Council will pay a monthly service charge to Library of Things, a social enterprise managing nineteen centres across London.
This service charge will be calculated based on the number of borrows the site has had in a given month. This will initially be charged at £2000 per month per site.
Based on the number of borrows from the established site at Canada Water, the net cost of operating both new sites is estimated at a total of £23,213 over two years.
At the end of year one there will then be a readjustment based on the actual borrows.
Magdalen Hall has become a true community hub, hosting regular events like coffee mornings for over-55s, Halloween parties, and weekly Scout meetings. It is also now a Living Wage Employer.
In addition to its social initiatives, the TRA has played a key role in securing security doors for the St. Saviour’s Estate, funded by the Community Infrastructure Levy.
Kyle and the team’s hard work has turned the hall into a vital resource for the 760 homes it serves, providing a space for residents to meet, share concerns, and build community connections.
“It’s amazing to see what can be achieved when people come together,” Kyle said. “We’re creating a legacy for Bermondsey.” For hall enquiries, please contact Kyle Simmons via email: kyle.simmons@ magdalenhall.community
Hundreds more shared living apartments could be squeezed into Bermondsey skyscrapers
By Herbie Russell
h undredS more shared living apartments could be squeezed into new skyscrapers next to South Bermondsey station.
Developer Whittington Investments secured permission to build 605 shared living apartments and 120 affordable homes in November 2023.
Tide Construction, the Ilderon Road site’s new developer, now wants to build an extra 260 shared living apartments, taking the total to 865.
This would increase the heights of two towers by a total of seven storeys.
One tower would go from 26 to 28 storeys and another from seventeen to 22 storeys.
However, Tide has also proposed increasing the number of affordable units from 120 to 186.
This would mean raising the height of one of the two affordable housing towers by a single storey, from fourteen to fifteen.
A second nine-storey affordable housing tower would remain the same height.
The previous planning permission for 71 - 161 Ilderton Road had the affordable units split between social rent, shared ownership and ‘affordable’ (80 per cent of market rates).
In contrast, all the new plans would change the tenure of affordable housing to 100 per cent social rent.
Tide said it would use Vision Volumetric, which builds components off-site for assembly on-site, for construction.
The developer claims this could reduce construction costs by 50 per cent and reduce embodied carbon by 41 to 45 per cent.
The long, rectangular 0.58-hectare site - less than a football pitch - is just south of the station.
Having once hosted RS Joyner & Son, which dealt in second-hand lorries and vans, it is currently vacant with no existing buildings or structures erected.
Computer generated image of the buildings proposed for the Ilderton Road site.
The developer is hoping to make numerous changes to the existing planning
The community bar has made a nice addition
what’s on
Ghost of soldier returns home to Rotherhithe
rotherhithe artiSt Ed Gray has just completed a monumental work that depicts the poignant service at the war memorial in West Lane on remembrance Sunday, writes Michael Holland... It commemorates the brave people who have died in wars. It is called, simply, Remembrance, West Lane, Rotherhithe.
It is a painting that has been about ten years in the making but early thoughts began when Gray would go along to the service and remember his grandfathers who served in WW1, and his late parents who grew up between the wars. ‘I looked at the faces of people in the crowd, people that returned year after year, and some of an earlier generation who’d fought in WW2.’
When his children were old enough he would take them too.
‘We’d have conversations about the wars, the nature of warfare, and European politics. They were interested to know more as they have friends in their schools who come from war-torn countries in the Middle East and closer to home in Ukraine…’ His words fade away. Then, ‘I thought about all the separated families, about military service and conscription, all of these scenes being replayed on TV and discussions in the media. I thought about how I’d feel if our own son joined the army; I’d have mixed feelings,’ he says softly. ‘The conversations I was having with them were difficult, given their innocence. They were conversations I imagined my family having over and over in the last century.’
At some point Gray began noticing more and more stickers and graffiti in the street about Putin and war criminals. ‘That made me think that
I’d put off making this painting for too long,’ he says. ‘These thoughts needed to find their way to canvas.’
But transferring thoughts, and the sketches he made, in to an artwork came with its own problems: ‘Making a painting about a crowd standing still was much more difficult than I’d appreciated. Only one person is moving, the old soldier leaving the wreath; normally my paintings are full of movement,’ he exclaims, the distress this caused with the painting revisiting his face. ‘I also realised I couldn’t see the memorial through the crowd I was painting, which meant that there was no centre to the painting.’
But solutions were found: ‘I began to think of the people being like poppies in a wreath. Imaging them as an object allowed me to shift the perspective up and down. I kept reworking canvases - I worked on five versions over five months. The last version two months ago and it seemed to work. In the final version the wreath in the soldier’s hand is almost like a crown for the young fellow, as if it’s a coronation.’
Ed Gray’s art always has stories hidden away. What stories does this painting hold? ‘A friend told me about ‘A Street Near You’, a very poignant website created by the War Graves Commission that allows you to look up soldiers who died in the Great War and where they lived, the artist begins. ‘That’s when I found out about Corporal George Mitchell whose family lived at 21 West Lane. He was fighting in France when his father was taken ill. George was granted compassionate leave but overstayed when his father died.’
Ed showed me an old postcard George had sent to his parents talking about the trouble he would be in. Holding it
An animated take on Social Realism
thEAtr E GrouP 1927 presents a funny yet thoughtprovoking analysis of class, British institutions, and familial structures in Please right Back, writes Melina Block...
For the first half an hour, at least, you would be forgiven for thinking that Please Right Back - despite its unsettling opening - is going to be a fun, whimsical show.
Although the play opens with a surreal, unsettling atmosphere, with glazed-over cast members hesitantly wandering along the stalls, the mood quickly switches, and it almost feels like the start was just a strange fever dream. Eddie, or Mr. E, details in vivid letters to his children the exciting travels his unexpected business trip has taken him on, whisking the audience away on an all-singing, alldancing adventure.
We first meet Eddie as he embarks on a top-secret mission to deliver
a mysterious briefcase to the even more mysterious ‘big man’. Initial reservations surrounding the dubious nature of such a task are quickly soothed when, despite the briefcase getting stolen, Eddie appears to be having a grand old time locating its whereabouts and reporting his escapades to his kids.
One anthropomorphic lion, lime green cocktail in the Bermuda triangle, and journey down a whale’s gullet later, and the truth is revealed. Despite insisting to his children, Kim and Davey, that he is trying to make it back home in time for tea, the bleak reality of Eddie’s situation is made clear.
Humour is sensitively balanced with moments of pathos, as Kim, Davey, and their mother Dee all try to navigate life at home without Eddie. The notso-friendly ‘friend’ who repeatedly checks in on the family, clearly looking down on their working-class lifestyle,
in my hands brought a rush of every evil that war brings.
When Corporal George Mitchell, Bermondsey Boy, returned to France he was demoted to the rank of Private as punishment. Tragically, he was killed just one month before the war ended.
‘Who’s to know if the demotion contributed to the higher chance of his being killed,’ Ed suggested, evoking images of young men ordered to go “over the top”. ‘But discovering George's story meant that my painting became an actual story of Remembrance because I painted him in the crowd, he is the only person looking us in the eye…’ What seemed like a minute’s silence befell the studio.
‘You have a certain style,’ I asked, changing the subject. ‘Where does it come from?
‘Hard to answer that really,’ stalls the artist. ‘I love early Renaissance painting, the art of the Harlem Renaissance and LS Lowry; I like the sense of wonder in William Blake’s work… I always want to make art that moves people, emotionally but also physically, so your eyes have to work, you have to walk around the painting, like you would if you were looking for someone in a crowd.’
I looked for George Mitchell and found him quite quickly, glaring at me. A cold flush ran up my back. I shivered.
‘You’ve seen George,’ Ed said knowingly. But I was locked in this strange stare-off with the painting and couldn’t answer for a while.
What now this painting is finished?
‘It will go into my next exhibition,’ he replies. ‘Ideally, though, I’d like it to go to a museum collection.’
When prints go on sale of this artwork Ed reveals he will be raising money for War Child from the sales.
provides many laughs with her judgemental ignorance. Her character is most powerfully used, however, as a caricaturistic criticism of the harsh, snobbish attitudes which demonise
and other those who have not been born with a silver spoon.
The meticulously timed, animated screen provides an energetic backdrop for the entire piece. Even calling it a
backdrop feels like a disservice, when the entire cast directly interacts with the animation, never missing a beat, driving forwards the story and blurring the line between real and fake.
A play about the flaws in the UK’s institutions - primarily prisons and schools - could easily come off as preachy and heavy-handed. But, despite a few slightly on-thenose monologues, the performance manages to get its message across without beating the audience over the head with it.
Theatre has long been used as a vehicle to explore themes of growing up, complex familial relationships, and to hold a mirror up to society, but Please Right Back succeeds in exploring these ideas in a fresh, stylish, exciting manner. Whether your perspective is shifted or not, you will find it hard to not be entertained.
Southbank Centre until January 5th. Details and Booking: www.southbankcentre.co.uk/whatson/1927-please-right-back/
words? ‘I’m working on a painting
Ed Gray
Photo by Andrew Perry
police investigating fatal sydenhaM shooting appeal for Witnesses
By Herbie Russell
PoLiCE iNvEStiGAtiNG
a Sydenham shooting that killed a man and injured two other people have appealed for information again.
Curtis Jones, 30, died from his injuries following the incident on Wells Park Road, at 10.10am on Sunday, November 10.
The shooting took place shortly after a party at a property in Hensford Gardens. Detectives want to speak to people who were there.
A man and a woman who were also shot survived, although one remains in hospital and faces a “long road to
recovery” police said.
Two women arrested on suspicion on suspicion of assisting an offender remain on police bail.
Detective Chief Inspector Samantha Townsend said: “We have already appealed to the public for information and thank you to all those who have supported us throughout the last month.
“However, we still need to build a bigger picture as to what happened to Curtis on that Sunday morning in Sydenham.”
She added: “I am appealing to anyone who has information about what happened at the party, especially those outside Hensford Gardens at the time of the incident, to come forward.”
The family, who now face a first Christmas without Curtis, described him as “happy, excited and beautiful”.
He was an entrepreneur, owning a clothing brand and local fitness company. He was also a father-to-be, with a child due in five months.
The family said: “We are appealing for people to come forward with any information they may know pertaining to our beloved Curtis.
“Curtis loved his family, loved his community and worked hard to establish businesses to uplift people physically and spiritually.
“We appeal to the community’s morals, values and integrity to stand for justice
and to stop the violence that is happening far too frequently.
“We, Curtis' family, are all devastated and heartbroken and will never be the same, having to live without such a vibrant, inspirational, loving person in our lives will be torture.”
DCI Townsend continued: “I am keen to hear from anyone who may have left prior and from those who were present at the time of the shooting. You may not think you have any key information, but it may prove vital to assist us with our investigation.
“We will support you throughout the process and will try our best to ensure that we are able to protect your identity if
you have concerns.
“All information, even the slightest bit is important and relevant to us. Curtis’s family have to face Christmas not knowing what happened in the moments leading up to his death. You can come forward and provide them with the clarity they deserve.
“If you feel you know anything then please do not hesitate to get in contact with us.”
Anyone with information is asked to call the incident room on 020 8721 4961 you can also call 101 stating reference number 2527/10NOV or you can contact us anonymously by calling the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
Outrage over plans to introduce parking charges for Blue Badge holders
By Joe Coughlan Local Democracy Reporter
BromLey LocaLS have expressed their ‘outrage’ at a scheme from the council to introduce parking charges for Blue Badge holders.
Residents have thrown their support behind a petition opposing the plan with the campaign passing 3,000 signatures.
The new charges were approved in November and will apply to drivers using Blue Badges in council-owned parking spaces across Bromley. Sian Pugh, 59, started the petition following her ‘outrage’ upon learning about the scheme and said she feels it unfairly discriminates disabled people who are unable to walk or use parking spaces far from their destinations.
The mum was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis 15 years ago and has broken her ankle, arm and finger in the past five years from accidents relating to the condition. However, she said took the new charges even more personally due to the effect they would have on her 27-year-old daughter, Carys.
Ms Pugh told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS): “Carys is almost completely reliant on the Blue
Badge. She has this connective tissue disorder, Ehlers–Danlos syndrome, so she’s in constant pain. Yesterday, I took her for an X-ray on her hip which is really causing her agony at the moment. It’s just awful to see every time she gets up.”
She added: “She can’t walk very far at all or if she does walk, it hurts… You hate it when people do things against your children. This is against my child and will make her life harder. She’s already in loads of pain and it’s just not fair.”
Conservative Councillor Nicholas Bennett, Portfolio Holder for Transport, Highways and Road Safety, said that a consultation would take place on the scheme in the New Year as part of an equalities impact assessment prior to a final decision being made. He said that drivers with Blue Badges already pay for petrol, oil and servicing and added that Bromley had some of the lowest parking charges in London, ranging from 60p to £1.60 per hour.
Ms Pugh said that disabled people receiving a higher rate of Personal Independence Payments can have their car running costs, excluding petrol, covered through the Motability scheme.
She added that she fears disabled individuals will have to pay excessive parking fees in the borough by having to spend multiple hours in parking
spaces and sometimes using a variety of different spaces during their journeys due to their reduced mobility.
The mum said: “So often, you just feel that disabled people are the easy option to target. So many people don’t fight back because they can’t. Some are too ill to fight back.”
She added: “Their lives are going to be completely transformed if this is introduced. So many people have said, ‘My life will change, I won’t go out as much’.”
Antony Martin, 84, has lived in Orpington with his wife Patricia, 81, for over 50 years. The couple said their Blue Badge is ‘essential’ to get around given Patricia’s blindness caused by retinitis pigmentosa.
Mr Martin told the LDRS: “I visit my brother every day, he’s 93. It’s only a mile and I go there and back in the car. We do his shopping on Thursdays.”
He added: “It’s an absolute disgrace. It’s typical Bromley, they charge you for everything… Unfortunately, we have a Tory council and they are the worst people in the world. They are not generous at all and never have been.”
Another resident, who wished to remain anonymous, said they relied on their Blue Badge to avoid painful walking journeys due to their multiple
sclerosis. They said they were amazed by the charges and felt Blue Badge holders were often retired people without much money.
Cllr Bennett previously told the LDRS that the Blue Badge scheme already specifically excludes car parks from automatic free parking. He added that he would not pre-empt the outcome of the equalities impact assessment scheduled this new year
The portfolio holder said: “There is no question that Blue Badge holders will not be prioritised, with guidance for onstreet parking remaining unchanged, in line with legislation. Some councils
do not offer free parking in car parks already and whilst the proposal would see charges in car parks, prioritised parking for badge holders would continue.”
He added: “The council faces a deficit of £60 million by 2028 and will be bankrupt if we do not take urgent action. The car parks have to be maintained and it is right that those who use them should bear the cost rather than the many council taxpayers who cannot afford a car.”
Bromley Council was approached for additional comment, but had not responded at the time of publication.
Curtis Jones
Sian Pugh started the petition after finding out about the proposal online
History
By Herbie Russell
thE viCtoriAN-ErA gangs— whether fraudsters, racketeers or robbers—were dominated by men. But for seventy years, a highly organised, all-woman mafia terrorised London. targeting society’s wealthiest, the Forty Elephants were not only the ‘aristocrats of crime’ but arguably a middle finger to stuffy notions of ladylike modesty.
Founded in the slums of Elephant and Castle, and led by their ‘Queen’ Alice Diamond, the gang’s violent and cunning membership numbered roughly 70 at its height. Their exploits—ransacking affluent homes, stealing from West End shops, and manipulating stray gentlemen—will be immortalised in the Disney+ TV series A Thousand Blows next year.
This is the latest drama by acclaimed writer Steven Knight, famed for hit BBC crime show Peaky Blinders.
The Forty Elephants were in existence from at least 1873 to the 1950s, although some historians believe their history stretches back to the late 18th century. Originally, they are believed to have been the female companions, wives and girlfriends of the notorious male-led Elephant & Castle Gang. But by the 1890s, the women were a distinct group, with their own burgeoning reputation. In the new series, due for release next year, the gang’s first leader Mary Carr, is played by Erin Doherty, star of the Netflix drama The Crown, the drama Chloe, and the psychological thriller Reawakening. She was succeeded as leader by Alice Diamond, played by up-and-coming actor Darci Shaw. Born in a workhouse and raised in Walworth, she was a tall and formidable woman whose numerous bejewelled rings handily doubled up as knuckle-dusters. Under her stewardship, the gang carried out industrial-scale thefts from warehouses and devised crafty shoplifting scams. The working-class women would pose as genteel ladies. Dressed in elegant finery, they would visit West End shops and hide their loot in coats, cummerbunds, muffs, skirts, bloomers, and hats. Gang members would carefully observe their target clothes and jewellery shops, striking when staff went on breaks and when inexperienced attendants were on duty.
Newspapers on both sides of the Atlantic developed a fascination with the Forty Elephants, especially as their exploits spread to seaside towns and smaller cities. Police asked editors to limit reporting on the gang for fear that sensationalist articles were stoking the crime wave.
However, at least one outlet—a Sunday paper called Reynold’s News—planned a series of articles devoted to the dastardly dames. Its journalist, Dan Johnson, followed the gang closely, his notes revealing the intricacies of their operations. He described them as “aristocrats of crime” and used the terms “battlefield tactics” and “military operation” to describe the level of preparation and organisation behind the gang’s activities.
By the 1920s, Alice Diamond was being described in newspaper cuttings as the “Giant Queen of the Terrors”. One account claimed it once took six policemen to hold her down. Her deputy, Maggie Hughes, known as “Babyface” for her sweet looks and striking red hair, was famed for her love of drink. She once stabbed a policeman in the eye with a hatpin, blinding him. When she was sentenced, she shouted back to the judge: “It won’t cure me! It will only make me a worse villain!”
The lawless troupe successfully operated for decades, to the endless frustration of the police and West End store detectives. The gang still existed after World War II, as new family members replaced old hands.
The A Thousand Blows series will tell the story of The Forty Elephants from an intriguing new perspective—that of Victorian London’s underground boxing scene. Hezekiah Moscow, a real-life Victorian-era boxer, is played by BAFTA award-winning actor Malachi Kirby. A Jamaican migrant thrust into the chaotic melting pot of post-industrial London, he meets Mary Carr, leader of The Forty Elephants, paving the way for his descent into the capital’s criminal underbelly. As he struggles to carve out a place for himself in this brutal environment, he develops a rivalry with Sugar Goodson—a renowned one-eyed fighter from the
Victorian era—played by the captivating Stephen Graham of Boiling Point, Boardwalk Empire, and This is England. Hezekiah Moscow was a genuine boxer from the time, although only scraps of his intriguing story are known. According to amateur boxing history site Grappling with History, Moscow probably fought under the name Ching Hook—possibly a racist epithet derived from the word “g**k”. Records suggest that, as well as being a boxer, Moscow worked as a lion tamer and performer with the East London Aquarium, otherwise known as the Shoreditch Aquarium, Bishopsgate. According to the site, while employed, he was charged by the RSPCA with “cruelly illtreating” four bears in his care. The story made headlines across the UK, but Moscow denied cruelly whipping the animals and keeping them in poor conditions.
He claimed he did not use excessive force, nor did he strike them with a “crushing blow” with the “butt end” of his whip. A lawyer, Mr Blackwell, defending Moscow, argued that no marks were left on the bears. The case drew the headline ‘IS A BEAR A DOMESTIC ANIMAL?’ in the Tavistock Gazette when the judge ruled in Moscow’s favour.
Henry ‘Sugar’ Goodson represents an equally intriguing figure. He had only one functioning eye, although it is not known how he lost it. In 1881, Goodson was admitted to a smallpox hospital, which might explain the loss of vision. Despite his relatively short stature (5 ft 5¾ in), Goodson occasionally competed in heavyweight bouts, fighting notable opponents like Jem Smith and Jack Wannop.
On 27 March 1882, Goodson fought the veteran Jack Hicks in a highly anticipated
bout under Queensberry Rules. The venue was a deconsecrated chapel near Tavistock Square, chosen to evade police detection. The fight, which lasted just over eight minutes, ended abruptly when police raided the venue. Goodson and several others were arrested, causing a sensation in the press due to the event’s secretive and bold location. The trial following the raid received widespread media coverage. Goodson died in 1917 in Chingford, during World War I. His obituary highlighted the 1882 prize fight, underscoring how it defined his career. The Evening Dispatch and The Sportsman praised him as a “good boxer” and “rough diamond,” noting his eye defect but emphasising his toughness and character.
A Thousand Blows Series 1 coming to Disney+ in the UK and Ireland, Hulu in the US, and select other countries in 2025.
Top row left to right, Alice Diamond “Queen of Thieves”; Maggie Hughes, deputy; Laura Partridge; bottom row, left to right Bertha Tappenden; Madeline Partridge, Gertrude Scully
Writer of peaky blinders pens neW disney tv shoW for 2025 based around a fearless girl gang froM elephant & castle
A second series (6x60’) has completed production. The series is produced by The Story Collective in a co-production with Matriarch Productions and Water & Power Productions.
The first series is created, written and executive produced by Peaky Blinders’ creator Steven Knight. Starring and executive produced by Stephen Graham and Hannah Walters for Matriarch Productions, Damian Keogh and Kate Lewis for The Story Collective, and Tom Miller and Sam Myer for Water & Power Productions. Award-winning broadcaster and historian Professor David Olusoga also acts as executive producer on the series, with Tom Miller as series producer and Barrington Robinson and Jo Johnson as producers. The original series is executive produced for Disney+ by Lee Mason, director of scripted content.
Elephant and Castle circa 1900
A Victorian newspaper cutting about The Forty Elephants
Stephen Graham will play Sugar Goodson Gang leader Alice Diamond Malachi Kirby plays Hezekiah Moscow
THE A201 GLA ROAD (NEW KENT ROAD, LONDON BOROUGH OF SOUTHWARK) (TEMPORARY PROHIBITION OF TRAFFIC, STOPPING AND SUSPENSION OF BUS LANE) ORDER (NO.2) 2024
1. Transport for London hereby gives notice that it has made the above named Trafc Order under section 14(1) of the Road Trafc Regulation Act 1984 for the purpose specied in paragraph 2. The effect of the Order is summarised in paragraph 3.
2. The purpose of the Order is to enable resurfacing works to take place at A201 New Kent Road.
3. The effect of the Order will be to prohibit any vehicle from entering, exiting, proceeding or stopping on New Kent Road between its junctions with Elephant and Castle and Bricklayers Arm Roundabout. Both Carriageways will not be closed simultaneously.
This order will also permit all vehicles to use all bus lanes on New Kent Road between its junctions with Elephant and Castle and Bricklayers Arms Roundabout.
The Order will be effective at certain times from 7.00 AM on the 6th January 2025 until 11.59 PM on the 5th June 2025 or when the works have been completed whichever is the sooner. The prohibition will apply only during such times and to such extent as shall from time to time be indicated by trafc signs.
4. The prohibitions will not apply in respect of:
(1) any vehicle being used for the purposes of those works or for re brigade, ambulance or police purposes;
(2) anything done with the permission or at the direction of a police constable in uniform or a person authorised by Transport for London.
5. At such times as the prohibition is in force an alternative route will be indicated by trafc signs via Elephant and Castle, Newington Causeway, Great Dover Street and Bricklayers Arms or reverse to normal route of travel.
Dated this 3rd day of January 2025
Andrew Rogers Performance and Planning Manager Transport for London Palestra, 197 Blackfriars Road, London, SE1 8NJ
Notice of application for a Premises Licence
Notice is hereby given that Park Live Events Limited has applied to Richmond Council for a new premises licence at the Old Deer Park, Twickenham Road Richmond TW9 2SL for Live Music, Recorded Music, Performance of Dance and sale of Alcohol on 29th – 31st August 2025 (Friday 17:00 to 23:00; Saturday 12:00 to 23:00; Sunday 12:00 to 19:00) and subsequently on 3 weekend summer days each year thereafter.
Any person who wishes to make a representation in relation to this application must give notice in writing by 21st January 2025 stating the grounds for making said representation to: Richmond Licensing Authority, Regulatory Services Partnership (Serving Merton, Richmond and Wandsworth Councils) Merton Civic Centre, London Road, Morden, Surrey, SM4 5DX or by email: licensing@merton.gov.uk
The record of this application may be inspected Monday to Friday (except Bank Holidays) by prior appointment at the offices of Richmond Licensing Authority, Regulatory Services Partnership (Serving Merton, Richmond and Wandsworth Councils) Merton Civic Centre, London Road, Morden, Surrey, SM4 5DX between the hours of 10.00 a.m. and 4.00 p.m. Information on all new and variation applications received by the Licensing Authority can be viewed on the Council’s website www.richmond.gov.uk
It is an offence, under section 158 of the Licensing Act 2003, to knowingly or recklessly make a false statement in or in connection with an application, punishable upon conviction by an unlimited fine.
LONDON BOROUGH OF LAMBETH ROAD TRAFFIC REGULATION ACT 1984 - SECTION 14
TEMPORARY PARKING, STOPPING, WAITING AND LOADING RESTRICTIONS LAMBETH HIGH STREET
Transport for London Public Notice
ROAD TRAFFIC REGULATION ACT 1984 THE A20 GLA ROAD (AMERSHAM ROAD, LONDON BOROUGH OF LEWISHAM) (TEMPORARY PROHIBITION OF TRAFFIC, STOPPING AND BUS LANE SUSPENSION) ORDER 2024
1. Transport for London in consultation with the London Borough of Lewisham hereby gives notice that it has made the above named Trafc Order under section 14(1) of the Road Trafc Regulation Act 1984 for the purpose specied in paragraph 2. The effect of the Order is summarised in paragraph 3.
2. The purpose of the Order is to enable resurfacing works to take place at A20 Amersham Road.
3. The effect of the Order will be to prohibit any vehicle from: (1) proceeding or stopping in a westerly direction on New Cross Road between its junctions with Florence Road and Amersham Road. Local access to be maintained;
(2) entering, stopping or proceeding on Amersham Road between its junctions with New Cross Road and Lewisham Way, Local access to be maintained;
(3) stopping on Deptford Broadway between its junctions with Deptford Church Street and Deptford High Street;
(4) proceeding or stopping in a northerly direction on Alpha Road between the extended southern building line of no. 414 New Cross Road and its junction with New Cross Road. Local access will be maintained;
(5) entering, exiting, proceeding or stopping on Parkeld Road between its junctions with Amersham Road and Lewisham Way.
This Order will also prohibit any vehicle over 7.5 tonnes from proceeding in a westerly direction on Deptford Bridge between its junctions with Greenwich High Road and Lewisham Way.
This Order will also permit all vehicles to use the eastbound bus lane on New Cross Road between its junctions with Lewisham Way and Florence Road. The Order will be effective from the 6th January 2025 until 6th July 2025 every night between 9.30 PM and 5.00 AM or when the works have been completed whichever is the sooner. The prohibitions will apply only during such times and to such extent as shall from time to time be indicated by trafc signs.
4. The prohibitions will not apply in respect of:
(1) any vehicle being used for the purposes of those works or for re brigade, ambulance or police purposes;
(2) anything done with the permission or at the direction of a police constable in uniform or a person authorised by Transport for London.
5. At such times as the prohibitions are in force an alternative route will be indicated by trafc signs for local trafc via Blackheath Road, Blackheath Hill, Shooters Hill Road, Sun in the Sands roundabout, Rochester Way Relief Road, Westhorne Avenue, Eltham Road, Lee High Road, Lewisham High Street, Rennell Street, Molesworth Street, Loampit Vale, Loampit Hill and Lewisham Way to normal route of travel. For H.G.V.s via Greenwich High Road and Greenwich South Street to the diversion route above.
Dated this 3rd day of January 2025 Matt Standell Performance and Planning Manager Transport for London Palestra, 197 Blackfriars Road, London, SE1 8NJ
1. NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that, to enable development related works to be carried out, the Council of the London Borough of Lambeth have made an Order the effect of which will be to temporarily ban any vehicle from waiting (including waiting for the purposes of loading and unloading a vehicle) at any time, in that length of Lambeth High Street (east side) which lies between a point 30 metres south of Old Paradise Street (opposite No. 46 Lambeth High Street), and a point 67 metres north of Whitgift Street.
2. The ban on parking, stopping, waiting and loading will only apply at such times and to such extent as shall be indicated by the placing of the appropriate traffic signs.
3. The Order will come into force on 6th January 2025 and will continue for a maximum duration of 6 months (to allow for contingencies) or until the works have been completed whichever is the earlier. In practice it is anticipated that the Order will have effect from 6th January 2025 to 6 June 2025 between 9.30 am and 3.30 pm, but if the works cannot be completed or carried out during that time the Order will also have effect at subsequent dates and times within the maximum period of 6 months.
Dated 3rd January 2025 Ben Stevens Highway Network Manager LONDON BOROUGH OF LAMBETH ROAD TRAFFIC REGULATION ACT 1984 - SECTION 14 TEMPORARY ROAD CLOSURE – THE SLIP ROAD LINKING NORWOOD ROAD WITH DULWICH ROAD
1. NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that to enable investigatory water works to be carried out, the Council of the London Borough of Lambeth have made an Order the effect of which will be to temporarily ban vehicles from entering the slip road that links Norwood Road with Dulwich Road and is situated outside the entrance to Brockwell Park.
2. The road closure will only apply at such times and to such extent as shall be indicated by the placing of the appropriate traffic signs.
3. An alternative route will be available for affected vehicles via Norwood Road and Dulwich Road and the banned left turn from the main carriageway of Norwood Road into Dulwich Road will be suspended to allow this route.
4. The Order will come into force on 15th January 2025 for a maximum duration of 6 months (to allow for contingencies) or until the works have been completed, whichever is the sooner. In practice,
LONDON BOROUGH OF LAMBETH ROAD TRAFFIC
1. NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that, to enable bridge investigation works to be carried out safely, the Council of the London Borough of Lambeth intend to make an Order the effect of which would be to temporarily ban vehicles from entering in that length of Salamanca Street, which lies between the junctions of Randall Road and Salamanca Place.
2. Alternative routes would be available for affected vehicles via (a) Black Prince Road and Vauxhall Walk; and (b) Black Prince Road and Albert Embankment Slip Road.
3. The ban would only apply at such times and to such extent as shall be indicated by the placing of the appropriate traffic signs.
4. The Order would come into force on 18th January 2025 for a maximum duration of 1 month (to allow for contingencies) or until the works have been completed, whichever is the earlier. In practice, it is anticipated that the Order would only be in force between 18th January 2025 and 19th January 2025 during the hours of 10.00 pm and 6.00 am, but if the works cannot be carried out or completed during that time then the Order may also have effect at subsequent times within the maximum period of 1 month.
Dated 3rd January 2025 Ben Stevens Highway Network Manager LONDON BOROUGH OF LAMBETH ROAD TRAFFIC REGULATION ACT
1. NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that, to enable crane operation works to be carried out, the Council of the London Borough of Lambeth intend to make an Order the effect of which would be to temporarily: (a) ban vehicles from entering in that length of Fenwick Place which lies between the property boundary of No. 74 Fenwick Place to the southern property boundary of No.4
3.
ROAD CLOSURE – ST ALPHONSUS ROAD
1. NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that, to enable new water connection works to be carried out, the Council of the London Borough of Lambeth have made an order the effect of which will be to temporarily ban vehicles from entering that length of St Alphonsus Road which lies between Clapham Park Road and Oaklands Place for a length of 57 metres.
2. An alternative route for vehicles will be available via St Alphonsus Road and Holwood Place and vice-versa.
3. The restrictions will only apply at such times and to such extent as shall be indicated by the placing of the appropriate traffic signs.
4. The Order will come into force on 11th January 2025 for a maximum duration of 1 month (to allow for contingencies) or until the works have been completed, whichever is the sooner. In practice, it is anticipated that the works will be carried out between 11th and 12th January 2025 with backup dates between 18th and 19th January 2025, but if the works cannot be carried out or completed on those dates then the Order may also have effect on subsequent days within the maximum period of 1 month.
Dated 3rd January 2025
Ben Stevens Highways Network Manager LONDON BOROUGH OF LAMBETH ROAD TRAFFIC REGULATION ACT 1984 - SECTION 14 TEMPORARY TRAFFIC RESTRICTIONS – UPPER GROUND
1. NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that, to enable works involving the operation of a crane to be carried out safely, the Council of the London Borough of Lambeth have made an Order the effect of which will be to temporarily ban vehicles from entering in that length of Upper Ground which lies between Cornwall Road and the common boundary of No. 58 and Nos. 60 to 72 Upper Ground (Television Centre).
2. Alternative routes for affected vehicles will be available via: (a) Cornwall Road, Stamford Street and Hatfields; and (b) Broadwall, Stamford Street and Cornwall Road.
3. Whenever the ban referred to in paragraph 1 above applies, the order that imposes the one-way system in that length of Upper Ground which lies between Barge House Street and Duchy Street will be suspended and the cycle lane in that length of road will also be suspended.
4. The ban and suspensions will only apply at such times and to such extent as shall be indicated by the placing and covering of the appropriate traffic signs.
5. The Order will come into force on 12th January 2025 for a maximum duration of 6 months or until the works have been completed, whichever is the sooner. In practice, it is anticipated that the crane operation works will be carried out between 12th and 14th January 2025 with backup dates of 19th and 21st January 2025, but if the works cannot be carried out or completed during these times, then the Order may also have effect at subsequent times within the maximum period of 3 months.
Dated 3rd January 2025 Ben Stevens Highway Network Manager
Transport for London Public Notice
(SUTTON) CONSOLIDATION TRAFFIC ORDER 2008 A297 GLA ROAD (ST HELIER AVENUE) VARIATION ORDER 2025
1. Transport for London, hereby gives notice that it intends to make the above named Orders under section 6 of the Road Trafc Regulation Act 1984.
2. The roads which would be affected by the Orders are the A297 GLA Road St Helier Avenue and GLA Side Road Bristol Road in the London Borough of Merton.
3. The general nature and effects of the Orders will be to:
(1) Remove Parking and Disabled Persons’ Vehicle Bay outside No.41 St Helier Avenue;
(2) Relocate the existing Loading, Unloading and Disabled Persons’ Vehicle Bay outside Nos49-51 St Helier Avenue to outside No.41 St Helier Avenue, operating No Stopping Mon-Sat 7am-7pm except 10am-4pm loading 20 minutes or disabled persons’ vehicle to park for a maximum of 3 hours. Double red controls will be adjusted to reect the change;
(3) introduce a new southbound bus lane on the A297 St Helier Avenue between its junction with Boxley Road and outside No.231 St Helier Avenue, operating Mon-Sun At Any Time permitting buses, dial a ride buses, taxis, motorcycles and pedal cycles;
(4) introduce a new southbound bus lane on the A297 St Helier Avenue between No.265 to No.339 St Helier Avenue, operating Mon-Sun At Any Time permitting buses, dial a ride buses, taxis, motorcycles and pedal cycles;
(5) introduce a new northbound bus lane on the A297 St Helier Avenue between No.264 to No.356 St Helier Avenue, operating Mon-Sun At Any Time permitting buses, dial a ride buses, taxis, motorcycycles and pedal cycles;
(6) Extend the existing northbound bus lane on the A297 St Helier Avenue between No.20 to No.146 St Helier Avenue by 374 metres at its southern end, operating Mon-Sun At Any Time permitting buses, dial a ride buses, taxis, motorcycycles and pedal cycles;
(7) Convert the single red lines (No Stopping Mon-Sat 7am-7pm) into double red lines (No Stopping At Any Time) on the western kerb-line of St Helier Avenue between its junction with Bristol Road and adjacent to No.142 St Helier.
(8) Convert the single red lines (No Stopping Mon-Sat 7am-7pm) into double red lines (No Stopping At Any Time) on the eastern kerb-line of St Helier Avenue outside No.259 to No.265 St Helier Avenue;
(9) Shorten the existing Loading, Unloading and Disabled Persons’ Vehicle Bay opposite No.374 St Helier Avenue by 7 metres at its northern end. Double red lines will be adjusted to reect the change;
(10) Convert the single red lines (No Stopping Mon-Sat 7am-7pm) into double red lines (No Stopping At Any Time) at the southern kerb-line of Bristol Road and southern kerb-line of the un-named Road adjacent to No.142 St Helier Avenue.
4. A copy of the Order, a statement of Transport for London’s reasons for the proposals, a map indicating the location and effect of the Order and copies of any Order revoked, suspended or varied by the Order can be inspected by visiting our website at https://haveyoursay.t.gov.uk/tro and selecting the relevant borough and reference the Trafc Order relates to or by appointment during normal ofce hours at our ofce at the address below. To arrange an appointment please email trafcordersection@t,gov.uk. Copies of the documents may be requested via email at trafcordersection@t,gov.uk, or by post at the following address quoting reference NMR/REGULATION/STOT/SW/TRO, GLA/2025/0029--0031
•Transport for London Streets Trafc Order Team (NMR/REGULATION/STOT) Palestra, 197 Blackfriars Road London, SE1 8NJ
5. All objections and other representations to the proposed Order must be made in writing and must specify the grounds on which they are made. Objections and representations must be sent to Transport for London, Streets Trafc Order Team, Palestra, 197 Blackfriars Road, London, SE1 8NJ or by emailing trafcordersection@t.gov.uk quoting reference NMR/REGULATION/STOT/SW/TRO, GLA/2025/0029-0031, to arrive before 24th January 2025. Please note due to hybrid working access to post is restricted and requests for documents and conrmation of your objections or representations may be delayed. Objections and other representations may be communicated to other persons who may be affected.
Dated this 3rd day of January 2025
Matt Standell Performance and Planning Manager Transport for London Palestra, 197 Blackfriars Road, London, SE1 8NJ
LONDON BOROUGH OF LAMBETH
Notice Under The Town and Country Planning Acts
NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the Council is considering applications as set out below under the following categories;
Written representations should be made within three weeks of the date of this advertisement to the
Winchester SO23 5DG. Any comments made are open to inspection by the
Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government.
application.
LONDON BOROUGH OF LAMBETH ROAD TRAFFIC REGULATION ACT 1984 - SECTION 14
TEMPORARY ROAD CLOSURE – FOUNTAIN PLACE
1. NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that, to enable BT repair and maintenance works to be carried out, the Council of the London Borough of
Lambeth intend to make an order the effect of which would be to temporarily ban vehicles from entering that length of Fountain Place which lies between the property boundaries of No. 33 to and No. 35a Fountain Place and between the property boundaries of No. 35 and No.37 Fountain Place for a closure length of approximately 10 metres.
2. An alternative route for vehicles would be available via Eythorne Road, Crawshay Road, and Bramah Road and vice-versa.
3. The restrictions would only apply at such times and to such extent as shall be indicated by the placing of the appropriate traffic signs.
4. The order would come into force on 13th January 2025 and would continue for a maximum duration of 1 month (to allow for contingencies). In practice it is anticipated that the order would only have effect between 13th and 13th January 2025, during the hours of 9.30 am and 3.30 pm but if the works cannot be carried out or completed between these dates then the Order may have effect on subsequent days within the maximum duration of 1 month.
Dated 3rd January 2025
Ben Stevens Highways Network Manager
LONDON BOROUGH OF LAMBETH ROAD TRAFFIC REGULATION ACT 1984 - SECTION 14
TEMPORARY CYCLE LANE AND FOOTWAY CLOSURE – ROSENDALE ROAD
1. NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that, to enable BT pole replacement works, the Council of the London Borough of Lambeth intend to make an Order, the effect of which would be to temporarily ban pedestrians and cyclists) from entering the footway and cycle lane on Rosendale Road, between the property boundaries of No. 258 and No. 250 Rosendale Road.
2. The
WINTER MARKET PLACE
Modest Jones doWnplays lionesses iMpact
Side had lost four successive games before managerial changes
By John Kelly
ted JoneS outlined the high standards millwall Lionesses are holding themselves to as he reflected on his first four months in the job at St Paul’s.
Jones was appointed along with assistant Jack Wisson on September 17 after the Lionesses had lost their first four L&SERWFL Premier Division games of the season, conceding fifteen goals.
After losing their first match under the new coaching ticket 3-0 at home to Ebbsfleet Town in the FA Cup, the Lionesses went unbeaten in their next six, all in the league, including getting their first win of the season when they defeated Sutton United 2-1 away from home.
They pushed Tottenham Hotspur Academy all the way in the Capital Women’s Cup Senior Section before being edged out 2-1 at St Paul’s, their first defeat in seven.
Millwall had a 1-0 setback at Dorking
Wanderers in the Premier Division before bouncing back to win 4-2 at Bognor Regis to reach the last eight of the League Cup.
The Lionesses rounded off the year in style by winning 3-0 at Sport London E Benfica in their last game before the Christmas break and sit seventh in the table with seventeen points from twelve games.
Jones was modest about the impact he and Wisson have made.
“Over all, we’re really happy with how things have gone since joining the club,”
Jones said. “If I’m completely honest, we don’t feel like we’ve made massive changes in what we’ve been doing. We’ve introduced how we want to play, made sure we’re working hard in training and implementing our game plans and credit to the squad, they’ve been brilliant.
“From the start, Jack and I had full belief in the squad to start turning results around and getting some points on the board which the players have responded excellently and it shows in our recent
Fish stay in title
By John Kelly
FiShEr romPED to a superb 3-0 SCEFL Premier Division win against Glebe at St Paul’s to see out the year in style.
After a goalless first half, Charles YiadomKonadu opened the scoring seven minutes after the break before Omotunmise Akanni
hunt
doubled the lead on 82 minutes and Jacob Katonia added the third two minutes into stoppage-time in front of an attendance of 254 in Rotherhithe.
Ajay Ashanike’s side finish 2024 in third place in the table, four points off leaders VCD Athletic.
The Fish host Larkfield & New Hythe this Saturday at 3pm.
form.
“We’ve had some superb performances and results along the way but if we’re ultra-critical, we feel we could have picked up some more points along the way.
“A couple of lapses in concentration have cost us points but that’s the standards which we’re holding ourselves accountable to. We feel we can beat anyone in the league and the girls are always pushing each other for more.”
Jones explained how they are using this break.
“I think the break has come at a good time for us as a group,” Jones said. “Preseason was a tumultuous time and we’ve been playing catch-up in the recent months since Jack and I joined. We’re using this time as an opportunity to reset and use it as a mini pre-season before beginning the second half of the season.
“We’ll be treating this as a small season where we feel we’re in a much better place to assess where we are against the other teams in the league.
Ultimately, we want to finish as high up the table as we can and close the gap to the teams above us, which we’re fully confident in doing.”
The Lionesses are back from their break this Sunday when they take on Herne Bay in their League Cup quarter-final tie.
Jones added: “We’re really looking forward to the game, they’ll be a good side who have put on some great performances against sides in a tier or two above, even knocking Sutton out of the FA Cup.
“We know it won’t be an easy game but we go into it full of confidence. We’re setting our sights on winning the cup, as I’ve said before, we feel that we can beat anyone in our league so we feel that this is the perfect opportunity to do so.
“It’s been a long time since the club has won any silverware so it’s certainly something which we’ve got our eyes set on.”
Kick-off this Sunday is 1.30pm at St Paul’s.
By John Kelly
haKan hayrettin blasted his Dulwich hamlet players after they contrived to lose 2-1 to a Whitehawk team who were 1-0 and a man down at half-time with a forward in goal.
Hawks goalkeeper Jasper Sheik was shown a straight red card in the 39th minute for a professional foul before Luke Wanadio beat forward Rob O’Toole from the penalty spot.
But O’Toole was rarely troubled after the break and the hosts equalised through Andrew Briggs’ 63rd-minute penalty and Luke Robinson scored what proved to be the winner six minutes later.
“We missed two great chances in the first half,” Hayrettin said. “Then we got the penalty that we deserved and then it’s like the boys decided to do what they wanted to do in the second half [against] ten men and not listen to what we asked them to do. That’s the crux of it.
“We didn’t turn them, we didn’t put balls into areas, we didn’t do anything really…in fact we did the opposite, we started going backwards.
“We’ve given them instructions, we’ve told them what to do, we told them how to do it at halftime. They’ve come out and done something completely different.
“Obviously I’m the manager, the buck stops with me, I just couldn’t believe what I was watching.
“You go 1-0 up [against] ten men, you’ve got to control the game, we never controlled it, they controlled it second half. They wanted it more than us. I think we’ve let everybody down.
“I just feel extremely disappointed. We let down the traveling supporters. We gave them something to cheer about at half-time and we told [the players] it’s 45 minutes, you’ve got to do it for 90 minutes. We didn’t do it, they did the complete opposite. They didn’t go forward, they passed sideways and backwards. We didn’t put them under pressure. We didn’t put the ball in the box, didn’t compete at all. That was the product of the second half.”
Dulwich are back in Isthmian League Premier Division action when Bognor Regis Town are the visitors to Champion Hill for a 3pm kick-off.
Surrey trio get bowling calls as new programme launched
By John Kelly
SurrEY’S rYANA macDonald-Gay, emma Jones and alexa Stonehouse will be part of the new England Women pace bowling performance programme.
The aim of the programme is to develop players outside of those on England central contracts.
It is delivered by coach Chris Liddle through camps at the National Cricket Performance Centre in Loughborough.
MacDonald-Gay was called up to England’s senior Test squad for the recent tour of South Africa and took two wickets on her debut.
“It’s been a great to get the pace programme up and running this winter,” Liddle said.
“I feel we have selected an incredibly talented group of bowlers who are all at different stages of their development but more importantly have the potential to add variety to England’s pace attack in the future.
“We’ve put a really strong programme together to develop the players in every aspect of their game and supported by coaches who are all aligned to how we
want to progress these players over the winter.
“Having Ryana MacDonald-Gay and Grace Potts (Lancashire) both called up to the latest Test squad was really pleasing not only from a development point of view but also having players ready if called upon.
“I’m really pleased with the early progress of this year’s intake and the way
they have embraced the programme and changes asked of them.”
Meanwhile, MacDonald-Gay, Alice Capsey, Sophie Dunkley and Danni WyattHodge have been included in the ODI and IT20 squad for England’s series on Australia.
The three-match ODI series starts from Saturday, January 11 before a three-match IT20 series from Monday, January 20.
Photo by Lily Boorer
Hak blast for dozy Dulwich
Ted Jones, right, with assistant Jack Wisson
Fisher kept former Millwall striker Jamie Philpot at bay
Photo by Dave Anderson
By John Kelly
oLivEr GLASNEr admitted
Eberechi Eze was “suffering” before the England attacker scored his first Premier League goal since September to help Crystal Palace defeat Southampton 2-1 at Selhurst Park in their last game of 2024.
Saints, with Ivan Juric taking charge of his second game, went in front on fourteen minutes when Kyle WalkerPeters crossed for Adam Armstrong who helped the ball on for Tyler Dibling to finish from close range
Trevoh Chalobah headed home Will Hughes’s corner half an hour in and the goal stood after a VAR check following Southampton protests that Jean-Philippe Mateta had fouled goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale.
Eze scored seven minutes into the second half, his first goal at home this season and fourth of the campaign in all competitions.
"I'm very pleased for him." Glasner said.
"Maybe it's the circle of football. It started with the disallowed goal at Brentford after ten minutes.
"It was the first game of the season and now it's the last game in 2024 and now he scored this goal.
"He was really suffering, it looked like with this special moment.
"He had many big chances, great saves by the keepers, missing by one inch, hitting the post and then all of a sudden it was in his head.
"I could see him, he was suffering. I'm really pleased for him that he scored the game winner today.
"It will help him, absolutely. I have mentioned it so often, with the strikers you can train with them, you can hug them, you can kick them.
"The only thing that helps is that they need this goal. He got it.
"First half he had three four situations with his dribbling, he had one finish into the arms of Ramsdale, he had two free kicks but this will help him, definitely.” Glasner added: "I'm very pleased. Everybody expected us [to win] against the bottom team at home, but these games are often the difficult ones.
"Today we were very strong from setplays and scored the goals."
Glasner admitted Chalobah’s goal
probably would not have stood in other leagues.
"All over Europe yes [it would have been disallowed], but not in England,” he said. “This is the Premier League. We were told about this at the start of the season and what I really like is that it's always the same line. If this goal would have been disallowed then many goals from many other teams would have been disallowed.
Flying Ravens denied victory
By John Kelly
BromLey had to settle for a point after Swindon town came from behind to earn a 1-1 draw at hayes Lane at the weekend.
Omar Sowunmi gave Bromley the lead in the 69th minute with a header from Idris Odutayo's cross.
Ian Holloway’s side claimed a point through Rosaire Longelo's equaliser just three minutes later.
Andy Woodman’s Ravens have enjoyed a superb end to 2024 in their first-ever season in the Football League. They are unbeaten in their last eleven games in League Two, losing just one of their last fifteen since September.
That form has given them an unlikely shot at the play-offs as they are just five points off the top seven having been in 22nd place in the table after their last defeat, 2-1 at home to Tranmere Rovers in October.
Bromley travel to Crewe Alexandra on Sunday.
No Eze path as attacker sinks Saints
"Everybody uses the rules to the very edge. This is what we are doing, this is what Arsenal are doing, everybody is doing."
Palace are now six points clear of the relegation zone but Eze knows they have not matched their potential yet this campaign.
“We want to do better than we've done so far this season. We're not where we want to be now, for sure,” Eze said.
Hard work pays off for England international
“But I feel like we're in the right place, we're in the right frame of mind. We've got the right mindset and I feel like we'll kick on.
“It was a tough game. I feel like in the first half we had quite a few chances.
“We could have probably gone ahead then, but it's one of those games where we stuck to it. We kept going, we kept pushing, and got the three points.”
Eze added: “I always believe in myself
and I'm always confident, so I know that there's phases and time that will go by, but I trust myself.
"It’s football. You try to make the right decision all the time, you're trying to do the right things, but sometimes it comes off, sometimes it doesn't.
“But I think the mentality was there, we kept pushing, we kept going, and I feel like that's the main thing. That's what actually gets you goals in the end.”
Miles bags brace to keep 'magnificent' Charlton on right road in promotion hunt
By John Kelly
nathan JoneS didn’t hold back the praise for his “magnificent” side after charlton athletic ended Wycombe Wanderers’ nineteen-game unbeaten run as miles Leaburn’s double secured a 2-1 win at the valley last weekend.
Leaburn scored in the 46th and 52nd minutes before Richard Kone’s goal six minutes from time that proved only a consolation.
Chairboys boss Matt Bloomfield - who had been of interest to Millwall before the Lions appointed Alex Neil this week - had led his side to the top of League One. Wycombe lost their first two games of the season - to
Wrexham and Birmingham City, the only teams currently above them - before going on that unbeaten run.
“Wycombe are a really good side, a real dangerous one,” Jones said. ‘I can’t remember the last time they lost, you’re going back to August or September in the league. Matt Bloomfield has done a great job there, so we knew we’d have to be on it.
“I thought we were magnificent from start to finish. We were versatile and adapted certain things, we had all the best chances, all of them. No disrespect to anyone but we could have had three or four. It was a really good performance against a flying side, they are dangerous and have threats, I thought we were brilliant.”
Leaburn, 21, has scored eight goals in all competitions this season, four of them in his last three games.
“Miles is in fine form, he’s gathering momentum,” Jones said. “He was out for eleven months so we were taking it day-by-day. He wants to learn. At times he looked unplayable, especially when he had that anger about him. The quality he has, to reach his leg round for the volley and then the composure with that chip, it gave us that wonderful platform to win the game.
“He is absolutely nowhere near where he can be. When he realises what he is good at he can be anything he wants to be.”
The Addicks are four points off the top six after three successive
wins.
Jones added: “We are building a platform. When we keep clean sheets and don’t concede, you have to look at other teams who concede three or four and then maybe score two or three the next game. We don’t do that, we have a level of consistency in our defensive play. We are very good out of possession. That gives us the platform to then go on and win games. Sometimes we let ourselves down, but we learn from it.
“I’m pleased for the whole group, even after they scored, we saw the game out really well, against the most dangerous side in the league in terms of scoring.” Charlton host Reading on Saturday.
Eberechi Eze scored his fi rst goal at home this season
‘i don’t like to put any liMitations on aspiration’
By Will Scott
aLeX neiL revealed he thinks millwall are capable of making a playoff push in his first interview as head coach.
Neil, 43, sat down with Millwall TV to discuss his plans for the Lions, and what his expectations are for the season.
The Scot has been out of coaching for just over a year since being dismissed by Stoke City in December 2023, and is eager to make his return.
“You do miss it,” Neil said. “It becomes a sort of bug that you can’t shake off. I’ve been involved in football since I was sixteen in a professional environment. So I think from that perspective, I’m certainly raring to go.”
He is taking charge of a side that has struggled for form following a nine-game unbeaten streak earlier in the season that lifted the Lions as high as seventh in the table.
Millwall played six games in December,
losing four, drawing once and winning once. The Lions only scored two goals in that stretch.
Despite Millwall’s poor form, Neil sees plenty of positives in the team’s current setup.
“I think it’s very much similar to when I went in at Preston [North End],” Neil said.
“I think that when I took over at Preston, it was a similar sort of situation.
“Going into a good environment, it doesn’t mean there’s huge problems. The team wasn’t struggling, and I had to go in and develop a style of play, maybe bring in some of the younger players through. I see this as a very similar project to what I did there.”
There are other parallels with Neil’s previous roles. He has been appointed head coach midway through the season twice, and both times he led the team to promotion
“I’ve joined two clubs mid-season, I went into Sunderland mid-season, I went into
Silva: ’Tough to take’
By John Kelly
mArCo SiLvA was left with a feeling of frustration despite seeing Fulham extend their unbeaten Premier League run to seven games with their 2-2 draw against AFC Bournemouth at Craven Cottage last weekend.
The Cherries twice came from behind, with substitute Dango Ouattara scoring in the 89th minute to rescue a point for Andoni Iraola’s visitors.
Raul Jimenez scored his sixth goal of the season to give the Cottagers a 40th-minute lead before Evanilson
levelled in the 51st minute.
Harry Wilson restored the hosts’ advantage but Ouattara finished a loose ball in the box as both sides extended their unbeaten runs to seven.
“A really tough one to take in a difficult game,” Silva said. “We expected a really difficult game, three days after our last game, which was the same for them as well.
“The first half was difficult for us and we were not able to have the possession that we like to have normally. It was a set-piece that made the difference for us, a great one as well, a great ball from Andreas.
“The second half was our best half.
Norwich mid-season and both ended up with promotion”, Neil said.
“I’m not suggesting that that’s where we’re going to end up, but the point I’m making is I think there’s some coaches that really needed a pre-season and to bed in and all that sort of stuff.
“I’m well versed in taking over at teams throughout the season. It’s certainly not gonna be easy. It’ll be a challenge, but I’m confident in the fact that the short term results that we need we’ll get and hopefully we can try and pick up a little bit of form between now and the end of the season.”
Despite his experience and success in the Championship, Neil does not intend to make drastic changes in his first few weeks in charge.
“It is going to be a gradual process,” Neil said. “It’s certainly not going to be wholesale changes overnight.
“I think there’s a lot of good players here that have been here for a number of years. I think we’ve got a good group of younger
players starting to emerge as well.
“So just trying to get that balance right, because I’m a big believer in development of players, but also I think you do need good quality senior players around that to make it work. I think that’s going to be key.”
Once Neil has fully stamped his mark on the squad, he thinks they are more than capable of competing for a top-six spot.
“I don’t like to put any limitations on aspiration,” Neil said. “I think that you want to always try and set your bar as high as possible and if we can have a really good run, you never know.
“I’m not saying right now that our aim is to get promoted this season, I think there’s a lot to be done in that sense, but like I say, if we can have a good run then there’s no reason why we can’t be competing for the play-offs and things like that.”
Strong home performances would be crucial to maintaining any run of good form.
Millwall have won six out of their twelve games at The Den this season, claiming the
Marti left with
After we made it 2-1, we started to control the game really well. The impact of Tom Cairney was big and he made a big impact on the game. It felt like it was much closer to 3-1 than 2-2 but when the game gets towards the end, we have to be more ruthless.
“Big fight from the players again, great commitment, great attitude and I hope that we can learn from this type of moment because we have to be more ruthless in certain moments.
“It’s another situation for us to learn but there are many positives from the game we can take."
Fulham host Ipswich Town on Sunday at 2pm.
By John Kelly
mArti CiFuENtES was disappointed Queens Park rangers got so close to beating Norwich City at Carrow road but couldn’t hang on as the canaries scored a late equaliser.
Ante Crnac diverted Kenneth Paal’s corner into his own goal to give the visitors the lead four minutes into first-half added-time.
But Marcelino Núnez scored in the 89th minute as QPR couldn’t claim the win after their 3-0 defeat at Swansea City on Boxing Day.
“I have a mixed feeling,” Cifuentes said. “I would say it is definitely not an unfair result because Norwich pushed, especially in the
Millwall’s new boss on similarities with past roles, his plans for the Lions and expectations for the season
scalps of top-six sides Blackburn Rovers, Leeds United and Burnley.
Neil believes that playing exciting football is key to engaging fans and making The Den even more intimidating
“I always start with the fact that we need to do it on the pitch and the fans react off the back of that,” Neil said.
“You hear a lot about the fans needing to back the team, and I do believe that but I think that football’s an entertainment sport.
“As a fan you want to enjoy what you see and I think if you do that, I think you then get the full backing of them. I think that helps the players, the players then can perform better and it’s one of the ones that sort of one leads into another.”
When asked if he has a message for the fans, Neil said: “Just that I’m delighted to be here, I can’t wait to get started. Let’s hope that we can put some good performances on and get the full backing the team will need.”
‘mixed
feeling’
last minutes of the game.
“I am frustrated to concede the goal that late obviously. I felt in the first half we played at a really high level against a good team and we said at half-time that after scoring the goal it was very important for us to keep showing the same personality, and perhaps that is the only negative.
“Despite all the effort the guys put into it, despite a bad game against Swansea and we were looking to bounce back today, we missed the sequences on the ball in the second half.
“Having said that, Norwich is a good team and we knew that they would push. It is just the frustration to get that close and not be able to keep the three points.”
QPR host Luton Town next Monday.
Alex Neil in charge of Stoke City against Birmingham City at St Andrew’s in April 2023
Southwark Sport
blues get the y-ips
Chelsea miss chance to go second as former starlet nets
INSIDE MODEST JONES DOWNPLAYS LIONESSES IMPACT
Dons enjoy late Stevens’ Day
By Will Scott
AFC WimBLEDoN are up to second in League two after their 1-0 win over Gillingham at Plough Lane on monday night.
James Tilley set up Matty Stevens for his twelfth league goal of the season 50 minutes in. It was a controversial goal as the visitors claimed the ball came off the striker’s arm.
Johnnie Jackson’s Dons are one of five teams on 37 points, twelve points off Walsall.
"I'm buzzing,” Tilley said. “We knew going into the game how they play. We managed to out-battle them and take those three points.
"Sometimes you're not at your best and you nave be able to scrap out games and we've done that.
"We work on our corners most days, finding that front post, and it's come off. Matty Stevens is on fire. Since he's come in he's quality.
"Before every season the aim is to get promoted, we're right in the mix, it's about trying to stay in and around it now and stay in that top three."
By John Kelly
ChELSEA SuFFErED successive defeats for the first time under Enzo maresca as a ghost of Christmas past came back to haunt them at Portman road on monday night.
The Blues were aiming to go back into second place in the Premier League table but suffered an early blow when Liam Delap gave Ipswich Town the lead from the penalty spot after a VAR ruling that he had been fouled by goalkeeper Filip Jorgensen.
Chelsea had three-quarters of the possession and 20 shots on goalthough only five on target - but went 2-0 down when their former winger Omari Hutchinson was set up by Delap in the 53rd minute. Hutchinson helped Kieran McKenna’s side to promotion from the Championship on loan last season before making a permanent £19million transfer from Stamford Bridge in the summer.
“It was a bit of a strange game,” Maresca said. “We created so many chances in the first half and in the first
five or ten minutes of the second half. We had two clear chances, the header from Joao [Felix] and another shot.
“Then I think the second goal killed the game a little bit. Sometimes when you create so many chances, the post, the VAR, the keeper saves or the defenders that block the shot, sometimes it has to go in that way.
“It's a shame because it was another chance for us but congratulations to them because probably when you save so many shots on the line, the goalkeeper, the body, the desire from them was very high.”
On the penalty, Maresca said: "They said it's a bit soft but we have to accept it's a penalty.
"We made four changes from the last game because they all deserve to play. Now we've finished the first part of the season, no one expected us to be where we are. We are in a good position but we can do many things better. It's a long race.
"We focus game by game. We are not focused on title race or those things."
Meanwhile, Gills boss Mark Bonner said: "We made an error for the corner but it's handball. In the speed of everything it's a difficult decision to make, but it's a tough one for us when we were well in the game.
"The goal shouldn't stand and maybe it would have been different if it hadn't."
"A couple of key moments have gone against us.
"The goal was disappointing but our response to it was very good. There was lots in the performance I'll protect the players for.
"We were much better in the second half. We had good control and good endeavour.
"We felt the contact on our players in their box was overly aggressive. If we have VAR, we have a penalty after five minutes and their goal doesn't count.”
Bonner felt Conor Masterson was fouled in the box by Dons defender John-Joe O'Toole in the first half.
Bonner said: “[It] was absolute assault in the box. I don't know what is a penalty if that isn't."
Enzo Maresca had not previously lost successive games as Blues boss
