This week I took the unprecedented step of walking out of a planning committee meeting after only the first item. Labour had appointed a new chair to the committee, after the defection of the previous chair to the All People’s Party.  Everything was going well, and members were asking lots of questions of the officers […]

Just when we thought it was safe to take our eye off the ball, a few more policy documents have been out for consultation. This includes the Mayor’s Draft London Housing Strategy and more changes to the London Plan. The consultation for the Housing Strategy has now closed  – here is my response draft london housing […]

More concerned residents are joining the campaign to stop Southwark Council from approving a planning document for Blackfriars Road that gives a green light to intensify development. The document was recently agreed by the Labour Cabinet members (see previous post) but has been “called in” by the council’s Overview and Scrutiny committee. This isn’t about […]

Residents were left shocked yesterday after Southwark Council’s Cabinet meeting which was deciding on, amongst other things, the Blackfriars Rd SPD. When residents started to complain about what can only be described as a badly executed attempt at a party political broadcast, Council Leader Peter John said “I can make a statement, its my meeting”. […]

Many social housing residents in SE1 are this week reeling from the shock discovery that they are going to lose their homes. How did they find out? Not from their respective landlords – a Southwark based charity and London and Quadrant – but from a news item on the SE1 website. Responses to the Council’s […]

Sorry to see that the safer crossings petition couldn’t be presented to Council Assembly last night because of some constitutional confusion. The leader of the council, Peter John, has promised that the crossings will be sorted within 12 months but given that the campaign has been running since the seventies I won’t hold my breath! […]

This morning at 9.30 the last engine left the fire station in Southwark Bridge Road. Geoffrey, Maria and myself were there with local residents to wave them off but it was a sad day for the local community and another sad day for local democracy – one more decision that Boris has forced through against […]

Southwark Liberal Democrats’ Cycling Summit Southwark Lib Dems have organised a cycling summit to discuss ways that cycling can be made safer and to see what additional roadside facilities might be useful. Although the summit was already planned, the recent tragic cyclist deaths have highlighted just how much more work is needed to make cycling […]

You  have probably noticed that there is an empty space where the war memorial used to be, but don’t worry – it is being restored and should be back in place with a new base and levelled foundations by the end of January 2014. When one of the plaques fell of last year, the council […]

Yesterday I witnessed the spectacle of Boris Johnson presiding over the planning enquiry into Eileen House – a 41 storey tower proposed for the Elephant and Castle. Southwark’s cross party planning committee had refused the application on a number of grounds – an unusual occurrence in itself as major planning applications rarely get refused in […]