Love Lambeth

The council’s Cabinet has agreed that a Selective Licensing Scheme should be introduced in four wards, in a bid to improve property conditions and management, and tackle problems including anti-social behaviour (ASB) and deprivation.

From September, landlords will need a licence and meet the conditions associated to legally let any property to a single-family household or no more than two unrelated sharers in this “Selective Licensing Designation 1” – Knights Hill, Streatham Common & Vale, Streatham Hill East, and Streatham St Leonards.

Streatham Youth and Community Trust, the nursery provider, had previously notified parents and carers of their decision to close the provision at the end of the summer term, in July, because of concerns about their ability to deliver a financially sustainable provision in light of the new national childcare expansion scheme.

SYTC then raised concerns in March with the council and with Ofsted about the quality of the their current provision and their capacity to ensure compliance with Ofsted requirements and the Early Years Foundation Stage curriculum.

The council has been working with TfL to prepare a £9 million investment in the A23 to make it safer, more pleasant and efficient for residents and visitors. As well as this, the council secured a new package of bus priority measures to streamline bus journeys that TfL will consult on later this year.

The four projects are under the UKSPF Community and Places theme, which intends to enhance local places’ social and human capital, support local arts, cultural, heritage, and creative activities, and develop existing cultural, historical, and heritage institutions.

Streatham Green is a critical local asset.

The redesign of Streatham Green is a particularly exciting and vital project given its location on Streatham High Road. This densely populated urban area has high traffic and air pollution levels and limited green space for residents.

The council has been working with TfL to prepare a £9 million investment in the A23 to make it safer, more pleasant and efficient for residents and visitors. As well as this, the council secured a new package of bus priority measures to streamline bus journeys that TfL will consult on later this year.

The Streatham Wells LTN trial was introduced in October last year to reduce road danger and make the neighbourhood safer and healthier by restricting motor vehicle access to streets within the scheme.

The council will publish its ‘Streatham Wells Stage 1 – Initial Adjustments’ monitoring report in the coming days. There has been an average 60% decrease in traffic within the LTN and an 8% increase in traffic on boundary roads. Overall, there has been a 2% net reduction in traffic across the area.

The council is proposing to implement a new planning mechanism in relation to the creation of new Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMOs) in Streatham Common & Vale and Streatham St Leonard’s.

Residents in both wards have expressed concerns relating to the notably high number of HMOs locally, and associated issues including instances of reported anti-social behaviour, the loss of family homes and the impact on the character of each area.

Streatham’s Lunch Club set a crowdfunder target of £5k – and smashed it with £12,500 raised, including £2,500 match funding from Crowdfund Lambeth, more than 50 supporters from the local community, and a pledge of £4,750 from Sovereign Network Group: Thriving Communities Fund.

Cooking for the community

During the closure of Brixton Library, major work on upgrading the toilet facilities and creating a new dedicated children’s toilet will be carried out. Work will also begin on replacing the lift as it is out of date, and the new lift will go down to the basement, meaning the basement area can be opened so more activities can be delivered.

In May the work will be completed when two new meeting pods will be installed, an improved children’s area created and more space provided for people independently studying at the library using their own laptop and other devices.

Concerns have been raised by local residents in relation to the recent increase in Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMOs) in two of Lambeth’s wards – Streatham Common & Vale and Streatham St Leonard’s. The concerns are related to anti-social behaviour, loss of family homes, and impact on the character of the area(s).