Chuka Umunna MP

Brixton Windmill reopened on Monday following an extensive renovation programme financed by the Heritage Lottery Fund, Lambeth Coucil and Friends of Brixton Windmill who have worked hard to secure the renovation. Chuka cut the ribbon along with Lambeth Mayor Christiana Valcarcel and a descendent of John Ashby, the windmill’s original owner.

The windmill, which was built in 1816, will now be open to the public on a regular basis and will grind flour from locally grown wheat and barley.

The BBC has compiled a selection of historic photos of the windmill, which is one of only five remaining in London.

Commenting on the occasion of the Black Cultural Archives’ Uprising event to mark the 30th anniversary of the Brixton Riots this weekend, Chuka Umunna MP, Member of Parliament for the Streatham constituency (which covers part of Brixton) said today:

“One spring day in April 1981 my mother popped down to Brixton with her little toddlers to do a spot of shopping. Little did she know what was about to unfold; as the tension mounted and the violence started, she literally sprinted to our car with her two bundles of joy – my sister in her pushchair and me on foot – and fled the unrest.

“The Briton riots 30 years ago were a product of many things – a community that had had enough. Police brutality and prejudice yes, but also poverty, unemployment and a lack of opportunities. We’ve come a long way since then and things are far better for my generation than my father’s who arrived in this country in the 1950s and 60s.

“Yet, we still have our challenges – there is still prejudice, though it might also take on different forms. It is for these reasons that we should remember and never forget what happened – that way we fend off complacency and keep striving to be a better place to live for all our communities.”

A local day centre for elderly people could be facing closure as a result of government cuts – local MP Chuka Umunna has raised the issue in Parliament this week.

Lambeth Senior Citizens, which is based on Lambert Road off Brixton Hill provides a daily lunch club for the elderly as well as extensive pastoral care. For those who attend the lunch club, many of whom live alone, the club provides pastoral care and a chance to meet and socialise with others.

As well as a low-cost lunch, the elderly people who use the centre are given help and assistance and regular outings are organised. Mr Umunna recently visited the centre and met with many of the elderly people who use it, who told him of what an important part of their lives it was.

Because of government cuts in local authority funding, the future of Lambeth Senior Citizens is in doubt. In Parliament this week, Mr Umunna asked whether ministers would visit the centre to see the affects of cuts to local government budgets on the ground, but this invitation was not accepted.

The Centre provides food and a place to go during the day for elderly people, helping them stay fit and healthy and ensuring that they do not become lonely and isolated so it helps prevent them needing costly treatment and care from the state.

Under the government’s local authority funding settlement, the most deprived 10% of single-tier authorities will see their total spending power reduced by nearly four times as much as the least deprived 10% of single-tier local authorities.

Cuts made by the Conservative-led government to council budgets will mean that per resident, Lambeth’s budget will fall by £104.10 per person in 2011/12 and £55 in 2012/13. Research undertaken by the House of Commons Library, shows that Lambeth’s revenue spending power will fall by £29.88 in financial year 2011/12 and £15.9m in financial year 2012/13.

Commenting, Mr Umunna said: “Lambeth Senior Citizens provides an invaluable service to its users – many of whom are elderly people living alone.

“The cuts which the government is imposing on local council budgets hit the poorest communities hardest and are putting frontline services at risk. Ministers are going too far too fast and areas like ours are paying the price.”

Chuka is holding a People’s Question Time to discuss an exciting potential community development in the area. At this very early stage of the development, residents’ views are being sought on the idea and the potential building design.

Date: Wednesday 6th April
Time: 7.00pm – 8.30pm
Venue: Corpus Christi RC Church, 11 Trent Road, SW2 5BJ

At the meeting a proposal will be discussed to turn a row of disused garages at the rear of Fairmount Road and Raleigh Gardens into a green, creative space for the community. This development would turn a wasteland into a financially sustainable community building and garden that would provide a real oasis in a crowded urban space.

There are already many exciting ideas about what could be done with this space, including developing a community kitchen and cafe to promote healthy eating and demonstrate the benefits of using fresh, own grown produce and engaging in community activities including animation, film, sculpture, creative writing, live music, arts and crafts.

The project will be introduced by local resident Katherine Rake and the building designs presented by architect Jerry Tate.

The building of the Streatham Hub has been fraught with delays since its inception more than 10 years ago.

History

Tesco Plc (“Tesco”) purchased the site where Streatham Ice Rink is currently situated almost a decade ago. In June 2001 the retailer published plans to demolish the Ice Rink – these were abandoned following strong opposition from local user groups, community and voluntary organisations.

New plans were approved by Lambeth Council (the “Council”) in February 2003 with a Section 106 Agreement associated with the scheme – which has become known as the ‘Streatham Hub’ – being concluded between the Council and Tesco in December 2007.

Under the agreement the development was set to provide new leisure facilities, a new supermarket and 250 new homes for the Streatham area where Streatham Ice Arena is currently located. There would also be a new transport hub linking road and rail. The Council said that as part of the deal Tesco would not be allowed to open its supermarket until the new leisure centre and ice rink open. Planning consent was granted to Tesco on this basis in December 2007.

In 2009 Tesco indicated to the Council that it wished to revise the scheme on account of economic conditions which it said meant the 2007 plans were no longer financially viable. With respect to their revised proposals, residents were alarmed when in October 2009 representatives from Tesco refused to guarantee that it would be able to ensure continuity of ice pending the development being completed (under the original plans the old ice rink would only close once the new ice rink opened, thus ensuring continuity of ice). Continuous ice provision is essential for the many user groups of the ice rink including Olympian skaters and the famous Streatham Redskins ice hockey team.

Keep Streatham Skating

In October 2009 I established a cross party coalition to campaign for continuity of ice to be retained following the public meeting that month. Various online and off line petitions, and a Facebook group, were established which thousands of residents signed. Following this campaign, Tesco and Lambeth came forward with revised proposals under which the old ice rink would close before the new one opened but temporary ice provision paid for by Tesco would be put in its place somewhere near by.

The revised proposals were approved by the Tesco Plc board in March 2010. This approval was of some significance since on the last two occasions when the scheme had gone to the Tesco Board for approval, no approval had been forthcoming; on this occasion the scheme was promoted by the Chief Executive himself and given Board approval.

Hands Off Our Common

As part of the revised proposals, the option of putting a temporary ice rink on Streatham Common whilst the new rink is built was discussed and considered. However, whilst many of the user groups of the ice rink were supportive of this plan given its close proximity to the current ice rink site, regular users of Streatham Common were deeply opposed and a campaign – Hands Off Our Common (HOOC) – was established in May 2010 to reject the revised proposals. Groups involved with HOOC included Sustainable Streatham, Streatham Action, Friends of Streatham Common and the Streatham Society.

The campaign was successful and on 26 July 2010 Lambeth Council’s cabinet resolved not to place the temporary ice skating provision on Streatham Common following a report from Council officers citing legal obstacles, practical difficulties and the likely extensive delay resulting from implementation, as the main reasons for not pursuing this: Report to Cabinet, 26 July 2010.

Instead the Council officers’ report recommended that the temporary ice skating provision be placed at Pope’s Road in Brixton, one of 14 options considered by the Council. The officers’ paper lists the advantages and disadvantages of Pope’s Road as follows:

Advantages

• In Council ownership
• Site to be demolished and will be in vacant possession shortly.
• Site large enough
• Good accessibility
• Good public transport links
• Viability of town centre would be enhanced

Disadvantages

• Could raise objections among market traders if temporary car park not provided.
• Loss of car parking for market traders, but can be mitigated by relocating elsewhere on site.
• Possible community safety concerns.
• Opportunity cost to Council for delaying its redevelopment of the site.

The timetable for completion of the entire Streatham Hub scheme envisages the temporary ice rink being opened at Pope’s Road towards the end of 2011 and the new ice rink (along with the supermarket etc) being completed in the summer of 2013.

Some stakeholders who use the ice rink support siting the temporary provision at Pope’s Road so long as Tesco are not permitted to open their supermarket before completion of the new ice rink and the other leisure facilities – this was the view presented to Lambeth’s cabinet on 26 July 2010 by the Secretary of Streatham Ice Skating Action Group. SISAG’s members include representatives of the dance club, figure skating club and hockey clubs who use the current ice rink. In response Council cabinet members confirmed that the Tesco store would not be allowed to open until the leisure facilities had been completed.

Save Skating in Streatham

Some users of the ice rink and local councillors have voiced great concern about the temporary provision being situated out of Streatham and formed a campaign: Save Skating in Streatham (SSS). They worry the ice rink will never return to Streatham and have considerable concerns about community safety, access and parking at the Pope’s Road site. Their petition (which has been signed by 335 people at the time of writing) is here, their Facebook page is here, and their recent letter to me is here. They argued that a site at Stockport Road should be considered but the campaign is now focused on enforcement of original section 106 Agreement under which it was agreed the old ice rink would stay in situ until the new ice rink opens.

I should mention that the Brixton Market Traders’ Association also oppose the temporary ice provision being placed at Pope’s Road – they argued at the 26 July 2010 cabinet meeting that the space could instead provide much needed parking facilities for Brixton Market customers.

My thoughts

Firstly, I should state that, as the Member of Parliament for Streatham, I have no legal power to affect this situation nor am I a party or signatory to any of the agreements between Tesco and the Council – it would be misleading for me to claim otherwise. My role – as an advocate for the area – is to ensure that as many of the voices and concerns of the community as possible are heard when decisions are made.

Secondly, there are a range of stakeholders with an interest in this development but – as the history of the project has demonstrated – those interests are not necessarily aligned and, even within the different groups concerned, there is a diversity of views too; I know this because I have spent much time consulting with all of them. For example, some ice rink user groups are happy to accept Pope’s Road as a temporary solution; others are not. Unfortunately this is not a project that will complete to the satisfaction of all involved – a degree of compromise on everyone’s part will be required.

That said, all are agreed on the principle that we all want to see the Streatham Hub completed as soon as possible, so that we can benefit from the fantastic leisure provision which it will provide, employment opportunities and new homes. My priority has always been to see the project completed as quickly as possible with this aim in mind whilst ensuring that, at the very least, there is ice provision for the current users of the ice rink in the interim.

Thirdly, the original s106 Agreement – agreed in 2007 – will be varied by Deed of Variation (if it has not been already) to allow for the revised 2010 plans to proceed. This is because Tesco would not agree to develop the Hub on the basis agreed in 2007, citing current economic conditions and commercial viability. I voiced some scepticism of their arguments in this regard given its pre-tax profits increased during the recession but their position remains unchanged. It is for this reason that Tesco paying for temporary provision pending completion of the scheme was agreed upon this year. There has always been a possibility that, should Tesco not deem the scheme commercially viable, they would walk away from the Hub project altogether leaving the future of ice skating in Streatham in peril – thankfully we did not reach this point. So whilst I have great sympathy with the SSS campaign objective to enforce the original s106 Agreement, I do not see how this can be done given what has come to pass and Tesco’s position. A lot has happened since the original 2007 agreement was concluded and I do not think we can wind the clock back (so to speak).

However, this does not mean that I am entirely happy with the Pope’s Road solution that has been proposed as things stand. It is vital that the concerns raised in relation to parking, community safety, spectator accommodation and transport are addressed ahead of the erection of the temporary provision. I understand that ice skating user groups met with Council officers yesterday and that progress towards the resolution of some of these issues has progressed.

Between now and the construction of the temporary provision at the end of next year, I will do all I can to demand that these issues are resolved. I met with Council officers and cabinet members during the summer with this is mind and I have written to Council officers for an update on progress in this regard which I will publish on this website in due course. I have also spoken with my colleague, Tessa Jowell MP, in relation to the concerns raised by the Market Traders Association of Brixton Market which is located in her constituency.

Finally, I am aware that the user groups of Streatham Swimming Pool feel that their concerns in relation to swimming provision in the vicinity have been overlooked somewhat given the focus on the ice rink. I was a frequent user of the pool myself as a child as I often competed there as a competitive swimmer. It is totally unsatisfactory that my constituents have been having to travel some distance in order to be able to continue to swim on a regular basis. This is an issue I have raised with the Council but my office will be seeking to arrange a meeting between myself and the stakeholder group for Streatham Swimming Pool imminently to see what further needs to be done.

If you wish to contact me further on this issue, please write to me at my constituency office or email me – contact details are here.

Kind regards,

Chuka

Today, the Prime Minister visited the New Testament Church of God in Brixton for a Sunday morning service and addressed the congregation, paying tribute to the contribution of faith groups to British society.

On Saturday Chuka spoke at a Living Wage action lunch at Windrush Square in Brixton, organised by South London Citizens, a grass roots charity working with local people to organise for change around local issues.

As well as promoting the living wage, the event celebrated the ongoing work that Lambeth Council is carrying out with South London Citizens on street safety and youth opportunities.

Chuka Umunna said: “I am a big supporter of the work of London Citizens. The National Minimum Wage, which Labour introduced, was a groundbreaking step and has benefitted millions of people.

“A Living Wage would build on this by adequately reflecting the high cost of living in London, which would help further the fight against low wages and poverty.”

The Labour Party Manifesto was the only to commit to introducing a living wage for all Whitehall employees.

This commitment to a living wage would be combined with and supported by measures that Labour would introduce to address high pay in the Public Sector. These commitments ensure that the Public Sector continues to lead the way in promoting a fair and equal working environment.

London Citizens welcomed the commitment from Labour and suggested that other parties have to play catch up on the issue.

If you are interested in getting more involved with the London Citizens there is a South London Citizens section that always welcomes volunteers.

In this video, Chuka discusses the government’s New Deal for Communities programme and the difference it is making to the Clapham Park Estate.

Having been designated as one of the government’s New Deal for Communities (NDC) zones, Clapham Park has benefitted from £56 million of regeneration funding. The programme is focussed on neighbourhoods suffering from multiple social deprivation, taking a holistic approach by improving housing, tackling crime and anti-social behaviour, improving transport links and opportunities in education and training.

The project is controlled by local residents, empowering the community to make choices on how to make the area a better place to live.

Residents have been provided with entry phones to reduce anti-social behaviour, the area has benefitted from a new bus route to Brixton and Balham and new and improved housing is currently being built.

Mentoring and skills training is also being provided to help people into work. Neighbourhood wardens have been introduced to improve safety and security for local residents.

In December 2009, it was announced that Clapham Park had been shortlisted for £9.5 million of additional funding through the government’s Kickstart Programme to support the building of new homes.

Commenting, Chuka said:

“I share residents impatience for the rebuild and renovation of homes in the area. But, unlike opposition parities, we have not sat back and moaned but worked hard to get more government investment into the area so these essential works can continue.

“Clapham Park Homes has got £27 million in extra money into the estate – to make sure that they can continue to fund their programme of refurbishment and rebuild. Locally Labour worked hard to convince the Housing Minister that CPH could turn this money into new homes without delay.

“We will share residents’ delight when, in a few weeks’ time they are able to move into the new building on Clarence Crescent and the refurbished Picton and Rigg Houses in Clapham Park West.

“I am clear that Clapham Park Homes still has more to do to improve the service to tenants and leaseholders. That is why myself and local Labour councillors meet regularly with the CPH Chief Executive, to voice our concern over some of the service standards and to raise individual problems that people have brought to us.

“It is also why we continue to support the many community initiatives that have developed since 2001 such as the Over 50′s club and the youth work done by Clapham Park Project (CPP).”

When Boris Johnson was running for Mayor in 2008 he included a pledge in his Transport Manifesto that said he would halt “the proposed Tube ticket office closures”, and ensure “there is always a manned ticket office at every station”. During his campaign he signed a petition that condemned plans to close Tube ticket offices and drastically reduce the opening hours of many others.

However, recent proposals from Transport for London suggest that the permanent closure of eleven ticket offices is under consideration and dozens more could face drastically reduced opening hours. The proposals would affect tube stations including Brixton, Clapham South, Clapham Common and Balham and result in hundreds of jobs being axed.

Under the proposals, Clapham South station ticket office would see its opening times cut by 46 hours per week, while Clapham Common station’s ticket office would be open for 32 fewer hours each week.

While currently Clapham South’s ticket office closes at 9.30pm on Saturdays and Sundays, under the Mayor’s planned changes it would be without a ticket office after 3.45pm on Saturday and 4.00pm on Sundays.

The ticket offices at Balham and Clapham Common will close at 7.45pm from Monday to Friday and Clapham South’s at 7.15pm, also closing for most of the afternoon, between 1.30pm and 5.00pm on weekdays.

If you would like to register your disappointment with the current proposals then you can contact to Transport for London at enquire {at} tfl.gov(.)uk, we will post any consultations on the proposals as soon as they are available.

Chuka Ummuna, who is opposing the planned reduction in ticket office opening hours, commented:

“Thousands of people use our underground stations on a daily basis and they form a vital connection with central London.

“The Mayor’s drastic cuts to opening times would see our local tube stations without ticket offices for hours on end at peak times.

“As well as the loss of customer service for tube users, I am concerned about the impact the changes could have on the safety of stations, particularly late at night.”

Brixton Windmill is to be reopened to the public after funding for its restoration has been secured from the Heritage Lottery Fund.

Around £400,000 is being provided by the fund after campaigning by Lambeth’s Labour Council and local residents, in addition to almost £200,000 contributed by the council itself and Friends of Windmill Gardens.

With this long-awaited project becoming a reality the windmill – which is a unique historic landmark and a source of great local pride – will now be restored, given a secure future and maintained for the enjoyment of future generations. Its interior, which is currently closed, will become accessible to the public.

The Heritage Lottery Fund grant will also be used to fund educational and community activities at the windmill, alongside a new exhibition demonstrating the mechanical parts of the mill in operation.

The Grade II* listed windmill, which was built as Ashby’s Mill in 1816, is the only one of its kind in inner London.

Jean Kerrigan of Friends of Windmill Gardens welcomed the news:

“This is tremendous news and we are so excited that all of our hard work has been rewarded.

“We would really like to thank our friends and the community in Brixton, as well as Lambeth Council for the support and help they have given us in taking this meaningful project to the next stage. Brixton Windmill now has a glorious future for generations to come.

To find out more about the windmill and its history, visit the Friends of Windmill Gardens website.