Chuka Umunna MP

The government is introducing new regulations to stop unscrupulous clamping companies.

New restrictions include capping the maximum amount clamping firms are able to charge with a new £35 ceiling, a ban on ‘double charging’ where companies make motorists pay for both the clamp removal and for towing a vehicle away as well as a requirement that signs are displayed clearly.

Clampers will also have to wait for a minimum of three hours before removing a vehicle.

The government is also planning to make it compulsory for companies to sign up to a recognised trade body and a code of practice.

Action is being taken on firms issuing parking tickets after taking digital photographs of vehicles parked on private land, with the government limiting access to the DVLA’s vehicle database to members of the British Parking Association only.

The changes will mean that disreputable companies are no longer able to rely on unfair practices and over-zealous enforcement, and it is predicted that firms which continue to act in this way will go out of business as a result.

Chuka explains the importance of keeping the Streatham Ice Rink open during his visit to support our ice hockey team, Streatham Redskins, in action this evening against Milton Keynes Thunder.

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This week, I launched a campaign with local people to get Tesco to guarantee Streatham Ice Rink stays open whilst the Streatham Hub scheme is developed in the south of this parliamentary constituency. You can read about the scheme here: the Streatham Hub.

At a meeting held earlier this month to update local residents on the scheme, I was concerned when Tesco representatives refused to guarantee that our ice skating provision would continue without interruption.

Tesco owns the ice rink site and under deveopment proposals agreed with Lambeth Council two years ago the company promised that the current ice rink would stay open while a new one was built.

However, the retail giant is citing the credit crunch as a reason for submitting revised proposals a few weeks ago. It is currently in talks with the Council, with an announcement due in December.

It is essential that Streatham does not lose access to ice – the ice rink hosts the Streatham Redskins ice hockey team and numerous school groups. It is also currently being used by skaters aiming to compete in next year’s Winter Olympics in Vancouver.

Tesco has the financial resources to stick to its original pledge and ensure that Streatham keeps skating while the Hub site is developed. You may have seen that earlier this year the retailer announced record breaking sales of more than £1bn a week and annual profits of more than £3bn, despite the impact of the global downturn.

To put pressure on Tesco to keep to its promises on the continuity of our ice provision, please sign the petition calling on them to keep Streatham Ice Rink open – the petition can be signed online here: Keep Streatham Skating! petition

A related ‘Keep Streatham Skating!’ Facebook group has also been set up which you can join too: Keep Streatham Skating! on Facebook

Tesco say they take into account the interests of local communities, in addition to their desire to return a huge profit, when making decisions. If they genuinely care for this community as they claim, they must ensure the continuity of our ice rink provision here in Streatham.

We need lots of local residents to sign the petition to send a clear message to Tesco – they need to know how strongly we, the prospective customers of the new Tesco supermarket they want to build as part of the Hub scheme, feel about this issue.

This week Minster for Transport – and MP for neighbouring Tooting – Sadiq Khan announced new powers for councils in London to prevent road works overrunning and causing disruption.

Councils will be allowed to co-ordinate street work to minimise delays, and stiffer fines will be introduced for companies failing to complete works on time. The new system will require companies to get a permit in advance and pay fines of up to £5,000 if the terms are broken.

Road works are necessary from time to time, but it is important that the inconvenience to businesses, residents and the travelling public are is minimised. The action the government is taking will ensure that road works cause as little congestion as possible.

Sadiq Khan said: “Everyone understands that road works can be necessary but the disruption being caused, and the constant inconvenience to the travelling public, is way beyond what is acceptable.

“I have spent a lot of time visiting sites around the country, and the impact on traffic is chaotic. Road works are stopping buses from running on time, harming local economies because of increased congestion and blocking routes to shops and commercial premises.”

This week, Chuka launches a campaign to bring the tube to Streatham. He and local campaigners are calling on Mayor Boris Johnson to ensure that Streatham is considered in any future plans to extend the tube southwards, and an online petition has been set up for supporters of the campaign.

In February, Mayor Johnson stated that it is his ambition to extend the Bakerloo line southwards to Lewisham and beyond. Last week we obtained confirmation that TfL is working on these plans, looking into the feasibility of such a scheme.

Chuka is demanding to know why Streatham is not being considered for any possible southwards extension of the tube when Lewisham, for example, is already well-served by the Docklands Light Railway extension which opened in 1999.

The Bakerloo line could instead be extended southwards from Elephant & Castle via Camberwell and Brixton to Streatham. This would have the added benefit of relieving congestion on Streatham High Road.

However, The Bakerloo line is only one of the options available for bringing the tube to Streatham. The planned Crossrail 2 scheme, running from Chelsea to Hackney, would considerably relieve congestion on the Victoria line, creating the potential for an extension of the Victoria line to Streatham from Brixton.

Commenting on the launch of the campaign, Chuka said:

“I have lived here for most of my life and people have been talking about the desirability of having the tube in Streatham for as long as I can remember.

“This campaign is a long term project. Public finances are going to be tight for the next few years but we need to build up a head of steam behind this now so that when there is more money about, we are in a good position to demand it is used to finally bring the tube here.

Streatham residents’ hopes of getting a tube extension have a long history of false starts and disappointment. In the original plans for the Victoria line included in the 1946 London Plan, it was intended that the line would run to Streatham and on to Croydon. This scheme even received approval in Parliament, but was never built because of a lack of finance.

Chuka said,

“Streatham has been ignored for far too long while other areas have benefited from better transport provision. It is bad enough that our direct Thameslink connections are under threat, but the fact that TfL is looking at extending the Bakerloo line without even considering our area as a station destination, is not on. We deserve better.”

“This area would benefit hugely from a tube station. As well as obvious
benefits for local residents, it would give a massive boost to the regeneration of Streatham and the local economy.

“We are going to work together to put pressure on TfL to consider Streatham a top priority for tube improvements in South London.”

You can sign up to the petition to bring the tube to Streatham here: Bring the tube to Streatham petition

Lambeth Council is undertaking a programme of street improvement and tree planting as part of the borough’s £3.5m Better Neighbourhoods initiative. Pavements and roads will be resurfaced while outdated and uneccessary street furniture and signs will be removed to enhance streetscapes.

The programme includes major improvements for Streatham High Road, taking place this summer. Dozens of new trees will be planted along the road intersection while crossings and busy sections of the pavement will be widened.

Other neighbourhoods will benefit from more trees and better pavements, having been earmarked as being in most urgent need of environmental improvements. These include Streatham Vale, Brixton Hill and the Poynders Estate in Clapham.

Some of the initiative’s funds are targetted specifically for estates, bringing improved play areas and recycling facilities alongside tree planting. Across Lambeth, around 250 of the new trees will be planted on residential streets, helping to make our area greener and more attractive.

This weekend sees the launch of the first ever Streatham Food Festival, an event celebrating our community’s rich culinary diversity. Chuka will be attending the launch event at Gracefield Gardens Community Centre on Saturday afternoon, where there will be tasting sessions and food stalls including Oxfam Fair Trade and Food Up Front, an urban food-growing network which operates across south London. Many restaurants on Streatham High Road will be offering discount meals, allowing visitors to sample dishes from a wide range of cuisines, while a farmers’ market selling fresh produce will be running outside the Streatham Odeon. 

For more information, check out the Food Festival’s website here: Streatham Food Festival.

Chuka Umunna, Labour’s Parliamentary candidate for Streatham, congratulates NHS staff in Lambeth on the latest waiting list figures.

The NHS now has the shortest waits since its records began, Labour Health Secretary Alan Johnson announced on Thursday (26 March 2009).

New data shows that in Lambeth and across England the NHS has met its target to treat patients within a maximum of 18 weeks from referral by their GP – an achievement which was unimaginable 12 years ago. Commenting on the figures, Umunna (pictured, right, with Johnson) said:

“This is a tremendous achievement by NHS clinicians and staff in Lambeth who should be proud of the difference their hard work has made to the experience of every NHS patient.

“Achieving the shortest waits since NHS records began has made a huge difference to patients’ experiences of the NHS. In the 1990s it was not uncommon for people to wait 18 months or more for their operation – with some people dying on the waiting list.

“The NHS is one of our country’s greatest achievements and I will always stand up for it. I’m proud that over the last 12 years, we have made sure the NHS has the staff it needs and backed them to deliver improvements in standards and driving down waits. Today’s news is further evidence that this investment has worked.”

This latest news also follows the roll out of extended GP opening hours which the government has made a priority. 44 of the 52 GP practices in Lambeth offer extended opening hours including the Exchange Surgery and Streatham High Practice both situated in the new Gracefield Gardens Health Centre in Streatham, one of 152 new GP led health centres opened or opening across the country.

A developer has made an application to Lambeth council to construct almost 300 new homes on Streatham High Road.

The proposals are to transform the land between Streatham Megabowl and Caesar’s nightclub into 286 housing units and a new retail area likely to include shops and restaurants. The current façade of the Megabowl will be preserved, but the rest of the existing buildings will be demolished.

The plans also include a community centre to be built on the site, and if the application is successful, it is likely Lambeth Council will request additional contributions are made towards developing public spaces and utilities.

This is a significant stage in the plans to regenerate Streatham High Road, thought to be the longest high street in Europe. It is important that local people have their views heard on this matter. You can do this by making a comment to Lambeth Council before the 12th January 2009.

The Megabowl redevelopment application and an online comments form can be found here.

To view the application offline, you can see copies of the proposals at Streatham Library or the Town Planning Advice Centre (Phoenix House, 10 Wandsworth Road).

For further information on the Megabowl development from Lambeth Council, you can contact Samantha Wells at swells {at} lambeth.gov(.)uk, on 020 7926 1138, or at Lambeth Planning, Phoenix House, 10 Wandsworth Rd, London SW8 2LL.

Carys Afoko

Chuka welcomes government plans to improve security and services at train stations across Streatham and South London.

The Department for Transport has announced that all trains running on the South London rail network are to have CCTV cameras installed on them to increase safety for users. In addition, rail stations, including Streatham, Streatham Hill, Tulse Hill and Streatham Common, are to be staffed at night, and an extra 1,500 secure cycle bays will be provided to stations across the network.

The measures have been written into the criteria of the new franchise agreement for the South Central rail network – currently operated by Southern – which covers stations across South London and parts of Southern England. They were developed after consultation with rail user groups to improve services for commuters.

The operator that wins the bid to run the South Central network between 2009 and 2015 will be required to implement the security measures, and increase services running through South London. Late night services will run until 12.30pm on Fridays and Saturdays and at least 11pm all other nights of the week.

Chuka welcomed the recent government announcement:
“Improving our transport links and services to the Streatham constituency is an absolute priority and we are doing just that with these moves to increase safety on our stations and extend running times.”

Chuka is currently campaigning to maintain Thameslink services to Streatham rail stations, click here to find out more information and to join the campaign.

Carys Afoko