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Crest Nicholson, the developers who now own the Elsley School site, are holding an exhibition this Friday so residents can see their plans for the site.

The old Elsley School was the last remaining building on the old Gideon Road after the Luftwaffe and the post-war planning did their bit (that’s probably a bit unfair to the Luftwaffe, who didn’t get that much of it) and was never technically part of the Shaftesbury Park Estate or conservation area, although many assumed it was.

However, it is important to see what goes there ‘fits’, since it will be the architectural bridge between the Victorian estate and the post-war Gideon Road estate. And it will be a significantly different development for the immediate neighbours than the previous, relatively low, school and referral unit buildings.

The exhibition is between 3pm and 9pm on Friday 9 December at the St Nectarios Church in Wycliffe Road.


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Last month I highlighted the (what I thought) unusual application to turn The Crown on Lavender Hill into a pub and hostel.

Since then the applicant has withdrawn their planning application. While this often happens when it seems rejection – or a recommendation to reject – is likely I do not know if this was the motivation in this case. Since the applicants already own the property, and their business model seems to be pubs and hostels it may well be a revised application will be forthcoming.

Or alternatively, it seems they might just go ahead and become a hostel anyway!

I noted that I was a little concerned that, on the basis it was not a criminal offence, they opened their first hostel in Tower Hamlets without planning permission. But am a little shocked to discover that they didn’t just open without planning permission, they have never got planning permission.

A search on the Tower Hamlets website reveals that they have put in a number of applications for various elements of work to their first hostel. However, two key ones, seeking permission for the hostel element have both been refused. The applications (references PA/11/00268 and PA/11/00998 which you can search for on the Tower Hamlets planning site) sought to gain a ‘change of use’ which essentially claimed it had been a hostel for 10 years anyway (this was refused because there was no evidence, indeed, the owners had paid residential council tax on the property!) and then applied for a formal change of use which was again rejected.

One of the oddities of planning is that the applicant is irrelevant. Legally I can apply for planning permission to do whatever I want, regardless of whether I have the means to do it or even own the property. However, hearing of this sort of behaviour, which seems to pay little regard to the process (or the neighbours, it seems) really doesn’t fill one with confidence.

The other thing happening in Clapham Junction this weekend apart from my surgery (well, tonight) is the finale of Offret, the EU funded ‘process-based, community-focused project’ that I commented on last month.

Apparently it is

the culmination of the project will be an artistic intervention on the building that has been affected by arson, a video-collage of the different visions, as a collective memory to be projected in the night of 11/11/11.

Considering the complexity of the events, the aim is to gather multiple perspectives: from the affected community, business owners, rioters, their families, police officers.

The project hopes to provide a communal experience for participants, local community, festival visitors and general public. It will discuss the self-determination of society and its capacity to regenerate itself. By bringing people together for discussing an unwanted act of violence we hope to empower and inspire people into believing that they can also shape the future of their cities and society.

I’m still nervous about exactly what they will be projecting onto the Party Superstore, but also a little curious about how it will work.

The projection is from 6pm until 8pm tonight, at Clapham Junction and online.


* A prize for the first person to correctly identify the reference in the title. Judge’s decision is final. Terms and conditions apply.

I’ve not always been complimentary about council surgeries. But I am still in the surgery rota and it’s my turn again tomorrow.

If you have a problem, and no-one else can help, and you don’t have easy access to the LA underground (where the A-Team survive as soldiers of fortune despite doing a huge amount of pro bono work), then you could try popping along to Battersea Library tomorrow.

The surgery runs from 10am until 11am, and is handled on a first-come first-served basis with no appointment necessary.

I’m a self-confessed Philistine, and while I leave it to others to decide how honest I am about my Philistinism, I don’t think anyone would imagine I would have willingly chosen to spend last Friday evening at a “process-based, community-focused project that will be part of the Exchange Radical Moments! Live Art Festival.” But that’s what I did.

It actually provided an interesting contrast with my Saturday morning which saw me visiting the newly re-opened Party Superstore, to which I shall return.

I’ll confess my reasons for attending the workshop were not entirely positive. Instead they were motivated by concern (shared with several others from the area) that the project was also planning a video projection of images from the riots on the Party Superstore. The artistic merit of this can be debated, however, I was not alone in thinking it would be a fairly awful idea in an area that needs its confidence building – not reminding of a fairly horrific night for residents and businesses alike.

I have remarked on the strange dilation of time since the looting, which took place just two months and an age ago. While I’m one of those existing in a bubble, looking at how the council responds and discussing the Kinghan report, most people have moved on. And such was the case last Friday; those attending to express concern at the video projection outnumbering the four or five who attended for other reasons (what was particularly interesting was that only one of those, I think, was actually from Clapham Junction).

A lot of the discussion was inevitably about blame: MPs’ expenses, phone-hacking, government and council policy, war in Afghanistan and Iraq, even “men” – half the population – were hauled before the artistic court for judgement to be passed.

My blood pressure only just remained below fatal levels.

Afterwards I reflected on the five stages of grief. I remember denial on 8 August. I remember very real anger on the 9 and 10 August. I would like to think I’ve moved to acceptance, as have most of the people in the area. This doesn’t mean it’s forgotten or ignored, but that it’s time to move on, look at how we complete the recovery and, ideally, the area is left even better than it was on 7 August.

Yes, we still have lessons to learn, the police and justice processes are still rolling, but generally we are focussed on the future, not a snapshot from the past. I’m not sure we can still do that when we are seeking to excuse looting by blaming the actions of politicians or journalists. And I’m not sure what drives people to travel to raise these issues.

Instead we could focus on the positives, which seem to come to light on an almost daily basis (indeed, only last Friday I heard about plans for a local ‘apprenticeship’ scheme being developed).

But what better symbol of what the future holds is there than the Party Superstore: now open on the third floor of Debenhams and the old Dub Vendor. An incredibly positive symbol of a community that works, because without Debenhams goodwill the Party Superstore would not have returned for a long time – achieved without European funding and something I know will benefit Clapham Junction far more than any video projection!


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I don’t think I’ve ever flagged up a planning application on here in the same way I highlight licensing applications. There are several reasons for this, the main one being that planning is just not one of my things: I know how important it is, but it’s not something that interests me as much as other aspects of local government.

I’m making an exception for The Crown on Lavender Hill. The future of this site has been the topic of local discussion and rumour, the strongest that it would become a St Mungo’s Hostel for alcoholics. It looks like there was some basis in fact for that and a planning application has been made by the Great Eastern Public House to turn the upper floors into a commercial hostel with seven dormitories and a maximum of 60 beds.

This might raise fears for those who suffered problems they associated with a busy hostel above Mish Mash when it was at 45 Lavender Hill.

Great Eastern have a website detailing the work they have done elsewhere. While looking nice, I can’t help but be a little concerned that they happily detailed their intention to start operating before receiving the necessary approvals:

We informed [Tower Hamlets council] of our intention to begin operating as a Hostel, and therefore sell the accommodation by the bed, a week before our application submission date.

They argued this was not a criminal offence, but I can’t help but find it a rather worrying attitude.

You can see the application on the council’s planning portal (use reference 2011/4220).

Battersea Buzz: Community and improvised flip-charts came together

The riots sometimes seem such a long time ago, and it’s almost tempting to say that things are largely back to normal. Yes, there are a few scars remaining – perhaps most notably the boarded up Party Superstore – but most shops are fully restored and back in business.

But some scars will remain for a while, we will have to wait and see if there’s a long-term effect on trade in the area. It looks like a few stores will not re-open as a result. And the arguments about how those involved are dealt with looks like it will rage for a while yet.

Battersea Buzz, however, looks like it was a success. I’ve said from the start that it really was a means to an end, something to help the community come together and share their ideas. It cannot, therefore, take any credit for anything that happens. But I hope it played a part in what comes next.

And what is coming next?

Well, the Clapham Grand will be hosting a benefit called ‘Up The Junction’ on 8 September, featuring Chris Difford. This will raise money for Victim Support and St Marks.

There is an (unrelated) ‘Up The Junction’ Facebook group discussing a range of ideas to raise money and build the community.

Meanwhile a lot of people are looking at how they can get involved in mentoring – and James Mummery from Future Foundations is helping co-ordinate this.

Some events have already taken place: last Tuesday over 200 runners raised cash with the Clapham Pioneers running club, for example.

I’m sure there’s plenty else going on that I don’t know about (as well as plenty of ideas in their formative stage where we’re continuing to try to put the right people in touch with each other).

Counter-intuitively it seems that the overall effect of the disorder will be to have created a stronger Clapham Junction. The tragedy is that the foundations include so many tales of irreparable loss.

Philip Beddows and Jenny Browne at the Clapham Junction clean-up this morning

Like every other decent person I was following what was happening in Clapham Junction and elsewhere last night with horror.

But while there has been and will be plenty written about last night (including, I suspect by me) I know that what is really important is not what happened in Clapham Junction last night – but what is happening in Clapham Junction now, and what will happen tomorrow and then every day after that.

Last night I started organising a #riotcleanup with people I know. It was quickly apparent this morning that pretty much everything that could be cleaned had been cleaned, but passing through Clapham Junction this morning on my way to a meeting with Wandsworth businesses and the police I was astounded at the volume of people still there, happily waiting for a chance to help clean up.

And in the meeting with businesses they were impressively focused not on recrimination, but on the future. Not on bemoaning the wanton destruction, but on how we quickly get back on our feet and then improve even further.

And later, returning through Clapham Junction, who couldn’t help but be uplifted seeing the numbers of helpers had grown massively. The team of brush-wielding Junctionites had become an army.

This is one of those days when you stop believing that London is the world’s greatest city because you KNOW London is the world’s greatest city.

We are not a city of a few mindless thugs and their vacant followers.

We are, instead, a city of magnificent people – both new and old – who collectively stand for something that is worth far more than an entire store of sports fashion or flat-screen TVs.

We should never lose sight that whatever shame can be attached to the riots it is as nothing compared to the pride we can all feel in our response today, tomorrow and every day after.

A few more people attended in the end... but there were still plenty of empty seats.

I was a little cynical going to the Shaftesbury Listening to You session last night. I may as well lay my cards on the table, I have never liked the meetings. Not because of any reluctance to be accountable or to discuss council issues, but because I do not think they are very good examples of engagement.

The large (or small, in this case) public meeting may have its place. It is probably the best way to handle a single issue with significant public interest and are useful when the flow of information is largely from the platform to the public. However, in my opinion it just doesn’t work for the sort of session Listening to You should be, a dialogue between council and residents, and an opportunity for people to raise specific issues.

I was pleased when we decided, quite early on, to suggest to the audience that we break up and ‘mingle’ rather than stick with the platform/audience set-up. It worked well and I managed to speak to plenty of people on a variety of issues: from housing to litter, from BAC to the Lavender Hill Festival. A couple of people even made suggestions on how the Listening to You sessions could be improved.

I think everyone, residents, councillors and officers left feeling positive about their interactions. And in the case of councillors and officers, with plenty of things to follow-up on.

But I can’t help reflecting that, with around 30 people attending, it represented 0.00% (rounded to 2 decimal places) of the ward population of 12,962 (the latest Office of National Statistics estimate)!

You could argue that it shows everyone is happy with the council, so felt no need to come along. Or that it was raining, which put people off. And there will be some truth in both. But I still can’t help feeling we are missing some tricks in the way we engage (or don’t engage) with residents and that leaves the council poorer: because if last night was a positive experience with around 0.0025% of the population, imagine what could come from 99.9975% of the population.

I also know I need to improve personally, someone last night commented on my absence from Streetlife, and while I’m on Twitter and have this blog the former is mainly personal and the latter isn’t what it once was.

What should I and the council do to better engage with residents? Or are you happy not talking to us?