Heart of Kennington Residents’ Association
Minutes of the annual general meeting held at
THE DURNING LIBRARY, KENNINGTON LANE
at 7.30 pm on MONDAY 26 MARCH 2012
Present: Priscilla Baines (chairman), Stephen Waring (secretary), Hilary Schofield (treasurer –
from 7.45 pm), Adam Barriball, Stefan Bergmann, Rob Buxton, Andrew Ellis and Jane Leonard
(committee members) and about 30 residents. Also Kate Hoey, MP was an invited guest.
Apologies were received from Wanda Newby, Pat Murtagh, Michael and Sally Gainsborough,
Eileen Brooksbank, Johnny Male and Christopher Jackson, and from Andrew Ellis
Welcome and short talk
i.
Priscilla Baines welcomed residents to the 2012 Annual General Meeting of the Heart of
Kennington Residents’ Association. She also welcomed Kate Hoey MP, the Member of
Parliament for Vauxhall and invited Kate to begin the meeting by giving a short talk.
ii.
Kate Hoey began by thanking Priscilla for her invitation to the meeting, congratulated her on
the written report that had been circulated to residents in advance of the meeting, and
thanked the committee for the work they did on behalf of local residents. She said that she
would talk about a range of issues that affected the local area.
iii.
First she mentioned that she was delighted that Shelley School in Wincott Street would not
be sold off for redevelopment but would be used as an Annex for the Archbishop Sumner
School in Reedworth Street.
iv. She went on to talk about the proposed extension to the Northern Line. It was worth noting
that the changes were likely to improve the level of noise from the current Kennington Loop.
It seemed clear that the permanent ventilation shaft would be located on the Beefeater Gin
Distillery site, and that the distillery would be further developed as a visitor centre, subject
to planning permission. An application was going to the planning committee. Beefeater
was a great symbol of London.
v.
She noted that there were clear advantages in having our local councillor, Steve Morgan,
living in our area. He was a great advocate and helped sort out a wealth of local issues,
including the ever present issue of parking. Gaining the KSR (Kennington Residents)
controlled parking sub-zone in our area had been a great achievement.
vi. The planned redevelopment of St Anselm’s Church would be going ahead. There had been
some concern expressed by local residents living behind the church. But the project would
provide great support to local unemployed people or those who had been in trouble with the
law. In other areas she felt that such a project would have met more resistance and
objections, but the vicar was very closely involved in the local area and undertook
considerable outreach into the local community.
vii. Ms Hoey mentioned that she was worried about changes to local health services. We had
a very good centre at the Hurley Clinic. She did receive complaints from patients who were
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unable to get the same doctor each time, though she also got some very complimentary
letters too. We had an excellent facility in the Lambeth Community Care Centre in Monkton
Street – a nurse-led, 20 bed unit, which provides 24 hour nursing care and/or regular
therapy intervention for patients who are 18 years or over with chronic and/or specialist
needs that cannot be met at home.
viii. She touched on risks to local libraries during this period of recession. A battle had been
fought before to keep libraries open (in 1999/2000 the Minet, South Lambeth and Durning
libraries were all under threat of closure). Lambeth have worked constructively with the
Friends groups, and are looking at libraries as community hubs. She was confident that we
could keep the Durning Library open, and would be keeping a close eye on progress.
ix. She felt that a major victory had been won in getting a 105-year lease on the former Lillian
Bayliss School, for community use, operated by the Black Prince Trust. The project had
received investment from Nike. The former school gym had been reopened for the
summer, and had been able to stay open on an ongoing basis. It was being run as a social
enterprise, and there would be access for local people. She noted that at the launch the
Olympic champion, Usain Bolt had visited and spent over three hours with local children.
x.
It was certainly a difficult time economically, and cuts were having to be made in a range of
services, but Lambeth had handled their cuts in a much better way than had been the case
in some places, by engaging more with people affected.
xi. Ms Hoey noted that since she had last spoken at the Association’s AGM the scandal
surrounding MPs’ expenses had taken place, and the job of an MP had become quite
different, with a great deal of time spent on bureaucracy. She was grateful that she had not
been personally implicated, though noted that, as a London MP, she did not have to
maintain a second home. She still believed that the vast majority of MPs went into politics
to make a difference.
xii. Finally, she was very pleased with the outward-facing work of the residents’ association,
and happy to support it. She then agreed to take some questions.
xiii. In response to a question about constituency boundary changes, Ms Hoey said that this
was the first independent piece of work to reduce the number of constituencies by 50. For
Lambeth, as a borough, it would mean that five or six MPs would be responsible for
covering a small part of the borough. There would be a vote in the autumn. Her view was
that if House of Lords reform did not go through, then neither would boundary changes.
For her own constituency, she would retain Oval, Princes and Stockwell wards and gain
four wards around Battersea. She would also lose four wards that she had worked hard to
get to know, and so she was personally hoping that the proposals would be thrown out.
xiv. Anna Tapsell, chair of the Kennington Association, raised the issue of the Lollard Street
Adventure playground, which the Council was looking to close, opening it only once a
week. Lots of children used it after school while their parents were still at work. A bid had
gone into the Council (as part of its ‘Cooperative Council’ scheme) to support keeping the
playground open daily, with other services available. She was looking for Kate Hoey’s
support.
xv. Ms Hoey thought that the project was an excellent one, and that to have it open only one
afternoon a week seemed a nonsense. She knew that the Black Prince Trust were
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concerned that they were being asked to take it over. She was also aware that the youth
club on Kennington Lane had an unused piece of green space behind it, and felt there were
opportunities here to be explored.
xvi. Priscilla Baines thanked Kate Hoey for her very interesting contribution and engagement
with residents and invited her to stay on if she wished, while the formal business of the
meeting was conducted.
1. Chairman’s report
1.1
The chairman (Priscilla Baines) introduced herself and the committee members. A short
written Chairman’s report had been circulated in advance of the meeting and hard
copies provided to everyone at the meeting (attached at Annex A). She explained that
membership of the Association was open to all those living in the designated streets.
There was no subscription fee and indeed the constitution did not allow for it. The
Association relied on donations and the profits from the summer party to meet expenses
such as the hire of this venue for the AGM and small administrative costs etc. She
reminded members that we really did need people’s email addresses where they had
them. We would continue to deliver newsletters to those without email, but hand
deliveries were very hard work, particularly given the steps to lower and upper ground
floor entrances.
1.2
The Association took an interest in: maintenance of the roads and pavements (including
street lighting), street cleansing, rubbish collection, parking, local planning applications
and other local issues that directly affect residents. Priscilla noted that Lambeth
provided our key services, such as rubbish collection. Rubbish – recycling and black
bags, was collected on Tuesday mornings. Any large, dumped rubbish, failing street
lights, graffiti etc. should be reported direct to Lambeth’s Environmental Services on:
020 7926 9000, or by emailing streetcarecallcentre@lambeth.gov.uk.
Northern Line Extension
1.3
There had been a great deal of activity during the year and it did look as if the extension
would be going ahead, though there would be some considerable time slippage. It was
likely that the extension would be ready by 2019. She felt that, as an Association, we
should use this opportunity to urge Transport for London (TfL): (a) to upgrade
Kennington tube station; and (b) to lobby them to have Kennington station designated as
zone 1 (rather than the current zone 2). The Committee would happily write to urge TfL
to look into these issues.
Parking
1.4
Parking represented much less of a problem than it once had, though there were
problems from time to time. People from Kennington Park Road, who had no parking
facilities, and people who used the restaurants and businesses in Kennington Road all
added to the general parking congestion. There had been suggestions that we consider
lobbying for extensions to the controlled parking hours (into the evening), but the
Association felt that this risked solving one problem by gaining another. There was
general support from the meeting to leave things as they were.
Street trees
1.5
The Chairman thanked a number of generous residents in Methley Street who had
contributed towards the replacement of one of the street trees. The Association was
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pressing Lambeth to carry out the work and had been assured that the planting would
take place very shortly.
Planning applications
1.6
The Association kept a close eye on all planning applications that came to its notice
within our area. Anyone with a particular interest in planning, who wanted to get more
involved should contact David Boardman, chairman of the Kennington Association
Planning Forum. Priscilla indicated that she would be happy to put people in touch.
1.7
Finally, Priscilla thanked our local councillor, Steve Morgan, who, as a Methley Street
resident, was firmly embedded in the local area, and a great source of local support. As
Kate Hoey had mentioned, the Lambeth Community Care Centre deserved its annual
mention, as did a number of other worthy causes: the Friends of Kennington Park and
the Friends of Durning Library. She noted that Robert Buxton chaired the Kennington
Gardens Society. The Kennington Association raised money for good causes,
particularly their Secret Santa initiative, which provided vouchers to local families in
need at Christmas time. The Kennington Village Fete in Cleaver Square also raised
money for local causes.
1.8
The meeting noted the chairman’s report.
2. Financial statement
2.1
The treasurer, Hilary Schofield, referred to the financial statement (attached at Annex A)
which had been distributed to all attendees. The current cash at bank totalled £1117.31,
almost the same amount as this time last year. The Association had made a further
donation to the Kennington Park rose bed appeal and contributed to further tree planting
in our area. Hilary noted that the summer party was our sole source of funding.
2.2
The financial statement was agreed.
3. Neighbourhood Watch report
3.1
Rob Buxton gave a report on Neighbourhood Watch activities during the year. We lived
in a low crime area for Lambeth, but average for London. There had been some vehicle
crime and attempted break-ins. Rob reported that he had attended a safer
neighbourhoods meeting as a representative of the Association. At the meeting the
police reported the closure of two crack houses in Vauxhall Ward, reinforcing the low
level of crimes in our own area. He reminded residents not to leave windows or doors
open or unlocked as burglars were not averse to climbing over high walls. We should
report all suspicious behaviour to the police by calling 101.
3.2
Priscilla thanked Rob for his contribution during the year.
4. Diamond Jubilee Party arrangements
4.1
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Following the very successful Royal Wedding party last year, the Association was again
joining forces with the Cleaver Square, Cleaver Street and Bowden Street Residents
Association for the Diamond Jubilee. The event would be held on Monday 4th June from
3 pm until 9 pm. The theme would be 1950s and ‘tiaras, crowns and vintage gowns’ and
there would be similar activities to the event last year. Tickets were £12.50 for adults
and £6.00 for children. There would be a limit of six tickets per household. Rob Buxton
was our representative on the organising committee, with support from other members
of our Association. Volunteers to help with setting up and clearing up would be very
welcome.
4.2
Summer party arrangements
The chairman announced that the Association’s 2012 summer party had been put back
slightly as a result of the Diamond Jubilee and was to be held on Saturday 7 July
(Sunday 8 July if the weather was bad), from 6.00 pm to 8.30pm at the junction of
Methley and Radcot Streets as usual. Penny Wing from Temperance Works in
Ravensdon Street had very generously offered to open her garden to visitors on that
day. The Association would carefully control entry, and this would be based on checking
people against our residency list. Last year we had had a new barbecue team, and she
hoped that we would return to our old barbecue team this year. She asked for
volunteers to staff the bar, other stalls and barbecue as well as help with setting up and
clearing up. Anyone willing to help was asked to get in touch with Stephen Waring or
Priscilla Baines.
5. Election of chairman and committee for 2011/2012
5.1
Following adoption of the new constitution the chairman announced that the election of
the committee would take place under the new rules, so only the chairman and other
committee members needed to be elected; the committee would then choose the
secretary and treasurer from among their membership).
5.2
Priscilla Baines who offered herself for re-election as chairman, handed the chair to
Stephen Waring, and was duly elected as chairman with unanimous support.
5.3
The following members of the committee offered themselves for re-election and were
elected, without opposition:
Adam Barriball
Andrew Ellis
Jane Leonard
Hilary Schofield
Stephen Waring
Stefan Bergmann
Robert Buxton
6. Any Other Business
6.1
There was no other business.
Stephen Waring
Secretary
May 2012
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Annex A
Heart of Kennington Residents’ Association
Chairman’s report 2012
Purpose of the Association. The Association was founded in 1983 and exists to preserve and
enhance the amenity of our area. We try to promote good neighbourliness and to take an active
interest on behalf of our membership in issues that affect the immediate area. Some of our
membership, especially those in Stannary Street, have their own groups for their particular
complexes but we are glad to have them in our Association to support our wider aims.
Membership is open to all residents in our streets and we now have over 220 households. We
have no membership fee and rely on donations and the profits from our summer party to meet
our expenses such as the hire of this venue for the AGM and photocopying etc. We try to use
e-mail as much as possible and actively encourage members to provide e-mail addresses to
save the time and effort of distributing hard copy.
Activities in 2011-12. Our street party in June 2011 was well-attended despite not very
encouraging weather and a heavy shower while we were setting up; we repeated the innovation
of a small live band which also survived the rain. As usual, it was a real team effort and the
committee worked very hard, plus the volunteers (especially, as always, Gordon and Jill) who
helped on the day. Luis and Susana, our usual barbecue team, were not available but Steve
Dawson, Stefan Bergmann and Henry Ashwin took over and we were very grateful for their
expertise.
We finally decided to have our own website. Robert Buxton offered to set one up and the
results look very good. People are using it and we plan to populate it more. Suggestions or
photographs would be very welcome.
Northern Line Extension (NLE). Much time during the year has been spent on the
consequences for our area of the proposals for an extension of the Northern Line tube from
Kennington to the Battersea Power Station site. There were consultations in 2010 with
residents over a wide area about four possible routes. After the route was chosen, there were
further consultations, starting in May 2011, about detailed developments associated with the
selected route. These included the locations for three permanent intervention/ventilation shafts
and two temporary access shafts. One access shaft had to be within a short distance of one of
two underground junctions (the one more or less directly underneath nos 4-6 Ravensdon Street)
between the new line and the existing Kennington Loop which runs under Methley and
Ravensdon Streets and Aulton Place/Stannary Street. Residents were asked to suggest
possible sites for the consultants to investigate and then to give views on a short list of four
sites.
The access shaft is expected to be in place for up to two years. It will be 25 metres deep and
five metres wide. There will be two periods of intense activity with very frequent lorry traffic for
about six weeks each at the beginning and end of the two-year period and less frequent
although still regular lorry traffic the rest of the time. It was immediately obvious that wherever it
is in our narrow streets, the shaft would have to be very close to adjacent properties and would
seriously disrupt traffic in the area. The least disruptive option for local traffic – the garden of
the White Bear pub in Kennington Park Road – also turned out to be technically the least
suitable of the four possible sites. The final choice – Radcot Street – was no surprise but it will
have a considerable impact on the immediate area if the NLE goes ahead.
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The committee decided that we should work with Treasury Holdings, then project managers for
the NLE, to ensure that residents had proper opportunities to discuss the options for the access
shaft as well as other local effects of the proposed line. We also wanted to ensure that all
possible efforts were made to mitigate the effects of the shaft on the area. We arranged two
meetings, one in June at Archbishop Sumner School and one, jointly with the Cleaver Square
Residents’ Association, in October at the Durning Library. Both were well attended and provided
useful opportunities for residents to question the Treasury Holdings team. We also attended a
meeting with London Underground to discuss the noise implications of the new line for residents
and helped to arrange two further small local meetings for residents with particular concerns.
Treasury Holdings’ parent company, REO, went into administration in December 2011, soon
after the announcement that the NLE was one of a group of infrastructure projects that the
government would support. The project has since been supported by the Mayor of London and
taken over by Transport for London, although the Transport and Works Act procedures,
including a public inquiry, will probably not start until 2013 so completion is unlikely before 2019.
Rubbish collection. The rubbish collection service has mostly worked smoothly and reliably.
There are still a few residents who put out their rubbish for collection on the wrong days despite
repeated requests not to encourage local foxes, squirrels, crows etc, or dogs and cats.
Lambeth’s bulky and garden waste collection systems have worked pretty reliably although we
have yet to experience the transition to a new financial year for garden waste collection.
Parking. There have been relatively few parking problems and the local civil enforcement
officers have generally not been over-zealous over administering parking controls. They remain
ever-vigilant but do not appear to be harrying people without good reason. Our local councillor,
Steve Morgan, who lives in Methley Street, keeps up the pressure when necessary so that the
rules are not unduly harshly applied. Residents in Cleaver Square and Methley Street have
noticed that parking is again getting very tight in our area and we need to watch that.
Trees. The developers of 16 Stannary Street supplied the promised two new trees outside the
property and we are very grateful to them. Lambeth has generally continued to remove dead
trees but, sadly, there is no longer any money to pay for replacements. We were very fortunate
that three residents generously agreed to pay £450 for the replacement of a dead tree in
Methley Street; the new one should be planted in the current planting season. We also remain
grateful to Lambeth’s Tree Officer, Dave Paul, for his continuing help over new and replacement
trees.
Planning applications. Stephen Waring has again been responsible for responding to
planning applications. We have continued to comment only on applications in our immediate
area and where possible to encourage empty sites or buildings to be brought into use for
residential purposes, but with restrictions on parking (no new residents’ parking permits and only
off-street parking to be allowed). In general, we seek to modify any schemes which would
seriously damage the amenity of our streets. There are now few undeveloped sites or buildings
in our area; we need to ensure that new developments do not lead to unacceptable overcrowding and loss of amenity for adjacent properties.
There has, as always, been a steady trickle of applications for extensions and alterations to our
houses. Most of them have been for relatively modest changes and given no cause for
concern. We would urge anyone thinking of doing anything of that kind to consult their
immediate neighbours (and the Association is happy to get involved) before making an
application as it helps to inform the planners’ decisions.
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We have continued to keep a watching brief on the long-term proposals for major new
developments in the Vauxhall/Nine Elms area. They do not directly affect us, although they will
ultimately have a considerable impact on a much wider area. The Kennington Association’s
Planning Forum is monitoring the proposals very closely on behalf of the Kennington area as is
the Kennington Oval and Vauxhall Forum.
Stannary Street. The Stannary Street end of Rifle Court was closed by a gate after a long
delay but that has not stopped people from dumping rubbish in the entrance. The rubbish is
sometimes cleared but it often lies around for some time. Deliveries and collections from
Moran’s, the builder’s merchants, have continued to cause disruption, particularly for the
residents of Stannary Street but also for those elsewhere when Stannary Street is blocked or
large lorries try to get round our narrow streets. The staff of Moran’s are aware of the problems
but say there is little more they can do. Car crime seems to be more prevalent in Stannary
Street than elsewhere but the police are aware of that.
Priscilla Baines
March 2012
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Annex B
ITEM 2: FINANCIAL STATEMENT
Heart of Kennington Accounts 11-12
Date
Description
Mar-11
Opening Balance
03/31/11
Friends of Kennington Park Rose Bed Appeal
05/07/11
Party Expenses
07/01/11
Raffle prizes
07/08/11
Party takings (net cash)
467.50
12/28/11
Tree contribution
100.00
02/03/12
Tree contribution
175.00
02/16/12
Tree payment
Totals
Hilary Schofield, Treasurer
26 March 2011
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Income
Expenditure
Balance
1119.75
60.00
209.94
25.00
450.00
742.50
744.94
1117.31