Category Archives: Health

Streatham Hill Low Traffic Neighbourhood

Air quality, Health, Local area

Earlier this year the council held an initial consultation on the idea of a ‘low traffic neighbourhood’ in Streatham Hill. A low traffic neighbourhood (LTN) aims to remove or reduce the volume of non-local traffic passing through, while maintaining access for motor vehicles. There are several reasons for doing this:

  • Reduce carbon emissions and help address the climate emergency.
  • Improve air quality. (Air pollution causes thousands of premature deaths each year in London.)
  • Reduce noise levels.
  • Allow children to play in the street again.
  • Reduce the number of people killed and seriously injured on the roads. (Currently around 200 people in Lambeth are killed or seriously injured by motor vehicles each year.)

On Friday, the council decided to implement emergency versions of several LTNs, including the one in Streatham Hill. As well as LTNs, ‘healthy routes’ will be implemented to help people to travel safely on foot and by cycle.

The Streatham Hill LTN is scheduled to be implemented as the fourth emergency LTN (after Oval, Railton and Ferndale), with design starting on 8th June and implementation from 6th July. A statutory consultation period starts on 22nd June. A consultation on plans for the permanent Streatham Hill LTN is due in autumn 2020.

A map illustrating the current situation in Streatham Hill. The red and orange lines indicate roads that have a high proportion of through traffic. (Click to enlarge image.)

Covid-19 response update

Health, Volunteering

As time goes by, we are experiencing greater restrictions on social interactions and movement outside the home. While this should slow the spread of Covid-19, it will have significant social and economic consequences for all of us. In response, community groups are springing up to help support those are isolated at home or who are in need of assistance.

WhatsApp appears to be the main communication tool being used to coordinate volunteering efforts and Google Docs is being used to store information about volunteers and those in need as well as helpful advice. The initial focus is finding volunteers for each street and delivering flyers to that street. Here is a flyer template. If you would like to do some flyering, use this spreadsheet to record the street that you have flyered.

This spreadsheet contains a list of WhatsApp groups for Lambeth. Further information can be found here. A spreadsheet and WhatsApp group have been set up for St Martin’s Estate and Palace Road Estate. The spreadsheet is here and you can join the WhatsApp group using this link. If you can help, please join this group or get in touch through this website.

Note that there is a separate WhatsApp group for the Streatham Hill ward (which includes Palace Road Estate).

Please get involved with these efforts if you can, but bear in mind the need to minimise transmission of the virus. Follow the official advice in full. Do not expect that a mask or gloves alone will protect you or others.

Summer evening

Responding to Covid-19

Health

With the rapidly increasing concern about the spread of Covid-19 we all need to make careful and informed decisions about how we act.

  • Don’t spread, or act on, misinformation. Expert advice is available from the NHS, Public Health England and the government.
  • Take care of yourself, your family, friends and neighbours. We should try our best to slow the spread of infection, to allow our health services the time to care for us. We should also try to reduce our vulnerability to infections, by eating well, getting enough sleep and avoiding unhealthy activities, such as smoking.
  • Please check on your neighbours. Those who are ill or self-isolating may need help getting essential supplies. They may also need to know that someone cares about them enough to help them.

As well as being a challenging time for many of us, this is an opportunity for us to support each other and to strengthen the community on Palace Road Estate.

Hazard at Ponton House

Health, Maintenance

Don’t loiter outside the rear entrance to Ponton House – there is a large piece of metal hanging by a wire four storeys up above the entrance. This was reported to Lambeth Housing on 6 April and again on 10 April. No timescale has been given for its removal.

Update 29/4/2019: Work appears to be starting today, to remove this hazard. A platform is being constructed at the foot of the wall, presumably to allow access.

The metal, which appears to be a cable rack, hanging at fourth storey level.

Structural inspection report

Balconies, Concrete, Health, Maintenance, Major works

We have been provided with a report on a structural inspection that was carried out on 31st May and 1st June 2018. The inspection was made by structural engineers employed by Lambeth Council. It makes a number of interesting observations:

  • Lack of routine maintenance, including painting timber cladding, repairing minor cracks in masonry and replacing damaged windows and glass panels on the balconies.
  • Water ingress in concrete structural elements (lintels and floor slabs) leading to pieces of concrete falling from heights, leading to “health & safety risks to the residents and visitors to the buildings.”
  • “A system of tree management should be set up and put in place to manage the trees in the estate in consultation with Lambeth’s Trees Section.” This comment will come as a surprise to service charge payers who are regularly charged significant sums for tree maintenance.

Despite the reported immediate risks from falling pieces of concrete, the council chose not to inform residents until their letter about initial works to make the concrete safe in mid-July.

The report asserts that “None of the defects mentioned above is considered as impairing the structural stability and integrity of the buildings at present.” However, since the inspection excluded the garages, above which many of the flats are built, PRERA has requested that the garages are also inspected.

Pollution monitoring – final report

Air quality, Environment, Health

As has been described in previous posts, we have been monitoring the level of pollution on Christchurch Road, as part of the Love Lambeth Air project. The monitoring ran for a period of 6 months from November 2016 until April 2017. The project was rounded off with a feedback event on 14th June 2017, which was held at St. John’s Church in Waterloo. See here for a document describing this event.

Amongst several others, presentations were given by Claire Baldock from Mapping for Change, May Van Schalkwyk, an oncologist and Sarah Hudson and Sheila D’Souza, residents of the Barbican and Marylebone, respectively. Their presentations can be downloaded by clicking on their names.

The final report can be downloaded here and the raw data is here. There is also a one page summary of the results from across Lambeth.

The feedback event at St. John's Church, Waterloo.
The feedback event at St. John’s Church, Waterloo.

Gate-closers on the play area

Health, Maintenance, Youth activities

For several years the play area has been open to dogs, because the springs on the gates had broken. After months of nagging by the committee, the springs have now been replaced, so children should now be able to play without worrying about dog mess.

Do you like what PRERA is doing? Would you like to join us in making the estate cleaner, greener and a friendlier place? Contact us!





Our (very) local sports centre

Health, Local area

Did you know that there is a range of sports facilities just over the road from Palace Road Estate? The City Heights E-act Academy has a sports hall, dance studio and outdoor multi-use games area (MUGA) that are all available to the public. They can be used at weekends and on weekday evenings. Bookings can be made here.

If you are a badminton player, you may be interested in joining the South West Strings Badminton Club who meet at the school on Tuesday evenings.